Spanish police END hunt for lacking teenager Jay Slater
- Jay Slater, 19, vanished after a night out on the island of Tenerife on June 17
Spanish police have ended the search for missing raver Jay Slater – almost two weeks after the British teenager vanished on the island of Tenerife.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn in Lancashire, was last seen on June 17 and a huge search involving dogs, drones and a helicopter has failed to find any trace.
On Saturday, police launched one final push and appealed for volunteers to help but just six people turned up to join 24 mountain rescue and fire teams in the remote mountainous area of Masca.
A spokesperson for Tenerife police said: ‘The search is now over but the investigation remains open.’ The spokesperson refused to elaborate on whether it was now a criminal investigation.
The decision to end the search for the 19-year-old was taken at a senior level following a meeting between investigators and mountain rescue teams at the island’s HQ i Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
On Saturday one of the search teams had told MailOnline: ‘Nothing was found and now the chief will make a decision whether to carry on, it’s up to the senior people to decide, there is no established cut off time.
‘But obviously we cannot carry on searching for ever so what we know will be evaluated and then the senior investigators will make that decision.’
Jay, from was last seen by a local resident in Masca, north-west Tenerife, just after 8am on June 17 walking northwards along the road out of the village after stopping to ask her for directions.
Spanish police have ended the search for missing raver Jay Slater (centre) – almost two weeks after the British teenager vanished on the island of Tenerife. He is pictured here with his mother, Debbie Duncan, and brother Zak
On Saturday police launched one final push and appealed for volunteers to help and just six turned up to join 24 mountain rescue and fire teams at Masca
Jay’s father Warren along with with Jay’s mother Debbie and a number of his friends have flown to the Spanish island to help over the past two weeks
Spanish police and volunteers gather before searching the remote area yesterday
There has been no sign of Jay since he vanished on Tenerife on June 17
His phone last pinged near to a look-out point where search teams gathered yesterday to begin the last day of the operation.
Friend Lucy Law said Jay had called her shortly after he was last seen to say he was thirsty and had no water and just one per cent battery on his phone.
The Civil Guard says the ‘parallel’ investigation by police investigators which they are not sharing information on is continuing despite the suspension of the ‘visible’ mountain search in and around Masca.
After partying on the final night of the three-day NRG festival in Tenerife’s Playa de las Americas resort, Jay had gone back to an Airbnb in Masca with two men he had met on holiday. It was here that he sent two Snapchat messages from there to his friends.
Ofelia Medina Hernandez, the owner of the villa, said she saw Jay standing at a nearby bus stop at around 8am.
He asked her when the next bus was to Los Cristianos, but when he was told it wasn’t until 10am, he set off on foot for what would have been an 11-hour walk.
Wild conspiracy theories online have threatened to derail the investigation, with Jay’s family hitting out at trolls making unfounded claims.
Jay’s father, Warren Slater, yesterday said he was ‘disappointed’ after only a handful of volunteers turned out to join the hunt for his son.
Just six volunteers including British TikTok mountaineer Paul Arnott and a few Spanish nationals joined the search on Saturday, with temperatures pushing 23C.
‘It’s a bit disappointing that there are no British apart from Paul but I suppose to them he’s just a British lad who’s come out here and got drunk,’ Warren said.
The father added he was ‘grateful’ to those who gathered to look for his son.
‘You can see just how dangerous it is and what gets me is the trollers who are having a go at us for not searching,’ he said.
Police revealed yesterday that two mystery British men who were with Jay the night he disappeared were ‘not relevant’ to their investigation.
After partying on the final night of the three-day NRG festival in Tenerife’s Playa de las Americas resort, Jay had gone back to an Airbnb in Masca with two men he had met on holiday
Guardia Civil agent Cipriano Martin has confirmed the two mystery men who invited Jay Slater back to their Airbnb hours before he vanished ‘don’t have any relevance whatsoever for the case’
Spanish police begin a final search for Jay yesterday
TV detective Mark Williams Thomas previously called on the two mystery men who were with missing teenager Jay Slater to come forward
Earlier this week, MailOnline revealed pictures showing apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, lounging by the pool of the Hard Rock Hotel in Playa de las Americas with dozens of other holidaymakers before he went missing. Pictured: With friends Brandon Hodgkin and Lucy Mae Law
Dressed in camouflage style swimming trunks the picture was taken on the second day of the NRG festival at a pool party which was described on social media as ‘epic’
Also, in the picture with her back to the camera in a white skirt, is Jay’s friend Lucy Mae Law, 19, left, and it was taken on June 15 – just two days before he vanished
Holding a plastic cup in his hand (right) he appears to be standing by himself while Lucy (left) is talking to another group of boys
Jay’s family released this CCTV image of a figure they believe to be the 19-year-old. It was taken at around 6pm on the day he went missing – 10 hours after his phone last pinged
The development raised eyebrows among many as TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas, who worked on the missing people cases of Madeleine McCann and Nicola Bulley, had described the men as ‘key witnesses’ and appealed for them to come forward.
Cipriano Martin, head of the Spanish Civil Guard’s Mountain Rescue team in Tenerife, said: ‘Those men have been spoken to and they don’t have any relevance whatsoever for the case.’
However little is known about the two mystery men, who have not spoken publicly, besides the fact that they are British, black and in their late 30s to early 40s.
One is said to go by the nickname Johnny Vegas and one is described as around 6ft, stocky and with short dark hair. He was seen with an orange wristband but little else is known about the other man.
It comes after police said they were investigating a scuffle outside Papagayo Beach Club, where Jay was seen partying on June 17.
It is believed a fight – involving an Eastern European man who reportedly had his valuable Rolex stolen – broke out after the venue had closed.
The apprentice bricklayer went back to the Casa Abuela Tina Airbnb (pictured) near the rugged Rural de Teno national park with two mystery men
In its Airbnb listing Casa Abuela Tina is described as being a farmhouse within the ‘unique natural landscape’ surrounding it
It is known that Jay sent pictures of himself inside the house and from outside on Snapchat to his mum and friends
The teenager posted this Snapchat image on the morning he went missing in Spain
The search pictured beginning yesterday in the early morning near to Jay’s last-known location in the village of Masca
The volunteers pictured as they begin the co-ordinated search which took place in a steep rocky area, with ravines, trails and paths all searched thoroughly
One of Jay’s friends, who had travelled to Tenerife to help in the search told detectives the alleged incident could have led to his disappearance.
Authorities were reviewing CCTV footage from the venue where the incident occurred.
Another theory which is understood to be on the table is that the valuable watch had somehow wound up in the cottage where Jay had travelled – and that he then ventured into the wilderness in an attempt to steal it.
Earlier this week, MailOnline revealed new photos of Jay chatting to friends at a hotel pool party just two days before he vanished.
The investigation also took a strange twist when the mayor of Tenerife revealed that police were quizzing locals who claimed they had seen Jay ‘watching the Euros’ in a bar in Puerto de Santiago – a coastal resort on the island.
The claim followed the earlier release of a grainy CCTV image from Santiago del Teide which Jay’s family were hopeful was him, and which police were looking at.
The image shows a figure walking past a church at around 6pm the day he went missing – ten hours after his phone last pinged.
The CCTV was taken close to a church, San Fernando Rey, where Jay’s mother previously told MailOnline that a man has come forward to say he saw someone matching her son’s description sitting on a bench with two men.
On Friday, Jay’s friend Brad Hargreaves told ITV’s This Morning he had been on a video call with him before his disappearance when he heard him go off the road.
He said: ‘He was on the phone walking down a road and he’d gone over a little bit – not a big drop – but a tiny little drop and he was going down, and he said ‘I’ll ring ya back, I’ll ring ya back’ because I think someone else was ringing him.’
Warren Slater and his son Zak, 24, pictured last Saturday at the remote mountain spot where Jay’s mobile phone last pinged
Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan revealed her choice not to attend with Jay’s father and brother had caused her to be on the receiving end of vile social media trolls who have compared her to Karen Matthews
He confirmed he could see his friend’s feet ‘sliding’ down the hill and could hear he was walking on gravel.
But, Mr Hargreaves said he and his friend were both laughing at that point.
He added: ‘He didn’t seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was.’
He told the programme he still had hope for Jay and was ‘praying’ for him to come home.
Earlier this week, his mother Debbie Duncan, who travelled to the island following his disappearance, said money raised online would be used to support mountain rescue teams, and to cover her own accommodation and food costs.
Donations flooded in after GoFundMe appeal ‘Get Jay Slater home’ was set up by Lucy Law which has raised £43,000 as of Sunday.
In an update on Thursday, Ms Duncan said: ‘We are currently working with GoFundMe to withdraw part of the funds, which are being safely held.
‘I wanted to share that these funds will be used to support the mountain rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay.
‘Additionally, since our stay in Tenerife needs to be extended, we will also use the funds to cover accommodation and food expenses.’
Ms Duncan has described her son’s disappearance and the wait for news as a ‘living nightmare’.
