Jay Slater’s mom hits out at trolls and asks for fogeys’ prayers
- Spanish police announced the end of their official search in Tenerife on Sunday
- The family have vowed to continue their effort using donations from GoFundMe
Jay Slater’s mother has hit out at trolls accusing her of being ‘on holiday’ while she looks for her son in Spain as she pleaded with fellow parents to ‘continue to pray’ for his return.
The missing teenager’s family revealed earlier this week that they were planning on using GoFundMe donations to remain in Tenerife after Spanish police called off the land search 14 days after the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer first went missing.
Now, Debbie Duncan has asked for people to realise that they are a ‘normal working family from Lancashire going through hell’.
In a post on social media, she said: ‘I feel the need to post this to your group and then I shall remove myself. I joined this group to share the positivity and love from the British public.
‘It seems through no fault of my own you have all decided to make up your own minds. It is really sad I have felt the need to do this. My beautiful son Jay is still missing and believe me this is no holiday.’
Jay Slater’s mother Debbie has tonight told of her ‘pain and agony’ of her son’s disappearance in Tenerife as she pleaded that ‘we just want to find him’
Jay’s father Warren and brother Zak today hiked through the mountain track where Jay’s phone was last located
The £40-a-night Casa Abuela Tina holiday rental near the remote village of Masca where Jay spent his final hours before going missing
‘He came on his first holiday to Tenerife to attend the NRG music event. What mystery surrounding his disappearance may never surface. We as a family are truly devastated,’ she continued.
‘I did not ask for publicity from the start and was not aware that the first missing poster had my telephone number on it. It should have had the SOS Guardia Civil but like I say this was out of my control.
‘Whatever decision you have in your minds I cannot control this either. We are a normal working family from Lancashire going through hell. I would like to thank the genuine people for their love and support at this difficult time and to continue to pray for Jay to be found.
‘For those of you who are more concerned around the Gofundme page I can assure you that up to now it has not been used and our stay up to now has been financed by ourselves.
‘I do have proof of transactions and transfers to other persons but I should not have to justify this. So you can make up your own minds. If any of you in this group have donated I am thankful For the other mothers out there. Please continue to pray.’
As the family work with private investigators to track down the missing 19-year-old, Ms Duncan yesterday assured donors the £48,000 or so raised on GoFundMe would be put towards funding more volunteers continuing the search through the remote mountainous area in Tenerife.
This includes providing accommodation, funds and equipment to two TikTok sleuths, Paul Arnott and Callum Fahim, who flew out to help find clues into the teenagers disappearance.
In a statement shared yesterday afternoon she wrote: ‘Your generosity has been vast, and we are so grateful for all of your support and kindness during this unimaginable time for our family.
‘We will continue to use part of the funds to support the volunteers working hard in the mountains to find Jay.
‘We are currently looking after Paul Arnett, putting together a package of any equipment and essentials he needs and going up to do a drop for him.
‘We are also supporting Callum Fahim and his group with accommodation and other essentials.
‘The remaining funds will continue to be used to support the rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay as well as our own expenses as we remain in Tenerife looking for our boy.’
The official police-led search for Jay was called off on Sunday, with authorities failing to find clear leads to advance their investigation since the teenager went missing on June 17.
The family vowed to continue the search the same day, a representative for the family telling media: ‘We’re just carrying on searching ourselves.’
‘We’re looking for whoever we can find with mountain rescue experience and will carry on searching the area,’ Ms Hargreaves said.
The family will be joined by TikTok mountaineer Paul Arnott in the search, it is understood.
Jay Slater went missing in Tenerife on June 17. Officials called off their search on Sunday
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
Jay was invited back to Ayub Qassim’s AirBnb shortly before his disappearance
A day prior, Jay Slater’s father shared his ‘disappointment’ after just six volunteers turned out to join the hunt for his missing son.
‘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 Slater said.
He added he was ‘grateful’ to those who gathered today to look for his son, an apprentice bricklayer last seen following an after party at the end of a three day festival on the Spanish party island on June 17.
‘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.
‘All those trollers having a go at us, they don’t know how we feel, why don’t they come up here and have a look and see for themselves how dangerous it is,’ he added.
I has since been revealed that Jay found himself at an Airbnb cottage at the centre of the mystery because as ‘all his friends left him‘, one of the British men who the missing teenager spent his final hours with has claimed.
Ayub Qassim invited Jay, 19, back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife hours before he vanished on June 17.
Qassim, 31, was jailed nine years ago for being the mastermind behind a sophisticated operation to flood Wales with Class A drugs.
Spanish police hunting for Jay have already spoken to Qassim and the unnamed friend he was travelling with known only as ‘Johnny Vegas’.
The men stayed on the island for an extra day after Jay went missing to speak to police – although both have been described as ‘irrelevant’ to their investigation.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline on Wednesday Qassim said: ‘The only comment I have to make is that Jay came to the house alive, and he left the house alive.
‘I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go, his friends had all left him.
‘I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them.
‘I’m doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It’s a bit mental. I haven’t even done anything.’
Qassim insisted he had had no argument with Jay and he had even given him a blanket to sleep in.
Former detective turned TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas flew to Tenerife to help with the search – and said he wanted to speak to the two men who rented the apartment Jay last visited.
But Qassim said he had only spoken to authorities in Tenerife.
Jay went back to Qassim’s remote cottage – called Casa Abuela Tina – at 5am on the day he vanished on June 17.
But he is known to have left the property at around 7.30am to catch a bus back towards his holiday apartment.
A witness said he asked her when the next bus was. When she told him the next one wasn’t until 10am, he is believed to have attempted to walk the 11 hours it would have taken him to get back to his holiday let.
The man and another who was travelling with him stayed an extra day after he vanished and spoke to police.
