Seven ‘distressing’ Jay Slater theories – from Airbnb journey to £12k Rolex theft

As the search for Jay Slater enters its fourth week, the missing teen’s devastated family still have ‘no answers’ and theories about the youngster’s disappearance continue to grab headlines.

The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, went missing following a weekend festival in Tenerife on June 17. It is believed the apprentice bricklayer travelled with two men to the remote hilltop region of Masca, before contacting a friend to say he was lost, in need of water, and that his phone was about to die.

A local cleaner is the last known witness to speak with Slater after he asked her around 7.30 am when the next bus – which wasn’t scheduled until 10 am – was set to arrive. It is thought the teen then tried to attempt a gruelling 11-hour hike back to his holiday let in the holiday hotspot of Los Christianos.

Spanish police called off their manhunt last month, but stated they were following ‘several leads’. However, Jay’s father Warren Slater has slammed officials’ response to his son’s disappearance – questioning why certain theories were dismissed.

So, we’ve compiled all the theories surrounding the case – and what Jay’s family have said about them.

READ MORE: Jay Slater detective exposes link to ‘criminal network’ as new Tenerife timeline emerges

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‘Third-party involvement’

TV investigator and former copper Mark Williams-Thomas, who is currently out in Tenerife and in contact with Jay’s family, has quashed any theories surrounding the teen being kidnapped. “We have no evidence at this stage to say there was any third-party criminal involvement in Jay’s disappearance,” he added.

The sleuth did state that they remain ‘open minded to the possibility of this changing’ if new evidence emerges. However, Jay’s uncle Glen Duncan seems to disagree.

“I’ve been thinking third party involvement from the start,” he said, according to Manchester Evening News. “There’s just some things that have already been out there. Why would two lads hire a villa up here? They’re down on the strip, you know what it’s like down there.”

Airbnb trouble

Swathes of armchair detectives have questioned why Jay travelled so far from his friends to stop over at an Airbnb in Masca. The holiday let was being rented out by Ayub Qassim, who was previously imprisoned for crimes relating to Class A drugs.

Spanish police have ruled out any wrongdoing from Qassim, 31, and say he – along with his anonymous pal ‘Johnny Vegas’ – are both ‘irrelevant’ to the case. “He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive,” he said last week. “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.”

Father Warren Slater has questioned why police were so quick to rule out the two men, stating: “Everything stinks. it’s just a riddle and I don’t know the outcome.”

Jay was ‘scared’

A sick video showing a lad being beaten bloody went viral last week, as Brits feared the victim could have been Jay. However, the content appeared to come from Live Leak, which actually ceased operations back in 2021. Many amateur sleuths claim the distressing footage actually comes from Russia, after a man was found abusing a dog.

It is still plausible that Slater was ‘feeling scared’ though, according to Mark Williams-Thomas. “We’ve received information that would suggest that Jay left the rental property feeling scared and he would not return to the rental, even though that would have been the most sensible course of action,” the investigator said.

Mr Duncan also feared his nephew might have been avoided the path home due to being afraid of ‘someone or something’. “It’s so easy to get lost down there,” he added.

£12k Rolex

Rumours of Jay robbing a Rolex worth a whopping £12,000 fuelled conspiracy theories the teen had been kidnapped in revenge. It is reported that the 19-year-old posted a photo on Snapchat claiming to have stolen the luxury good from somebody.

“We’ve been unable to validate this in terms of a reported theft”, Mark Williams-Thomas said in another video. “However, friends of Jay said he would not make this up and the watch was subject of later conversation between the friends.”

A haunting past

Williams-Thomas said further digging into the investigation has opened up an established criminal network with links to drugs, violent crime and theft. In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), he said: “As part of this investigation we have sought to speak with all of the people Jay had contact with whilst in Tenerife.

“The result of this digging has opened up an established criminal network with links to drugs, violent crime and theft. At this stage I cannot expand any further on what we now know. I’m unable to say if this network has anything to do with Jay’s disappearance but remain open-minded as we continue to investigate.”

Jay was also part of a gang that split the skull of Tom Hilton during an attack with a machete and an axe in Rishton, Lancashire, back in 2021. Judge Philip Parry at the time told the court that the group had ‘behaved disgracefully’ during the ‘violent disorder’ adding: “You should all eight be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves but I am not at all convinced you are. I hope for the sake of all your families, the public and the people who have offered you jobs and apprenticeships and the sort that you all grow up. Every one of you deserves to be sent to youth detention.”

Jay was handed an eight-month community order for violent disorder with 25 days of rehabilitation activities and 150 hours of unpaid work, LancsLive reported at the time

‘We ain’t drug mules’

Brad Hargreaves was one of Jay Slater’s pals who travelled out with him to Tenerife to attend the NRG music festival – and has found himself targeted by sick trolls. He hit back at critics claiming the pair were drug mules, and had gone over to Tenerife to engage in illegal activity.

“Thinkin I’m involved in it all is beyond me,” he wrote on Instagram. “We’ve been mates for years, came on our first holiday together and unfortunately this has happened. We ain’t drug mules or whatever…. peple [sic] need to know the facts before talking s*** on the internet…”

Jay’s phone

An ex British Army officer says Slater’s phone may have been ‘thrown’ away before he disappeared. His phone last ‘pinged’ somewhere in the Parque Rural de Teno nature reserve, where Spanish police focused their search before they officially called off their search last Sunday.

A journalist covering Jay’s case in Tenerife, who had spoken to Spanish police and sleuths on the ground investigating his disappearance, has now highlighted a new theory that could explain why the teen’s phone last pinged in a dangerous mountainous area. After having a conversation with an ex-British Army officer, reporter Nick Pisa believes Jay’s phone may have been thrown, the Mirror reports.

Pisa said the mobile’s GPS location could only be possible “if the phone was thrown” into the terrain. He told GB News: “We’re not obviously being kept up to speed, but [the former officer] did tell me that he thought where the ping came from was rather surprising because it was really steep to get to, and it was covered in undergrowth and cacti.

“He said to get there you’d have to need a machete. Or he suggested, someone had thrown the phone into that growth.”

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