The ravine which Jay Slater clambered over earlier than assembly his demise
The rugged and treacherous ravine which Jay Slater clambered over before he plunged to his death has been revealed for the first time in this drone video.
The footage of the inhospitable terrain in Tenerife shows a series of ridges and rocky outcrops with sheer drops of up to 300ft either side.
The volcanic landscape is considered to be almost inaccessible by people on foot apart from by experienced mountaineers with ropes and climbing equipment.
Some of the gaps between the cliffs are only a few feet wide and hidden in shadows, possibly explaining how the 19-year-old’s body was missed by earlier aerial searches.
Jay is believed to have lost his footing and fallen while desperately trying to climb through the ravine to try and return to his hotel.
The treacherous ravine Barranco Juan Lopez, just miles from where Jay Slater was last seen and his phone was detected, and believed to be where his body was finally found
MailOnline reporter Andy Young is seen at the rugged and treacherous ravine
Jay is believed to have lost his footing and fallen while desperately trying to climb through the ravine to try and return to his hotel
The area of Tenerife where 19-year-old Jay Slater went missing
Pictured left is a search and rescue team member where Jay was found, pictured right is the body being airlifted out of the ravine
The area where his body remained hidden for nearly four weeks is in the remote Baranco Juan Lopez valley in the north of the Spanish holiday island.
A local villager told MailOnline: ‘The place is a deathtrap for people who don’t know what they are doing.
‘There are places where you can climb, but it is easy to slip on the uneven surface or lose your grip.
‘If you are a teenager who is alone, and you are dehydrated, tired and confused about your whereabouts, then the chance of an awful accident are even higher.’
MailOnline can also reveal that the area may have been enveloped in low cloud at the time Jay disappeared, meaning he could have been disorientated and unable to see his immediate surroundings.
Pictures revealed the ravine almost completely obscured by low cloud this morning at around the same time that Jay vanished.
Jay Slater seen with his mother Debbie, who left a tribute to her ‘beautiful boy’
Jay’s father Warren and brother Zak on the mountain track where Jay’s phone was last located
Emergency workers near the village of Masca, Tenerife, during the search
The Masca forest area where Spanish Civil Guard located the body
The community of Oswaldtwistle vowed ‘we will always remember him’ at a memorial service
The weather conditions today with light onshore winds were almost identical to those on June 17 when he disappeared, according to meteorological records.
Jay from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire vanished following a night out on the final day of the NRG music festival at Papagayo night club in the resort of Playa de las Americas.
He had left his friends and went off with two men who drove him back to their Airbnb accommodation on the outskirts of the village of Masca, around 20 miles away.
While in the car, he sent a Snapchat message to his friends boasting that he had just stolen a £12,000 Rolex watch from a reveller and was going to sell it for £10,000.
The apprentice bricklayer later shared a photo on his Snapchat account, which showed him standing at the doorway of a house shortly after 7am.
Around an hour later, he called his friend Lucy Law, telling her that he was ‘lost in the mountains with one per cent battery and no water’ and had missed a bus back south to his accommodation in Los Cristianos.
He claimed he had set off on foot to try and get back to his hotel, despite it being around 11 hours away.
MailOnline later found a witness who revealed that he had walked north out of the village, instead of taking the winding road south towards Los Cristianos.
Hidden from the main road, just meters from where Jay Slater’s phone was last detected, an impromptu memorial is left by family members in the Valley of Juan Lopez
Jay’s local community released a flood of balloons to remember the teenager
Villagers have speculated that he may have decided that it might have been quicker for him to find the coast and walk back along it, rather than trek along the winding road back through the mountains.
They have claimed that he may have left the road and headed down a track into the Juan Lopez valley after catching a glimpse of the sea in the distance.
But he would have found the path coming to an abrupt end after half a mile, leading to him scrambling down a slope before reaching the rocky outcrops of the ravine at the end of the valley nearest the coastline.
It is believed that he tried to climb up a ridge to carry on trying to reach the sea before stumbling and falling to his death.
But his body was only found on Monday morning after a helicopter was used to winch search teams in and out of the ravine which is just two miles form the road where he was last seen.
Spanish authorities confirmed yesterday that the body which was recovered was identified as being Jay from fingerprints.
His family who have been in Tenerife helping the search for him have left floral tributes close to the scene where he died, along with messages describing him as a ‘beautiful boy’ and ‘forever young’.
Bunches of white chrysanthemums and roses were left beside a large rock on a path overlooking the ravine.
The memorial , decorated with blue ribbons, also included a teddy bear wearing an England football shirt, a tiny angel with a jewelled crucifix and a red jar with a candle.
The mountain range in Rural de Teno park near isolated village Masca
The dog Caperucita listens to the instructions of the Civil Guard agents alongside her owner before beginning the search for Jay on June 29
A handwritten message from his mother Debbie Turner attached with a blue peg to one of the bouquets said: ‘To my beautiful boy. I’m so sorry we never found you. I miss you so much. You will be forever young and for ever missed. Love you so much, Mum’
Another moving message pegged to a post by Jay’s father Walter Slater read: ‘Tomy Boy, Love Dad, Always, XXXX’
The tribute was attached above a blue ribbon tied around the post next to a bracelet made from wooden beads, including one with a letter J on it.
A third hand written message from Jay’s brother Zak written in faltering handwriting , was attached to a single white rose.
It read: ‘Love you little bro. Never in a million years did I think I’d be doing this. I’ll look after mum and dad. Hope your (sic) partying up there with granddad. Hope to see you again some day. Rest easy bro, I love you, Zak XX’
A fourth tribute carried a picture of Jay, with the words ‘Rest in Peace, Jay Slater, 19 year old / 19 anos.’
The message which was illustrated with four blue love hearts, and two crosses and added: ‘Tenerife will always have you in our hearts! Gone, but never forgotten. Love + prayers to you!’
