Jay Slater’s family are set to meet Spanish police today after officials called off the manhunt for the 19-year-old.
The apprentice bricklayer, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, disappeared on June 17 after attending the NRG Tenerife Weekender festival. It is widely believed the teen headed to an Airbnb in Masca – a remote hilltop hamlet in the northwest – and had contacted a friend to say he was lost, needed water, and that his phone was dying.
Slater’s disappearance has garnered global media attention and has been subject to a whole host of bizarre conspiracy theories from Brits absorbed by the mystery. But when his family called for volunteers to continue the search, only half a dozen turned up.
READ MORE: Jay Slater ‘may not be missing’ as ex-cop claims ‘things just don’t add up’
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While Spanish police have ended their search, which included a mountain rescue team, sniffer dogs, and drones, the Guardia Civil have confirmed the case is still open and that there are ‘several lines of investigation’.
(Image: Stan Kujawa)
Slater’s family will be informed about the details of the investigation today, it has been reported. They have also been encouraged to use the money raised on GoFundMe to help pay for experts to continue their efforts.
For now, the missing man’s family has vowed to stay in Tenerife until he has been found; his father Warren Slater, 58, arrived on the island on Saturday – along with six volunteers including TikTok mountaineer Paul Arnott. Debbie Duncan, Jay’s mother, has also been out in Tenerife for the last two weeks.
(Image: Stan Kujawa)
“It’s a bit disappointing that there are no British apart from Paul,” Warren said. “But I suppose to them he’s just a British lad who’s come out here and got drunk.”
Rachel Hargreaves, the mother of Slater’s friend Brad Hargreaves, who attended the same rave, said they had no intention of leaving the holiday spot. “We’re just carrying on searching ourselves,” she said, according to the BBC. “We’re looking for whoever we can find with mountain rescue experience and will carry on searching the area.”
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