Jay Slater’s dad has admitted he is “angry” as he questioned why two grown men took a young boy to a bed and breakfast.
Warren Slater, 58, spoke out after desperately spending two hours hiking through the ravine where Jay’s phone last ‘pinged’ 16 days ago. “You just don’t disappear. It’s just ridiculous that somebody can just disappear,” he said.
“He’s a young boy, he’s fit. He’s fitter than us all put together. He’s played football all his life, he’s fit as a flea. You just don’t disappear. I don’t know… it’s just a mystery… it’s baffling.”
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The distraught dad spoke out shortly after rumours surfaced that Jay felt frightened when leaving the secluded holiday let in Masca, which is a good 20 miles from where he was staying, reportedly telling mates he couldn’t go back there.
(Image: Instagram)
Spanish police have said the two British men, who are both understood to have been spoken to by officers before leaving the island, have no relevance to the missing persons investigation.
Warren said: “My only question is, and this is where you start the investigation from, why did two grown men take a young boy to a valley to a bed and breakfast? I can’t understand that. Why? Why? You need to ask them why and then start from there.
“Spanish police must know. It is frustrating. It’s the language barrier and you can’t get mad at Spanish police because they don’t like it.
“I’ve gone past the sadness bit and I’m angry, if that makes any sense. I’m angry that nothing’s happened. If I left you here and then you just disappeared, do you not think police would be on my case?”
(Image: Stan Kujawa)
Warren looked out onto the vast gorge below him as he said: “We’ve been all the way down. We’ve walked as far as you can until it’s too dangerous. All I’m doing is a Colombo bit myself. I mean he might be on here, you never know, but as a dad I don’t want him to be.”
Previously, Warren had expressed his concerns about the family searching in the ravine themselves due to its dangerous nature. However, now that the official search has concluded, he and his family feel compelled to navigate through the perilous terrain themselves.
Yesterday, he sustained cuts on both his arms and legs from traversing the hazardous landscape.
He said: “This is where his phone last pinged. This was the valley and I’ve come to the point of no return. We followed the path all the way down the valley. If I had mountain boots on and some ropes I would go for it, but I can’t do it in Adidas sandals.”
(Image: Simon Ashton)
However, pointing to a large mountain peak in the distance, he added: “If someone told me ‘he’s up that hill and you’ll find him’, I’d climb that f****** hill and find him.”
Asked if the family still plan to stay in Tenerife until Jay is found, he admitted: “I know his mum wants to, maybe his brother wants to, but you can’t stay forever. His mum is saying ‘he’s not been found, I’m not leaving this island’. But it’s hard, it’s so f*****g hard. There’s not a straight line to follow.”
Asked if he thinks Jay may have been heading towards the sea, which was visible in the distance, he said: “Maybe”.
He added: “I’ve done this trail now twice. Every step I’ve took there’s been an opening. If you land on one of those cactus’ you’re not moving. Surely somebody’s gonna find you after two weeks.”
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