A military expert claims the official search for Jay Slater wasn’t conducted properly. Expat Christopher Pennington has been combing for clues since police and rescue teams were called off.
Christopher has accused the authorities in Tenerife of sticking to well-trodden footpaths in Tenerife’s “extremely dangerous” Parque Rural de Teno.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, vanished three weeks ago after leaving a rave in Tenerife with two British men and spending the night at an Airbnb in a rural village.
READ MORE: Jay Slater detective exposes link to ‘criminal network’ as new Tenerife timeline emerges
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One particular stretch of wilderness has been the centre of focus for search teams, both official and volunteers, as it is where Jay’s phone last pinged a signal.
(Image: Stan Kujawa)
Former British Army reservist, Chris who moved to the Spanish island in 2006, is conducting his own search. Within a day of the authorities ending their mission, Chris found damaged sunglasses in the undergrowth.
He’s since told Mail Online: “This area has not been searched properly. You can tell, the authorities have stuck to the paths because they’ve assumed Jay did too. But that’s not how you conduct a thorough search.
(Image: PA)
“You’ve got to close the noise out. Focus on the facts. It doesn’t help to start entertaining conspiracy theories, that just takes your eye off the ball.”
It is proving to be no easy task due to steep gradients and uneven terrain underfoot and that’s just in daylight. Chris said: “It’s dark, it’s extremely dangerous. Arriving up here that early, it felt eerie ‘Let be me frank, it’s scary up here on your own in the darkness.”
Chris claims to have identified the best places to look for clues as to where the 19-year-old may have gone, suggesting a view of the coast may have given him ideas.
(Image: Stan Kujawa)
He added: “You can only imagine that he’s looked down at the coastline in the distance and thinks it’s a lot closer than it really is. And that heading straight through the bush is the quickest route to safety. If Jay came off the path and went through there, like I’ve just done, he wouldn’t leave the path again. You’d have to be mad.”
Also looking for Jay with his sniffer dog is Juan Garcia, 53, who told Mail Online: “The police have searched here with a helicopter but it’s a labyrinth of bushes and you can’t see much from the air. We really are looking for a needle in a haystack.”
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