Jay Slater missing – latest: Mother gives GoFundMe update as teen ‘spotted watching Euros’ after last contact
Debbie Duncan vowed her son’s loved ones will not lose hope and will return home with him
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Jay Slater’s mother has issued an update over the fundraiser that was launched to help find her missing son as the search for him in Tenerife continues for an eleventh day.
Debbie Duncan, 55, announced on Thursday that she is withdrawing some of the money raised in the GoFundMe to put towards the search efforts, as she vowed the teenager’s loved ones will not lose hope and will return home with him.
It comes as the local mayor of the town of Santiago del Teide, Emilio Jose Navarro, said Spanish police have spoken to several people who believe they may have seen the 19-year-old watching Euro 2024 matches after his last contact with friends.
Police are examining grainy CCTV footage from the town, which is around three-and-a-half miles from the mountainous Rural de Teno park – his last known location – to determine whether it is a sighting of the apprentice bricklacker.
The image, shared by the family to media outlets, shows a person walking through the town and was captured around 10 hours after Jay's phone last pinged.
Jay Slater search teams fly in specialist sniffer dogs in hunt for missing teenager on Tenerife
‘There isn’t much here’: Exploring the isolated Tenerife landscape of Jay Slater’s last known location
Jay Slater’s family are ‘utterly broken’ and ‘still holding out hope’ to find teen in Tenerife
Jay Slater’s disappearance has exposed the horrifying cruelty of social media
Are TikTokers and Facebook sleuths drowning out actual leads in the hunt for Jay Slater?
Jay Slater’s family still hopeful he will return to them, private detective says
On the ground with the desperate search for missing Jay Slater in Tenerife
From the winding main road which links the villages of Masca and Las Portelas, close to where 19-year-old Jay Slater disappeared, four white police cars can be spotted, parked down a deep ravine.
Officers from the Guardia Civil dressed in green and black spend their day walking among the shrubs, accompanied by a sniffer dog as the search continues more than a week after he went missing.
Read more from The Independent’s Holly Evans, who is in Tenerife, here:
On the ground with the desperate search for missing Jay Slater in Tenerife
Deep ravines, sharp drops and cacti hinder search efforts for teenager in the mountainous terrain
Local mayor does not believe Jay Slater is in Santiago del Teide
The Independent’s Holly Evans reports from Tenerife:
Speaking from his office in the town hall, local mayor Emilio Navarro stated his belief that Jay Slater had not reached Santiago del Teide.
“The Guardia Civil sent us an email asking for our security cameras. We could not give it to them as they are organised through a separate company, so the police are speaking to them. But that CCTV picture is not from us and I do not recognise that place - I do not think it is in Santiago del Tiede and he is not here.
“We will help the police but it makes no sense. We have had family and journalists here but we have seen no police.”
The unanswered questions about missing teenager’s disappearance in Tenerife
As concerns grow for his welfare, questions have begun to emerge as to how the apprentice bricklayer has seemingly vanished in an area inundated with tourists.
Jay Slater: The unanswered questions about missing teen’s disappearance in Tenerife
Little is known about the men Jay Slater spent time with, or why he chose to undertake an 11 hour walk
What Tenerife locals are saying
On the ground with the desperate search for missing Jay Slater in Tenerife
Deep ravines, sharp drops and cacti hinder search efforts for teenager in the mountainous terrain
Jay Slater’s last known movements
Mapped: Jay Slater’s last known movements in Tenerife as search for teen continues
The 19-year-old vanished on Monday after last being seen by a local 11 hours from his accommodation
Watch: Police and sniffer dogs continue search
Spanish police and sniffer dogs continue search for missing Jay Slater in Tenerife
Spanish police have released helicopter footage as the search for Jay Slater continues. The search for the British teenager, who went missing during a holiday in Tenerife, has already entered its second week. Sniffer dogs and helicopters are still being used to try and find the 19-year-old. “We continue with the search for the young British man who disappeared in Tenerife,” the Guardia Civil wrote, sharing the helicopter footage on social media. Mr Slater had attended the NRG music festival on the island with two friends before his disappearance and was last heard from on Monday 17 June.
The isolated landscape of Jay’s last known location
Exploring the isolated Tenerife landscape of Jay Slater’s last known location
As the desperate search for missing British teenager Jay Slater continues, The Independent’s Holly Evans has travelled to Tenerife to bring readers the latest in the ongoing investigation. The 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared in Tenerife over a week ago following an attempt to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus. He had attended the NRG music festival on the island with two friends before his disappearance. The location where Mr Slater’s phone pinged last Monday (17 June) is in an area of difficult terrain, with a narrow path and dramatic drops into the mountains. Today (25 June), four police cars can be seen in the background.
Opinion: The horrifying cruelty of social media
A concerning majority of onlookers seem to have completely disconnected from the fact that Jay Slater’s disappearance involves real people with real lives and real emotions:
Jay Slater’s disappearance has exposed the horrifying cruelty of social media
Trolls mocking missing Jay Slater, Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha tracked down and hounded online, armchair sleuths endlessly theorising about Nicola Bulley’s disappearance – Helen Coffey asks, when did we collectively lose our empathy?
Police searching for Jay Slater rescue lost Scottish hiker in Tenerife national park
Police searching for missing hiker Jay Slater have rescued a Scottish hiker from the same Tenerife national park in Spain.
The 51-year-old hiker from Scotland was rescued on Friday during a search for Mr Slater, 19, who went missing a week ago, police said on Tuesday.
The Scot was found “tired and disoriented” having gone into a “difficult” area not suitable for travel.
Police said “he was located by the agents and the rescue team who helped him get out of the ravine”.
Police searching for Jay Slater rescue lost Scottish hiker in Tenerife national park
Police say ‘tired and disoriented’ hiker wouldn’t have got out without help
ICYMI: Family ‘utterly broken’ but mission remains to find Jay Slater alive
Earlier on Wednesday, Mark Williams-Thomas, a private investigator, spoke to the press in Tenerife this afternoon on behalf of Jay Slater’s family, including The Independent’s Holly Evans.
He told reporters: “They are a very, very united family and they are very supportive and their one mission is to find out what happened to Jay.
“They still live with the hope that Jay will return and that he is not safe, but still alive. They themselves have been out searching and have put out pictures and posters and of course, they are responding to as many enquiries as they possibly can.”
He added they had provided him with an “in-depth insight” into what had happened in the hours leading up to his disappearance.
Asked how the family have been coping, he responded: “They are utterly broken, having done this many times and having been a family liaison officer, they are an incredibly united family.
“Not just in terms of the family but also the friends that are here to support. They are all very focused in terms of finding Jay. The problem is they are now without information, a lot of information was coming in initially but they are now without much information.”
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