Jay Slater missing – latest: Family urged to use GoFundMe to carry on search as TikToker uncovers ‘new clue’

Spanish police haved called off the search for Jay Slater almost two weeks after he vanished on Tenerife

Jay Slater’s father makes six-word plea to son at visit to site of search

Jay Slater’s family have been urged to use fundraising donations to hire “experts” to continue the search for the missing teenager.

Spanish police said the hunt for the 19-year-old from Lancashire had ended, with the case remaining open on Sunday as the gruelling search entered another week.

But his family have vowed to carry on looking for him regardless.

TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas flew out to conduct his own investigation and has urged the family to use some of the £46,000 raised to help continue the search.

He wrote on X: “In light of the police search ending. I have suggested the family should use the GoFundMe money to continue the search using experts in searching.”

It comes as an amateur sleuth claimed to be following an unofficial “new clue”.

TikTok climber Paul Arnott, who has been searching for Jay in Tenerife, said that a pair of sunglasses similar to the ones Jay was last seen wearing had been found close to where his mobile phone last pinged. 

Key Points

• Family ‘vow to carry on search’
• Spanish police call off search for Jay Slater
• Jay Slater’s father ‘disappointed’ at lack of volunteers
• Jay Slater’s father and brother attend search site

[1 July 2024 05:00 · Alexander Butler]

The harsh conditions in Tenerife facing missing Jay Slater at the time of his disappearance

[1 July 2024 05:54 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Here’s why so little progress has been made in finding Jay Slater

Located in a steep valley in the beautiful Rural de Teno park, the remote village of Masca is a heaven for hikers and adventurers travelling to Tenerife.

Yet for the family and friends of Jay Slater, it has become the place of nightmares because its rugged landscape and steep ravines easily hide clues which could shed light on the teenager’s disappearance.

Having seen the search first-hand, it is understandable how such little progress has been made in 12 days. The young Briton’s phone was last located near a stretch of road by the Mirador La Cruz de Hilda cafe, with cacti and dense shrubbery on either side, making it slow work for helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs to comb through the area.

Holly Evans writesTenerife’s unforgiving terrain has made the hunt for the missing British teenager an arduous task.

[1 July 2024 06:19 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Ex-British police suggests Jay Slater ‘may not be missing’

A former British police officer has suggested that Jay Slater might not be missing at all and the police should thoroughly investigate his disappearance in Tenerife.

Graham Wettone, who served in the Met for three decades, told MailOnline that the Spanish police should “take another look” after the law enforcement authorities called off the search for the missing teenager nearly two weeks after he vanished.

“It seems to me on the face of it that they are just focusing on the mountain, but I would hope they are looking at other avenues and those include criminality,” he said.

“I’ve been following this case closely and discussing it with colleagues and it’s certainly a very bizarre one, lots of things just don’t add up,” the ex-cop added.

[1 July 2024 07:00 · Alexander Butler]

Jay Slater’s mother hits out at Facebook trolls mocking teen missing in Tenerife

[1 July 2024 07:52 · Athena Stavrou]

TV detective continues investigation as police close theirs

TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas said he now has a ‘very detailed picture’ of Jay Slater’s movements before he went missing as he continues his private investigation.

Tenerife’s Civil Guard ceased their search for the missing 19-year-old on Sunday after almost 2 weeks of searching the Rural de Teno park.

Williams-Thomas, who helped investigate Nicola Bulley’s dissapearance, urged his family to use the GoFundMe donations to pay for private detectives to keep the search alive.

He wrote on X: “Although the police search in the mountains and around Masca has concluded, the police investigation into Jay Slater’s disappearance remains ongoing. In regard to our investigation we have been able to speak to important witnesses and now have a very detailed picture of Jays movements over 16 & 17th along with important background information. We still have a number of outstanding actions , but have given the family a preliminary breakdown of findings.

“In light of the police search ending. I have suggested the family should use the GoFundMe money to continue the search using experts in searching.”

[1 July 2024 08:46 · Athena Stavrou]

TikToker helping search criticises police for ‘PR exercise’

A TikToker who flew out to help the search for Jay Slater has criticised the local police for treating the search for Jay Slater as a ‘PR exercise’.

Paul Arnott was the only Briton, other than Slater’s father, to join the final official day of the search on Saturday,

Tenerife’s Civil Guard called off the search on Sunday, but Arnott called them out on his social media as he grew frustrated with the slow pace of the search.

“This is a massive PR thing, I’m telling you now,” he said, noting that there were “people everywhere and nobody’s doing anything”.

He went on to ask officials to take his name off the search list so he could search independently, adding: “ Everyone is still in their cars. It’s all a big thing. It’s all chat, chat, chat, chat, chat.”

[1 July 2024 09:14 · Athena Stavrou]

Jay Slater’s family ‘meeting police today'

Jay Slater’s family are reportedly meeting with Spanish police today after authorities called off the search for the missing 19-year-old.

The Mail Online reported Jay’s ‘disappointed’ relatives are meeting with Tenerife’s Civil Guard after they ended the search after almost two weeks of searching.

A family friend said the family had vowed to continue searching for Jay after the police’s announcement.

(PA/ITN)

[1 July 2024 09:49 · Athena Stavrou]

Family ‘vow to carry on search’ despite police calling hunt off

Jay Slater’s family have vowed to carry on searching for him despite Spanish police calling off the search for the missing teenager nearly two weeks after he vanished.

Rachael Hargreaves, a close friend of Mr Slater’s heartbroken parents Debbie Duncan, 55, and Warren Slater, 58, said “nothing had changed” and they would continue to search for him.

The 19-year-old disappeared nearly two weeks ago near Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife, after travelling there with two men he had met at a festival around 27 miles further south on the island.

[1 July 2024 10:09 · Athena Stavrou]

Mystery British men of ‘no relevance’ to investigation

Spanish police have declared that the two British men who put up missing British teenager Jay Slater the night before he disappeared are of “no relevance” to the investigation.

The 19-year-old vanished nearly two weeks ago near Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife, after travelling there with two men he had met at a festival around 27 miles further south on the island.

Cipriano Martin, head of the Civil Guard’s Greim mountain rescue unit, said: “Those men have been spoken to and they don’t have any relevance whatsoever for the case.”

[1 July 2024 10:30 · Athena Stavrou]

Jay Slater case ‘doesn’t add up’ ex-Met officer says as he urges Spanish police to let British force help

Spanish police have been urged to accept help from British investigators in the hunt for Jay Slater in Tenerife, as a former police officer warned: “Things just don’t add up.”

Policing expert Graham Wettone, who was in the Metropolitan Police for 30 years, said he has been pouring over the evidence in the hunt for the missing 19-year-old. He believes there were too many “inconsistencies” in the mystery of his disappearance and called for detectives to look more closely at the days before he vanished.

My colleague Amy-Clare Martin has the full story: