Jay Slater missing - latest: Teenager could still be alive ‘drinking rainwater’, investigator says
Investigation into Jay Slater’s disappearance continues
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A private detective has urged Jay Slater’s family “not to give up” as he suggests he may have survived up until now by “drinking rainwater” and “eating plants”.
The Spanish police called off the search for the missing 19-year-old on Sunday after a gruelling 13-day search.
However private investigator and army reservist Juan García, 53, criticised the authorities for halting the search too early.
He told The Times: “[Slater] could be alive somewhere — someone can drink from rainwater and eat plants. The family should not give up hope.”
He added that he had spoken to Jay’s family - who are still in Tenerife desperately trying to find the apprentice bricklayeer - to directly to offer his advice.
The 19-year-old had attended the NRG music festival on the Canary Island on Sunday June 16, before he went back to an AirBnb around an hours drive from the festival with two men he had met.
He left the property early on Monday morning and called his friend at 8.50am to say that he was lost in the Rural de Teno park with no water and only had one per cent battery on his phone
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Forensic officers spotted inside AirBnb rental property
Forensic officers were spotted at the AirBnb in Masca on Tuesday, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Two police officers were seen inside the holiday rental apartment where Jay stayed the night before his disappearance. The men, who were both wearing plain clothes, exited the property shortly after 11am wearing forensic style blue slip-ons over their shoes.
They were then seen taking the slip-ons off before speaking to a local, who had let them into the property with a key.
Friends told Jay Slater ‘head back to AirBnb’ before disappearance
A TV detective investigating Jay Slater’s dissapearance has said the teenager was told by friends to head back to an AirBnB where he had stayed the night before he went missing.
Mark Williams-Thomas - who also investigated Nicola Bulley’s disappearance - has been assisting Jay’s family in their search for the 19-year-old in Tenerife.
Jay seemingly left the Veronica’s party strip in the south of the island in the early hours of Monday morning with two men he had met, before taking an hour-long drive to
They travelled an hours drive back to their holiday accommodation in Masca, which Jay left several hours later and having missed the bus, attempted to walk 11 hours back towards his own accommodation.
Mr Williams-Thomas highlighted Jay’s strange decision to embark on the walk through challenging terrain rather than return to the AirBnb.
He said: “He was told to go back to the rental. He said he could not do that and that he had already been walking 30 minutes and that he was now off the road and walking on a track, where there were loose stones.”
The vanished of Tenerife: Other people who disappeared on the island where Jay Slater went missing
Tourists looking for an easygoing, fun holiday in the sun have headed to the island of Tenerife for decades.
From the party vibes of the neon-lit strip of Playa De Las Americas to the spiritual hikes across cacti-infested ravines in the heat, there is something for everyone.
But with its rocky cliff faces and harsh terrain, the island also has a dangerous side with completely inaccessible areas.
My colleague Barney Davis reports:
Tenerife’s missing: Other people who vanished on island where Jay Slater disappeared
Several people still remain missing on the island of Tenerife after vanishing decades ago
Man whose AirBnb Jay Slater went back to breaks silence
The man who invited Jay Slater back to his AirBnb before he disappeared has broken his silence.
The 19-year-old went missing after he left the holiday accommodation early on Monday morning to catch a bus back towards his own accommodation on the other side of the island.
Ayub Qassim invited Jay back to the remote holiday cottage near the village of Masca after a night out in Playa de las Americas.
“He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive,” he told the MailOnline.
He added: “I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go, his friends had all left him. I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them.
“I’m doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It’s a bit mental. I haven’t even done anything.”
He insisted they had no argument and he had even given Jay a blanket to sleep in. He and his friend - who was also staying at the AirBnb - extended their trip for a day to speak with police before travelling back to the UK.
Spanish police have described the pair as “irrelevant” to the investigation.
Jay Slater is a ‘normal guy’ with a large group of friends, say family
In an emotional statement, his family described him as a “beautiful” boy who had been studying for an apprenticeship at the time he disappeared.
They said: “My son, Jay Dean Slater, came to the holiday island of Tenerife on 13 June with his friend to attend a music festival.
“On 17 June after not returning to his apartment he was reported as a missing person.
“Jay is a normal guy who is in his third year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends.
“We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance.
“Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing. He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him.”
‘Sunglasses could be vital clue in hunt for Jay Slater’
The Daily Mail’s Nick Pisa said he had spoken to a man who had “found a pair of sunglasses” on the gorge, and had handed them in to the police.
Pisa explained to GB News: “I’ve now spoken to an ex-British Army officer who found some sunglasses up there. He was asked not to put them in a plastic bag because of humidity, but to wrap them up in tissue paper, which he did.
“He handed them in and he had to give DNA and his fingerprints. The question is, are they connected to Jay?”
Missing Persons Tenerife group swells as Jay Slater search captures national zeitgeist
The Missing Persons Tenerife Facebook Group has swollen from 340 members to almost 8,000 in a fortnight.
Most, but not all of those joining are British nationals, some of whom are worried about their safety in visiting Tenerife, as well as those having an interest in the Jay Slater case.
Its admin Deborah Clarke-Topper said the spike meant other historical missing persons cases are gaining attention.
She told The Independent: “It is clear that the coverage of the case is building a perception that Tenerife is not a safe destination, and that the police do not act as favourably toward Britons on holiday as they would their own citizens.
“However, I am sure that the Spanish police are extremely earnest in their investigation and reaching a conclusion to it is what they want, regardless of the nationality of the missing person. As long as the case remains unresoved there will be negative perception on the safety of holiday makers.”
ICYMI: Jay Slater machete gang attack victim hits out at internet trolls and urges them to help find teenager
A man who had his “skull split open” in a machete attack carried out by a gang including Jay Slater has broken his silence on the desperate search for the teenager who vanished in Tenerife.
The missing 19-year-old was part of a group of eight people who attacked Tom Hilton, then 17, with a machete, golf clubs and an axe in Rishton, Lancashire, in 2021.
The apprentice bricklayer, from Oswaldtwistle, was handed an 18-month community order with 25 days of rehabilitation activities and 150 hours of unpaid work for his role in the violent disorder.
Read the full story:
Jay Slater machete gang attack victim urges internet trolls to help find teenager
The alleged victim told TikTok trolls ‘Have some respect and help find this boy and get him back to his family’
ICYMI: Jay Slater’s dad blasts ‘being left in the dark’ by Spanish police
Warren Slater, 58, was asked about the investigation today as he searched for the 19-year-old in the ravine where Jay’s phone last ‘pinged’ 16 days ago.
Commenting on the investigation, Warren said: “The police here are doing their own investigations. They’re not really telling us anything, they’re not telling you lot anything, we’re in the dark. They know best. Do you think they should be still searching?
“If it was in England I’d be making a stink, but we’re in a foreign country and we’ve just got to leave it to people who know best.”
Jay Slater’s mother says mystery surrounding her son’s disappearance may never surface
On a Facebook Group designed to share leads into the missing teen, Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan said: “I feel the need to post this to your group and then I shall remove myself. I joined this group to share the positivity and love from the British public. It seems through no fault of my own you have all decided to make up your own minds.
“It is really sad I have felt the need to do this. My beautiful son Jay is still missing and believe me this is no holiday. He came on his first holiday to Tenerife to attend the NRG music event.
“What mystery surrounding his disappearance may never surface. We as a family are truly devastated.
“I did not ask for publicity from the start and was not aware that the first missing poster had my telephone number on it. It should have had the SOS Guardia Civil but like I say this was out of my control. Whatever decision you have in your minds I cannot control this either.”
She added: “We are a normal working family from Lancashire going through hell. I would like to thank the genuine people for their love and support at this difficult time and to continue to pray for Jay to be found. For those of you who are more concerned around the Gofundme page I can assure you that up to now it has not been used and our stay up to now has been financed by ourselves.
“I do have proof of transactions and transfers to other persons but I should not have to justify this. So you can make up your own minds. If any of you in this group have donated I am thankful.
“For the other mothers out there. Please continue to pray. Thank you.”
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