Jay Slater missing – latest: Police issue update on mystery men seen with teen and ‘probe Rolex theft lead’

Spanish police haved called for volunteers as they carry out a new large-scale search in northern Tenerife

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

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 do not have any relevance whatsoever for the case.”

It comes after it was reported local police were investigating a scuffle outside Papagayo Beach Club - where the Mr Slater was before the night he disappeared - in which an Eastern European man allegedly had a Rolex watch stolen.

It is unclear exactly how Mr Slater’s disappearance might be linked to the incident - but officers are reportedly examining CCTV footage from the security cameras.

The teenager was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with shorts and trainers, and his phone shows his last location as the Rural de Teno park at 8.50am on Monday 22 June.

Key Points

• Mystery British men of ‘no relevance’ to investigation
• Police ‘investigate stolen Rolex lead'
• ‘Massive search’ for missing teenager set to begin
• Friend says he could tell Jay Slater ‘went off the road’ before disappearing
• Teen’s mother announces she is withdrawing money from fundraiser

[29 June 2024 08:34 · Alexander Butler]

Mapped: Jay Slater’s last know whereabouts

[29 June 2024 07:00 · Holly Evans]

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.

Read the full article here:

[29 June 2024 06:30 · Vishwam Sankaran]

Why people go missing on Tenerife

Jay Slater is reportedly the 11th person to disappear from Tenerife island this year.

The tourist location has the second-highest number of missing people in Spain with 11 missing in 2024 alone, according to ABC News. Locals say people go missing in the islands every year and may disappear for “months”.

The area has numerous mountains, valleys, cliffs and very deep ravines.

Police fear the teenager may have got lost in remote mountains.

There are people wondering how anyone could be missing on #Tenerife for nearly a week. Well, these images are #Teno where there are few people and many ravines. It isn’t difficult to get lost in there and not meet another person pic.twitter.com/sbVNIf8p28

— Jack Montgomery (@JackMwriter) June 23, 2024

“We often have hikers go missing, every summer it is the same. Police come for a week and search and then they go – sometimes it can take months for a body to be found as the mountains are too difficult to search,” a local woman Anita, identified only by her first name, told The Independent.

[29 June 2024 06:00 · Vishwam Sankaran]

ICYMI: What we know about Jay Slater’s last moments

British Teenager Jay Slater was attending New Rave Generation music festival, a three-day event at Papagayo nightclub in the Spanish island Tenerife before he went missing.

Lucy Law, the friend travelling with him, posted on a GoFundMe page that the teenager left with two people he had met at the festival to go to their apartment on the last day.

“Their apartment was miles away from civilisation and in a very secluded location,” Ms Law said.

On Monday morning, she said she got a call from Mr Slater, saying he had missed the bus and planned to walk back, a journey that would have been an 11-hour trek.

On his way, Ms Law says the teenager was “lost in the mountains”.

“He wasn’t aware of his surroundings, he desperately needed a drink and his phone was on 1 per cent,” Ms Lucy said.

“His last location was on an off-road track, which was a 10-hour walk from his hotel,” she said.

The teenager reportedly had no water with him for his trek, and no suitable clothing for the cold at night or warmth in the morning.

“It was 1 degree and extremely windy when I was out looking in the middle of the night,” Ms Lucy said.

The teenager’s last recorded phone location was in the mountainous Rural de Teno National Park at 8.50am on 17 June.

[29 June 2024 05:30 · Holly Evans]

‘Jay Slater’s parents will be fearing the worst - I know because my son went missing in Ibiza’

The father of a young yachtsman who went missing in Ibizia more than four years ago says Jay Slater’s parents “will start fearing the worst” in their desperate search for their son.

Mark Garland rushed to get a flight to the Spanish island with his two daughters and other son after he received a call to say his son, Ben, had disappeared while filming waves near Portinatx.

The family, joined by several of Ben’s friends, spent two weeks with police during a major search operation that centred on the rocky coastal point the 24-year-old had left his motorbike on 21 January, 2020.

Read the full article here:

[29 June 2024 05:00 · Vishwam Sankaran]

Charity calls out Amazon for selling books with Jay Slater conspiracies - report

Amazon has been called out by the charity Missing People for cashing in on the hype about missing teenager Jay Slater and peddling books with conspiracy theories about his disappearance.

The teenager has not been heard from since the morning of 17 June, and local police are still organising searches in the harsh terrain he was last known to have been in. However, even as the search continues for the boy, some sellers have released books spouting conspiracy theories about the missing teenager, The Mirror first reported.

Some of these books, according to the report, were even written using artificial intelligence. The release of such AI-authored books capitalising on growing trends has increased in recent years.

After being criticised, Amazon confirmed that one such book is no longer available for sale on the e-commerce platform.

[29 June 2024 04:30 · Holly Evans]

Are TikTokers and Facebook sleuths drowning out actual leads in the hunt for Jay Slater?

Fake rumours of a body being found in the hunt for Jay Slater had spread like wildfire across Facebook, TikTok and other social media sites as thousands of users share disinformation.

A mocked up Facebook post from one of the Slater’s family inner circle was shared with the message: “Jay’s body has been found. Our hearts are with his family in these evil times, we’ve heard from locals it was the job of the Morrocans [sic].”

The mother of Jay’s best friend Rachel Louise Harg, who also set up the GoFundMe page to go towards search efforts, was forced to amplify the cruel prank as she distanced herself from it, insisting the official update group: “This isn’t me.”

Read the full article now:

[29 June 2024 03:30 · Holly Evans]

Debbie Duncan withdraws GoFundMe to help search

Earlier this week, his mother Debbie Duncan, who travelled to the island following his disappearance, said money raised online would be used to support mountain rescue teams, and to cover her own accommodation and food costs.

Donations flooded in after GoFundMe appeal “Get Jay Slater home” was set up by Lucy Law, his friend and the last person to speak to him, and by Friday more than £40,000 had been raised.

In an update on Thursday, Ms Duncan said: “We are currently working with GoFundMe to withdraw part of the funds, which are being safely held.

“I wanted to share that these funds will be used to support the mountain rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay.

“Additionally, since our stay in Tenerife needs to be extended, we will also use the funds to cover accommodation and food expenses.”

[29 June 2024 02:30 · Holly Evans]

Jay Slater was ‘sliding’ down the hill, says friend

On Friday, Mr Slater’s friend Brad Hargreaves told ITV’s This Morning he had been on a video call with him before his disappearance when he heard him go off the road.

He said: “He was on the phone walking down a road and he’d gone over a little bit – not a big drop – but a tiny little drop and he was going down, and he said ‘I’ll ring ya back, I’ll ring ya back’ because I think someone else was ringing him.”

He confirmed he could see his friend’s feet “sliding” down the hill and could hear he was walking on gravel.

But, Mr Hargreaves said he and his friend were both laughing at that point.

He added: “He didn’t seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was.”

He told the programme he still had hope for Mr Slater and was “praying” for him to come home.

[29 June 2024 01:30 · Holly Evans]

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 article here: