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 donations to hire “experts” to continue the search for the missing 19-year-old.

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 its thirteenth day.

His family have vowed to carry on looking for him despite authorities bringing the search to an abrupt end.

TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who worked on the Nicola Bulley case, 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 TikTok sleuth claimed to be following an unofficial “new clue” while authorities reigned in their efforts.

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. 

He told MailOnline: “There have been some new developments and these sunglasses could be key.”

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 21:34 · Barney Davis]

Pub makes £1,000 donation to GoFundMe after crass joke on social media

Bees Knees Accrington, which friends said Jay Slater visited, posted a disturbing joke mocking the teen vanishing during the Euros.

The pub has said they have severed ties with the social media firm Affordable Social posting on their behalf after uproar from family friends of Mr Slater.

They have made a £1,000 offering to the fundraiser becoming the largest donator.

A statement read: “Affordable Social were challenged three months ago to improve our social media pages via light hearted humour, good content and sports talk.

“The post that made it onto the page was neither one of the above and was highly insensitive and deeply offensive. As a business we are utterly gobsmacked that this has happened and how somebody could find good humour in a missing boy.”

(PA/Reuters)

[1 July 2024 21:30 · Athena Stavrou]

Ex-British police urges Spanish authorities to look into Jay Slater’s bank accounts

A former Scotland Yard detective has urged Spanish police to look into Jay Slater’s bank accounts as the search for the 19-year-old is called off.

Graham Wettone also said he hoped the Civil Guard had at least secured the AirBnb Jay was at to collect evidence.

He told MailOnline: “They seem to be focusing primarily on the fact that they were told he wandered off into the mountain, but we are now almost two weeks in, and nothing has been found up there.

“I would hope that they have at least secured the Airbnb because if evidence is there then it will need to be gathered.

“But to be honest, I would even go back further to the days leading up to his disappearance - have they checked his bank accounts for anything untoward in the hours before he went missing.”

[1 July 2024 20:00 · Athena Stavrou]

GoFundMe nearing £50k mark

The official fundraiser for Jay Slater is nearing the £50,000 mark as his family are advised to use the funds to continue the search privately.

As of noon on Monday, the GoFundMe stands at £46,680, with a total of 3.9k donations.

The Tenerife Civil Guard calling off the search does not appear to have deterred people from donating. Questions have previously been raised about how the funds would be used, with Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan assuring they would be used to cover family and friends’ costs as they look for Jay.

TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas said had advised the family to continue their search privately.

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.”

[1 July 2024 19:30 · Barney Davis]

Jay Slater’s parents don’t want police ‘to give up on' teen

Jay’s family, including his mother Debbie and father Warren, 58, have vowed to stay in Spain until Jay is found despite the official police search being called off.

A source close to the family told the Mirror: “The family want to be sure the police aren’t giving up on Jay. They are in constant contact with them about the case.”

TV investigator Mark Williams-Thomas, who is helping the family, had said: “They have been talking to the police most days and are speaking to them again today.”

(Supplied)

[1 July 2024 18:30 · 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 17:30 · Athena Stavrou]

Search volunteer following new lead

An amateur TikTok sleuth has said he is following a new unofficial “new clue” in the Jay Slater case a day after authorities ceased searching

TikTok climber Paul Arnott has been searching for Jay in Tenerife and claimed 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.

He said family members had been informed and given the sunglasses and told the MailOnline: “There have been some new developments and these sunglasses could be key.

“They were found by an army guy called Chris who lives here. I don’t want to go into too much detail yet but the family have them and are looking at them.

“They could be Jay’s they are very similar to ones he has and we are waiting to see. It could be very significant.”

[1 July 2024 16:24 · Athena Stavrou]

Jay Slater: Everything we know about the Briton missing in Tenerife

Worried relatives and friends are still searching for a sighting of British teenager Jay Slater after he vanished on the island of Tenerife.

The 19-year-old was on his first ever holiday without his family when he vanished as he walked back to his accommodation last Monday morning.

He had gone to stay with two people he had met at the NRG music festival and, having missed the last bus back, embarked on what would have been an 11 hour walk.

Read the full story here:

[1 July 2024 14:50 · Athena Stavrou]

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 14:20 · Athena Stavrou]

Jay Slater’s friend reveals details of final phone call

One of Jay Slater’s closest friends has revealed details of a phone call which took place shortly before he disappeared in the mountains of Tenerife.

An emotional Brad Hargreaves said that he heard the teenager sliding on gravel and that he had encouraged him to order a taxi, after they realised he had travelled miles away from their accommodation.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Mr Hargreaves said that he could also hear Mr Slater’s feet sliding on the rocks, signalling to him his friend “went off the road... That’s how I knew he went off the road because, you know when you walk on gravel, or whatever it is, you can... you know what I mean, stones.

“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 you back, I’ll ring you back’ because I think someone else was ringing him.

“If he was thinking like me, he would have gone back up and started walking on the path again… He wouldn’t have gone all that way down there.”

(This Morning)

[1 July 2024 13:48 · Athena Stavrou]

TV detective continues investigation as police finish search

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.”