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4 months ago
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IT IS the case that has gripped the nation.
The disappearance of Jay Slater on his first lads’ holiday abroad has left cops in Tenerife baffled as the hunt for the 19-year-old enters its 13th day.
Ian Whittaker
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Jay’s family have pinned hopes he is still alive on a grainy CCTV image taken ten hours after he was last seenFor British parents, the fact a teenager can seemingly vanish without trace on a family-friendly island reflects their worst fears, while young people have grown obsessed with the case on social media.
Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, just outside Blackburn, Lancs, vanished after a night out at the NRG festival at Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas on June 17.
While pals Lucy Mae Law and Brad Hargreaves went home after the event, Jay travelled with two men he had just met to an Airbnb in the north of the island in the Rural de Teno park.
The next morning, he called Lucy to reveal he had missed a bus and was walking back to his apartment — a journey that would take more than ten hours by foot.
In a frantic call, Jay is said to have told Lucy he desperately needed a drink, his phone only had one per cent battery remaining and he had cut his leg on a cactus.
Separately, Brad yesterday revealed a second call in which his pal told him that he had veered off the main path – leading to speculation he may have slid down rocks.
Since then, there have been several alleged sightings of Jay, but no real leads.
His devastated family, including mum Debbie Duncan, have flown to the island to help search for him.
As the days go by, the case seems ever more intriguing and police say Jay’s criminal past is being examined as part of the investigation.
We look at the clues that could help unlock the key to the mystery.
THE PINGING PHONE
THE last person Jay had contact with was pal Lucy Law, who partied with him and his friend Brad Hargreaves after they flew out to the island on holiday.
They had been at the NRG festival and Lucy went home before 3am.
Jay stayed on, then travelled 45 minutes in a hire car with two men he had just met to an Airbnb near Masco in the Rural de Tene, a national park in the island’s north.
He posted a Snapchat picture at the £40-a-night digs at around 7.30am.
It appeared to show him holding a cigarette and walking down some stone steps.
At around 8.30am, Jay called 18-year-old Lucy in a panic, saying he wasn’t able to catch a bus and was going to start walking back to his flat.
Lucy says Jay told her his phone was almost out of power, that he had cut his leg on a prickly cactus and he badly needed a drink.
His phone went dead at 8.50am near a hiking trail in the park.
Lucy told reporters she found Jay’s disappearance “weird and suspicious”.
Earlier, search teams narrowed their efforts to a small group of buildings close to where Jay’s phone last pinged, but found nothing.
Spanish cops yesterday called on volunteers to help with the hunt.
They asked firemen and mountain experts to assist searching ravines and trails near the village of Masca.
BUS STOP RIDDLE
THE sister of the woman who owns the Airbnb Jay visited was the last person to see him alive.
Ofelia Medina Hernadez told cops she spotted him standing at a bus stop shortly after 8am and he asked the time of the next service to Los Cristianos.
Ofelia said she saw Jay walking along the road “normally but a bit quickly” some 15 minutes later.
Mum Debbie Duncan insists he would not have wandered from the main road, saying: “He isn’t stupid.”
The question remains why Jay did not wait for the cheap bus.
And if his phone was out of battery, why didn’t he return to the Airbnb to charge it?
DUO WHO DISAPPEARED
TWO men Jay travelled to the Airbnb with suddenly cut short their holiday after he went missing.
They were originally booked to stay at the property from June 15 to June 24, but flew back to Britain the day after Jay vanished.
It has since been revealed they are from Luton and one goes by the nickname Johnny Vegas.
Local sources say cops took pictures of their passports before they returned home.
Investigator Mark Williams-Thomas, a former detective who worked on the Madeleine McCann case, has flown to Tenerife to offer help to Jay’s family.
He claims the two men spoke with Jay outside the Papagayo nightclub on Veronicas strip before driving him to their accommodation.
Mark said Jay’s family is desperate for the duo to come forward as witnesses as “they are not currently assisting”.
He described one of the men as around 6ft, stocky, with short dark hair, wearing an orange wristband and drinking Hennessy cognac.
DEATH THREATS
WITHIN hours of arriving in Tenerife, Debbie was sent a Snapchat message which convinced her he might have been abducted.
It read: “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money.”
Could the message be from a gang member connected to Tenerife’s drug trade or someone pulling a hoax?
It rattled Debbie, 55, who said: “I think he’s been taken against his will.”
HIS FRIENDS
LIKE every missing person’s probe, cops will be looking closely at who can assist — including Jay’s friends.
The teen flew to Tenerife with Brad, 19, and Lucy, a well-travelled student who has spent a lot of time in Tenerife, according to her Instagram.
Brad revealed for the first time yesterday that he had also spoken to the teen on the morning he vanished.
He said Jay video-called him and he could see his feet sliding down a hilly area.
It’s not known why the information is only now being made public.
Brad told This Morning: “He was on the phone walking down a road and he’d gone over a little bit — not a big drop — but he was going down.
“He said ‘I’ll ring ya back, I’ll ring ya back’ because I think someone else was ringing him.
Brad said he knew Jay was off-road because “I could hear, like, when you walk on gravel stones.”
He added that his pal put his phone location on and said he would be getting a taxi back to Los Cristianos.
Brad’s mum Rachel knows Jay’s mum Debbie and is currently in Tenerife offering support but it is not known how Jay knows Lucy or how long they have been friends.
Rachel, a chef from Accrington, Lancs, gave an interview to Sky News about the rescue efforts but chose not to show her face and only the back of her head.
Lucy has since gone to ground.
Rachel added that her son was “not really coping” since Jay went missing.
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Ian WhittakerCHEQUERED PAST
SPANISH cops revealed Jay’s criminal past is being explored as a possible line of inquiry.
In 2021, he was part of a gang of eight who attacked Tom Hilton, then 17, with a machete, golf clubs and an axe in Rishton, Lancs.
He got an 18-month community order with 25 days of rehabilitation activities and 150 hours of unpaid work, which he had finished before his holiday to Tenerife.
DRUG LINKS?
Pictures and videos of Jay at the NRG rave show him wearing a black bag with thick straps around his neck.
Even when images show him dancing topless in the searing heat, the bag remains with him.
At one point he is seen wandering around the dancefloor, looking around at other partygoers.
It has led some to wonder what the bag contained and whether Jay could have been selling drugs that evening.
Could that also explain the interest of the two strangers who took him back to their home?
Mark Williams-Thomas said the Tenerife drugs scene could potentially play a role in the disappearance.
He said: “You get out of your car and, within 30 seconds, you are offered every kind of drug imaginable — and that is an alarming aspect.
“There is no doubt an undercurrent of drugs, but I can’t tell you if that has had a direct impact.
“In the last 24-48 hours, information has come to light that gives rise to concern that drugs are a worrying aspect here.
“This is a line of inquiry.”
VITAL WITNESS?
JAY’S family have pinned hopes he is still alive on a grainy CCTV image taken ten hours after he was last seen.
They believe the figure, wearing a T-shirt and shorts like those the teen had on at the NRG festival, could be Jay.
The image was taken in Santiago del Teide, a 17-minute car journey from where Jay was last seen.
It tallied with a witness who said he had seen someone matching Jay’s description sitting on a bench in the town with two men.
Jay’s father, Warren, believes his son could be the person in the film and has been putting up missing posters around the area.
The question remains that, if it is Jay, why is he unaware of the huge police operation to find him — and why has he not contacted family?
EUROS SIGHTING
LOCALS in the town where the CCTV emerged claimed they spotted missing raver Jay watching the Euros football AFTER he vanished.
Mayor Emilio Jose Navarro said investigators had spoken to several people who alleged Jay watched the Euros “on the coast”.
He said: “Locals have told me they have heard from others that they saw someone looking like the boy in a bar at Los Gigantes.
“I have no idea if it was him and I have no idea in which bars he was seen.
“I don’t know if the police have been there.”
FAMILY’S FEAR
JAY’S mum Debbie has faced a huge social media backlash, with trolls calling her the “new Karen Matthews” because she hasn’t broken down in public.
Matthews was involved in a plot to profit from faking the 2008 “kidnap” of her daughter Shannon, nine.
Spanish police say they are “keeping an open mind” over what has happened to Jay, but it is extremely unlikely they are looking at family, who weren’t even on the island when he went missing.
TV psychologist Emma Kenny said the criticism levelled at Debbie is unfair, adding: “These comparisons to Karen Matthews seem to be that she isn’t showing the ‘typical’ signs of distress others expect.
“However, she is exhausted, in a completely atypical emotional landscape, while constantly having to deal with the Press, which is overwhelming.
“Tears are not a ‘one size fits all’ reaction, and many people use different coping strategies.”
JAY’S SOCIAL MEDIA
WITHIN days of Jay vanishing, his Instagram appeared to be active. Loved ones say someone logged into his account. However, Jay last used the site in 2021 and it appears to be the work of a hacker.
Mum Debbie complained that twisted Brits with “northern accents” were calling her phone from hidden numbers.
Armchair detectives have been creating bizarre conspiracy theories around his disappearance too, many involving Morrocan drug gangs.
GOFUNDME SCAMMERS
SCAMMERS tried to cash in on Jay’s disappearance by setting up fake GoFundMe accounts.
Brad Hargreaves’ mum warned against donating to an account in her name.
The genuine page, set up by Jay’s friend Lucy, has so far raised more than £39,000.
Debbie was forced to defend the appeal after cruel trolls asked how it would benefit the search for Jay.
She said she was talking to GoFundMe about using some cash to compensate loved ones who travelled to Tenerife to join the search.
One of the missing person posters that have been posted across TenerifeIan Whittaker
Jay in good spirits in one of his last Snapchat images
Ian Whittaker
English (US)