Fresh mystery as Jay Slater cops investigate ‘theft of Rolex’ hours before teen vanished amid ‘final push’ search today

4 months ago 4

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COPS are set to kick off a huge new search operation today as the mysterious case of missing British teenager Jay Slater takes another turn.

Tenerife authorities are now investigating a fresh lead after opening up a probe into the theft of a Rolex watch which took place just hours before Jay, 19, vanished.

Jay vanished almost two weeks ago in Tenerife[/caption]

Cops are set to kick off a huge new search operation today[/caption]

Friends of Jay are now fearing he may have slipped off the mountains near Masca Tenerife[/caption]

Jay was seen partying at a club in Tenerife before a fight is said to have broke out outside involving a Rolex as cops probe the fresh lead[/caption]

A fight is said to have broke out outside the Papagayo Beach Club, where Jay seen partying on June 17, shortly after it closed.

An Eastern European man involved in the scuffle allegedly had his pricey Rolex watch stolen, report the Daily Mail.

It is unclear exactly how Jay’s disappearance can be linked to the ordeal but officers are examining CCTV footage from the security cameras to see if they can spot the teen.

It comes as one of Jay’s pals who has flown to Tenerife to help in the search told detectives the early morning chaos may have led to the Lancashire lad wandering off on his own to try and find the watch.

Cops announced they would be starting a “massive search” for the missing teen over the weekend.

With many believing thus weekend could be the final push in trying to track down Jay.

Alongside volunteers, the Civil Guard confirmed plans to retrace Jay Slater’s last known steps, beginning at the village of Masca.

In a statement, police said: “The massive search will be carried out on Saturday, 29 June from 9am.

“Bearing in mind that this is an abrupt, rocky area, full of unevenness and with a multitude of ravines, paths and roads, the collaboration of all those associations of volunteers who can help in this raid that is intended to be carried out in a directed and coordinated manner is requested.”

Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, just outside Blackburn, vanished after a night out at the NRG festival at Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas on June 17.

He was last seen travelling with two men he had just met to an Airbnb in the north of the island in the Rural de Teno park.

The morning after he made a final frantic phone call to pal Lucy Law to tell her he was stranded in the “middle of nowhere”.

Panicked Jay, facing an 11-hour walk back to their hotel, told her he needed water and only had one per cent of battery left on his phone.

His other friend Brad Hargreaves revealed a second call in which Jay told him that he had veered off the main path – leading to speculation he may have slid down rocks.

Brad said he could hear the missing teen slipping on rocks during a final video call.

The disappearance sparked a desperate round-the-clock search with his heartbroken mum and family jetting out to the island to join the hunt.

Rescue crews focused their efforts around the 2,000ft Masca ravine close to Jay’s last known location – the desolate Teno Nature Reserve.

On Thursday, they shifted their focus to caves near Los Carrizales – around an hour and a half on foot from the Airbnb Jay went to with the two men.

Police sources say it would be “very unlikely Jay has survived” if he got lost in the mountains.

It comes as…

Deluge of tip-offs flooding in for Jay appeal
Search for Jay hones in on series of caves
GoFundMe page for his family hits £40,000
Crews fear he won’t be found alive if he vanished in mountains
Tenerife worst place to go missing, expert warned before Jay went missing
Ex-top cop who tracked down Raoul Moat reveals search theory
Jay was attacked by gang when he was just 12
New pics of Jay emerge at a pool party two days before he vanished
Cops quiz locals who ‘saw Jay watching Euros’
Investigator reveals descriptions of two men who partied with teen
Crews scour exact spot where mystery ‘grainy figure’ was seen

Apprentice bricklayer Jay had flown out to Tenerife with friends Lucy and Brad for the New Rave Generation (NRG) festival, which ended on Sunday.

His final Snapchat picture was an out-of-focus image of a hand holding cigarettes in Buenavista del Norte, which sits within Rural de Teno park, at around 7.30am on Monday.

It was taken at the location he went to with the two men he met at the club – with haunting pictures showing the inside of the Airbnb.

His last known location was the Teno Rural Park on the northwest of the island – a popular hiking spot for tourists.

It is claimed he was spotted “walking alone” by locals before his disappearance.

Jay was sharing the room at a three-star apartment complex with pal Brad, and police, who promised to keep an “open mind” about his disappearance, scanned his accommodation for clues.

Last week, Lancashire cops offered to fly out and help with the search, but Spanish authorities refused.

Debbie slammed the Tenerife investigation for not accepting their offer, and said she spent eight hours in a local police station looking at their plans to find him.

She expressed fears something “untoward” had happened to her son.

Speaking from Tenerife, the worried mum said her son may have been spotted with two men some ten hours after he was last seen on Monday morning.

She revealed a witness went to cops and claimed to have seen Jay sitting on a bench with the pair of men 3.5 miles away in Santiago del Teide.