Madeleine McCann investigator offers to help missing Jay Slater’s mum to find out if there was ‘third party’ involvement

AN INVESTIGATOR who worked on the Madeleine McCann case has offered to help in the huge search for missing Brit teen Jay Slater.

Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas carried out a TV investigation into prime Maddie suspect Christian Brueckner.

Jay Slater, 19, has been missing in Tenerife for almost a week

Mark Williams-Thomas – who led a TV investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

Search efforts are now focused around small outbuildings in the Rural de Teno park

Ian Whittaker

Search and rescue climb through the undergrowth[/caption]

This morning the investigator revealed that he had reached out to Jay’s distraught mum Debbie Duncan to offer his services.

Investigative journalist Mark said he believes he would be able to work out quickly whether there was “third party involvement” in Jay’s disappearance.

Jay’s mum has shared concerns that something “untoward” may have happened to her son as the search goes into its seventh day.

Mark posted on X today: “I have this morning reached out to missing Jay Slater’s mum offering the help of my team to get her answers as to what has happened to Jay.

“Lots of speculation about what could have happened and if they give me total access and with feet on the ground I will very quickly be able to say if his disappearance is him alone or if it has third party involvement.”

Mark produced and featured in Madeleine McCann: The Case Against Christian B, a documentary about the toddler’s disappearance in 2003.

He worked as a police officer with the MET for around 10 years and then became a private detective.

Maddie’s parents Kate and Gerry have slammed the former cop before for sharing theories about their daughter’s disappearance.

The Brit teen’s phone last pinged in the Rural de Teno park on the north of the island, where search efforts are focusing around a 2,000ft ravine.

Pictures from the mammoth search op today show rescue workers scouring the sparse brush land around small brick buildings.

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• Jay’s mum gave a tearful plea and said “I just want my baby back”
• Owner of Airbnb where Jay stayed saw him “walking fast” up a dangerous ravine
• Brit cops offered to fly out and help but Spanish officials said no
• Jay’s mum slammed the Tenerife police investigation
• A possible new sighting of Jay placed him 3.5 miles away from where he vanished with two men
• The missing teen’s dad and brother visited the search site
• New video shows Jay at a rave on Sunday night before he vanished

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One firefighter familiar with the area has said it is “strange” that Jay hasn’t been found yet.

Riccardo, from the Brigada Forestal services, told Manchester Evening News: “It’s very difficult to find people here, because of the ravines and the mountains.

“I’ve seen the case and about the missing boy on the internet… but the days are now passing by and it’s increasingly strange that he hasn’t appeared yet.

“The information we have is that Jay [and his friends] were going to a music festival, and afterwards, the last sign of him was around here in the Teno Rural Park.

“I don’t know if he was walking, hiking.. I just don’t know. That’s where I lose the thread.”

Rescue efforts turned their focus on Friday to an area known by locals as “the badlands”, scouring a 2,000ft ravine in the remote park.

Locals and experts warned of the perilous conditions in the area – where the air is “thin”, temperatures change rapidly and the mountains drop sharply to the water below.

As the search enters its seventh day today temperatures are expected to hit as high as 29 degrees.

The UV rating also sits at “extreme” with a figure of 11 and 12 peaking at around 1pm – anything over 11 is classed as extreme and dangerous.

On Friday Lancashire Constabulary offered to help Spain’s Guardia Civil in their efforts to find the teenager.

But Tenerife police rejected the bid and insisted they have the “resources” required to find him.

WHAT HAPPENED TO JAY?

Jay vanished on Monday while on holiday with two friends for the 2024 Tenerife NRG festival.

On Sunday evening he had gone to a rave with those two friends, Lucy and Brad, but left with two new people he’d just met.

After going back to their accommodation near the village of Masca, Jay missed the bus home on Monday morning and was faced with a 10-hour walk.

He made a panicked phone call to Lucy Law to tell her he was lost in the middle of nowhere, his phone was about to die and he needed water.

That was the last anyone had heard of him and at around 9am a missing persons report was filed, sparking the huge rescue operation.

Jay’s devastated mum Debbie Duncan, who flew out on Tuesday, sobbed as she begged for help to find her missing son.

She told ITN in an emotional interview on Wednesday: “It’s just an absolute living nightmare. It’s like a dream – it’s like it’s not happening.”

On Saturday a tearful Warren Slater, Jay’s dad, said “I just want my boy back” as he overlooked the search area with his other son Zak.

Jay’s mum Debbie has slammed the investigation into her son’s disappearance for not allowing British cops to contribute.

The mum also told The Guardian she spent eight hours in a police station as they revealed plans for ramping up the rescue effort.

Two new pieces of information came to light on Saturday – including a possible sighting of Jay after he vanished.

Debbie told Mail Online that a witness went to cops and claimed to have seen Jay sitting on a bench with the pair of men 3.5 miles away from his last known location in Santiago del Teide.

Pictures from Santiago del Teide show the church and bench that Jay was allegedly seen sitting on.

The heartbroken mum said she fears “something untoward” has happened to the teen.

And a shocking new picture of the teen showed him wading through a packed rave hours before he vanished on Sunday night.

New footage on Sunday showed Jay at a rave on Sunday before he vanished.

The Airbnb close to Masca in Tenerife where Jay Slater stayed on Sunday

The church in Santiago del Teide where Jay Slater was allegedly seen on Monday evening