Tenerife is worst place to go missing as it’s plagued by search failures, expert warned BEFORE Jay Slater case

TENERIFE cops were warned over a soaring number of disappearances before Jay Slater vanished.

The Sun can reveal authorities were told two years ago their resources were insufficient and were urged to improve them after repeated failures.

Jay Slater, 19, has been missing since last MondayTim Stewart

Reuters

Search crews have been scouring the island for the teen[/caption]

Ian Whittaker

Detectives have so far found no trace of Jay[/caption]

SOS Desaparecidos

Sebastian Cobos Gonzalez, two, has been missing since March 21[/caption]

SOS Desaparecidos

His mum Mariel González Gutiérrez, 27, also vanished[/caption]

Jay, 19, is one of 11 people who have gone missing in Tenerife in just six months.

The coordinator of SOS Disappeared in Tenerife, Santiago Carlos Martín, told how “families feel abandoned” during hunts for their loved ones.

Mr Martín, who leads a group of around 40 volunteers, said: “There are many who have disappeared in the Canary Islands and the number has increased since the pandemic.”

He and his team have called for more multidisciplinary teams to be on standby to help with searches.

These would include not only the police, but emergency workers, health experts, psychologists and other professionals who could form a more accurate picture of why someone might have gone missing.

Between 2020 and 2023, official data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior reveals at least 460 adults went missing in that period on the Canary Islands.

That is the highest number per capita in the whole of Spain.

Speaking in 2022 Mr Martin said: “There are many disappeared in the Canary Islands and the number has increased after the pandemic.

“We are at the head of the country, and we are not clear why.

“Perhaps the orography or the social structure have an influence, but we don’t know.”

The most pressing issue, according to Mr Martin, is geolocation.

He said: “One of the big problems is that the police often take time to geolocate the telephone numbers of the disappeared person due to bureaucratic procedures that act as a barrier.

“The time in a disappearance is important and the process is too complex, which wastes many days.

“And they are vulnerable people: elderly, minors, with cognitive problems, mental health or with a history of suicide.”

Mr Martin said, in his experience, there were three groups of people who tend to disappear.

The first, he said, are those suffering from mental ill health, the second are those who run away from centres, and the third are those who disappear due to the action of third parties. 

According to Mr Martin family members have complained that they lack emotional and institutional support during the process. 

And those whose relatives are found still do not receive it when “they would really need it,” Mr Martin said.

Sharing a comment Jay’s mum, Mr Martin said: “Hope is the last thing a human being can lose”.

The national president of SOS Disappeared, Joaquín Amills, believes a good relationship between those leading the search and the families is key.

“The number and increase in missing persons and the many unsolved cases in the islands are striking,” he previously warned.

His idea is to link different experts to work together to improve the chances of finding missing people or getting answers for their families.

Mr Amills added: “There are fewer resources here and to change that we all have to work together.

“If there is a missing person in Seville, help can come from other Andalusian province

“It would be interesting to bring back the training courses that stopped due to Covid.

“The time in a disappearance is important and the process is too complex, which wastes many days.”

SOS Desaparecidos

Belgian national Marc Francis, 71, vanished on April 24[/caption]

SOS Desaparecidos

Noelia, 17, was reported missing on January 23[/caption]

SOS Desaparecidos

Natalia Belavus, 28, and her son were reported missing in March[/caption]

Jay, 19, has been missing for 11 days and was last seen on the north of the island.

After going to a rave that finished in the early hours of June 17, Jay, from Lancashire, headed to Masca with two British men he had met that night.

He shared a final Snapchat from their Airbnb of a hand holding a cigarette at 7.30am.

Jay then tried to make his way back to his holiday accommodation – an 11-hour walk away.

But at around 8.50am he made a final frantic call to friend Lucy, telling her he was lost in the “middle of nowhere” with no water and had just one per cent battery on his phone.

It sparked a mammoth search operation involving helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs that has so far drawn blanks.

Rescue crews have been focusing their efforts on the 2,000ft Masca ravine in the north, where his phone last pinged a nearby cell tower.

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It comes as…

• Jay’s mum Debbie withdrawing GoFundMe cash to fly supporters out to Tenerife
• 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
• Tenerife cops plan TV appeal as they hunt for clues
• Pals blast conspiracy theorists and TikTok sleuths
• Jay’s mum says she’s ‘barely slept’

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He is one of several Brits who have vanished on the vast island.

Kevin Ainley, also from Lancashire, disappeared 20 years ago this month.

The 24-year-old had been working in the tourist area Playa de las Americas.

On the day of his disappearance, Kevin went to bars with friends before having dinner.

He was last seen walking towards the Sportsman bar and when he failed to show up for work, his friends raised the alarm.

No trace of Kevin has ever been found, and his personal belongings and passport were found at his apartment.

Meanwhile, Peter Wilson, 34, was found dead almost two years after he vanished.

The dad-of-two took one wrong turn on his way home from a night out at Playa de las Americas.

He was last seen close to where a taxi dropped him off.

Search crews failed to find Peter, and his heartbroken family often travelled to the island in a desperate bid to find him.

His body was eventually discovered almost two years later and it was revealed he had fallen down a steep drop.

But Ricky D’Cotta, who disappeared in 1987, has never been found.

The 23-year-old, from London, went to the island that March for the club scene and found work in one of the pubs.

He phoned his family in the October to tell them he’d be home soon – but was never heard from again.

Ricky’s passport and bag were handed in to police shortly after he vanished.

His best friend claimed he was killed after a robbery went wrong.

DNA testing was done on five bodies found on the island, but all proved inconclusive.

The whereabouts of Billy Bennett also remain unknown to this day.

The 18-year-old vanished in December 1985 after going to Tenerife alone when his friend dropped out of the trip.

His pal later went to the island with his girlfriend, but said he only saw Billy a handful of times.

He claimed on one occasion Billy seemed “worse for wear” and had lost all his money and had no where to stay.

Billy was last seen on December 1, and has not been found since.

Kevin Ainley has been missing for 20 years

Peter Wilson’s body wasn’t found for almost two years

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Ricky D’Cotta disappeared in 1987 has never been found[/caption]

Collect

Billy Bennett vanished in December 1985[/caption]