Jay Slater missing - latest: Teenager's mother says search is 'no ...
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The mother of missing Jay Slater has issued a impassioned response to trolls who have questioned the spending of money raised for the search.
In a post on the official Jay Slater Missing Facebook group, Debbie Duncan said: “My beautiful son Jay is still missing and believe me this is no holiday.”
Ms Duncan and her family flew out to Tenerife to join the search after the 19-year-old went missing on 17 June.
Nearly £50,000 has been raised on a GoFundMe page to find the teenager, and the money will be used to support searches, paying for accommodation, equipment and other essentials.
After some questioned the spending of money, Ms Duncan responded on Facebook.
“For those of you who are more concerned around the Gofundme page I can assure you that up to now it has not been used and our stay up to now has been financed by ourselves,” she said.
Mr Slater had attended the NRG music festival on the Canary Island on Sunday June 16, before he went back to an AirBnb around an hours drive from the festival with two men he had met.
He left the property early on Monday morning and called his friend at 8.50am to say that he was lost in the Rural de Teno park with no water and only had one per cent battery on his phone.
Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was last heard from on Monday, 17 June, as he told a friend he planned to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus, a journey expected to take around 11 hours on foot.
He had travelled to the tourist hotspot with friends to attend the music festival in Playa de Las Americas in what was his first holiday without his family.
Here we look at everything we know about the case
Alex Ross6 July 2024 01:00
Barney Davis5 July 2024 22:33
The last person to hear from Jay Slater was his friend Lucy Law who having not spoken about the case publicly for two weeks shared a picture of her with the teenager on Instagram.
Lucy had been with Jay at the NRG rave festival, but left early, with Jay staying on after meeting two British men. He later stayed at their AirBnb in the remote Masca valley but left their accommodation at around 8am to travel home.
Ms Law was the last to hear from the teenager when he called her at 8.50am on Monday.
Alex Ross5 July 2024 22:00
Jay Slater’s mother has thanked a local hiking group who have been helping search for her missing son.
A message on an official Facebook group reads: “Debbie and family would like to thank the local hiking group who have worked tirelessly planning routes and searching for Jay they are extremely overwhelmed with the kindness of them all.
“Thank you.”
Barney Davis5 July 2024 21:11
Brad Hargreaves travelled out with Jay Slater to Tenerife to attend the NRG music festival - and has found himself the subject of internet trolls.
In response, he wrote a message on Instagram in which he hit out at the conspiracy theories circulating.
“Thinkin I’m involved in it all is beyond me,” hr wrote.
“We’ve been mates for years, came on our first holiday together and unfortunately this has happened.
“We ain’t drug mules or whatever.... peple need to know the facts before talking sh** on the internet...”
Alex Ross5 July 2024 20:00
Search and rescue teams coming to Tenerife following the vanishing of Jay Slater can come “without any problem”, said the Guardia Civil.
But they must notifiy the authority “for good management of information and resources”, according to Sky News.
Guardia Civil has also said they have not yet had a request from a search team.
Alex Ross5 July 2024 17:00
We’ve spoken to TikToker and hiker Callum Fahim, who flew out to Tenerife to support Jay Slater’s mother in the search for her 19-year-old son.
He received money from Debbie Duncan for accommodation, but has now ended his search and is now back at home in London.
Alex Ross5 July 2024 15:41
TikToker and keen hiker Callum Fahim has been out in Tenerife searching for Jay Slater.
He got involved after seeing the appeals online and wanting to offer help to the family.
Mr Slater had gone to stay with two people he had met at the NRG music festival and, having missed the bus back on the morning of 17 June, embarked on what would have been an 11-hour walk back to his accommodation.
Asked if searching helped him understand what was going through the missing teenager’s mind, Mr Fahim said: “Truthfully coming up that mountain as you get up further it gets hot, the air gets really thin and you struggle to breathe, then it turns hot then cold then hot again.
“It makes you think you’re really ill - like you have some horrendous fever.
“I don’t think personally without transport or a phone you could make it up here. You go into the middle of it the road vanishes and all you can see is the volcano.
“I would be confused if I didn’t know where I was going. I’m not scared. I always say, ‘I look a little soft but I can handle myself 100%.’”
Alex Ross5 July 2024 13:56
Jay Slater’s mother was asked about the efforts of TikToker and keen hiker, Callum Fahim, who has been out searching on the island for any trace of the 19-year-old.
He attracted international attention when Mr Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, named him as one of the people she would be giving some money from the GoFundMe donations to.
But speaking to Sky News, Ms Duncan said they wanted to save the funds to pay for specialist search and rescue teams likely to cost thousands of pounds.
She said: “We appreciate every single person who’s come out. He’s a hiker. We don’t need hikers, we need experts.”
Alex Ross5 July 2024 12:37
In a statement on the GoFundMe appeal Get Jay Slater Home, which had raised almost £50,000, Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan thanked the “vast” generosity of donors, saying her family are “grateful for all of your support and kindness during this unimaginable time”.
Ms Duncan wrote that part of the funds will be used to support volunteers hunting for Mr Slater in the mountains near to where his last phone call was traced.
She went on: “We are currently looking after Paul Arnett, putting together a package of any equipment and essentials he needs and going up to do a drop for him.
“We are also supporting Callum Fahim and his group with accommodation and other essentials.”
Alex Ross5 July 2024 11:40
