Missing Teen Desperately Searched for over a Week – Major Concern about His State Revealed

The family of 19-year-old Jay Slater is desperately seeking answers after the teenager went missing in the mountainous regions of Tenerife, Spain. Jay, an apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire, disappeared on the morning of June 17, 2024, after attending a high-energy music festival.

The youngster’s sudden vanishing act has left his family and friends in distress, spurring an extensive search effort involving local authorities and volunteers. Jay was last seen walking into the mountains north of Masca village, after staying at a remote Airbnb with two men he met at the NRG music event.

His father, Warren Slater, 58, and brother, Zak, 24, have flown to Tenerife to assist in the search. On the seventh day of searching, Warren expressed his confusion and heartbreak, stating that Jay’s disappearance “doesn’t make sense.”

“It started out as a lad who had gone walking and got lost, or that he may have fallen. But it doesn’t make sense. Nobody would walk off that road. Why would he have gone uphill? It’s dangerous; it’s a massive mountain. It’s not just a hill,” Warren said, emphasizing the unlikely nature of Jay’s chosen path.

His family, putting up missing posters in Santiago del Teide, remains bewildered by the mysterious circumstances surrounding Jay’s disappearance. The search has been intensive, with mountain rescue teams, local police, the Civil Guard, and fire crews combing through the Teno Rural Park.

Despite their efforts, Jay’s whereabouts remain unknown. A possible sighting reported by Jay’s mother, Debbie Duncan, described someone resembling Jay near a church in Santiago del Teide, approximately 7 kilometers from Masca. This sighting, however, is yet to be confirmed by authorities.

The family, along with friends, has been distributing flyers and sharing a still image of someone who might be Jay. Rachel Hargreaves, a family friend, stated that the police are investigating every lead, no matter how small.

“We have to take each lead and act on it. Having been up there ourselves, and after all the searching, we get the impression that he can’t be there. We are six days in, but doing all we can to bring him home,” she said.

Jay’s dad, in an emotional interview, conveyed the torment his family is experiencing. “The last few days have been a nightmare, just a nightmare,” he said, fighting back tears. He hopes that someone has helped Jay off the mountain. “I just want my boy back,” he pleaded.

Warren and Zak visited the exact location where Jay’s phone last pinged, a remote gorge above Masca village. They were joined by other family members and friends, who spent hours with search teams, trying to understand the search process and hoping for any sign of Jay.

The teenager’s last known contact was with his friend Lucy Law, to whom he mentioned needing water and that his phone battery was at one percent. Search teams are currently focusing on a 30-kilometer area, including the Masca Gorge, La Vica, and Las Portelas.

Helicopters, drones, and search dogs are being used alongside foot patrols to scour the rugged terrain. Despite these extensive efforts, the case remains baffling. Firefighter Riccardo, part of the search team, described the situation as “increasingly strange.”

He said, “It’s very difficult to find people here, because of the ravines and the mountains. The days are passing by… but he still hasn’t appeared.”

The rugged and remote nature of the area, combined with the intense heat during the day and cold temperatures at night, adds to the challenge of the search.

The last person to speak to Jay was a local resident, Ofelia Medina Hernandez, who informed him about a bus scheduled for 10 a.m. She added that he set off, and she later drove past him “walking fast.”

Former Head of Lambeth Missing Persons Unit, Mike Neville, shared his concerns about Jay’s condition. He explained that the area is hot during the day and cold at night, posing significant risks, especially since Jay was last seen in festival attire. “We can only hope that he is just very, very dehydrated somewhere,” Mike said.

Mike highlighted the complexity of the terrain, noting that while aerial searches are ongoing, the dense woodland and ravines make it difficult to spot someone from above. He stressed the importance of ground searches by police officers, volunteers, and park rangers, alongside search dogs.

“The Spanish police have published quite detailed analysis of where they’re going to search, focusing on three ravines,” Mike noted.

“This area of Tenerife is quite wooded. There are so many places that somebody could have laid down to rest or take shelter, and it’s not so visible from the air. So, whilst the Spanish police are making use of helicopters and drones, they’re really reliant on humans – either police officers, volunteers, or park rangers – and dogs to try and locate Jay Slater,” Mike added.

The local community and friends from Britain have rallied around the Slater family. They have been assisting in distributing posters and sharing information on social media, urging anyone with information to contact the authorities.

Rachel praised the efforts of the mountain rescue teams and expressed the family’s determination to find Jay. “We aren’t giving up. He’s an intelligent boy; nearly a fully qualified bricklayer. He would’ve stood out like a sore thumb up there and somebody would’ve seen him,” she said.

Jay’s mysterious disappearance has brought together a community determined to find him. As the search enters its second week, the determination of the search teams and the support of the community provide a glimmer of hope.

We previously reported on Jay Slater’s disappearance and the desperate last phone call he made. You can find the details below:

Teen Vanishes After First Holiday Abroad with Friends – His Desperate Final Phone Call Revealed

A desperate search is continuing to find a missing British teenager in Tenerife. Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, vanished after traveling to the Spanish island for a music festival with his friends. The search has entered its fourth day today, Thursday, June 20, 2024.

Jay, 19, was last heard from on Monday morning, June 17, when he called his friend Lucy at around 8 a.m. His phone died shortly after.

Lucy recounted that Jay had spent the night with new acquaintances on the island, but their apartment was “in the middle of nowhere.” When he set off to walk back the following morning, his phone ran out of battery.

“He’s gone on a night out, he’s gone to a friend’s house, someone that he has met on holiday. One of the people he has met has hired a car out of here, so he’s driven them back to his apartment and Jay has gone there not realizing how far away it is. He’s ended up out in the middle of nowhere. Jay was obviously thinking he would be able to get home from there [sic],” said Lucy.

“But then in the morning he’s set off walking, using his Maps on his phone and ended up in the middle of mountains with nothing around. He rang me at about 8 o’clock morning saying his phone was on 1 percent, he said ‘I don’t know where I am, I need a drink and my phone is about to die [sic],'” concluded the youngster.

Lucy added that police had dispatched mountain rescue teams to the area where Jay was last tracked.

“I’ve never been so worried in my life. I was there all yesterday, a lovely lady messaged me on Facebook and said she had hired a car and would drive me up there. We were there all of yesterday, we were driving around looking around everywhere, looking in all the nooks and crannies [sic],” added Lucy.

Despite these efforts, there has been no sign of Jay. Authorities tracked his phone to the National Park of Teno, a popular hiking area near the village of Masca, where he was last seen.

Jay’s mother, Debbie Duncan, and his older brother, Zac, flew to Tenerife on Tuesday, June 18, to join the search. Debbie shared her fears that Jay might have taken a wrong turn during his trek back from the remote apartment.

“It’s really worrying. It feels like a blur at the moment,” said 63-year-old Andy Watson, Debbie’s partner. “Jay is street wise, but if it was dark and he had no torch, he could have become more lost.”

The search area has shifted multiple times. Initially, police focused on the southern part of the island near Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas, where Jay and his friends were staying. However, they have since redirected their efforts back to the north, near Masca.

The situation has been compounded by disturbing prank calls. Debbie received anonymous calls from individuals claiming to have Jay and demanding money. “It’s sickening. People ring and say they have Jay because he owes them money,” she said.

Despite these hoaxes, Debbie remains focused on finding her son. “I want to keep this in the news because it increases the chances of Jay being found safe.”

Authorities, including mountain rescue teams and helicopters, have been mobilized to locate Jay. The Foreign Office is supporting his family during this difficult time. A regional emergency coordination center reported that Jay was first reported missing at 9:04 a.m. on Monday.

Police have searched Jay’s holiday apartment for clues to his whereabouts. Officers entered the room he was sharing with a friend at a three-star apartment complex in Los Cristianos, in the south of the island. Debbie expressed her fear that something bad had happened to Jay and that he was being held “against his will.”

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