Jay Slater 'unlikely to have survived' in 'immense' mountain wilderness of Tenerife, police fear
27 June 2024, 15:40
Tenerife police fear that Jay Slater is unlikely to be found in the "immense" mountain wilderness where rescuers are searching.
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Lancashire apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, got lost on Tenerife in the early hours of June 17, sparking a massive search.
Friends and family have flown out to help with the hunt, and over £36,000 has been raised in support - some of which is set to be given to the rescue teams.
But police are said to fear that they may never find Jay in the "immense" mountains of the area north of the Masca gorge, ten days on from when he vanished.
There has been no discussion yet of bringing the search to a close.
A source told the Sun: "No-one at the moment is talking about the search being brought to an end, even though it’s very unlikely Jay has survived if he got lost in the mountains in the way we were told he did.
"There will be a point when the operation that’s taking place at the moment has to at least be scaled back but right now the search teams appear to have decided they want to give themselves more time.”
A spokesman for the police said: “The Civil Guard is continuing to search for the young British man who disappeared, carrying out inspections of all the paths, trails and ravines belonging to the village of Masca within the municipality of Buenavista del Norte."
Jay was last heard from by his friend Lucy on June 17 after leaving a rave. He headed to Masca with two men he had met that night.
Jay told his friend he was lost in the middle of nowhere with no water and had just one per cent battery on his phone.
When she told him to return to where he had walked from, he said he did not know where that was. He sounded disorientated and explained that he was "in the middle of mountains" with "nothing around".
Some locals claim to have seen him since, including a supposed sighting of him watching the Euros, but this has not been confirmed.
His mother Debbie Duncan and her son's friends flew out to Tenerife to assist in the search efforts, alongside his ex-girlfriend Jessica Ingham. His father has also flown out.
Ms Duncan said on Thursday that she was with withdrawing some of the cash sent to the fundraiser.
She said the withdrawn money would go on support for the rescuers, food and accommodation - as well as flying out the "loved ones" of the "wonderful people" who had come out to Tenerife to be with her.
Ms Duncan said in a message to supporters: "First, I would like to thank everyone for your support, kind messages, and good wishes.
"It’s difficult to wrap our heads around what is happening right now, but we are not losing hope that we will find Jay and return home together."
She added: "We are currently working with GoFundMe to withdraw part of the funds, which are being safely held. I wanted to share that these funds will be used to support the mountain rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay.
"Additionally, since our stay in Tenerife needs to be extended, we will also use the funds to cover accommodation and food expenses.
"I'm surrounded by wonderful people who are by my side, but far from their loved ones, so we'll also be using part of these funds to fly them to Tenerife so we can support each other during these dark times.
"Thank you again for all your donations and support, this means the world to us."
