Police in Tenerife say ‘there is no evidence of criminality’ in the disappearance of Jay Slater.
Many social media commentators believe something sinister is at play as the 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, appears to have vanished into thin air.
This has led to speculation that he may have been kidnapped or murdered.
One of his friends believes it’s linked to the theft of a wealthy Eastern European man’s designer watch outside a club in Los Cristianos.
Even his mother Debbie Duncan, who is continuing to search for Jay, said: ‘If he is lost then why hasn’t anyone seen him?
‘It’s busy with hikers and holidaymakers up there so if he was lost then someone would have seen him, so that’s why I think maybe he’s been bundled off somewhere.’
For now they are still treating it as a missing person rather than a criminal case.
An anonymous judicial source said: ‘There is no evidence of criminality at this stage in this case.
‘That’s not to say things won’t change because the case remains open and investigations are ongoing. But right now that’s the situation.’
Brother of man who vanished like Jay give advice to family
Gergana Krasteva
The brother of a man who vanished on the Greek island of Crete in 2005 has urged missing the family to ‘stick together’.
It took 12 years for the remains of Steven Cook, from Sandbach, Cheshire, who was last seen outside a pub in the town of Malia, to be found right at the bottom of a well.
His older brother Chris Cook, said that the teenager’s disappearance in Tenerife had brought back ‘painful and emotional memories’.
He told the BBC: ‘At least we have a conclusion to Steve’s story. He is back, he is buried with my dad now and it is a bit of peace.
‘At least we know we have got him home.
‘It could have been different and I dread to think what they’re going through having been through it ourselves.’
Just like Jay, Steven was also on his first holiday abroad without his parents.
Chris added: ‘The unsubstantiated stuff, the noise in the background, does take your focus away from what you want to be doing. It weighs you down.’
GoFundMe for Jay’s family close to reaching £50,000
Gergana Krasteva
A GoFundMe for the family of the British teenager has surpassed £47,000 in the last few hours.
People who have been watching Jay’s family suffer in the last two weeks as there are still no leads in his case have continued to send money to them in the hope that it will help them through this difficult time.
They have been leaving messages of love and sending their best wishes to his loved ones.
Tanya Murphy wrote: ‘I hope and pray you find your handsome boy soon. I have a daughter similar age and I just can’t stop thinking about you all.’
Samuel Butterworth said: ‘This story has affected me so much, I’m literally having panic attacks about this, it hits so close to home for me.
‘I’m a rave goer and I just empathise so much, I feel everyone’s pain so much and I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for all involved. I want to do more, I know everyone does.’
June Evison, the last person to donate this evening, said: ‘It is utterly heartbreaking what you are going through; I pray you find your Jay. Much love to you all.’
‘No evidence of criminality’ in Jay Slater’s disappearance
Danny Rigg
Some of Jay Slater’s family and friends fear he may have been the victim of crime, but police in Tenerife disagree.
Early in the search, his mother Debbie Duncan said: ‘If he is lost then why hasn’t anyone seen him?
‘It’s busy with hikers and holidaymakers up there so if he was lost then someone would have seen him, so that’s why I think maybe he’s been bundled off somewhere.’
However, police say ‘there is no evidence of criminality’ in his disappearance, but they’re not ruling anything out, journalist Gerard Couzens reports.
An anonymous judicial source said: ‘There is no evidence of criminality at this stage in this case.
‘That’s not to say things won’t change because the case remains open and investigations are ongoing. But right now that’s the situation.’
Bar donates £1,000 to Jay Slater GoFundMe after ‘vile’ Facebook post
Danny Rigg
The Bees Knees in Accrington, Jay’s local area, today donated £1,000 to the missing teen’s family after a ‘vile’ meme was posted on its Facebook page.
It quickly deleted the ‘distasteful’ post and blamed the ‘error’ on an external company it hired to run its social media.
Now it’s looking for a new social media manager after cutting ties with the old one.
This afternoon, the bar shared an update on Facebook saying: ‘We have decided to terminate our contract with immediate effect, after not receiving an adequate explanation into how this happened.
‘Affordable Social were challenged three months ago to improve our social media pages via light hearted humour, good content and sports talk.
‘The post that made it onto the page was neither one of the above and was highly insensitive and deeply offensive.
‘As a business we are utterly gobsmacked that this has happened and how somebody could find good humour in a missing boy.’
The employee who published the offending post no longer works for Affordable Social, which said: ‘An employee posted something that does not reflect our brand standards or our client.’
It added: ‘We sincerely apologise to everyone affected by this incident.’
Jimmy Savile investigator urges Jay’s family to spend GoFundMe on ‘experts in searching’
Danny Rigg
Police in Tenerife may have called off their search for Jay in the mountains, but Jay Slater’s family is keen to keep looking for the 19-year-old.
They’ve received help from Mark Williams-Thomas, a former police officer turned TV investigator, who encouraged them to spend the more than £46,000 GoFundMe pot on their own investigation.
In an update on X, he said: ‘In light of the police search ending, I have suggested the family should use the GoFundMe money to continue the search using experts in searching.
‘I would appeal again, if you have any ‘direct information’ having spoken to Jay or anyone that was with him over night 16/17th and have not yet been in contact please do so.’
Williams-Thomas has made documentaries investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and the crimes of Jimmy Savile.
Last year he threw his hat in the ring when Nicola Bulley went missing, and criticised the police investigation.
— Mark Williams-Thomas (@mwilliamsthomas) June 30, 2024Update : Although the police search in the mountains and around Masca has concluded, the police investigation into Jay Slaterâs disappearance remains ongoing .
In regard to our investigation we have been able to speak to important witnesses and now have a very detailed picture⦠pic.twitter.com/8WfzboS3BK
Jay Slater’s family friend threatens to ‘hunt down’ trolls after bar’s ‘vile’ Euros joke on Facebook
Danny Rigg
Rachel Hargreaves, mother of Jay’s close friend Ben, has once again criticised online trolls after a post mocking Jay’s disappearance was posted on a Lancashire bar’s Facebook page.
Yesterday, the Bees Knees in Accrington, which borders Jay’s home of Oswaldtwistle, shared a photo of Jay next to an image of a football, captioned ‘both not coming home’.
It came the same day police in Tenerife called off their active search for Jay, and hours before England faced Slovakia in the Euro 2024 tournament.
‘How can anyone even share stuff like that’, Rachel posted on Facebook. ‘Very disgusting and very disrespectful.’
She later added: ‘If anyone else posts anything vile about this devastating time or Jay or his family or myself or my son, I’ll hunt them down and they will be in the same situation. No words for this behaviour.’
The bar has apologised and cut ties with the company it hired to run its social media.
It said: ‘We are absolutely disgusted that a post of this nature has made it onto our Facebook pages.
‘As a company we would never support such a distasteful post and as soon as it was spotted it was deleted immediately.
‘We fully understand The damage has now been done.’
Family of Jay Slater hit with ‘ransom demands’
Danny Rigg
Conspiracy theorists and social media sleuths have encouraged the idea that the more than £45,000 raised in a GoFundMe campaign will be used to pay a ‘ransom’.
Some people even sent Jay’s family ‘ransom demands’, according to former police officer Mark Williams-Thomas, who has met the family in Tenerife.
This morning he dismissed them as fake in a post on X after several days making inquiries around the island.
He said: ‘So much fake content has been created in the Jay Slater case – mocked up chat, messages, pics.
‘It’s a very different world we live in today with social media and online detectives.
‘Overwhelming response from people has been very positive people just wanting to help, even though most have no direct info, just what they have read, seen or think..
‘Also a number of people making vile threats and ransom demands ( all checked out and have no credibility).
‘Being a family & friends at the centre of a massive story like this which has attracted worldwide media / public attention brings with it many more new challenges.’
Jay Slater’s family to meet with police who have called off search
Danny Rigg
The family of missing 19-year-old Jay Slater are meeting with Spanish police today, just after officers ended their search efforts.
Jay’s family, who have vowed to continue looking for him, have previously spoken with search teams.
His father Warren Slater, 58, and brother Zak, 24, met the Civil Guard as it launched a ‘last push’ operation with the help of volunteers on Saturday.
Focused on ravines around the Hilda lookout point just north of Masca, where Jay was last seen, it was the largest since search began two weeks ago.
Warren said: ‘What gets me is the trollers who are having a go at us for not searching.
‘It’s not the local park, these are big mountains, the terrain is dangerous, put yourself in our position.
‘Would you go out in these conditions? It’s tough, it’s hard, we are leaving it to the professionals.’
‘Something does not add up’
Gergana Krasteva
An ex-Metropolitan Police officer has warned that ‘something does not add up’ in the case of missing British teenager Jay Slater.
The search for the 19-year-old was called off by police in Spain 14 days after the alarm was first raised.
But Graham Wettone, who worked in the London force for 30 years, told the Daily Mail: ‘I have been following this case closely and discussing it with colleagues and it is certainly a very bizarre one, lots of things just do not add up.’
He added: ‘It seems to me on the face of it that they are just focusing on the mountain, but I would hope they are looking at other avenues and those include criminality.’
In addition, Wettone argued that police should not have dismissed the two British men who put up Jay in their Airbnb the night before he vanished.
The young men who visit Tenerife and disappear
Danny Rigg
Many people have been asking how someone can seemingly vanish into thin air ever since Jay Slater went missing two weeks ago.
But he isn’t the only one to disappear in Tenerife.
Billy Bennett, from Holborn in London, was just 18 when he disappeared during a holiday in Tenerife in 1985.
Two years later, fellow Londoner Ricky D’Cotta, 23, vanished, leading his friend to suspect he was murdered.
Kevin Ainley, 24 and from Lancashire, vanished during the Euros in June 2004, having last been seen walking towards the Sportman bar where he worked.
Peter Wilson’s body was found two years after the 34-year-old fell down a steep drop beside a shopping centre in Playa de las Americas in March 2019.
Ryan Cooney, a 28-year-old from Ireland, was fortunately found several days after he disappeared in November last year.
Spanish police criticised for dismissing British Airbnb guests as ‘irrelevant’
Danny Rigg
Since Jay Slater went missing after leaving the £40 Airbnb of two British men he met at a rave, questions have swirled about who they are and what they know.
Former police officer Mark Williams-Thomas, who met Jay’s family in Tenerife sought to find and speak to them despite them already talking to police.
Local Spanish officers investigating Jay’s disappearance ruled them out as a result.
Cipriano Martin, head of the island mountain rescue unit, said: ‘Those men have been spoken to and they don’t have any relevance whatsoever for the case.’
But a retired Scotland Yard officer who investigated missing persons cases has urged police to revisit them and seal off the Airbnb to gather evidence.
Graham Wettone told MailOnline: ‘I think after almost two weeks searching and with nothing found, the Spanish police should go back their starting point and take another look.’
Mountain rescue urges people ‘not to risk their own safety’ to find Jay Slater
Danny Rigg
Friends, family and amateur sleuths flocked to Tenerife to join the search effort.
After scouring steep ravines as deep as 2,000 feet, Tenerife’s mountain rescue teams called off the hunt today.
But Jay’s family has vowed to continue looking for the 19-year-old, and it’s possible others will continue their own efforts.
Brigadier Cipriano Martin, chief of Tenerife Civil Guard’s mountain rescue unit warned well-wishers about the dangers posed by the rugged landscape.
Speaking to the BBC through a translator, he said: ‘There are difficult areas and we’ve given instructions for people not to risk their own safety.
‘But there’s something we need to make clear, which is any area we don’t go to, well, Jay won’t have gone there either.’
Jay Slater’s family aren’t giving up on search for the missing teenager
Danny Rigg
Local police and rescue teams may have called quits on their search for the missing 19-year-old, two weeks after he disappeared in Tenerife.
This has left Jay Slater’s family ‘heartbroken and devastated’.
But they haven’t given up hope, vowing to continue looking for him, despite no signs emerging from a ‘large-scale’ hunt over the weekend.
Close friend Rachel Hargreaves, who joined the search on the Spanish island, said: ‘Nothing has changed. We will continue to search for him.’
Jay’s family are ‘heartbroken’ after search called off
Liam Coleman
According to The Sun, his family are said to be ‘heartbroken’ and ‘devastated’ that police have decided to end their search.
Parents Debbie and Warren, as well as brother Zak, are feeling a ‘sense of bewilderment. that Jay remains missing on Tenerife, the paper reports.
Teen’s disappearance possibly linked to designer watch theft
Danny Rigg
One of Jay’s friends has claimed the theft of a wealthy Eastern European man’s designer watch could be linked to the 19-year-old’s disappearance.
It reportedly led to a dispute outside a club in Los Cristianos, a southern Tenerife resort where Jay had been staying on holiday.
But the Civil Guard declined to comment on whether whether it is actively investigating whether there is a tangible link.
Although Spanish police claim ‘nothing has been ruled out’, they still define the case as a missing persons inquiry rather than a criminal probe.
Search for Jay Slater ends nearly two weeks after he vanished
Danny Rigg
Mountain rescue teams, police, sniffer dogs and drones have been searching rivers, ravines and rural villages since Jay Slater disappeared on June 17.
But they have now called off the active search nearly two weeks since he went missing.
A well-placed source said: ‘Nothing of any relevance was found during yesterday’s large-scale search.’
Going forward they will only act on tip-offs about what remains an open case.
The source said: ‘If any information comes in that merits a new search though it will be acted upon.’
Jay Slater’s dad takes aim at online trolls
The father of 19-year-old Jay Slater has made a statement amid the ongoing search today, the Mirror reports.
Speaking about the search today, Warren Slater, 58, said: ‘It’s a bit disappointing that there are no British apart from [British TikTokker] Paul, but I suppose to them he’s just a British lad who’s come out here and got drunk.
‘I’m grateful to those who have come out here because you can see just how dangerous it is and what gets me is the trollers who are having a go at us for not searching.
‘It’s not the local park, these are big mountains, the terrain is dangerous, put yourself in our position would you go out in these conditions? It’s tough, it’s hard, we are leaving it to the professionals and I’m grateful for those who have turned out today and I want to thank them for what they are doing.’
He went on: ‘We just still can’t believe it; it’s been so tough on us, and I want people to think about us as parents and what we are going through. All those trollers having a go at us, they don’t know how we feel, why don’t they come up here and have a look and see for themselves how dangerous it is.
‘I’ve come up here now myself because I wanted to have a look about with Zak and to thank those who are up here and have given their time. I just didn’t think this would go on for so long, I dropped his mum and brother off at the airport and thought they would be back in a few days.
‘I just thought he’s gone out had a drink and ended up at some girl’s place as we all did when we were younger, he’s our youngest I just want him home.’
Amazon attracts criticism for sale of Jay Slater conspiracy theory books
Tech giant Amazon has been slammed for listing books that proffer conspiracy theories on Jay Slater’s disappearance.
Sellers on the platform appear to have used AI apps to produce the texts, the Mirror reports.
One blurb reads: ‘This is a heart-wrenching and uplifting tribute to a life that was gone too soon but will never be forgotten. His disappearance left a gaping hole in the lives of those who loved him and a community that was forever changed.’
‘As they searched for answers, they discovered that Jay’s legacy was far greater than they ever could have imagined. Join us on a journey to uncover the truth about Jay’s disappearance, and discover how his legacy continues to inspire and uplift those who knew him.’
Speaking with the newspaper, Chantal Kortcz of charity Missing People said: ‘The disappearance of Jay Slater calls for our united support. Let’s be mindful of our words and actions, which includes not pre-empting the outcome of the ongoing search for Jay, that this listing on Amazon may imply.’
Only six people turn up to search mission
Gergana Krasteva
Only six volunteers turned up in today’s search for the missing teenager from Lancashire.
Spanish police had appealed to experienced hikers to join the mission in the village of Masca, but only a handful of people actually showed up.
Juan Garcia, 53,was one of those who joined the efforts in Tenerife to locate Jay.
The army reservist who is volunteering with his dog, Caperucita, told the Manchester Evening News that the search area is ‘like a labyrinth’ and that it could take years to find the missing Brit.
He said: ‘If you search, maybe we are lucky and we find him.’
Juan added that searches for missing people in terrain like this can take ‘years’.
Mountain rescue team chief: ‘Any area we don’t go to, Jay won’t have gone there either’
Katie Boyden
Brigadier Cipriano Martin, chief of the Guardia Civil’s mountain rescue team, said Jay would not have travelled to ‘any area we don’t go to’.
Speaking through a translator, he said: ‘There are difficult areas and we’ve given instructions for people not to risk their own safety.
‘But there’s something we need to make clear, which is any area we don’t go to, well, Jay won’t have gone there either.
‘You have to think about it logically – if I see there’s vegetation in front of me and I’m going to get spiked, and I can’t get through, then he won’t have gone through that area either.
‘We have to be logical, obviously.’
Asked if the sea can be reached directly from the search area, he said: ‘You can reach the sea, in fact last Saturday I went along the whole path – there are old paths which are only occasionally used because it’s a cliff with very little attraction for sporting purposes.
‘But you can reach the beach along them, so I reached the beach.
‘We didn’t find anything. It’s a path that goes above and not along the bottom of the cliff, it has drops, and what’s needed are ropes to get down and we also know he was not equipped for that.
‘There are rocky drops that you cannot get beyond, you can only get down with a harness and ropes – the people searching that spot today will have to turn around I think, because they don’t have the necessary equipment, and anyway the best that Jay could do was simply to walk.’
