Jay Slater: Police call off search for missing teen in Tenerife

Comment on the photo, Jay Slater, pictured with his mother Debbie Duncan, was on his first holiday abroad without his parents

Police on the Spanish island of Tenerife said the search for missing British teenager Jay Slater has stopped.

The Tenerife Civil Guard told the BBC: “The search has ended. Yesterday was the last day of the search.”

A family friend on the island said they would continue the search and were looking for people with rescue experience to help.

Police conducted a new search operation on Saturday, with the help of dozens of emergency workers, near the village of Masca, in the Rural de Teno National Park.

A spokeswoman for the Civil Guard confirmed that the search for Slater was no longer “active”, telling Reuters that “the case is still open and there are several lines of investigation.”

Since the teenager went missing nearly two weeks ago, Spanish authorities have deployed helicopter crews, specially trained search dogs and drones.

Rachel Hargreaves, the mother of Mr Slater’s close friend Brad Hargreaves, is in Tenerife to support his family.

“We are continuing to search ourselves,” she told the BBC.

She said the family would speak to Spanish authorities on Monday to find out more about their investigation into the disappearance.

Image source, Nick Garnett/BBC

Comment on the photo, Police say that although the search has been called off, the case remains open.

The search included valleys and steep rocky terrain surrounding the small village where Mr Slater was last seen.

But by Sunday morning there were no emergency vehicles or personnel in Maska.

The Oswaldtwistle construction apprentice was attending the NRG music festival on June 16, and friends said they were in the tourist hotspot of Playa de las Americas when he was seen getting into a car with two British men he had met earlier in the night.

The next morning, June 17, he appeared in a photo posted on Snapchat at 07:30 GMT at an Airbnb apartment in Maska, which the two men were reportedly renting.

Investigators have spoken to the couple and they are “not connected to the case in any way.”

Image source, Muhammad Madi/BBC

Comment on the photo, Jay Slater’s father and older brother put up posters in the town of Santiago del Teide at the foot of the national park.

He was last heard from just before 09:00 GMT in Rural di Teno Park, where he called a friend to tell him he had missed the bus and was trying to make the 10-hour walk back to their accommodation in the south of the island.

His best friend, Brad Hargreaves, told ITV’s This Morning programme he received a video call from Mr Slater at around the same time, where he appeared to be sliding off a set track, and the call showed his feet on rough ground.

“He called me as I was walking up the mountain and told me he was coming home.

“At the time I didn’t think anything of it, I just thought he would take a bus home or a taxi home because that’s what he says he’s going to do.

“Next thing you know his phone died, and it’s been 10 days now and nothing has happened since.”

Comment on the photo, The area near where Mr. Slater was last seen is difficult to navigate.
Comment on the photo, Latest known movements of Jay Slater on Tenerife.

Ms Low’s GoFundMe campaign, “Get Jay Slater Home”, had raised more than £43,000 by the time the police search was over.

Mr Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, travelled to the island while the search was being conducted.

She said the money raised online would be used to support mountain rescue teams, and cover their accommodation and food costs.

Speaking to the BBC earlier, Mr Slater’s mother said: “He’s just a nice, fun guy with hundreds of friends who love being in his company.”

“It’s amazing, it’s beautiful. It’s my baby.”

Lancashire Police referred BBC questions about calling off the search to the Guardia Civil, saying its role was to support Mr Slater’s family.

What we know so far

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