Friends and family of Jay Slater 'drained beyond words' as helicopter and dogs join hunt in Tenerife
The family and friends of missing Jay Slater say they are “drained beyond words” as the search for him enters its fifth day - with a helicopter and rescue dogs now involved.
The 19-year-old last made contact with friend Lucy Mae Law on the morning of 17 June, telling her he "didn't know where he was" and needed water, after beginning an 10-hour trek back to his hotel.
He had gone to stay in an area on the north of the island with people he had met on a night out following the NRG music festival.
Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, in Lancashire, was last seen getting into a silver car with the new friends, before ringing Lucy the following morning to tell her he had missed the bus and was walking home.
When he failed to return home the alert was raised, with emergency services on the island drafting in helicopters, rescue dogs and drones to continue the hunt.
In a Facebook post, administrator of the “Jay Slater Missing” page, Rachel Louise Harg said family and friends of Mr Slater were in a “living nightmare”.
She said: “There isn’t an update for anyone unfortunately.
“Struggling to find words at this time but all I can say is we are looking still and everyone is doing all they can.
“We are drained beyond words – I just can’t say no more, I wish I could.
“I wish this would end now, this living nightmare.
“Searches are ongoing and we remain positive.
“Thanks to you all supporting and helping we can’t thank you any more, much love.”
On Friday, search and rescue personnel joined officers from the island’s Guardia Civil near the village of Masca where they appeared to focus on a specific area of overgrown terrain.
Some officers used binoculars to survey the landscape before heading towards the bottom of the hillside.
Search teams paid close attention to a river called Barranco Madre del Agua at the bottom of a ravine, where personnel with sticks carefully searched through fallen dead palm trees.
On Thursday, a helicopter flew over Rural de Teno park in the south of the Spanish island as search teams followed various footpaths in the area.
Footage released by the Guardia Civil on Thursday showed the views from the helicopter as it scoured the hillside.
The video, posted to the force’s X account, showed officers searching in bushes and overgrown terrain with dogs.
Jay's mum, Debbie Duncan told ITV News she regrets encouraging her son to go on the holiday to Tenerife, and, having been saving up for the music festival, he was really looking forward to it.
"I was loving that he was going and saying you'll love it, you'll come back and you'll want to go again," she said.
"Now I just wish I hadn't encouraged him to go."
His friend Lucy criticised Spanish police for their "lack of urgency" when she first reported Jay missing.
She said: "I got the phone put down on me by the Spanish authorities so I went to speak to them in person. I’ve had my phone stolen before, and they gave me the same slip of paper.
"They told me I’d get a call within 48 hours, but obviously the 48 hours after a person goes missing can be the most crucial.
"I’ve tried to report a 19-year-old is missing with no phone no water he’s never been in this area. There definitely needed to be more urgency."
"It’s been awful - I’ve never felt so awful in my life," she added. "None of us have slept the last few days.
"The last thing he said to me 'I really need a drink'."