Jay Slater's mum describes 'pain and agony' of missing son in Tenerife
The mother of Jay Slater who went missing in Tenerife says “words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing” after searches failed to trace the missing 19-year-old.
The teenager, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, disappeared on the Spanish island the morning after attending a music festival on 17 June.
His mother, Debbie Duncan, immediately flew out to help with the search, and praised Spanish police force the Guardia Civil for working "tirelessly" to find her son.
But she added she was "aware" of speculation and conspiracy theories around Jay's disappearance, describing them as "vile".
Spanish authorities say "there is no current evidence of criminality" in the case, with his family saying they will not give up hope of finding him.
In the statement issued through the British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global, she said: "We do not have any information on his whereabouts.
“The Guardia Civil have worked tirelessly up in the mountains where Jay’s last phone call was traced.
"They conducted a land search for 12 days which involved every resource they had available.
"Although the land search ended, the Spanish police still continue with their investigations into why Jay had travelled to the location so far away from his accommodation."
She continued: "We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and can only describe this as vile, the negative comments are extremely distressing to our family.
“We also embrace the love and support we have received from across the globe. It has not gone unnoticed, especially his home town in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire."
Jay was first reported missing after he attempted to return to his accommodation after the NRG festival in Tenerife.
He had decided to walk back to the hotel after staying with two people he met at the festival in an apartment in north Tenerife, having missed a bus.
The walk from Jay’s last known location, Rural de Teno Park in the north of the island, to where he was staying would have taken about 11 hours on foot.
His disappearance sparked a huge rescue operation with firefighters, police and mountain rescue all taking to the remote mountainous area to find the apprentice bricklayer, with helicopters, drones and search dogs deployed.
The search was eventually called off on 30 June, after the Guardia Civil had called for volunteers to join a "massive search" in the Masca area.
It saw around 30 rescuers searching three separate locations linked to where Jay's phone last pinged.
The search in the village took in a steep rocky area, including ravines, trails and paths.
He had travelled to an Airbnb in Masca and the two men said to have rented the property were later ruled “not relevant” to the case, according to reports.
Debbie Duncan's full statement:
"My son, Jay Dean Slater, came to the holiday island of Tenerife on the 13 June with his friend to attend a music festival.
“On the 17 June after not returning to his apartment he was reported as a missing person.
“Jay is a normal guy who is in his third year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends.
“We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance. Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing.
"He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him.
“We do not have any information on his whereabouts.
“The Guardia Civil have worked tirelessly up in the mountains where Jay’s last phonecall was traced.
"They conducted a land search for 12 days which involved every resource they had available.
"Although the land search ended, the Spanish police still continue with their investigations into why Jay had travelled to the location so far away from his accommodation.
“We offer our sincere thanks to the Spanish authorities who continue to follow lines of inquiries.
“We would like to say to the press/news/reporters, that although we do not want to lose the momentum of Jay’s disappearance, we really would like to maintain our privacy and crucially let the Spanish police get on with their investigations without hindrance from press.
“We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and can only describe this as vile, the negative comments are extremely distressing to our family.
“We also embrace the love and support we have received from across the globe. It has not gone unnoticed, especially his home town in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire.
“As a family we would like the world to respect our privacy at this present time.”
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