Almost a month has passed since the teenager vanished.
The body of a man believed to be missing British tourist Jay Slater has been airlifted by helicopter from an ‘inaccessible area’ on the Spanish island of Tenerife, 29 days since he vanished.
The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, disappeared on June 17 in the mountainous terrain of the Rural de Teno national park.
Jay had been attending the three-day NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas with friends. His disappearance sparked a massive search, which was suspended just two weeks later.
Spanish police have now confirmed that human remains have been found in the remote Masca area, in north-west Tenerife.
Although formal identification has not yet taken place, charity LBT Global said the teenager’s clothes and possessions were found alongside the body, close to his last known location.
The charity, which supports the families of British people missing overseas, said: ‘LBT Global is saddened to announce that a body found in Tenerife does look to be that of Jay Slater.
‘It is understood the body was found close to the site of his mobile phone’s last location.
‘Although formal identification is yet to be carried out, the body was found with Mr Slater’s possessions and clothes.
‘A post-mortem examination and forensic enquiries will follow.
‘LBT Global are supporting the family at this distressing time and ask for everyone to afford them space and privacy to come to terms with the news.’
Jay had stayed at an Airbnb near Masca, the night before he vanished.
In a statement, police said he may have died due to ‘an accidental fall in the rough and inaccessible area where he was found’.
A spokesperson for the force said: ‘After 29 constant days of searching the lifeless body of the young man has been found in the Masca area.
‘The discovery has been possible thanks to the tireless and discreet search carried out by the Civil Guard over these 29 days.
‘Everything is pointing to the body being that of the young British man who disappeared on June 17, pending full identification.
‘Initial inquiries are pointing to him having suffered an accident/fall in the area where he was found.’
Jay was last seen by a resident of Masca, just after 8am on June 17.
He was walking northwards along the road out of the village after stopping to ask her for directions as he tried to get back to his accommodation in southern Tenerife.
His phone last pinged near to a look-out point where search teams gathered on June 29 to begin the last day of the operation.
It was not immediately clear today where the body had been found, but the force said it was found at an ‘inaccessible area’ close to that location.
Members of a mountain rescue team from the Spanish Civil Guard discovered the body near the village of Masca on Monday.
The GoFundMe page set up by Jay’s friend Lucy Law has seen a surge in donations following news of the discovery, and has since surpassed £50,000.
It comes as Jay’s mum Debbie announced they had used some of the funds to hire an expert search team from the Netherlands just hours before the discovery.
In the statement posted this morning, Debbie Duncan said: ‘We are still here in Tenerife searching daily with the help of volunteers and local hiking groups. As you all know the Guardia Civil gave up the land search after 12 days.
‘We have been actively working with search and rescue teams and we can now confirm that we have a team of experts flying in over the weekend from the Netherlands, who will carry on the search with their specialist dogs.
‘We are only able to fund this with the generosity of all those who donated. The team are the Signi Zoekhondon and this has taken lots of planning to get them over so thank you so much for your kindness.’
Sunday, June 16
Jay Slater attends the NRG music festival at the Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas with his friends, including Lucy Law, 18, and Brad Hargreaves, 19.
Monday, June 17
Jay leaves the party and gets into a car with two men – including Ayub Qassim, 31, and another unnamed man – he had met in the days prior.
They drive to an Airbnb some 40 minutes away just north of Masca, a village in the mountainous northwest
7.30am – He posts a picture on Snapchat showing him wrapped in a blanket, holding a cigarette, at the doorway of a property, tagged with the location Parque Rural de Teno.
He is seen wearing a grey T-shirt with a green stripe.
8am – Ofelia Medina Hernandez, owner of the holiday let, spots Jay standing at a bus stop outside the property.
He asks when the next bus south to Los Cristianos is and she signals 10am. She then drives past him minutes later walking uphill along the road, in the opposite direction to Los Cristianos.
8.15am – Jay calls his friend Brad Hargreaves, who encouraged the teenager to turn his location on and order a taxi instead of facing ‘a 14 hour walk’.
Brad heard a sound ‘like when you walk on gravel’, suggesting Jay had left the road, before another call came through and Jay said ‘I’ll ring you back, I’ll ring you back’.
8.50am – The teenager makes a final phone call to his friend Lucy Mae Law, telling her he has missed his bus.
He says he is ‘in the middle of mountains’ with ‘nothing around’, and that he needs water. Then the phone cuts out, with his battery dying.
According to the last location on his mobile phone, he is at Rural de Teno Park, a mountainous area of a national park, around 10 hours’ walk from his apartment complex.
9.04am – Police in Tenerife are alerted, and Jay’s friend Lucy contacts the British Embassy.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.’
2pm – His friends begin circulating a description of Jay, including the clothes he was wearing.
Tuesday, June 18
Jay’s friends begin searching the mountainous area where his phone last pinged his location. There is still no trace of him.
Spanish police and mountain rescue teams begin searching as well. Sniffer dogs and a helicopter are also deployed to the scene.
Ayub Qassim and his friend return to the UK after speaking with police who say ‘they don’t have any relevance whatsoever for the case’.
11.35am – Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan and brother Zak board a flight to Tenerife.
2.30pm – Debbie posts an appeal on Facebook, pleading that anyone with information about her son’s whereabouts to contact her.
Wednesday, June 19
The search is briefly moved to the Los Cristianos area due to a potential sighting, but the lead is ‘discounted’. The operation in the national park is resumed again.
Local residents living in Tenerife begin to distribute missing posters in the hopes of finding Jay and bringing him safely home.
Thursday, June 20
There is still no sign of the teenager, and a scarcity of any leads about what has happened to him.
His friend Lucy launches a GoFundMe page to pay for the living costs of his family while they are in Spain.
Friday, June 21
Lancashire Police confirms it has offered to help the search but says that Spanish Police are ‘satisfied that they have the resources they need.
Conspiracy theories about his disappearance begin to circulate in a Facebook group focused on tracing him.
Some speculate that Jay may have been kidnapped. Others suggest he could be in hiding.
Saturday, June 22
Police, rescue dog teams and firefighters continue combing the mountainous terrain at Rural de Teno National Park
Jay’s mother issues a direct plea to her son, saying: ‘We just need you home’.
Debbie is contacted about a potential new sigting of her son with two men not believed to be known to him.
He is described in this sighting as looking ‘a bit worse for wear’, but police are yet to confirm this.
Sunday, June 23
A new video reportedly showing Jay partying in Papagayo nightclub with his top off begins circulating on TikTok.
There are fears that Jay’s Instagram account was ‘hacked’ after a mystery sign in.
Rachel Louise Harg, who runs the Jay Slater Missing page on Facebook, said: ‘Jay’s mum’s asked I post this. For everyone asking who has logged into his Instagram account, it’s not him [Jay] or her [his mother], somebody else has logged into it.’
She added: ‘Some people are actually this sick in the head, there are people hacking my accounts and Jay’s family’s, making it pure lies and pretending we are all in it.’
On Sunday afternoon, police narrowed down the search area to a number of small buildings near where his phone last pinged.
Monday, June 24
Jay’s family appear to have ‘switched off all phone and cut contact’ as they’re swamped by media requests and other attention.
That’s according to Mark Williams-Thomas, a former police officer who helped expose Jimmy Savile’s crimes in an ITV documentary.
Williams-Thomas arrives on the island, promising he ‘will get to the bottom of this in three days’.
A video emerged of Jay, before he vanished, staggering to his feet at a rave with a t-shirt hanging around his neck as others turn their heads to look at him.
His family hope another image – a grainy CCTV still – might show Jay walking near a church said to be in Santiago del Teide, near the northwest coast of Tenerife, 10 hours after his mobile phone last pinged.
It’s also near where a man claims he saw Jay sat on a bench with two men near a church around the same time on the evening of Monday, June 17.
Four of Jay’s friends from Oswaldtwhistle have flown out to join the search, and his dad, Warren, has been back out looking for him, saying: ‘It is a living hell.’
Tuesday, June 25
More sniffer dogs were flown in from Madrid to help comb the trail Jay was last heard from.
While there were no developments in the search, police rescued another tourist found during the search for Jay.
A 51-year-old man from Scotland was reportedly pulled from a ravine on Friday in the remote Rural de Tene national park after locals alerted the police.
Jay’s friends slammed false claims that his body ‘has been found’ after a viral TikTok video alleging so.
A friend of Jay’s, Rachel, who has since changed her name on Facebook and removed her profile picture, shared a screenshot of the video with caption ‘This isn’t me!!!!! This is NOT true.’
Saturday, June 29
A handful of local and British volunteers respond to an appeal to join a search of the area of Jay’s last location, possibly the largest operation since he went missing.
Police, firefighters, mountain rescue, drones and sniffer dogs are used in the search of ravines, rivers, buildings and caves. No sign of Jay is found.
Sunday, June 30
The active search of the area where Jay disappeared is called off. Police say they are still investigating the case, reviewing CCTV and following up on tip-offs.
Jay’s ‘heartbroken’ family say they ‘will continue to search for him’.
Monday, July 1
Jay’s family speak with police to get an update on the investigation and encourage them to keep looking for the 19-year-old.
Police say there is ‘no evidence of criminality’ but say they aren’t ruling anything else.
Emilio Navarro, the mayor of Santiage del Teide, where some believe grainy CCTV footage showed Jay to be hours after his last sighting, said the investigation continues.
Tuesday, July 2
Two men are spotted removing blue protective covers from their shoes as they exit the Airbnb in Masca. They identify themselves as ‘judicial police’.
Further uphill in the national park, where teams had been extinguishing wildfires, park rangers said they are keeping an eye out for Jay but no resources are assigned to an official search.
Jay’s family release a statement thanking Spanish authorities and the public for their support, criticising conspiracy theories, and asking the press for privacy.
Mark Williams-Thomas releases an update after returning to the UK, having met Jay’s family and spoken to some key witnesses.
He claims Jay bragged about stealing a ‘£12,000 Rolex’ in a Snapchat sent during the car ride to the Airbnb, which he later left ‘feeling scared’. He claimed Jay refused to return to the Airbnb, against his friends’ advice.
But, like police, Williams-Thomas ‘ruled out a hostage/kidnapping situation’ and said there is no evidence of ‘third party criminal involvement in Jay’s disappearance’.
He appealed to landowners in the Rural de Teno national park to check outbuildings on their property in case Jay is there.
Wednesday, July 3
Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan announces in a GoFundMe update that she will use some of the more than £48,000 donations to supply equipment, essentials and accommodation to volunteers searching for Jay.
Some of it would be used to support Spanish rescue teams, she said.
The identity of one of the men Jay went to the Airbnb with – Ayub Qassim – is revealed by MailOnline, which published his name, photo along with details of his Airbnb booking, which had not been publicly available.
Qassim responds by saying: ‘Jay came to the house alive, and he left the house alive… I haven’t even done anything.’
Jay’s dad Warren Slater, and brother Zak, return to the area he was last seen for another search. Warren said: ‘He’s a young boy, he’s fit. He’s fitter than us all put together.’
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