JAY Slater’s pals have been forced to respond to “horrible lies” being spread online as the mystery deepens around the missing teenager.
Jay, 19, has been missing for nine days in Tenerife after attending the three-day NRG festival with vicious keyboard bullies continuing to torment the Slater family.
Jay’s distraught loved ones have spent the last day grappling with fake death posts being shared on social media.
They have also had to endure an onslaught of vile messages and bogus theories from trolls online after the teen disappeared.
On Tuesday morning, a family friend of Jay took to social media after a video surfaced of her “partying on a boat”.
She was left hurt and disgusted after people hounded her for “partying” instead of looking for Jay despite the clip being taken months ago.
She is one of the organisers of the GoFundMe that has skyrocketed past £30,000 with donations flooding in to help fund the search.
The pal hit back at the fake rumours calling them a complete lie as she wrote on social media: “This is another horrible lie about myself firstly this isn’t me.
“I took the video on my last holiday on a boat trip.
“I am here looking for my sons best friend not partying if anyone did see this. Absolutely heartbroken. It was a previous holiday.”
The friend was also at the centre of the fake death posts circulating on Monday with her profile being used in the hoax screenshots.
A spineless troll pretending to be her posted: “Jay’s body has been found. Our hearts are with his family in these evil times, we’ve heard from locals that it was the job of Morrocans(sic).”
Jay’s heartbroken mum Debbie Duncan has also blasted trolls in the last few days.
She said she felt “very let down” after sleuths started questioning what more than £30,000 raised on a GoFundMe page would be used for.
Debbie said: “I am really am saddened by all your comments. You seem to be so bothered about this GoFundMe page.
“I really hope I am not taking my son home in a body bag.
“I really cannot believe the British public are not supporting me in trying to find Jay.
“This may happen to any of you one day. Very let down by you all.”
Worried Debbie, who flew out to Tenerife last week, also had to contend with vile comments comparing her to Karen Matthews – a woman dubbed “Britain’s worst mum”.
The 55-year-old said: “People are calling me out on social media saying why aren’t you up there, you’re the new Karen Matthews.
“I just can’t face it.”
Matthews made headlines in 2008 when she cooked up a sickening plot with relative Michael Donovan to make money off her daughter’s fake kidnapping.
It comes as..
A mammoth search operation was launched nine days ago after Jay made a desperate final call to friend Lucy Law, who he had travelled to the island with.
He said he was lost in the middle of nowhere with no water and had just one per cent battery on his phone.
The last ping from his phone at 8.50am last Monday revealed he was near the desolate Rural de Teno National Park.
Jay has not been seen or heard from since, with drones, sniffer dogs, helicopters and emergency crews frantically working to find the Lancashire teen.
Much of the hunt has been focussed on the unforgiving 2,000ft “badlands” Masca ravine.
It is where his phone last pinged a nearby cell tower at 8.50am on June 17.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay headed to Masca with two British men at the end of a three-day rave he flew to Tenerife to attend.
Yesterday, police expanded their search to an “immense” barren landscape north of where he was last seen.
Civil Guard officers confirmed forest trails and tracks north of the gorge in Teno Rural Park were also now being looked at as the ongoing search expanded to other areas.
Tenerife cops scouring the gorge for Jay also announced they had rescued a different Brit in a dramatic twist in the hunt.
Crews searching a desolate park close to where the teen was last seen came across Scottish hiker David Larkin, 51, who got lost in the mountainous terrain.
Cops said he had gone into a “difficult” area that is not “suitable for travel” despite David insisting he didn’t need saving.
After he failed to return to the start point after several hours, locals alerted teams already combing the area for Jay, 19.
Police added: “Tired and disoriented, he was located by the agents and the rescue team who helped him get out of the ravine.”
BY Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
SUNDAY JUNE 16 – MONDAY 17
Jay goes to a rave at the 2024 NRG music festival in Tenerife, around Arona on the south of the island
8.35pm – Jay posts a smiling Snapchat video of him laughing with friends
He leaves the rave with two men he met that day and is driven back to their accommodation across the island
MONDAY 17
7.30am – Jay posts a Snapchat of a hand holding a cigarette in the area where the accommodation was – near the rural de Teno Park on the north of the island
8.30am – Jay calls his friend Lucy Law and tells her he missed a bus, had one per cent of battery left on his phone and was stuck in the “middle of nowhere”
9am – A missing persons report is filed and the search for Jay begins
TUESDAY 18
2am – Police knock on the door of Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan’s home and tell her to catch the first flight out to Tenerife
7am – She flies out from Manchester Airport alongside her son Zak to help with the search
Debbie is sent a Snapchat message saying “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money.”
WEDNESDAY 19
12.30pm – Police move the search to the south of the island briefly after a false sighting
Cops search his hotel room for clues as his mum says there was “nothing untoward there”
Debbie gives a heart-wrenching interview where she shares fears he has been “taken” and says “I just want my baby back”
THURSDAY 20
Cops begin day four of the massive search for Jay
FRIDAY 21
Lancashire cops offer to help with the search but Tenerife authorities say they are “satisfied that they have the resources they need”
Search turns to 22,000ft ravine in Masca – part of an area dubbed “the badlands” by locals
SATURDAY 22
The sixth day of the search begins with sniffer dogs, cops, mountain rescue and firefighters again taking to the hills in northern Tenerife
Possible new sighting of Jay places him near a church with two men at 6pm on Monday – although unconfirmed by police
Jay’s dad Warren and brother Zak visit the search site in Tenerife
SUNDAY 23
Cops focus their search around small outbuildings in de Teno park near where Jay’s phone last pinged
Jay’s mum Debbie says trolls are comparing her to Karen Matthews
The GoFundMe set up by Jay’s friend Lucy surpasses £30,000 after just three days
Exclusive Sun footage shows Jay appearing to fall and stumble back up at a rave before he vanished
MONDAY 24
Search for Jay enters eighth day
Police expand search area north to parts of Buenavista del Norte
Jay’s dad says his family are in ‘a living hell’
