JAY Slater’s heartbroken mum has said she is “trying to stay positive” after cops in Tenerife axed the search for her son.
Debbie Duncan said she wants to “keep the world watching” as she and Jay’s family desperately wait for answers.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, has been missing for more than two weeks after vanishing on June 17.
His family were “blindsided” when authorities on the island abruptly halted the search for the teen on Sunday.
His loved ones said they felt “left in the dark” over what will now happen with the investigation.
Jay’s mum Debbie and dad Warren Slater yesterday begged police not to give up looking for their son during a crunch talk.
Debbie said she is “trying to remain positive” despite no trace of Jay being found.
She told Good Morning Britain that she doesn’t want his case “to lose momentum”.
Distraught Debbie also said it is “important to keep the world watching” despite police ditching the search.
She said she was aware, however, of vile conspiracy theories being peddled shamelessly on social media.
Thousands of keyboard bashers have joined pathetic Facebook groups, including one called Jay Slater Discussions and Theories.
Within the publicly visible groups are dozens of cruel, senseless posts spewing completely unfounded claims and vile comments.
Jay’s family blasted mindless conspiracy theorists, saying they felt the “trolls had won” when the search was stopped.
The teen vanished after a night out at the NRG festival at Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas.
He was last seen travelling with the two mystery men in the north of the island in the Rural de Teno park.
Jay made a final frantic phone call to pal Lucy Law to tell her he was stranded in the “middle of nowhere” at about 8.50am on June 17.
Panicked Jay, facing an 11-hour walk back to their hotel, told her he needed water and only had one per cent of battery left on his phone.
Rescue crews focused their efforts around the 2,000ft Masca ravine close to Jay’s last known location – the desolate Teno Nature Reserve.
But after failing to find any trace of Jay, they gave up scouring the mountainous terrain after 13 days.
Debbie and Warren are now considering again asking British police to help find the teen and authorities on the island rejected their help.
Police on the island had insisted they had the resources they needed for the hunt before issuing a cry for volunteers for Saturday’s final search.
A source close to the family told The Sun: “They’ve been trying to get in touch with groups in Tenerife and beyond who specialise in missing persons
“They may also try to appeal, again, to the British Police to help. They don’t understand why the police in Tenerife wouldn’t welcome the extra support and help which was being offered.
“What did they have to lose? If every stone had been left unturned Jay’s family would be able to accept this. But it doesn’t feel like that’s the case.”
But now crowds of pretend sleuths have flooded the desolate Rural de Teno National Park as they attempt to crack the case themselves.
Among them is TikTok influencer Paul Arnott, who jetted to the island more than a week ago to film himself looking for Jay.
He has shared dozens of clips with his 305,000 followers on his TikTok page “Down The Rapids” – many with shocking clickbait titles such as “body found” in big yellow letters.
Armed with his camera, Paul, from Bedfordshire, has been filming himself walking over mountainous terrain looking for clues.
He claimed in one video he had been welcomed by cops on the island.
But a photo shows Paul storming off after he was ignored by officers at the scene.
Now wannabe detective Paul has revealed he wants to start his own crowdfund appeal to pay for his own hunt.
Self-described explorer Paul said: “What I would be interested in doing is setting up my own fund to pay for a team from Scotland mountain rescue to come out here.”
Former cop Charlie Hedges told The Sun about the risks of online sleuths and amateur detectives trying to solve the case.
He urged the public not to take it upon themselves to help the search as he noted despite their best intentions they may end up causing more trouble.
