A PRIVATE investigator says cops in Tenerife ended their search for Jay Slater too abruptly.
Army reservist Juan García said Jay, 19, could still be alive and eating plants after vanishing on June 17.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was last heard from more than two weeks ago when he phoned a pal to tell her he was “lost in the middle of nowhere”.
He had gone back to a remote Airbnb with two British men on the northwest of island in the early hours of June before leaving in the morning.
After missing the bus, he started walking the 11-hour route back to his holiday accommodation.
At around 8.50am he made a final frantic call to friend Lucy, saying he was in the “middle of nowhere” with no water and had just one per cent battery on his phone.
It sparked a mammoth search involving drones, specialist sniffer dogs, helicopters as well as officers combing the ground on foot.
Much of the search was foccussed on a 2,000ft ravine in the desolate Rural de Teno park.
But less than two weeks into the search, authorities called off the hunt – leaving Jay’s family “blindsided”.
Search expert García believes police were too hasty in ditching the operation, however.
He told The Times: “Two weeks is too premature to end the search.
“[Slater] could be alive somewhere — someone can drink from rainwater and eat plants.
“The family should not give up hope.”
García, 53, has assisted several search missions in the area and has “spoken directly to the family”.
He has urged the family to use part of the £49,000 donated on a GoFundMe page to fund an independent search for Jay.
Detectives have promised to continue investigating and will probe any new tip-offs or information that come in.
But the decision to dramatically cut off the search was the “nightmare scenario” Jay’s family were “dreading”, a source close to them revealed.
Some 30 cops, firefighters and rescuers all took to the mountains in Masca – along with a handful of volunteers – on Saturday for a “final push”.
But the hunt, which centred around Jay’s last known location, failed to find any trace of the teen.
A source back in the UK, who has been in regular touch with the family, told The Sun: “Jay’s family knew the search would eventually wind down. They get that.
“But it was a nightmare scenario they didn’t want to think about. And it wasn’t something they thought wouldn’t happen immediately.
“So for the decision to be made after just two weeks has left them bewildered and bereft.”
On Monday, Jay’s parents Debbie and Warren pleaded with cops not to give up on their son during a crunch meeting.
Jay’s loved ones have vowed to continue scouring the island’s Rural de Teno park, in the hope of finding him.
Dad Warren, who was yesterday scouring a narrow ravine near to the village of Masca where Jay was last seen, said the police are not telling the family much about their investigation.
He added that he has become “frustrated” and “angry” that more hasn’t been done to find his son.
Warren told The Sun: “I’ve gone past the sadness bit and I’m angry, if that makes any sense. I’m angry that nothing’s happened.”
The lack of info has prompted Warren to become a detective himself.
“The police here are doing their own investigations. They’re not really telling us anything, they’re not telling you lot anything, we’re in the dark,” he said.
“All I’m doing is a Colombo bit myself. I mean he might be on here, you never know, but as a dad I don’t want him to be.”
It comes as one of the British men who took Jay back to an Airbnb claims he only did so because “his friends had all left him”.
Ayub Qassim, 31, rented the £40-a-night holiday let in northwest Tenerife under a different surname.
Qassim, who was jailed nine years ago for masterminding an operation to flood Wales with Class A drugs, said: “I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go.
“His friends had all left him.
“I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them.
“I’m doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It’s a bit mental. I haven’t even done anything.”
Jay’s dad Warren, however, has questioned why his teenage son ended up going to a holiday let with “two grown men”.
Warren, 58, believes the investigation into his son’s whereabouts should focus on the Airbnb.
He told The Sun: “My only question is, and this is where you start the investigation from, why did two grown men take a young boy to a valley to a bed and breakfast? I can’t understand that.
“Why? Why? You need to ask them why and then start from there.”
Warren’s questions come after a TV investigator helping the family claimed Jay left the Airbnb feeling “scared”.
Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas claims the lad did not want to return to the holiday let despite needing water and having little phone battery.
He told friends he “couldn’t do that” and that he was already 30 minutes walk away.
Mark also claimed Jay admitted swiping the a pricey Rolex in a Snapchat to pals while in a car on his way to the Airbnb
