Jay Slater search: Five unanswered questions as Tenerife search enters fifth day

Tyler Mitchell By Tyler Mitchell Jun21,2024

Jay Slater

Jay Slater has been missing since Monday (Image: MEN MEDIA)

The disappearance of Jay Slater remains shrouded in mystery as the search for him has entered its fifth day.

The 19-year-old vanished while on a holiday in Tenerife with two friends. Hours before his disappearance, Jay, an apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, spent a few hours with two men he had met during a party.

His friend Lucy Law was the last person to have heard from the teen, as Jay messaged her the morning after the party to say he had missed the bus home, had cut his leg on a cactus and was lost in a rural area without water.

Jay also said his phone battery was down to 1 percent as he was trying to use a maps application to navigate his way back to his accommodation – approximately a 10-hour walk away from where he had spent the previous few hours. His loved ones haven’t heard from the teen since.

As the search party using a helicopter, drone and sniffer dogs continues to scour the countryside close to the farmhouse where he stayed, Express.co.uk looks into the unanswered questions about Jay’s disappearance.

Emergency workers near the village of Masca, Tenerife

The search for Jay Slater has entered its fifth day (Image: PA)

1. How was Jay not seen by anybody?

Jay spent a few hours on early Monday at a farmhouse in a rural area of Parque Rural de Teno in west Tenerife. He was with two British men he had met that same night.

The last text message he is known to have sent is to his friend Lucy at 8.50am on Monday. Jay’s friend was able to track down the house where he had stayed, and described it as a busy area near a main road, with a restaurant just 10 minutes away from the farmhouse and plenty of hikers around.

She told the MailOnline: “What I don’t understand is if he did walk down then why wasn’t he seen by anyone? It’s a busy time of day, the place is full of hikers and holidaymakers, he could have asked them for help or stopped somewhere but no one has seen him at all.”

Jay Slater smiling

Jay Slater arrived in Tenerife on June 12 (Image: MEN MEDIA)

2. Who are the two men Jay left the party with?

After attending the NRG music festival, Jay and his two friends Lucy and Brad go to an afterparty at Papagayo, on the Playa des Los Americas strip.

While Brad and Lucy left at around 2am, Jay decided to stay on for a few more hours with two British men he had met that same night. They eventually left together and headed to their property in what is believed to have been a hired car.

Lucy managed to track down the house by using pictures Jay had sent her, and said the pair “seemed startled and surprised” she had found them.

She added: “They said he had gone out to try and look for cigarettes and then come back and said he was leaving to try and get a bus back into town.

“They just seemed shocked that I had managed to find them and I know the police have spoken to them but I’ve since found out they have left the country. They need to be spoken to properly.”

The house had been rented out by the two men from Friday to Monday last week – but they stayed on a extra day after being questioned by police in light of Jay’s disappearance. Spanish police said they had the names and passport details of both the men.

Members of the search party scouring the area

The search is party using a helicopter, drone and sniffer dogs (Image: BBC)

3. Could Jay have been abducted?

Jay’s distraught mother Debbie flew from Manchester to Tenerife with her son Zak on Tuesday, after being told by Lancashire police her teenage son was missing.

Upon her arrival, she received a chilling Snapchat message, reading: “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money.” It isn’t yet known who sent this message.

Debbie believes Jay is being held “against his will”. She added: “I’ve got a bad feeling. I’m being warned there’s a lot of bad people in Tenerife.”

Police said they are keeping an “open mind” and haven’t ruled “anything out or in” when it comes to Jay’s disappearance.

Debbie Duncan during an interview

Jay Slater’s mum Debbie fears her son may have been abducted (Image: ITV News)

4. Did sick trolls hinder the search for Jay?

Debbie said to have received several prank calls from hidden numbers. She reported speaking with Britons with “northern accents” claiming they had held her son captive because he owed them money.

She told The Sun: She said: “Some of the phone calls I’ve been getting have been horrible. I just don’t know why people would want to do things like this. I’ve been getting a lot of prank calls. It’s sickening.”

The mother added trolls were behind a report claiming Jay “rang a taxi down to Los Cristianos”, which prompted police to temporarily switch their search from the rural park to Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas.

Debbie added: “Someone is trying to deter the police from him being up there. I’m starting to think he’s been kidnapped.”

5. Why did he choose to walk rather than wait for a bus?

The farmhouse where Jay spent a few hours on Monday was some 10 hours walking from his hotel room.

The bus stop that could take him closer to his accommodation was “right next to the house”, said Lucy.

Ofelia Medina Hernandez claimed to have seen Jay standing at the bus stop at around 8am. She said he asked her about buses back to Los Cristianos, which prompted her to explain he would need to wait until around 10am to catch one in the area.

She said: “I held up my fingers on my hands to say 10am as he didn’t understand me then I went home briefly before driving up the mountain to Buenavista del Norte, but this time I saw him walking on the road out of the village.

“It was no more than ten or fifteen minutes after I had spoken to him and he was about a kilometre from the house. I drove past him and that’s the last I saw him.”

The teen was not dressed for walking, had no hat and no water.

Tyler Mitchell

By Tyler Mitchell

Tyler is a renowned journalist with years of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, entertainment, and technology. His insightful analysis and compelling storytelling have made him a trusted source for breaking news and expert commentary.

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