A body has been found in the hunt for missing British teenager Jay Slater – who vanished on the Spanish island of Tenerife almost a month ago.
The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had not been heard from since the morning of June 17.
Although Spanish police are awaiting full identification, they say that ‘everything is pointing to it being a young British man’ who could have ‘suffered an accident or fall in the inaccessible area where he was found’.
Possessions and clothes belonging to the teenager were found alongside the body, missing persons organisation LBT Global revealed.
They said the body was found close to to the last known location where Jay’s mobile pinged near the remove village of Masca, north-west Tenerife.
Jay had attended the last night of the three-day NRG music festival in Playa de Las Americas before going back to a £40-a-night Airbnb in Masca with two older British men he met out there.
As he tried to walk back to his accommodation in the southern part of the island, Jay called a friend to say he was lost, severely dehydrated and only had one per cent battery on his phone.
His disappearance, which has sparked wild conspiracy theories online from cruel trolls, led to a huge search and rescue mission, with Spanish police scouring the mountainous landscape around the Rural de Teno national park in Masca.
It is the latest development in the search for the missing teen which comes after:
Jay Slater with his mother Debbie Duncan, who has been searching for him ever since he went missing on June 17
Jay Slater was last heard from on June 17, when he called a friend to say he was lost in a mountainous area and had 1 per cent battery on his phone
The £40-a-night Casa Abuela Tina holiday rental near the remote village of Masca where Jay spent his final hours before going missing
However, the official search was called off after just 13 days, prompting backlash from his desperate family who claimed they had been ‘left in the dark’.
Today, a spokesman for the Civil Guard said: ‘After 29 constant days of searching the 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.’
In a fuller statement the force added: ‘Officers of the Civil Guard belonging to the Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (GREIM) have located this morning the dead body of a young man in the area of Masca, belonging to the municipality of Buenavista del Norte.
‘All indications suggest that it could be the young British man who had been missing for 29 days, who may have died due to an accidental fall in the rough and inaccessible area where he was found.
‘Thanks to the unceasing and constant search carried out by the different units of the Civil Guard, in which it has not stopped to look for the young man every day in the area of Masca, where he allegedly had disappeared the GREIM officers have found the dead body of the young person in a very inaccessible area.
‘The results of the autopsy are awaiting confirmation that it is an accident.’
GREIM officers led the search after Jay disappeared on June 17 after he left an Airbnb in Masca.
A visible search involving helicopter and sniffer dogs continued for nearly two weeks before police announced it was being halted.
They had not said in public it was continuing and there had been little outward sign of it going on on a more reduced scale.
Police said on June 30 after calling in volunteers for a ‘last push search’ a day earlier: ‘The search operation has now finished although the case remains open.’
A well-placed source added: ‘The daily operation which has been going on in and around Masca close to where Jay was last seen has been brought to an end.
‘If any information comes in that merits a new search though it will be acted upon.
‘My understanding is Jay’s parents have been informed of what obviously is a major development.
‘Nothing of any relevance was found during yesterday’s large-scale search.’
Jay was last seen by a local resident in Masca in north-west Tenerife just after 8am on June 17 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.
Friend Lucy Law said Jay had called her shortly after he was last seen to say he was thirsty and had no water and just one per cent battery on his phone.
The investigation has been subjected to wild speculation online, through platforms such as TikTok – while a number of internet sleuths also flew to Tenerife to help the search.
Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan had yesterday criticised the ‘awful comments and conspiracy theories’ posted on social media, which she branded ‘vile’ and said were ‘hindering’ the investigation.
Ms Duncan yesterday posted an update on the GoFundMe page set up for her son’s search, which has raised more than £53,000.
She revealed how the family had called in rescue experts from the Netherlands to help find the teenager after Spanish police ceased their land search.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, vanished after being driven to a remote Air BnB
Jay Slater’s final Snapchat at the remote Airbnb before he went missing. It is not the same Snapchat as the one where he ‘admitted to stealing an expensive watch’.
A 13-day search by police using drones, dogs and a helicopter failed to find any trace of Jay
Volunteers search for Jay in Masca as the teenager remains missing
Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan and father Warren Slater leaving the Guardia Civil in Playa de las Americas on July 2
Jay’s family released this photo of the missing teenager last month
Jay was on his first-ever friends holiday with Lucy Law (pictured) and Brad Hargreaves when he went missing in Tenerife
Brad Hargreaves (pictured) also said he spoke to Jay on the phone before he went missing
