Jay Slater may have left AirBnb ‘scared’, investigator says in major case update

Forensic officers were spotted at the AirBnb in Masca on Tuesday, the Manchester Evening News reports.

Two police officers were seen inside the holiday rental apartment where Jay stayed the night before his disappearance. The men, who were both wearing plain clothes, exited the property shortly after 11am wearing forensic style blue slip-ons over their shoes.

They were then seen taking the slip-ons off before speaking to a local, who had let them into the property with a key.

The man who’s AirBnb Jay Slater visited before disappearing said they knew each other through friends.

Ayub Qassim is believed to be one of two men who invited Jay Slater back to their holiday accommodation in Masca in the early hours of Monday morning.

Jay left the Airbnb at around 8am but having missed the bus back down to his own accommodation in Playa de Las Americas, he attempted an 11 hour journey through the remote and challenging terrain of Rural de Teno park.

Mr Qassim said Jay left the house “alive” and said he knew Jay “through friends”.

“I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them,” he told the MailOnline. “I don’t know if he had beef elsewhere because I don’t know him that well, I only know him through friends.”

He added: “He’s a cool guy, Jay. He ain’t got a problem with me, I haven’t got a problem with him or his mates. We just all talk to each other and everything was sweet.”

A TV detective investigating Jay Slater’s dissapearance has said the teenager may have been “scared” leaving an AirBnB before going missing.

Mark Williams-Thomas – who also investigated Nicola Bulley’s disappearance – has been assisting Jay’s family in their search for the 19-year-old in Tenerife.

Jay seemingly left the Veronica’s party strip in the south of the island in the early hours of Monday morning with two men he had met.

They travelled an hours drive back to their holiday accommodation in Masca, which Jay left several hours later and having missed the bus, attempted to walk 11 hours back towards his own accommodation.

He said: “We have received information that would suggest Jay left the rental property feeling scared and that he would not return to the rental, even though that would have been the most sensible course of action, and also where he could have charged his phone and got water.”

The family of Jay Slater said they were aware of the “vile” conspiracy theories being spread online about his disappearance, and said they were “extremely distressing”.

In a statement, they said: “We would like to say to the press/news/reporters, that although we do not want to lose the momentum of Jay’s disappearance, we really would like to maintain our privacy and crucially let the Spanish police get on with their investigations without hindrance from press.

“We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and can only describe this as vile, the negative comments are extremely distressing to our family.

The man who invited Jay Slater back to his AirBnb before he disappeared has broken his silence.

The 19-year-old went missing after he left the holiday accommodation early on Monday morning to catch a bus back towards his own accommodation on the other side of the island.

Ayub Qassim invited Jay back to the remote holiday cottage near the village of Masca after a night out in Playa de las Americas.

“He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive,” he told the MailOnline.

He added: “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.”

He insisted they had no argument and he had even given Jay a blanket to sleep in. He and his friend – who was also staying at the AirBnb – extended their trip for a day to speak with police before travelling back to the UK.

Spanish police have described the pair as “irrelevant” to the investigation.

In an emotional statement, his family described him as a “beautiful” boy who had been studying for an apprenticeship at the time he disappeared.

They said: “My son, Jay Dean Slater, came to the holiday island of Tenerife on 13 June with his friend to attend a music festival.

“On 17 June after not returning to his apartment he was reported as a missing person.

“Jay is a normal guy who is in his third year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends.

“We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance.

“Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing. He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him.”

Warren Slater, 58, was asked about the investigation today as he searched for the 19-year-old in the ravine where Jay’s phone last ‘pinged’ 16 days ago.

Commenting on the investigation, Warren said: “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. They know best. Do you think they should be still searching?

“If it was in England I’d be making a stink, but we’re in a foreign country and we’ve just got to leave it to people who know best.”

The Daily Mail’s Nick Pisa said he had spoken to a man who had “found a pair of sunglasses” on the gorge, and had handed them in to the police.

Pisa explained to GB News: “I’ve now spoken to an ex-British Army officer who found some sunglasses up there. He was asked not to put them in a plastic bag because of humidity, but to wrap them up in tissue paper, which he did.

“He handed them in and he had to give DNA and his fingerprints. The question is, are they connected to Jay?”

Mark Williams-Thomas says is “confident” that a crucial photo is of Jay wearing his “black and green AirMax trainers, which he had on the night he went out”.

He said: “Whilst on the walk he talked to and messaged his friends. Whilst walking Jay spoke to at least three people telling them that he was lost with little phone battery and without water.

“He was told to go back by at least two people to the rental. He said he could not do that and that he’d already been walking 30 minutes and that he was now off-road and was walking on a track where there were loose stones.

“We know that at 8.49 and 8.50 Jay sent his location via both Snapchat and WhatsApp to two friends. We can confirm it was Jay using his phone at that stage and there was no indication that he was with anyone.”