TEEN MYSTERY
Jay Slater search focusing on area of Tenerife dubbed ‘the badlands’ by locals as search for missing Brit continues
Jay’s last-known location was on a mountain road on the north west side of the island
MISSING Jay Slater is thought to be lost in an area of Tenerife locals call “the badlands”, it emerged last night.
The six-day search for the 19-year-old has now honed in on a 2,000ft-deep ravine in a remote, desert-like park.
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Helicopters have been seen soaring above, while firefighters, volunteers and police scour the perilous cactus-strewn terrain below.
Jonathan Stones, who moved to Tenerife more than two decades ago at 13, said the Teno Nature Reserve is one of the island’s most inhospitable spots.
He told The Sun: “Where Jay was last located through his mobile phone is where he stands the least chance of survival.
“The desolate landscapes around the island’s holiday hotspots are referred to as ‘malpais’ by locals — a word that translates into English as ‘bad land’.”
READ MORE ON Jay Slater
It comes as...
- Bombshell new vid shows Jay at a rave hours being he vanished
- Pics show Airbnb teen partied at before going missing
- Jay was spotted 'walking alone' into mountains by Airbnb owner
- Jay's mum was sent a message saying "kiss goodbye to your son" amid family fears he's been kidnapped
- She gave a tearful plea and said "I just want my baby back"
- Cops searched the teen's hotel room in Tenerife for clues
- A possible new sighting of the teen placed him with two men on Monday at 6pm - 10 hours after he vanished
- Brit cops offered to fly out and help but Spanish officials said no
- Jay’s mum slammed the Tenerife police investigation
The former journalist, 50, warned the searing heat could be deceptive, with comfortable temperatures in the morning turning into roasting highs by 11am.
He added: “With no shade in sight, no water to hand and a deep ravine, the sun becomes an even more fierce adversary.
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“And the shadowy respite offered by the hilltops is short-lived.
"The sun moves around the mountain sides quickly and anyone sheltering behind a craggy outcrop is soon flushed from their hide in search of the next one.
“I hope desperately that it’s a riddle solved in time for Jay to be reunited safely with his family.”
Jay Slater search must take two crucial next steps - and online sleuths risk doing more harm than good, warns ex-top cop
Jay’s last-known location was on a mountain road on the north west side of the island on Monday.
The apprentice bricklayer, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancs, had travelled to a rental property in the village of Masca with two pals he met at a festival rave on Sunday night.
The owner of the Airbnb said Jay asked about a local bus before attempting the almost 10-hour trek back to his hotel on Monday morning.
Ophelia, the owner of the holiday rental Casa Abuela Tina - where Jay stayed on Sunday - has said she is "very worried about" the teen.
She said she saw him walking off on his own uphill in the vast mountainous area near Masca.
Pal Lucy revealed she had tracked down the house where Jay stayed - and was told he had left on Monday morning.
The two men said Jay went out for cigarettes before going back to the property and saying he wanted to go home.
A former cop and missing persons expert Charlie Hedges told The Sun that two key steps must now be taken in the search to find Jay.
Ex-detective Hedges explained how cops first need to construct a profile of Jay - from everything from his personality to his fitness - to try figure out his thinking.
By reconstructing how Jay may think they will be able to narrow down the search area - and try to piece together his last movements.
He said: “One is on the investigation side to investigate or understand Jay, what his personality is, what he's like, fitness, what he was doing - w know he was at the party and moved off.
“And then also look at the last place he was seen, which gives us the first start for the search.
“And then looking at different hypotheses to just try and determine what might have happened.”
Hedges, who worked for Thams Valley Police, warned online sleuths to leave the search for the missing teen to the professionals as they may harm the investigation instead of helping.
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.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Timeline of Jay Slater’s disappearance
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
SUNDAY JUNE 16 - MONDAY 17
Jay goes to a rave at the 2024 NRG music festival in Tenerife, around Arona on the south of the island
8.35pm - Jay posts a smiling Snapchat video of him laughing with friends
He leaves the rave with two men he met that day and is driven back to their accommodation across the island
MONDAY 17
7.30am - Jay posts a Snapchat of a hand holding a cigarette in the area where the accommodation was - near the rural de Teno Park on the north of the island
8.30am - Jay calls his friend Lucy Law and tells her he missed a bus, had one per cent of battery left on his phone and was stuck in the “middle of nowhere”
9am - A missing persons report is filed and the search for Jay begins
TUESDAY 18
2am - Police knock on the door of Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan’s home and tell her to catch the first flight out to Tenerife
7am - She flies out from Manchester Airport alongside her son Zak to help with the search
Debbie is sent a Snapchat message saying “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money."
WEDNESDAY 19
12.30pm - Police move the search to the south of the island briefly after a false sighting
Cops search his hotel room for clues as his mum says there was “nothing untoward there”
Debbie gives a heart-wrenching interview where she shares fears he has been “taken” and says “I just want my baby back”
THURSDAY 20
Cops begin day four of the massive search for Jay
FRIDAY 21
Lancashire cops offer to help with the search but Tenerife authorities say they are "satisfied that they have the resources they need"
Search turns to 22,000ft ravine in Masca - part of an area dubbed "the badlands" by locals
SATURDAY 22
The sixth day of the search begins with sniffer dogs, cops, mountain rescue and firefighters again taking to the hills in northern Tenerife
Possible new sighting of Jay places him near a church with two men at 6pm on Monday - although unconfirmed by police
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