HUNT FOR JAY
Jay Slater cops appeal for volunteers to scour mountain in ‘massive’ new search after turning down Brit police help
Police on the island already drafted in reinforcements from Madrid
TENERIFE cops have pleaded for volunteers to take part in a large-scale search for Jay Slater - despite rejecting help from British police.
Authorities on the island last week insisted they had the resources they needed for the hunt.
9
9
9
9
Jay, from Lancashire, has been missing since last Monday and has not been seen or heard from in the 12 days since.
Now almost two weeks into the search Tenerife police have appealed for volunteers to help scour the mountainous terrain on the island where Jay was last known to be.
Officials say the huge sweeping search will take place tomorrow in Masca from 9am.
Police confirmed they are not looking for "general" unexperienced members of the public to join the search.
More on Jay Slater
Instead, they are requesting the help of those who are experts in dealing with rocky terrain as well as professional volunteers such as firefighters.
Their cry for help comes despite them turning down help from their British counterparts as they insisted they had all the resources required.
Police in Tenerife said today: "The Guardia Civil prepares and coordinates a large search to find the young British man missing in the village of Masca.
"The collaboration of all those Volunteer Associations is requested: Civil Protection, Firefighters, etc., and even private volunteers who are experts in the abrupt search terrain.
Most read in The Sun
"The massive search will be carried out on Saturday, 29 June from 9am."
Jay's distraught mum Debbie Duncan last week slammed police on the island for not letting cops from Lancashire Police fly out to help search for her son.
‘Very surprising’ Jay Slater search theory revealed by ex-top cop who tracked down killer fugitive Raoul Moat
She said: "I know the Spanish police mean well, but the problem we are having is the language barrier, we just don't seem to be getting told. I'm sure they are doing their best.
"They told me they had used dogs and drones and then they said Lancashire police had offered their resources but they turned it down, but I think that would have really helped.
"I would feel happier if our people were over helping. It's just so difficult not knowing where he is, the area and the terrain is rough, but the police were saying that now there are too many people up there and it could interfere with their investigation."
On Tuesday, cops on the island were forced to draft in reinforcements with specialist sniffer dog teams.
It comes as...
- Deluge of tip-offs flooding in for Jay appeal
- Search for Jay hones in on series of caves
- GoFundMe page for his family hits £40,000
- Crews fear he won't be found alive if he vanished in mountains
- Tenerife worst place to go missing, expert warned before Jay went missing
- Ex-top cop who tracked down Raoul Moat reveals search theory
- Jay was attacked by gang when he was just 12
- New pics of Jay emerge at a pool party two days before he vanished
- Cops quiz locals who 'saw Jay watching Euros'
- Investigator reveals descriptions of two men who partied with teen
- Crews scour exact spot where mystery 'grainy figure' was seen
Search dog units trained specially to comb large areas were in from Madrid some 1,300 miles away.
It was hoped the specially-trained hounds would found clues on Jay;s whereabouts.
After going to a rave that finished in the early hours of June 17, Jay headed to Masca with two British men he had met that night.
The 19-year-old shared a final Snapchat from their Airbnb of a hand holding a cigarette at 7.30am.
Jay then tried to make his way back to his holiday accommodation - an 11-hour walk away.
But at around 8.50am he made a final frantic call to friend Lucy, telling her he was lost in the "middle of nowhere" with no water and had just one per cent battery on his phone.
Since then, a mammoth search operation involving drones, sniffer dogs and helicopters has been working tirelessly to find any trace of Jay.
Rescue crews have been focussing much of their search on a 2,000ft ravine in the desolate Rural de Teno park.
They have now shifted their focus to caves near Los Carrizales - around an hour and a half on foot from the Airbnb Jay went to with two men.
Cops warned over search failures
by Katie Davis
TENERIFE cops were warned over a soaring number of disappearances before Jay Slater vanished.
The Sun can reveal authorities were told two years ago their resources were insufficient and were urged to improve them after repeated failures.
Jay, 19, is one of 11 people who have gone missing in Tenerife in just six months.
The coordinator of SOS Disappeared in Tenerife, Santiago Carlos Martín, told how “families feel abandoned" during hunts for their loved ones.
Mr Martín, who leads a group of around 40 volunteers, said: "There are many who have disappeared in the Canary Islands and the number has increased since the pandemic."
He and his team have called for more multidisciplinary teams to be on standby to help with searches.
These would include not only the police, but emergency workers, health experts, psychologists and other professionals who could form a more accurate picture of why someone might have gone missing.
Between 2020 and 2023, official data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior reveals at least 460 adults went missing in that period on the Canary Islands from a population of just 2.2million.
It has the second-highest number of missing people in the whole of Spain.
And that was only behind Span's biggest region of Andalucia which had 755 missing people in the same period from a population four times larger of 8.5million.
Speaking in 2022 Mr Martin said: “There are many disappeared in the Canary Islands and the number has increased after the pandemic.
"We are at the head of the country, and we are not clear why.
"Perhaps the orography or the social structure have an influence, but we don’t know."
The most pressing issue, according to Mr Martin, is geolocation.
He said: “One of the big problems is that the police often take time to geolocate the telephone numbers of the disappeared person due to bureaucratic procedures that act as a barrier.
"The time in a disappearance is important and the process is too complex, which wastes many days.
"And they are vulnerable people: elderly, minors, with cognitive problems, mental health or with a history of suicide."
Los Carrizales is a small hamlet not far from Masca in the Teno mountains.
But police sources have warned that it is "very unlikely Jay has survived if he got lost in the mountains".
Yet authorities have said there are no plans to put a stop to the search yet, despite no signs of Jay.
The police's call for help comes as amateur TikTok sleuths have taken it upon themselves to try and search for Jay.
Armed with their cameras and hiking boots, they have recorded themselves trekking through the mountainous scrubland Jay was last known to be in.
Among them are British TikTok vloggers Andrew Knight and Paul Arnott, who have been sharing clips with the legions of followers.
Paul, from Bedfordshire, claimed in his latest video that he has been welcomed by police in Tenerife.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
But former cop Charlie Hedges told The Sun about the risks of online sleuths and amateur detectives trying to crack the case.
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.
9
9
9
9
9
Timeline of Jay Slater’s disappearance
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
Jay's dad Warren and brother Zak visit the search site in Tenerife
SUNDAY 23
Cops focus their search around small outbuildings in de Teno park near where Jay's phone last pinged
Jay's mum Debbie says trolls are comparing her to Karen Matthews
The GoFundMe set up by Jay's friend Lucy surpasses £30,000 after just three days
Exclusive Sun footage shows Jay appearing to fall and stumble back up at a rave before he vanished
MONDAY 24
Search for Jay enters eighth day
Police expand search area north to parts of Buenavista del Norte
Jay's dad says his family are in 'a living hell'
TUESDAY 25
Brit hiker found by Jay search teams says he 'didn't need to be saved'
Madeleine McCann cop lands in Tenerife to join search
Tenerife cops call in reinforcements from Madrid - including specialist sniffer dogs
WEDNESDAY 26
Locals claim they have spotted Jay watching Euros
Investigator reveals descriptions of two men Jay partied with
Cops scour exact spot where 'mystery grainy figure' was seen
THURSDAY 27
Detectives 'fear it's unlikely Jay will be found alive if in mountains'
Search hones in on series of caves in desolate park
Family 'turn to help of TikTok sleuth'
FRIDAY 28
GoFundMe goes £10,000 over target as it hits £40,000
Tenerife cops announce huge search for Jay & appeal for volunteers
Topics