JAY BOMBSHELL
Jay Slater investigator claims he knows REAL reason teen left Airbnb for doomed last journey as he makes shock U-turn
Watch the investigator make the shock claim
A JAY Slater investigator claims he knows the real reason the teen left the Airbnb he stayed at hours before embarking on a doomed last journey.
Detective turned TV-sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas claims an answer on how Jay came to be lost in the mountainous Tenerife area could be revealed soon.
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Mr Williams-Thomas has been continuing to investigate the tragic death following Jay's funeral in August.
Jay left an Airbnb in the village of Masca hours after travelling there with two men he'd met at a music festival.
The search made headlines worldwide after sleuths online tried to piece the Lancashire teen's last moments together.
His body was found 29 days later after he tragically fell to his death sometime after leaving the Airbnb.
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Mr Williams-Thomas now claims to know the answer to two mysteries surrounding Jay: why he left the Airbnb and why he didn't return.
In a post to X, he said: "Maybe, when the time is right, I will reveal those.
"I've got to be very careful. What I don't want to do is upset the family with any more trauma than they have already had and so it would be something I would work very closely with Debbie and the family on to reveal that information."
The former cop did not provide evidence but claimed he was working "closely with the family".
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Mr Williams-Thomas has also made a surprise U-turn and revealed that information that came to him early in the investigation was not accurate.
Through mobile records and speaking to witnesses, he said there were "considerable issues that existed" in the search.
‘Why did he not want to be there?’: Jay Slater’s mum demands answers from Airbnb pals ‘Rocky & Johnny Vegas’
He said: "One of the things that's very clear is there is a huge amount of misinformation.
"I've been back and looked through some of the videos that I took when I went out there, in relation to my investigation and thought processes of whilst the investigation was going on.
"You find information out, you look at that, and then a couple of days later that information changes or is evidenced in some way.
"Some of the information that came to me in the early days wasn't accurate and wasn't correct and I needed to validate it."
Mr Williams-Thomas previously revealed why he thought Jay had decided to walk after a conversation with one of the other men at the Airbnb.
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The search for Jay was hampered by amateur sleuths and conspiracy theorists who asserted wild claims and trolled the family.
Jay vanished on the morning of June 17 while on holiday on the Canary Island with two friends, Lucy and Brad.
He had travelled to an Airbnb in the remote Masca village with two men after leaving a music festival at a nightclub almost an hour's drive away.
Later that morning he called Lucy to say he was thirsty, lost and had one per cent phone battery.
His mobile cut out at 8.50am near a hiking trail in the Rural de Teno national park — an 11-hour trek from his apartment in the south of the island.
Police spent almost two weeks combing the vast area with drones, helicopters and sniffer dogs before turning to a private search.
Jay's desperate dad Warren, 58, and brother Zak, 24, also kept up the hunt - retracing Jay's steps almost every day in the blistering heat.
In her first interview since Jay's death, Debbie told The Sun...
- How vicious trolls have ‘destroyed’ her with thousands of calls and messages
- She received a vile letter from a troll just days after Jay's funeral
- Her torment over a GoFundMe page she didn’t ask for
- How Jay really got caught up in ‘gang attack’ that landed him with conviction
- She ‘just screamed’ when cops found her son's body
- In her final call to Jay they said ‘I love you’
- She denies rumours Jay stole £12k watch & fell foul of Tenerife drug cartel
- Her family went sent vile fake images of ‘kidnapped’ Jay
The family were hounded by vile trolls and conspiracy theorists, who relentlessly peddled baseless claims online.
Mum Debbie slammed the trolls and called the misinformation they peddled nothing more than callous rumours.
After 29 days, Jay's body was found on July 15 deep in a ravine close to where his phone last pinged a phone tower.
Dramatic images showed the moment a helicopter crewman was winched into the chasm with his arms aloft in the delicate recovery operation.
A post mortem conducted in the UK confirmed that Jay died because of traumatic head injuries, consistent with a "fall from height".
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Debbie said: “Jay was just a lovely boy with a massive personality.
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“Everybody just loved Jay being in his company - family, friends and work.
“He was loving and popular, always full of fun and smiling – and the main guy in the group.”
Timeline of the tragic case
THE grim discovery of a body comes after weeks of agony for Jay’s friends and family. Here is how the events unfolded
Sunday, June 16: Jay and his friends party at the last day of NRG music festival being held at Papagayo night club in Playa de la Americas, Tenerife.
June 17 3-6am: Jay leaves with Ayub Qassim and another man for a £40-a-night Airbnb 23 miles away in the village of Masca.
7.30am: Jay shares a photo on Snapchat standing at doorway of the Airbnb.
8.50am: He calls pal Lucy Mae Law and says he is “lost in the middle of nowhere” with no water, a cut to his leg and one per cent on his phone.
Tuesday, June 18: Pals search area but no sign of Jay. Local cops and mountain rescue teams start official search. Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan flies to Tenerife.
June 19-20: Spanish police deploy drones, dogs and a helicopter, but find no trace. Search moves to Los Cristianos amid possible sighting, but it is ruled out and they return to Rural de Teno, near Masca.
June 21: Lancashire Police offer support but it is declined.
June 22: Mum Debbie issues emotional appeal to Jay saying “We just need you home.”
June 24: Claims of Jay sighting in Santiago del Teide — near to where he disappeared — and family believe a grainy CCTV image could be of him.
June 25: Debbie issues plea for her son to come home as more friends fly out and TV investigator Mark Williams- Thomas joins search.
June 29: Cops rule Mr Qassim, and other man at Airbnb, out of investigation.
June 30: Spanish cops officially suspend hunt but say probe “remains open”. His family continue to search.
July 15: A body is found by helicopter search team close to where his phone last pinged. His possessions are discovered next to human remains. Spanish cops say it points to an “accidental fall”.
August 5: Tenerife authorities confirm the body found in mountainous area of island is Jay's.
August 10: Jay's funeral is held at Accrington Crematorium, Lancs, with hundreds of mourners gathering to remember the "one of a kind" teen.
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