Anxious family of missing Jay Slater wading through torrent of trolls including ‘medium’ who demanded flight to Tenerife
MISSING Jay Slater’s family have blasted cruel trolls for “thriving on agony” as they contend with a raft of heartless messages.
The British holidaymaker, 19, disappeared on Monday while on holiday in Tenerife with two pals.
It sparked a desperate round-the-clock search for the apprentice bricklayer, from Lancashire, with cops, firefighters, sniffer dogs, drones and helicopters all joining the hunt.
But the frantic hunt has also dredged up wades of online sleuths spouting unverified claims and bogus theories on Facebook groups – some with tens of thousands of members.
Some thoughtless trolls have even targeted Jay’s family members, who clinging on to hope that the teen is found.
Jay’s worried mum, Debbie Duncan, says she has been bombarded with sham calls from idiotic pranksters claiming her son has been kidnapped.
And Debbie’s partner Andy Watson, 63, said a sick person claiming to be a medium had been in touch with her, claiming to know Jay’s location.
He said: “They told Debbie: ‘If you paid for my flights to Tenerife I will tell you where he is.’
“It’s just despicable.
“Some people just seem to thrive off people’s agony.”
Dozens of unverified GoFundMe pages have also been set up using Jay’s name.
The organisation said “all campaigns are under review” and that no money will be transferred unless it is verified that the donations will go to his family.
Concerned Andy said the family were still anxiously waiting news about Jay.
He said: “The worst is not knowing what’s happened. That gets to you.
“I know what his mum is going through. Mums and sons are close and they are the same.
“I wouldn’t wish this on anybody. It’s terrible.”
It comes as…
- Jay, 19, was first reported missing on Monday after vanishing on his way home from a rave the night before
- His mum’s partner Andy said Jay is “no mug” but could’ve taken a wrong turn on a 10-hour walk back to his hotel
- Mum Debbie was told by cops at 2am on Tuesday to catch the first flight to Tenerife
- She was later bombarded with prank calls from trolls claiming to have kidnapped her son
- A Coronation Street star with a connection to Jay’s family published an appeal for help to find him
- Jay’s posted a Snapchat the night before he vanished showing him smiling with friends
- His friend Lucy described the teen’s disappearance as “suspicious and weird” as cops vowed to keep an “open mind”
He said he had dropped off three family members at Manchester Airport today to fly to Tenerife.
A group of 15 people from Jay’s close circle are now out in Tenerife, which includes the parents of his friends Lucy Mae and Brad who’d gone to the island with him.
“Debbie has got some fantastic support out there,” Andy said.
He said that the organiser of the NRG festival, which Jay and his friends attended on the island, had offered to pay for family members’ accommodation.
Jay was in Tenerife with friends Lucy Mae and Brad for the 2024 New Rave Generation (NRG) festival, which ended on Sunday.
He left that night with two other men he had just met to go to their apartment.
But Jay’s last known location was the Teno Rural Park in the northwest of the island – a popular hiking spot for tourists – at around 8am on Monday.
He was last heard from on Monday morning as he told a friend he planned to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus, a journey expected to take around 11 hours on foot.
His friend Lucy Mae said she had received a call from Jay at around 8.15am on Monday after he missed the bus and was trying to walk back.
He told her he was lost, needed a drink of water and had only 1 per cent battery on his phone.
Jay’s phone then cut off, with his last location showing as the Rural de Teno park – a mountainous area popular with hikers.
In his final Snapchat post, sent just an hour before he was last heard from, he held a cigarette at the accommodation he had gone to on Sunday with two men
Today, precious search hours were lost were police drastically moved their search to the other side of the island after a false sighting.
Mountain rescue crews left the hills where Jay vanished and started scouring the south of the island.
But the huge search operation has now moved back near the village of Masca in northwestern Tenerife after the report turned out to be false.
Police confirmed this afternoon the search had resumed in the Teno Rural Park near Masca after being temporarily halted earlier today as the focus switched to the south.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard said: “Officers have returned to the Masca area to continue with the search operation.”
The force did not offer any detail about the earlier decision to suspend operations or the reason for the resumption.
Just after midday the Civil Guard revealed the popular resorts of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas were now the search areas.
A spokesman said at the time: “As things stand at the moment the search in the mountainous area near Masca in the north has been halted.”
Jay Slater’s friend Lucy Mae responded by claiming: “Someone has given a false lead to the police saying he’s rang a taxi down to Los Cristianos.
“If this was the case he would have rang his mum or one of us. I know him well and he would NOT have us worrying.
“Someone is trying to deter the police from him being up there. I’m starting to think he’s been kidnapped.”
Asked if she thought that was the reason for the switch, she said: “Yes, This is really serious.”
Coronation Street star's plea for help
By Anita Markoff, TV reporter
VICKY Entwhistle, who used to play Janice Battersby on ITV soap Coronation Street, shared a heartbreaking post on Tuesday as the search continues for missing teen Jay Slater.
Vicky shared one of the missing posters circulating online, adding: “My God Mother’s Grandson has gone missing. His Mother has flown out 7pm. To join the police search.
“Hope to God they find him. Please pray for him.”
Fans flocked to the comments to offer reassurance, with one saying: “Saw this on Facebook Vicky, it seems to be getting shared far and wide, hopefully there will be some good news imminently with all the love and support out there, just makes it so much harder when abroad! Love and prayers for you all.”
Another offered: “We are in Tenerife if we can help in any way let us know.”