Brit tourist ‘army of angels’ offering to take time away from Tenerife hols to keep search for missing Jay Slater alive
AN ARMY of volunteers dubbed “Jay’s angels” are set to help lead the search for the missing teenager.
Jay’s family are being offered help from tourists on the island after cops announced they were ending their hunt for the missing teen, The Sun can reveal.
Jay’s parents Debbie and Warren, and his brother Zak, are all in Tenerife looking for answers about what happened to the missing 19-year-old.
Some people have reached out to Jay’s family to say they are planning trips to Tenerife and would like to help in any way they can after cops called off the search on Sunday.
A source close to the family said: “Jay’s family have been through a rollercoaster of emotions in the last 24 hours.
“His parents plan to stay in Tenerife and will be doing whatever it takes to try and find him.
“They’ve been overwhelmed with messages of support. So many people have got in touch in the past 24 hours to say how sorry they are.
“Some are even due to come to Tenerife over the summer on holiday so got in touch to ask how they can help.
“Many have said how they’ll be sure to look for Jay when they get here.
“It’s been a tremendous boost and, to the family, it feels like there are some angels out there who will be looking for him.”
These volunteers are contacting the family directly to offer their help in a way that Jay’s loved ones might find most helpful.
They are not the same as the so-called TikTok ‘sleuths’ flying out to hunt for the teen themselves and posting videos about it online.
It comes after reports that Jay’s devastated family were left “in the dark” as police abruptly halted the search for the missing teen.
Cops in Tenerife dramatically called off the hunt for Jay yesterday after failing to find any trace of him in the two weeks since he vanished.
The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared on June 17 while on holiday with two friends.
While the on the ground search has stopped, police on the island have insisted the case is still very much open.
The source added: “It blindsided Jay’s family, especially his parents, who’d hoped the police would work for longer on trying to find their son.
“But, as the hours have passed, a sense of resilience has grown. There’s no way Jay’s family and friends are giving up.
“After all the problems they’ve had with trolls, this help and support means the world.”
Detectives have promised to continue investigating and probe any new tip-offs or information that come in.
But Jay’s family have been left bewildered by the sudden search call off and have vowed to keep looking for answers.
Close family friend Rachel Hargreaves, who has joined them in Tenerife, said: “Nothing has changed. We will continue to search for him.”
It comes as…
- Jay Slater cops should keep an open mind and probe if he’s been murdered, says Brit ex-cop
- Teen’s family slam trolls for ‘getting in way’ of hunt
- Jay’s family vow to keep going as cops halt search
- New childhood pics of Jay emerge
- Cops question new witnesses after fresh twist
- Jay ‘could have fallen into steep gorge’
Jay vanished on the morning of June 17 after a night out at the NRG festival at Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas.
He was last seen travelling with the two mystery men in the north of the island in the Rural de Teno park.
Jay made a final frantic phone call to pal Lucy Law to tell her he was stranded in the “middle of nowhere” at about 8.50am on June 17.
Panicked Jay, facing an 11-hour walk back to their hotel, told her he needed water and only had one per cent of battery left on his phone.
His other friend Brad Hargreaves revealed a second call in which Jay told him he had veered off the main path – leading to speculation he may have slid down rocks.
Brad said he could hear the missing teen slipping on rocks during a final video call.
The disappearance sparked a desperate round-the-clock search with his heartbroken mum and family jetting out to the island to join the hunt.
Rescue crews focused their efforts around the 2,000ft Masca ravine close to Jay’s last known location – the desolate Teno Nature Reserve.
On Thursday, they shifted their focus to caves near Los Carrizales – around an hour and a half on foot from the Airbnb Jay went to with the two men.
It is claimed he was spotted “walking alone” by locals before his disappearance.