Jay Slater’s family RETURN to mountain for new search with rescuers & dogs some 20 days after teen vanished in Tenerife
JAY SLATER’S family have headed up to the Tenerife mountains near where he was last seen to launch a fresh search for the missing teen.
Armed with a team of eight searchers and a sniffer dog, Jay’s dad and brother are retracing his last steps almost 20 days after he vanished.
The 19-year-old’s family were left “blindsided” when cops axed their active hunt for Jay last Sunday.
They vowed to remain on the island as they work tirelessly to find out what happened to the apprentice bricklayer.
Before the GoFundMe set up by Jay’s friend Lucy Law hit £50,000 on Friday night, Jay’s mum Debbie said she would use the money to fund sleuths over there helping in the search.
Jay’s dad and brother, Warren and Zak, have been seen hiking through the mountains to find him themselves in recent days.
Spanish cops confirmed to Jay’s family yesterday that they are allowed to bring in their own search teams to find him.
The family had been urged to use some of the GoFundMe money to pay for their own search after they said they felt “left in the dark” by cops.
Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancs, has not been seen since he called Lucy in a panic from the remote mountainous Rural de Teno park on the morning of June 17.
On Thursday, Debbie slammed cruel online trolls for their twisted jibes, conspiracy theories and jokes since Jay vanished on June 17.
She posted via a friend on the enormous Jay Slater Missing Facebook group: “My beautiful son Jay is still missing and believe me this is no holiday.”
Debbie told the some 600,000 people in the group that the family are “truly devastated” and said the “mystery surrounding his disappearance may never surface”.
She also rubbished theories that the funds raised on a GoFundMe for Jay is being used for anything other than necessary costs on the island.
She said: “For those of you who are more concerned around the Gofundme page I can assure you that up to now it has not been used and our stay up to now has been financed by ourselves.
“I did not ask for publicity from the start and was not aware that the first missing poster had my telephone number on it.
“It should have had the SOS Guardia Civil but like I say this was out of my control. We are a normal working family from Lancashire going through hell.”
Jay’s family hit back at a TikTok star who quit his search for the missing teen after he said he’s “never had any money” from their GoFundMe.
Callum Fahim, who voluntarily travelled to Tenerife to help cops, claimed he’s left the island after being slammed with death threats and seeing no cash.
However, the Slaters said Debbie gave Callum £740 of her own money for his accommodation.
Debbie claimed the TikToker turned “bitter” after they refused to give him more money.
Five questions still unanswered in Jay Slater's disappearance
By James Halpin
Missing Rolex after ‘scuffle’
Police launched a new probe on Saturday morning over the theft of a Rolex watch just hours before Jay disappeared.
It is unclear exactly how Jay’s disappearance might be linked but one of Jay’s pals told detectives the alleged theft may have led to Jay wandering off on his own to try and find the watch.
The Rolex disappeared when a fight broke out at the club Jay was partying at with investigators questioning taxi drivers and bar staff present on the strip.
It has now been said that Jay himself may have stolen the watch.
Police clear duo
Two mystery Brits who partied with Jay Slater on the night of his disappearance were labelled “not relevant” by investigators.
Investigator Mark Williams-Thomas said the men stayed with Jay at an Airbnb cottage in Tenerife before he vanished.
They are said to both be in their late 30s or early 40s and from Luton, Bedfordshire, with one going by the nickname “Johnny Vegas”.
The men were only briefly asked to speak with cops before being allowed to fly home to the UK.
Just six volunteers for ‘massive’ search
Yesterday, Tenerife cops launched what they called a “massive” new search with the help of specialist volunteers to find the 19-year-old Brit.
However, just six volunteers reportedly turned up, claimed Tiktoker Paul Arnott, 29, who flew in to help with the search.
Jay’s father Warren and older brother Zak were seen at the search site.
The area being searched is a 2000ft ravine that has a steep hiking trail traversing it down to the sea.
Mystery final phone calls
Jay’s last phone call to his pal Lucy Law has been shrouded in mystery with it springing up several questions.
The 18-year-old woman told reporters Jay had called her in a panic at around 8.30am on Monday June 17.
She recalled him saying he wasn’t able to catch a bus and was going to start walking back to his flat.
Jay told her his phone was almost out of power, that he had cut his leg on a prickly cactus and he badly needed a drink.
Pinging phone
Search teams narrowed their efforts to a small group of buildings close to where Jay’s phone last pinged, but found nothing last week.
Jay took a 45 minutes car journey with two men to an Airbnb near Masco in the Rural de Teno, a national park in the island’s north.
He posted a Snapchat picture at the £40-a-night digs at around 7.30am appearing to show him holding a cigarette and walking down some stone steps.
After deciding to leave the cottage, Jay rang Lucy before his mobile went dead at 8.50am near a hiking trail in the park.