Jay Slater’s father breaks silence, saying: ‘You don’t just disappear’

The family of missing British teenager Jay Slater are still on Tenerife, searching tirelessly for him, despite police suspending their search on their land over the weekend. On Wednesday, images emerged of the 19-year-old’s father Warren, 58, and older brother Zak, 24, scouring the island for answers about his disappearance.

Jay, originally from Lancashire, went missing on the Spanish island on June 17. He was last seen leaving an Airbnb in the north of the island, near the village of Masca, at around 8am that day. The teenager, who was on holiday with friends Lucy Law, 18, and Brad Hargreaves, 19, had previously partied at the Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas, before leaving the venue with two Britons to return to his rented accommodation.

According to the Manchester Evening News, Jay was last found in Teno Country Park in the north of the Canary Islands, about an 11-hour walk from his home. At around 8.30am on the morning of his disappearance, Jay called Lucy to say he was stranded in an unknown location, trying to find his way back without water and with just 1% of his phone battery remaining. To get the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter

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That was the last contact anyone had with him. After spending nearly two weeks combing the vast, mountainous terrain for the teenager, police suspended their field search. On June 30, it was announced that while police would continue to respond to any new information received, the intensive search efforts for the missing apprentice mason would be scaled back.

Warren, after a grueling two-hour hike into the ravine where his son Jay’s cell phone had last reported his location 16 days earlier, expressed confusion and concern. In a heartfelt statement, Warren expressed disbelief at the situation, saying: “You don’t just disappear. It’s just ridiculous that someone would just disappear. He’s a young boy, he’s fit. He’s fitter than all of us put together. He’s played football his whole life, he’s in great shape. You don’t just disappear. I don’t know… it’s just a mystery… it’s baffling.”

Warren’s emotional comments came shortly after reports surfaced that Jay felt scared when leaving a remote holiday home in Masca, 20 miles from where he was staying, and told friends he was unable to return, according to the Mirror.

Spanish authorities have said the two Britons, who reportedly had interactions with police before leaving the island, are not linked to the missing person case.

Warren added: “I’m past the point of sadness and I’m angry, if that makes sense. I’m angry because nothing happened. If I had left you here and then you had disappeared, don’t you think the police would be on my case?”

As he stood with his eldest son Zak and one of Jay’s uncles overlooking the deep gorge, Warren shared: “We went all the way down. We walked as far as we could until it was too dangerous. All I do is kind of Colombo myself. I mean he could be here, you never know, but as a father, I don’t want him to be there.”

Warren had previously mentioned that it was unwise to search the ravine itself due to the danger involved. However, once the official search was completed, he felt compelled to trek through the treacherous landscape with his family. In doing so, he suffered injuries to his arms and legs during the perilous trek.

Speaking about where his son’s phone was last active, he said: “This is where his phone rang for the last time. It was the valley and I reached the point of no return. We followed the path down to the bottom of the valley. If I had hiking boots and ropes I would have gone there, but I can’t do it in Adidas sandals.”

However, pointing to a large mountain peak in the distance, he added: “If someone said to me ‘he’s up this hill and you’ll find him’, I’d climb that fucking hill and find him.” Asked if the family still intended to stay in Tenerife until Jay was found, he replied: “I know his mother wants him, maybe his brother wants him too, but you can’t stay forever. His mother says ‘he’s not found, I’m not leaving this island’. But it’s hard, it’s so hard. There’s no straight line to follow.”

Regarding the police investigation, Warren said: “The police here are doing their own investigations. They’re not telling us, they’re not telling you, we’re in the dark. They know better than anyone else. Do you think they should keep looking?” He added: “If this was in England I’d be kicking up a fuss, but we’re in a foreign country and we’ve got to leave it to the people who know better than us.”

Asked if he thought Jay was heading toward the sea, which was visible in the distance, he said: “Maybe.” He added: “I’ve been down this trail twice. Every step I took, there was an opening. If you land on one of those cacti, you don’t move. Someone’s probably going to find you in two weeks.”

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Speaking of the area below him, he said: “It’s hundreds of square metres of this little bushy thing. You can’t explain that to someone unless they see it. You can take pictures of it or film it, but until you’re here.” Warren spoke out following revelations from a former British police detective, now working for the family, who claimed Jay was frightened when he left the holiday rental where he was last seen.

Mark Williams-Thomas, a detective turned TV investigator known for his work on high-profile missing persons cases, shared his details of the apprentice mason’s last confirmed whereabouts on Wednesday morning. Additionally, Williams-Thomas revealed that Jay, 19, had expressed an inability to return to the property, which was seen being inspected by two Spanish police officers wearing blue forensic-style overshoes on Tuesday morning.

Mr Williams-Thomas, 54, said: “We have received information which suggests that Jay left the rental property in fear and would not return to the rental property, even though that would have been the most sensible course of action, and also where he could have charged his phone and got water.”

He added: “He was told to go back to the rental. He said he couldn’t do it and he had already been walking for 30 minutes and was now off the road and walking on a path, where there were loose stones.” Shedding further light on Jay’s state of mind just before he disappeared, Mr Williams-Thomas also claimed that during a drive to the property, Jay uploaded a video to social media in which he boasted about stealing a Rolex watch.

In a video statement posted on social media today, Mr Williams-Thomas said: “En route, Jay posted a Snapchat saying they had stolen a Rolex worth £12,000 from a person. We have not been able to validate this in terms of a reported theft. However, Jay’s friends have said he would not make this up and the watch was the subject of a subsequent conversation between them.”

Jay Slater’s mother gave an update on the ongoing search for her son on Wednesday, detailing how the remaining funds raised by the GoFundMe page set up after his disappearance would be used. Debbie Duncan, 55, echoed her previous comments made on Tuesday, July 2, while keeping those closely following the search efforts updated. On the GoFundMe page, which has raised nearly £50,000, she explained that the money would support local volunteers and mountain rescue teams, and also help equip British searchers who have travelled to Tenerife.

In her statement, Debbie said: “As I said in my official statement, the Spanish police conducted a 12-day search on the ground, mobilising all the resources at their disposal. Although the search on the ground has been completed, the Spanish police are still continuing their investigations to determine why Jay went to this location so far from his home.”

She added: “The remaining funds will continue to be used to support the rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay, as well as to cover our own expenses while we remain in Tenerife looking for our boy.” Responding to the backlash the family have faced over their plans to use some of the nearly £50,000 GoFundMe donations, Warren explained: “We just want to pay for our hotel, we don’t want to do anything.”