Jay Slater: Spanish authorities remain silent on disappearance of teenager as online conspiracies reach fever pitch | UK News

A multi-agency effort is one of the defining features of this search for the 19-year-old, who has been missing since June 17. Another reason is the reluctance of these agencies to comment.

In a wild and remote corner of Tenerife, the search for Jay Slater continued for another day.

What was a sprawling operation last week now seems more focused, with a group of Civil Guard officers telling me they were examining a particular ravine with a water source nearby.

From 8 a.m., the agents, accompanied by specialized sniffer dogs from Madrid, walked a path leading to a vineyard.

Gesturing to the other side of the rough terrain, one explained that he needed special equipment to access an area that was difficult to cross on foot.

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Jay Slater: Emergency services using drones focus on area
Jay Slater: Specialized search dogs search for missing teenager

It’s not just the landscape that emergency services have to battle, but also the weather.

The changing conditions we have seen in the Teno Rural National Park over the past week include not only the high temperatures you would expect in Tenerife, but also cloud cover, high winds and rain.

On Wednesday, as the wind died down and the rain started again, a group of vehicles descended into another hollow in the mountains.

This group included not only the Civil Guard, but also teams from the Canarian government and local police.

Closely monitored by the Civil Guard, local teams deployed three drones to monitor the scene for around 45 minutes.

This multi-agency effort is one of the defining features of this research.

Another reason is the reluctance of these agencies to comment, despite the series of questions surrounding this case – fueled by online conspiracies which have reached fever pitch in recent days.

Since Mr. Slater’s disappearancethe Spanish authorities have not yet held a press conference.

Although teams on site declined to confirm whether the drones were being used in connection with a specific track, the Civil Guard provided a comment later in the day, describing the work as “repeated chases across ravines, roads and trails over rough terrain.”

As another day of this case draws to a close, Mr. Slater’s loved ones hope this repeated work will eventually provide them with some sort of answer as to his whereabouts.

Mr Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, called on the public to pray for her son.

“I have every confidence in them in the field and in the incredible research they are doing with other amazing guys there,” she said.

“As a family we are in a living nightmare. We have no further news except that Jay is still missing and we are just ignoring the social media side of things.”