Jay Slater’s investigator breaks silence on major lead Tenerife police dismissed

Urgent appeals have been made to police in Tenerife and the UK to investigate claims that missing teenager Jay Slater was involved in a theft of £12,000 worth of Rolex watches.

Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, went missing on the Spanish island of Tenerife on June 17 and despite intense search efforts he has still not been found, The Express reports.

New information has emerged, with former detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who is independently investigating the disappearance of the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer, revealing that Jay had confessed to stealing the watch from his friends.

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British authorities are reportedly not investigating the case and Tenerife police are refusing to comment. The newspaper also claims to have been given the identity of a British criminal who shares acquaintances with Jay and is linked to the watch industry in Tenerife.

A source told The Sun: “Spanish police have failed to piece together all the threads of the case and it’s time for British detectives to step in. Jay may have disappeared in Tenerife but most of the people he’s encountered are British.”

A former British army officer has also suggested that Jay Slater’s phone may have been “dumped” before he disappeared. He was last seen leaving an Airbnb near the village of Masca at around 8am.

The last known location of his phone was in the Parque Rural de Teno nature reserve. Before abandoning the official search last week, Spanish authorities focused their search on this reserve.