In the face of his son’s disappearance and unpleasant online trolls, the father of missing British teenager Jay Slater has provided an update on the search operation in Tenerife. The search, now in its 12th day, saw a “macro search” conducted by the island’s police force on Saturday, aiming to unearth new clues regarding Jay’s location. The 19-year-old Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire native was last heard from two weeks ago on a Monday morning when he informed a friend that he intended to embark on an estimated 11-hour walk back to his lodgings after missing a bus. His pal Lucy Mae, who was also on the island accompanying him for the NRG music festival, revealed that Jay had spent the night not at their accommodation but with acquaintances they had met while holidaying. She recalled receiving a call from Jay around 8.15am on that fateful Monday morning after he realised that he had missed the bus.
Attempting to navigate his way back on foot, he claimed to be lost, parched, and that his phone battery was dwindling at just 1%. The phone call ended abruptly as Jay’s phone ran out of power, with his last known position being the Rural de Teno park a favourite among hiking enthusiasts. Jay’s father, Warren, aged 58, paid a visit to the search site this Saturday in the company of Jay’s elder brother, Zak. Despite being estrangely distant, he upholds genial terms with Debbie Duncan, 55, who is Jay’s mother, reports the Mirror. Sharing his thoughts on today’s search operation, he expressed himself saying: “It’s a bit disappointing that there are no British apart from [British TikTokker] Paul, but I suppose to them he’s just a British lad who’s come out here and got drunk.” “I’m grateful to those who have come out here because you can see just how dangerous it is and what gets me is the trollers who are having a go at us for not searching.” “It’s not the local park, these are big mountains, the terrain is dangerous, put yourself in our position would you go out in these conditions? It’s tough, it’s hard, we are leaving it to the professionals and I’m grateful for those who have turned out today and I want to thank them for what they are doing.”
Adding to his words, Warren said: “We just still can’t believe it; it’s been so tough on us, and I want people to think about us as parents and what we are going through. All those trollers having a go at us, they don’t know how we feel, why don’t they come up here and have a look and see for themselves how dangerous it is.” “I’ve come up here now myself because I wanted to have a look about with Zak and to thank those who are up here and have given their time. I just didn’t think this would go on for so long, I dropped his mum and brother off at the airport and thought they would be back in a few days.” “I just thought he’s gone out had a drink and ended up at some girl’s place as we all did when we were younger, he’s our youngest I just want him home.”
Warren’s comments come amid the ongoing search for missing Jay Slater in the Spanish mountains, with the officer in charge, Cipriano Martin of the Civil Guard’s Greim mountain rescue unit, stating: “Those men have been spoken to and they don’t have any relevance whatsoever for the case.” He also confirmed that Jay’s family has been actively involved in the search efforts: “All week they’ve been participating because we’ve seen them and they’ve seen us in several places. They’ve been actively participating.” Meanwhile, police are investigating allegations of a nightclub altercation involving a stolen Rolex watch shortly before Jay disappeared. The incident reportedly occurred outside Papagayo Beach Club, where Jay was last seen enjoying himself, and involved a man who alleged his Rolex was taken during a scuffle.
