HUNT FOR JAY
Brit teen Jay Slater missing in Tenerife after making desperate call to pals following trip to ‘middle of nowhere’
The Spanish Civil Guard have deployed a helicopter and a number of officers and firefighters to help with the search
A BRIT teenager has gone missing in Tenerife after making a desperate phone call to his pals saying he was in the "middle of nowhere".
Jay Slater, 19, from Lancashire was visiting the island for a three-day music festival and had stayed the night with people he had just met before vanishing on his way home on Monday morning.
9
9
9
9
The people he met were staying in an apartment "in the middle of nowhere" and would "not have realised" how far away he was, his friend Lucy told the Manchester Evening News.
Lucy phoned Jay on Monday morning at 8am and he told her he was walking back to their holiday home - understood to be a 10-hour hike.
Jay said he only had one per cent left on his phone battery and he couldn't catch a bus to make the journey faster and safer.
Lucy also revealed he told her he "didn't know where he was" and that he needed a drink of water before the call cut off.
read more in Tenerife
Tracking his phone, Lucy said the last location was in the middle of the mountains in the Rural de Teno Park - a popular hiking spot.
The local police and the British Embassy have been been told about Jay's disappearance with mountain rescue teams and a helicopter patrolling the park since Monday.
A Civil Guard spokeswoman in Tenerife said the force was doing "everything they could" to find Jay.
She added: "A specialist Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group called the Greim have been mobilised.
Most read in The Sun
"A police helicopter is also out and focusing on the area around the village of Masca.
"Other emergency services including firefighters have also been mobilised.
"Everything possible is being done to try to find the missing man."
Everything possible is being done to try to find the missing man
Civil Guard spokeswoman
A spokesman for a regional emergency coordination centre said Jay was first reported missing at 9.04am on Monday.
The Brit was last seen wearing a white t-shirt and shorts with a black bag on him.
He is believed to have gone straight from the NRG festival in Tenerife to the home of his new friends before he left them at around 8am on Monday.
Do you have information about missing Jay? Get in touch on 07741005808 or email [email protected]
Lucy told : "He's gone on a night out, he's gone to a friend's house, someone that he has met on holiday.
"One of the people he has met has hired a car out of here, so he's driven them back to his apartment and Jay has gone there not realising how far away it is.
"He's ended up out in the middle of nowhere. Jay was obviously thinking he would be able to get home from there."
His family and friends say they "have never been so worried" after hearing about his shock disappearance.
They have since launched a desperate appeal to find him with Lucy searching the national park for her close friend.
MUM'S PRAYERS
Jay's mum Debbie and brother Zak landed in Tenerife on Tuesday to help with the frantic search.
Speaking from the south of the island where her son had been staying Debbie said: "I’m obviously beside myself with worry which is why I’ve flown out here with my eldest son to do anything we can to help.
"We’re just praying the police or someone finds Jay. I know there’s a mountain rescue team out and a helicopter.
"Nothing’s ever going to be enough when your youngest son’s gone missing, but it sounds as though the police here are taking this very seriously and doing the best job they can.
"I just think it was a question of him not knowing the island well enough.
"It was his first time here and being a bit disorientated when it came to distances and not realising it was a 10-hour walk from where he went missing to his holiday accommodation."
Debbie said her son had been at a three-day festival and "would have consumed a fair bit of alcohol" - but he "seemed very compos mentis" before he went missing.
She said: “I know the last place he spoke to his friend Lucy from was in the mountains and I think the police have got a more precise location now.
"I imagine they’re also speaking to the people whose place he went back to.
"I imagine we will head up north nearer the spot Jay was when he disappeared."
Debbie also told how Brits with “northern accents” had been phoning her with hidden numbers and claiming they had her son captive and were keeping him because he owed them money.
She said: "I just don’t know why people would want to do things like this.
"I’ve been getting lots of prank calls. It’s sickening. People ringing me and saying they’ve got Jay because he owes them money."
Debbie posted a plea for help on her Facebook asking for anyone in Tenerife to share a missing poster of Jay.
Her partner Andy Watson, 63, said the family were anxiously waiting for good news.
Speaking from their home near Accrington, Andy told The Sun: "It's really worrying. It feels like a blur at the moment.
"Jay is very street wise and he's no mug but if it was dark and he had no torch on his phone he could have gone down the wrong way and become more lost than he was."
Andy said Jay had disappeared after attending a rave with his pal Lucy.
He said: "Lucy contacted Debbie to say he'd gone back with two English lads he met at the party to their place for a few beers.
"Apparently, where they are staying is eight hours walking distance from where Jay is staying."
A neighbour, who didn't want to be named, described Jay as a "friendly lad" who always seemed to have a smile on his face.
He added: "His family must be going through hell.
"I don't know what I'd do if it was one of my children."
Read More on The Sun
The Canary Islands are expected to reach temperatures of up to 25C today.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: "We are supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities."
9
9
9
9
9
Topics