Now Spanish cops quiz locals who claim to have seen missing Jay Slater (2024)

Spanish police are quizzing locals who claim to have seen missing British teenager Jay Slater 'watching the Euros' in a bar in another coastal resort on the island of Tenerife, the mayor has revealed.

Jay, 19, vanished without trace on the morning of Monday June 17 after enjoying the last night of a three-day rave at the Papagayo Beach Club in the party resort town of Playa de las Americas.

After going back to an Airbnb near the remote village of Masca with two men he had met on holiday, Jay phoned his friend Lucy Law at 8.50am to tell her that he was 'tired, thirsty and disorientated' with only one per cent battery on his phone.

It has been ten days since Jay went missing and police still have no idea where he is. Today, emergency services were using helicopters and drones to search a specific area of Masca, where Jay's phone last pinged.

The disappearance took a bizarre twist today when the search shifted to the town of Puerto de Santiago after a mayor on the island said locals had seen someone matching his appearance in bars there.

Emilio Jose Navarro Castanedo gave an interview saying he had spoken to locals who said they had 'seen him watching the Euros on the coast.' Mr Navarro Castanedo said he didn't know which bars locals had seen the man in or what time or date.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Mr Navarro Castanedo said: 'There has been a lot of fake news and misunderstanding of what I said.

'To be clear, I did not say I saw him watching football, locals have told me that they have heard from others that they saw someone looking like the boy in a bar at Los Gigantes further along the coast.

'I have no idea if it was him, but holidaymakers of his age all dress the same and I have no idea in which bars he was seen, I don't know if the police have been there they are not telling me about their investigation.

'I know that local police have spoken to these people who said they saw him cheering in a bar watching football.

'I don't know when he was supposed to have been seen but it was supposedly certainly in the days after he disappeared but I have to underline this is unconfirmed information and only what I have been told.'

The news today comes after it emerged:

• Jay's mother Debbie revealed she was at her wits' end and has barely slept;
• Internet sleuths flew to Tenerife to join the hunt for the missing teenager;
• The key players in the hunt for the missing teenager were revealed;
• Jay's father accuses Spanish police of keeping the family in the dark.

Apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, vanished on June 17 following a rave after party at Papagayo's nightclub on the notorious Veronica's Strip, in the heady party resort of Playa de las Americas.

Friend Lucy Mae Law, 19, said he left with two mystery British men and later sent her two Snapchat images of himself at an AirBnB which they had rented in the remote village of Masca, an hour from Playa de las Americas.

At 8.50am Lucy says she last had contact with him and he told her he was 'lost in the mountains, with no water and one per cent battery,' he added he had also cut his leg on a cactus.

Earlier he had told her he had missed a bus back to Playa de las Americas and was going to walk back, and a local in the village has told MailOnline that she saw him twice.

The first time was to tell him the time of the next bus, 10am, and then fifteen minutes later when she saw him walking the wrong way up a hill towards the isolated and rugged Masca gorge.

Lucy said she raised the alarm at 9am but local police have told MailOnline they were not alerted until later in the afternoon on June 17 and pointed out they would not have launched an immediate search without significant time passing.

Then on Saturday Jay's mother Debbie Duncan, 55, said a man had come forward claiming to have seen Jay by the church in Santiago de Teide at 6pm on Monday – some ten hours after he vanished.

Later a grainy image of what appeared to be a male was released by the family.

The family are clinging to hope that the male in the CCTV walking across the square in front of the San Fernando Rey church in Santiago del Teide is Jay.

Mr Navarro Castanedo, who is the mayor of Santiago del Teide said that as a result of the CCTV image and possible sighting of Jay in the town investigators are now studying CCTV from cameras in the town taken from around 6pm on Monday to try and determine whether the figure in the grainy image is Jay.

Mr Navarro Castanedo said: 'I have seen the image, and that is certainly the church but the camera is a webcam and we have no access to it, that's for touristic purposes and I don't know how to view past footage.

'What I can tell you is that the police have taken the CCTV from the town hall and also they have been in touch with the company that runs the cameras to get the images from them.'

A police spokesperson told MailOnline: 'We are not going to give details of how the investigation is going or what lines of enquiry we are looking at.

'All I can tell you is that the search activity for a person reported missing is focusing on the report of a missing person made late on June 17, and we have various lines of investigation open.

'As we have said constantly no details of the investigation will be revealed and we are focusing on the search.'

Jay's desperate loved ones have been sharing the grainy CCTV image in the hope there could be a sighting of him.

But Briton Tom Beckett, who is familiar with the area where Slater last used his phone and was in Santiago del Teide on Tuesday, said the teenager may not have reached the town.

'Had he been on the road, he would have been seen by numerous tourists. It's a very narrow road so they wouldn't have missed him, they would have seen him,' Mr Beckett told Reuters.

The development came as one of Jay's pals lashed out at internet sleuths and online trolls who have accused him of being connected to the disappearance.

Bradley Hargreaves, 19, arrived on the Spanish sunshine holiday island with Jay, for their first lads holiday abroad and attended the high-octane NRG festival.

It was following an after-party at Papagayo's nightclub in the hotspot of Playa de las Americas that the apprentice bricklayer vanished on June 17.

Posting on social media, Bradley said: 'Don't know why l've to jump on here to explain myself to the Facebook world but if any of yous believe me his best mate has anything to do with him going missing you're honestly not all there.

'I've known Jay most of my life go to all these raves and what not together and this was our first lads holiday with him. Nobody actually knows the true story not even me because there isn't a factual story that has come out just a load of s*** that has been said by different people.

'Anyway won't be saying much more on here but just thought l'd get that out.'

Among those who commented on his post was Lucy Law, 19, the last friend who Jay was in touch with and who spoke with him at 8.50am the day he disappeared.

She posted a praying hands and heart emoji adding: 'We will find him.'

The latest alleged sighting comes as Jay's mother revealed she's at her wits' end with worry - as his friends flew to Tenerife to help with the search for him.

Speaking out, Debbie revealed how among those who had travelled to the Spanish holiday island was her son's former girlfriend, Jessica Ingham.

School finance officer Debbie, 55, told MailOnline: 'It's been a week now and it's been awful. I've barely slept and I'm at my wits' end.

'The Spanish police are doing a good job and we are getting updated from the consulate so we just put our faith in them.

'I know people in the UK have come forward as well who were at the festival and they are giving details of what they know but I'm not being told about that.

'Jay's very good friends from home have also been over and have put up posters. They are good kids and like me just want him home.'

The friends who were happy to speak to the MailOnline also lashed furiously at online speculation and said: 'Imagine if he was your son or brother, think about his poor mum.'

Despite an extensive search by police and mountain rescue teams with dogs, drones and a helicopter there has been no trace since he vanished following a rave in Playa de las Americas in southern Tenerife.

MailOnline has spoken to four of his closest pals – including Jessica - after they flew out to the Spanish island to help look for him and support his frantic mother and all travelled from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire.

The group spent the weekend combing the harsh and unforgiving terrain of the Masca gorge where his mobile phone 'pinged' for the last time seven days ago after he had left a rave with two mystery men.

Engineer Jessica, 19, said: 'What really gets me is all these online detectives who have got nothing better to do than spread malicious rumours and gossip, it's not helping the situation.

'People need to remember he is a missing person, and his mother is absolutely sick with worry and she doesn't need to read all kinds of rubbish that are being written about him.

'It's really awful and these keyboard warriors need to take a step back and think about how Debbie is feeling and imagine if it was their son or brother that was missing, some people have been really hurtful.

'He's my ex boyfriend but we still keep in touch and he means a lot not just to me but all of us.'

Sources told MailOnline that Debbie was in such a state she was 'on the verge of a breakdown' after nine days with no news and no leads about her son who disappeared after a rave after party at Playa de las Americas in south Tenerife.

Jay's best friend warehouse worker James Currie, 19, said:' We have just got to keep on hoping that he is out there somewhere. We can't give up on him. It's as if a piece of us is missing.

'We came out here to look for Jay because he is our friend, we've known him since primary school, he is our mate and he's one of us.

'But we are also out here to support Debbie and his dad and brother. They are in pieces, and they don't need to read some of this wild speculation that's out there.

'He's my best friend. I love him to bits, we all do and I can tell you if it was one of us missing he would be out there looking for us.

'This sort of thing doesn't happen to a lad from Lancashire. It's like something from Netflix. He's on his first holiday with his friends and he goes missing, it just doesn't make sense.'

Bartender Aaliya Duxbury, 19, said: 'We all just want him home as quickly as possible. He is somewhere on this island and that's why we came out here to find him.

'James is right, a piece of us is missing, he makes everyone smile and is such a happy guy, we couldn't just stay at home and do nothing. He has to come home he just has to.

'It's just not the same within him. It just doesn't seem real, it's just a nightmare that we want to end and as the others say we don't need all this awful speculation.

'These people need to show some empathy and compassion, a person is missing and his mum is worried sick.'

All four spent hours searching the Masca gorge, looking in abandoned shepherd huts and joined Jay's father Warren, 58, and his brother Zak, 24, when they paid an emotional visit to the scene.

Petrol station attendant Saul Wilkin, 19, said: 'That was tough to watch. They were in pieces, crying and it set us all off as well when we were up there.

'Seeing the terrain for ourselves we realised just how harsh it is up there but we have to keep hoping that he is out there somewhere.

'The place is covered in cactus and the paths are slippery and rocky, we were falling when we were up there and to think our friend is up there is just so upsetting.'

When asked about the possibility of Jay being taken, Jessica immediately said:'I'm convinced of it. I don't see how there has been no sign of him. It makes me think someone has him.

'The area is busy with hikers and holidaymakers, it's broad daylight and so someone would have seen him but they haven't so it can only mean someone has him.

'I don't see why he would have come off the road and walked into the ravine it doesn't make sense and Jay would never let his mobile go down to one percent.

'There are things that don't add up but he knows what he's doing and he wouldn't go wandering off in the mountains with no battery on his phone.

'I really do think he's been taken and whoever has him needs to let him go and get home to his family and friends. We miss him and love him to bits.'

Jessica added:'When we met Debbie she was devastated and she gave us all a big hug and it made us feel better and her as we were all together.

'But no mother should have to go through what she is going through. It's not fair on her and it wouldn't be fair on anyone in that position.

'This was his first foreign holiday, he should be back home at work now with his friends, it's just awful.'