Cruel Jay Slater trolls pretend to be Facebook group founder's dead mum

Vicious trolls have reportedly targeted a woman who set up a Jay Slater Facebook group. The 19-year-old went missing after travelling to Tenerife to attend a music festival.

And Rachel Hargreaves - the mum of Jay's friend Bradley - launched the social media page to stir up support for the search. But since he went missing on June 17, Rachel has been on the recieving end of cruel trolling, with people even pretending to be her dead mother.

The social media page has more than 590,000 members. Rachel, a chef from Accrington in Lancashire, said she received a friend request on the social media platform from a fake account, using the name and photo of her mother who died eight months ago, The Mirror reports.

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Bradley, who Rachel said is "not coping well", received a message from the account saying 'I miss you'. The mum said they have received thousands of comments and messages in the group from people genuinely trying to help with the search, however these have unfortunately been missed over the deluge of negativity and bizarre conspiracy theories.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: "The picture of my mum is an old one but it was on my Facebook and somehow they have got their hands on it. We're living the worst nightmare you can live and this does not help. I'm a strong person and that affected me. Things don't normally get to me."

She is supporting Jay's mum Debbie as the search for the teen closes in on its second week. "You can't put into words how you feel," Rachel said. "I'm just here trying to support and be strong for her."

Many people have speculated about foul play relating to Jay's dissapearence. But Rachel said: "The stuff people have been saying about us is just not true. We are not those kinds of people at all."

Debbie and Jay's brother Zak, 21, flew out to Tenerife the day after he went missing police informed them of his disappearance. The 55-year-old school finance officer has vowed to not leave the island until her son is found. Jay's father, Warren Slater, 58, arrived last week and has been staying in the town of Santiago de Tiede, where he was seen putting up missing posters for his son.