Fireman looking for Jay Slater speaks out on 'increasingly strange' aspect to search

A fireman involved in the search for Jay Slater has spoken out about the ongoing hunt to find the missing Brit as he said it is ‘increasingly strange’ that Jay still hasn’t been found.

The 19-year-old has not been heard from since Monday morning. He vanished after attempting to walk back to his accommodation over 30km away. It has been reported it was the morning after spending the night at an Airbnb with new people he has met at NRG music event.

According to reports, he walked off alone and uphill into the mountainous area around the Rural de Teno park, near to the Masca village. Friend Lucy, who was also on holiday with the teen, received a call from Jay, who explained that he was lost and had one per cent phone battery, before his mobile ran flat at around 8.50am.

READ MORE: Tenerife rave where Jay Slater partied hours before vanishing issues lengthy statement

The owner of the Airbnb accommodation in the north west of Tenerife was the last person confirmed to have seen him

A major search operation to find the teen from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, has been going on for seven days now. Now a fireman, called Ricardo, from the Brigada Forestal, said how tough the conditions make it to find a missing person.

Speaking to Manchester Evening News, he said: "It's very difficult to find people here, because of the ravines and the mountains," he said. "I've seen the case and about the missing boy on the internet... but the days are now passing by and it's increasingly strange that he hasn't appeared yet."

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“The information we have is that Jay [and his friends] were going to a music festival, and afterwards, the last sign of him was around here in the Teno Rural Park. I don't know if he was walking, hiking.. I just don't know. That's where I lose the thread."

He added: “It's so strange." Police said on Friday that they were focusing in on areas around the Parque Rural de Teno nature reserve, the area where Jay was reported missing. They include a ravine around 100 metres below the rental property where Jay was last seen, as well as in mountains between Masca and Las Portelas.”

The specific locations that are being looked at are Masca Gorge, La Vica, and Las Portelas, as well as the surrounding Masca area. A member of the Guardia Civil previously said: "We still have hope that he's alive, up until the last moment when the last hope is lost. The truth is that we feel a bit frustrated because we can't find him. It's so big [here] that it's very difficult to search in such a steep area. But we're doing everything we can."