Jay Slater’s family and friends slam fake death posts as search for missing teenager continues

As the search for missing Lancashire teenager Jay Slater moves into its second week, his family and friends have been forced to battle with cruel trolls online, amid their already distressing search for the popular apprentice.

19-year-old Jay, who hails from Oswaldtwistle was last heard from on Monday June 17, when he phoned his friend to say he was lost, in need of water and had only one per cent of battery left, following a night out in Tenerife. Prior to his battery dying, the teenager’s last known location was near the Rural de Teno Park, and this has been the source of much of the extensive search to try and find him.

Yet after seven days of intensive searching which has seen police officers, mountain rescue, drones, fire service personnel and sniffer dogs all enlisted to help try and bring Jay safely home, so far he has yet to be found.

READ MORE: Jay Slater missing in Tenerife LIVE updates as desperate search for teen continues

Given the duration of Jay’s absence, his distraught family and friends have been hoping and praying for positive news - but this hasn’t stopped cruel trolls from speculating online about his fate, or even sharing fake posts online to further upset and compound the heartache of his worried family.

One such fake post circulating on TikTok and pretending to be the admin of the official Facebook group set up to find Jay, 'Rachel Lousie Harg', claimed that Jay’s body had been found and blamed ‘Moroccans’ for the crime - something the real Rachel was forced to deny on social media.

Sharing a screenshot of the post, Rachel wrote: “This isn’t me!!!! This is NOT true.” Alongside a string of broken heart emojis.

It isn’t the only cruel post that has circulated in recent days, with Rachel having previously hit out at “sick” people who had been spreading fake information and jeopardising the ongoing search. Describing the experience as “absolutely soul destroying” she highlighted the impact of the lies on Jay’s mum Debbie, who is “absolutely broken” by the claims.

Despite the fake posts to the contrary however, the search for Jay remains ongoing, with Spanish police continuing to explore every avenue in the hopes of safely finding the missing apprentice bricklayer in order to reunite him with his family.