Yahoo News Jay Slater family's fears grow as Spanish Police issue update
Spanish authorities have not lost hope in the search for missing teenager Jay Slater. A source close to the investigation has emphasised that they do not consider Jay to be "missing feared dead".
The police are actively following several leads in their quest to locate him. When questioned about any progress in the case and whether there is a clearer picture of Jay's whereabouts, a Civil Guard spokesperson stated: "The investigation is ongoing and several lines of inquiry are being pursued."
The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared three weeks ago after he was last seen at a rave in Playa de las Americas, Tenerife. Jay's family have expressed their frustration with the perceived inaction of the local police, who ceased official searches after two weeks.
READ MORE
They are also puzzled by the swift dismissal of two individuals who had driven Jay to a secluded Airbnb near Masco, allowing them to return to the UK without further scrutiny, reports the Mirror.
Warren, Jay's father, along with his brother Zak, have taken it upon themselves to scour the dangerous mountainous area where Jay's phone signal was last detected. On July 8, Warren made an urgent appeal to British authorities for assistance in the search for his son.
However, Lancashire Police have stated that their stance remains unchanged and they will not be sending officers to join the search efforts.
The search for the missing teenager has seen an offer of assistance from the force, which was turned down by local police. Speaking to The Mirror in Santiago del Teidi, near the mountains where Jay vanished, Warren explained that their search had expanded from the Valley of Barranco de Juan Lopez, where Jay's phone signal was last detected, to the adjacent Los Carrizales valley.
Warren expressed the enormity of the task, stating it could take a decade for an army to comb through the vast, rugged terrain. He recounted how they had embarked on "two wild goose chases" to derelict buildings hoping to find Jay.
The young apprentice bricklayer disappeared on the Spanish island on June 17.
Jay was last spotted leaving an Airbnb in the north of the island, not far from Masca village. The teenager was vacationing with friends Lucy, 18, and Brad Hargreaves, 19, and had spent time at the Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas before his disappearance.
He departed the venue with two British men heading towards the Airbnb.
Warren highlighted the lack of new information from Spanish authorities in recent days and expressed a desire for British police to question the two men who accompanied Jay to the Airbnb. "We need to, as a full family, do a proper press conference and ask the British authorities to help. He's a British citizen. Get Interpol involved," he urged.
Warren, a distraught father, expressed his frustration and desperation: "It's just us. I haven't got a team. We need a team to come over here and find out for us what the police are doing and what we need to do. Our hands are tied over here, we need experts. How long can you stay here for? It'll take an army 10 years to cover all this. I'd employ a team of Gurkhas."
He couldn't comprehend why anyone would choose to hike through the thorny brambles and cacti when there was a rough path available. "All I'm thinking is common sense, would you try and walk through there. Where we've been today you can see there's a hikers path with proper stones. We've gone straight down and you end up in the village," he stated.
Furthermore, he questioned why no one had spotted his son walking along the winding mountain road in a popular tourist area. "From the bnb, he's a fit lad, 25 minutes you can get to the top, to where the cafe is. If he's followed the road and been where we've been today, it's took him an hour and a half, " he said.
"Dozens of cars would have gone past him. We got here at 9am and the 10am bus passed us. And it would have passed him. I've been up here three weeks and I've never seen as many cars."
The Airbnb Jay visited was rented by convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim. He has said: "I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go. His friends had all left him."
"I know Jay, through friends, I'm not going to bring someone back to mine if I don't know them. I'm doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It's a bit mental. I haven't even done anything."
Qassim also stated: "The only comment I have to make is that Jay came to the house alive, and he left the house alive."
The search by Spanish authorities concluded last weekend after 14 days.
