Yahoo News Jay Slater investigation in Tenerife heads to Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas
The search for missing Brit Jay Slater has taken a dramatic turn as efforts have been redirected from the mountainous region in the north-west of Tenerife to the opposite side of the island.
Authorities have confirmed that the operation to find Jay Slater, 19, has shifted focus to the southern tourist hotspots of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas, close to where the young apprentice bricklayer was staying. Since Monday, rescue teams including sniffer dogs and mountain experts had been scouring the area for Jay.
A Civil Guard spokesperson announced at 12.30pm local time: "The search operation has moved to the south of the island. The search areas are Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas."
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While the spokesperson did not provide specific reasons for the change in search location, they mentioned: "It's obviously down to information that's been received as the investigation has progressed. As things stand at the moment the search in the mountainous area near Masca in the north has been halted."
Earlier today, police maintained an open stance regarding Jay's puzzling disappearance as the third day of the mountain search commenced. A spokeswoman for the Civil Guard in Tenerife stated just before 11am local time, prior to the revelation that the search had expanded to the south, approximately 45 minutes by car from Masca: "We are still searching for the missing man."
The Civil Guard comprises teams from the helicopter unit, the cynological unit with dogs, the Greim mountain rescue and intervention unit, and citizen security patrols in the search operation. The spokeswoman added: "The helicopter unit has one helicopter which has been participating in the search since it began on Monday. We're not going to talk about the number of officers involved but it's a large operation."
She directed attention towards their primary search area: "The focus area is the area where we were informed the missing man had disappeared which is the narrow valley within the Teno Massif called the Masca Gorge. When there's a disappearance police always look at all options and investigate all the possibilities. In this case no hypothesis has been ruled out as you'd expect at the start of any investigation."
Jay Slater's friend Lucy Mae, who had flown to Tenerife with him to attend a three-day rave festival, expressed her growing concern for his safety, describing his disappearance as "suspicious and weird".
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