Jay Slater’s loved ones ‘absolutely heartbroken’ as they set record straight

As the hunt for 19-year-old Jay Slater continues, the missing teenager's distraught family and friends have once again been subjected to a barrage of hurtful messages online from malicious trolls. Jay has not been seen since June 17 after he mysteriously disappeared in the mountains of north-west Tenerife.

It is believed he had spent the previous night at an Airbnb rental before venturing out alone into a remote area of the island. The huge rescue operation to find Jay has involved members of the Civil Guard, fire services, and mountain rescue teams sweeping the vast and 'perilous' Rural de Teno Park. Meanwhile, Jay's loved ones have also made the trip to the island to aid with search efforts.

Amidst this, Jay's mother Debbie Duncan has said that she's "barely slept" and is "at her wit's end with worry". Yet despite the heartache surrounding Jay's disappearance, the apprentice bricklayer's friends and relatives have also had to contend with a slew of unfounded allegations on social media, ranging from accusations of them partying on boats to untrue reports about finding Jay's body.

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Rachel Harg, the mother of Jay's closest friend and admin for the Find Jay Slater Facebook group, laid bare the emotional toll of these trolling incidents, reports the Manchester Evening News. She responded publicly to yet another false claim, confessing that it left her "absolutely heartbroken".

Rachel was forced to refute a malicious online claim that she had been partying in Tenerife instead of searching for her missing Jay. In a social media post, she clarified: "This is another horrible lie about myself firstly this isn't me ! ! I took the video on my last holiday on a boat trip the lady in this video I don't know it was just me videoing the trip I was on with my family."

"Secondly this was when I went to Turkey in April this clip someone stole it and saying am in Tenerife partying. I am here looking for my son's best friend not partying if anyone did see this ! ! ! ! ! ! " She ended her message with the words "Absolutely heartbroken. It was a previous holiday," accompanied by a broken heart emoji.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Jay's mother said: "The Spanish police are doing a good job and we are getting updated from the consulate so we just put our faith in them. I know people in the UK have come forward as well who were at the festival and they are giving details of what they know but I'm not being told about that. Jay's very good friends from home have also been over and have put up posters. They are good kids and like me just want him home."

Jessica, a 19-year-old engineer and one of Jay's friends involved in the search efforts, expressed her frustration with "online detectives" who were spreading harmful rumours. She said as Jay's ex-girlfriend, she implored people to cease their damaging speculation, and pleading for an end to the insensitive behaviour.

Despite rumours and online trolling suggesting otherwise, the search for Jay Slater is still very much active, with specialist sniffer dogs now part of the intensive efforts to trace the missing teenager's last known movements. On Tuesday, Tenerife police confirmed that a team of dogs from Madrid has been drafted in to bolster the search and rescue operations, which have entered their second week.

The force stated: "The Civil Guard continues with the search device for the young British man who disappeared in the Masca neighbourhood, belonging to the municipality of Buenavista del Norte (Tenerife), in which different units of the Civil Guard participate. In addition, today several Canine Guides of the Civil Guard dispatched from Madrid with their canine agents specialised in the search for people on large areas of land, belonging to the Cynological Service of the Civil Guard."