Jay Slater missing: Major clue about movement hidden in last phone call before teen disappeared

The final phone call made by missing teenager Jay Slater has been identified as a significant 'clue' in the search for him. The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire disappeared on June 17 while holidaying in the remote Rural de Teno area of Tenerife for a three-day music festival.

After leaving his friends to stay at an Airbnb with other festival-goers, he is thought to have embarked on an arduous 11-hour walk back to his accommodation in the south of the island after missing the first bus.

Jay's last phone call was to his friend Lucy Mae Law, just before his battery died around 8.15am. Lucy, who accompanied Jay on his first overseas trip with friends, revealed that he told her he was hungry, thirsty and had cut his leg on a cactus.

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Officers from the Civil Guard believed this information was crucial in their efforts to locate him in the rural mountainous region. However, the official search was called off over the weekend after nearly two weeks.

Cipriano Martin, head of the Civil Guard's Greim mountain rescue unit, informed reporters on Saturday that Jay's injury suggested he had "left the main road" and ventured into the hilly terrain. He stated that Jay "obviously" had to enter the mountains - but despite almost a fortnight of searching, investigators found no substantial evidence in the steep rocky area, reports the Mirror.

An officer detailed the search efforts, saying: "Masca's been looked at, the Juan Lopez ravine, the Retamar ravine, Las Aneas ravine, Los Carrizales ravine, in all the areas we know he's been in because his mobile phone coverage is undeniable and places him there. But we have a difficulty which is that once the phone goes off the antennas stop picking it up, so that while he's walking, and we don't know how long he was walking for, no phone mast is going to detect it, and as the technicians tell us, they look for mobiles and not people, so we're at that point as well, that we have certain information and we have to go on that."

The officer added: "The clues are based on the information we have. Another of the things that leads us to consider that hypothesis is when he rings his friend Lucy and says he's cut himself on a cactus and he's worried because he doesn't know whether it's poisonous or not, and she tells him not to worry that it's not poisonous. But for that to happen you have to leave the road because you're not going to cut yourself on a cactus being on the road and he's had to go into the mountains obviously."

Lucy previously informed Sky News that Jay had called her, stating he "didn't know where he was", that he "needed a drink" and had "cut his leg on a cactus". She further stated that Jay is "not a stupid boy" and expressed: "I can't understand why he would come out of the house and then decide he was going to walk. I think he maybe set off walking with battery and had not realised how far the walk actually is."

Mark Williams-Thomas, a former detective who transitioned into a TV investigator and is known for exposing Jimmy Savile, has been gathering non-public information and speaking to witnesses to create a more "detailed picture" of Jay's last known movements. On Sunday evening, after the Spanish police ended their search, Mr Williams-Thomas commented: "Although the police search in the mountains and around Masca has concluded, the police investigation into Jay Slater's disappearance remains ongoing."

He further noted: "In regard to our investigation we have been able to speak to important witnesses and now have a very detailed picture of Jay's movements over the 16th and 17th, along with important background information. We still have a number of outstanding actions, but have given the family a preliminary breakdown of findings."

Mr Williams-Thomas stated: "In light of the police search ending, I have suggested the family should use the GoFundMe money to continue the search using experts in searching. I would appeal again, if you have any 'direct information' having spoken to Jay or anyone that was with him overnight 16/17th and have not yet been in contact please do so."

Jay's mother has confirmed that the £44,000 raised through a GoFundMe campaign will be used to support the family's efforts to find the missing teenager, including flying relatives out, as well as covering their accommodation and sustenance, as the search for the 19 year old continues into its third week.