Jay Slater missing in Tenerife: Everything we know so far about teenager who vanished on holiday

The search for teenager Jay Slater who disappeared in Tenerife while holidaying with friends for a three-day music festival has now entered its fourth day.

The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, was reported missing on Monday morning (June 17) after last being seen by his friends on a night out on Sunday. His friend Lucy Mae was last to hear from him at 8.15am local time, when he called her to say he had gotten lost, had only one percent battery left on his phone and needed water.

Lucy said one of the people Jay had met had driven them back to his apartment in a hire car and the missing man had not realised how far away it was. The apprentice bricklayer planned to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus, a journey expected to take around 11 hours on foot.

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However his phone soon cut out and his last known location was Rural de Teno park, a mountainous hiking area. Jay was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with shorts and trainers.

As the hunt for missing Jay enters its fourth day of searching, here is what we know about the ongoing case, including the full timeline of his disappearance.

Timeline

Sunday, June 16th: Jay attends the NRG Tenerife Weekender festival with friends

Sunday evening: Jay sends a relative a Snapchat near Arona, Tenerife

Monday 8am, June 17th: Jay's friend Lucy receives a call from him claiming he was trying to walk home from staying out the night before, saying he was also thirsty and had 1% battery. His location is traced to near the village of Masca in Rural de Teno.

8.50am: Jay's phone dies

9.04am: Jay is officially reported missing to police

Tuesday, 2am: Jay's mum Debbie Duncan is awoken by police at home in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, telling her she needs to go to Tenerife as her son has been reported missing

11.35am: Debbie lands in Tenerife with Jay's brother, Zak, to help the search. Shortly after arriving on the island, she claims she receives a Snapchat from someone telling her to "say goodbye to your boy", as well as calls from people purporting to have her son. A Facebook group is meanwhile set up by loved ones to aid the search.

Wednesday, 12.30pm: The Civil Guard confirm they have shifted search efforts to the south of the island around the tourist areas of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas after reports of a sighting.

Wednesday afternoon: Police later say they have resumed their search in the mountains after it's believed the sighting was a false lead.

Where have authorities been searching?

The Civil Guard has so far deployed a helicopter and dogs with search crews, with efforts centred around the village of Masca. This was halted on Wednesday after what's been claimed to be a "false lead" in Los Cristianos.

Lucy responded by claiming: "Someone has given a false lead to the police saying he’s rang a taxi down to Los Cristianos. If this was the case he would have rang his mum or one of us. I know him well and he would NOT have us worrying.

"Someone is trying to deter the police from him being up there. I’m starting to think he’s been kidnapped.” Asked if she thought that was the reason for the switch, she said: "Yes, This is really serious."

Officers have searched the room Jay was sharing with a friend at a three-star apartment complex in Los Cristianos in the south of the island. His concerned mum Debbie Duncan, who has now been joined in Tenerife by Jay’s dad Warren, said she had his passport and she wasn’t expecting him to reappear and turn up for his plane home.

What has Jay's family said?

Jay's mother, Debbie Duncan, flew to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands on Tuesday morning to search for him. She said she feared her son, who is an apprentice bricklayer, had “been taken against his will”.

Speaking on Wednesday, said: "It’s just traumatic and it doesn’t feel real. It’s just awful, it’s horrendous. I think he’s been taken against his will with what’s been said, but it’s in the hands of the police."

Speaking about her son, Ms Duncan said: "He’s just a great person who everyone wanted to be with. He’s good looking, he’s a popular boy."

She added that the police leading the search had been "very good".

What is happening on Thursday?

The search for Jay has now entered the fourth day on Thursday. A huge search is set to continue in the mountainous area in the Rural de Teno park this morning, on the north of the island.

Jay's friend Lucy posted from Tenerife just before 5am this morning on the 'Jay Slater Missing' Facebook group, saying: "Still no updates, when it reaches 8:30am it’s been 3 days.

"Tomorrow, we need as many people as possible up there searching for him please. We will be up there again first thing, however a search party is going to be necessary to search everywhere as the area is very big.

"If you can help, please do, we need to get him home."

Another update was also shared on the Facebook group set up by Jay's loved ones to help coordinate search efforts.

The post, which was made last night by group admin Rach Louise Harg, reads as follows: "If Jay was in and around the area local as in the mountains or able to tell us he would of told someone and asked for help by now he won’t be still wondering around in the mountains or by beaches so please be aware there are others out there walking about..

"The areas in the mountains and other sightings have been searched and now have been told that as of tomorrow it will be a bigger investigation!! We are all so exhausted now and please can everyone also try to relax and rest with the messages it’s draining the police here are doing all the can and as tomorrow will be 72 hours he’s been missing it moves on to bigger and more serious things let’s just have a rest.

"Unless it’s something very important that needs to be reported then please do!! We are all Mentally physically and emotionally drained my legs are dead I need food and we just can’t do no more this evening. Tomorrow we go again and like I said we WILL find him. Thank you."

What do the authorities say?

A Civil Guard spokeswoman in Tenerife said officers were working to 'investigate all the possibilities'. She confirmed that a large-scale search operation was ongoing, with the search today being moved to tourist hotspots in the south of the island.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: "We are supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities."