Jay Slater police told to do two things by former British cop to solve case

A former British police officer has urged Tenerife detectives to adopt two crucial measures in the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Jay Slater. The Civil Guard announced that their active search for 19-year-old Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, concluded over the weekend after an intensive two-week ground search.

Jay vanished on Monday, June 17, while on holiday with friends in the Canary Islands. On the day he went missing, Jay had been to an Airbnb in Masca, a village about a 40-minute drive from his resort, with two Brits he met during his trip. He called his friend, Lucy Law, in the morning to say he planned to walk back, a journey that could take nearly 11 hours on foot.

After this call, Jay's phone battery died, and there has been no trace of him since. Search efforts included sniffer dogs and helicopters scouring the countryside where his phone was last located.

Despite the extensive search, it was halted after two weeks without success, prompting discussions about the next steps. A spokesperson for the Civil Guard stated: "The search operation has now finished although the case remains open," as reported by the Express.

Charlie Hedges MBE, a respected authority on missing persons cases, has provided some guidance to Spanish police regarding their ongoing investigation. The author, who has written a book about his experiences with Thames Valley Police and the National Crime Agency, encouraged detectives not to let Jay's case become inactive and proposed two key points.

Investigate all possibilities.

Charlie suggested that Spanish investigators should explore every potential explanation for Jay's disappearance, including possible foul play. "They should be keeping their minds open and examining all lines of inquiries," he told The Sun.

The Civil Guard has previously stated that they are considering all scenarios regarding Jay's fate, including questioning the last two men seen with him. Cipriano Martin, who led the mountain search, confirmed last week that detectives had spoken to and dismissed these two individuals.

British detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who travelled to Tenerife to assist the family, expressed his belief last week that Jay may have suffered a "natural harm", but did not exclude the possibility of third-party involvement. The TV detective stated: "A strong working hypothesis remains that Jay has come to natural harm in the terrain as he took the rugged course back down the hill from the point of his location drop, where I am confident now that he was at 8.50am last Monday morning."

During a press conference held last Wednesday, Mark proposed "two scenarios". He stated: "He has either come to harm by his own accident, up in the hills somewhere, but not directly by the rental. Or, there is a third party involvement. I cannot rule that out at the moment."

Revisit and search other locations

After two weeks of rigorous searching for Jay involving mountain rescue teams and volunteers across rugged landscapes, ravines and caves, no significant leads were found, as acknowledged by a source from the Civil Guard.

While Charlie admitted that the police in Tenerife can't continue the search indefinitely, he emphasised the need for ongoing checks in the area to keep the case active. Sharing his worries, he said: "I had been wondering for a few days whether we were approaching [the search being called off]," He continued: "There is only so much you can search."

"But it may be appropriate to go back and search some areas based on the information they're seeking at the moment." This comes after Brad Hargreaves claimed that during their last phone call, he heard Jay "slip on rocks" and Lucy Law revealed that Jay mentioned cutting his leg on a cactus, suggesting that he was walking off-trail at the time.

The Civil Guard reaffirmed its commitment to carry on with the investigation with any new information or tips received.