Yahoo News Jay Slater search expert enlisted by family says 'three things' are stopping mystery being solved
A mountaineer enlisted by Jay Slater's family to help in the desperate search for the missing teenager says there are three key issues which are stopping the mystery being solved.
Shane Yerrell flew to Tenerife and spent last weekend combing the area where the 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, was last seen. He was joined by Jay's dad Warren, older brother Zak and other family and friends. The apprentice bricklayer disappeared on June 17 and an official search by Tenerife Police ended after two weeks.
Shane, who is mayor of Waltham Abbey in Essex and has previously climbed Kilimanjaro and Mount Olympus, is continuing to assist Jay's devastated family and is planning another trip to the Spanish island to re-join the gruelling search efforts. Despite announcing the hunt through the mountains in the northern region of Parque Rural de Teno, just outside the village of Masca where Jay's phone last pinged, the Civil Guard confirmed that the case remains open.
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Shane earlier warned of the three major issues hampering the efforts to find the teenager. He told the Mirror: "It's really not easy. I struggled on the mountain and so did his family, but it didn't bother them because their priority is powering through to find Jay.
"The altitude and the heat makes it really difficult and the mountain is massive. You go over one edge and then there's another bit.
"It's unbelievable out there. It would take weeks or months to cover.
"I told the family I've climbed a couple of mountains. I'm no mountain expert by any means, but I've climbed Kilimanjaro and Mount Olympus, so I've done it and I'd like to come and help.
"We spent the whole day Saturday scaling the mountain and then the same thing again on Monday on a different route.”
Shane, 40, flew more than 2,000 miles from his home in Essex to Tenerife last Thursday after making contact with Jay's family and offering his help, which they accepted. He has previously helped a number of families suffering difficulties and has raised nearly £200,000 to help people in need since 2011.
He added: "[The family] are doing everything to find him. They're not just out for an hour, they're out all day 9.30am until 6pm.
"We covered miles, but there's still a lot of ground to cover. I feel for all of them, his dad in particular.
"I'm a parent and my child is only a few years younger than Jay. The whole thing is heart-breaking not having any answers. They just don't know."
