Jay Slater: Search for missing Brit in Tenerife ends in dramatic new police statement

The search for missing Jay Slater near the mountain village of Masca has been called off by police.

The Civil Guard announced that the intense fortnight-long operation, which included sniffer dogs, a helicopter, and mountain rescue experts, had reached its conclusion. Tenerife's Guardia Civil told the BBC: “The search operation is over. Yesterday was the final day of the search."

This significant turn of events comes less than 24 hours after an extensive 'last push' attempt involving 30 police officers, firefighters, Civil Protection personnel, and volunteers did not yield any trace of the 19 year old Oswaldtwistle resident from Lancashire, reports the Mirror. Officials had hoped the operation would be a “massive search” but less than 12 members of the public had arrived at the meeting point shortly before it began, BBC reporters on the ground observed.

A local resident last spotted Jay in Masca in north-west Tenerife at roughly 8am on June 17. He was heading north along the road exiting the village after asking her for directions.

His phone's last signal emerged near a lookout point, which became the starting place for search teams on the concluding day of the operation.

Friend Lucy Law revealed that Jay had phoned her shortly after his last sighting, stating he was thirsty with no water and only one per cent battery left on his phone. The Civil Guard has stated that the 'parallel' investigation by police investigators, which they are not sharing information on, is still ongoing despite the suspension of the 'visible' mountain search in and around Masca.

Mr Slater attended the NRG music festival on the island with two friends before his disappearance and his last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the island – which was about an 11-hour walk from his accommodation. He had reportedly been driven to an Airbnb property in Masca.

According to reports, media were told in a press conference on Saturday that two men who were reported to have rented the Airbnb are “not relevant” to the case.

On Friday, Mr Slater’s friend Brad Hargreaves told ITV’s This Morning he had been on a video call with him before his disappearance when he heard him go off the road.

He said: “He was on the phone walking down a road and he’d gone over a little bit – not a big drop – but a tiny little drop and he was going down, and he said ‘I’ll ring ya back, I’ll ring ya back’ because I think someone else was ringing him.”

He confirmed he could see his friend’s feet “sliding” down the hill and could hear he was walking on gravel. But, Mr Hargreaves said he and his friend were both laughing at that point.

He added: “He didn’t seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was.” He told the programme he still had hope for Mr Slater and was “praying” for him to come home.