Jay Slater's family offered message of hope by ex-Missing Persons boss over one positive detail

A former Missing Persons boss has offered the family and friends of missing Lancashire teenager Jay Slater a glimmer of hope as search efforts continue to try and find him in Tenerife.

Speaking on GB news on Wednesday, Mike Neville, the former head of Lambeth Missing Persons unit revealed that one key positive aspect of Jay’s case was the fact he had spoken to a friend shortly before being reported missing - a crucial development that meant search efforts could be focused on a smaller area.

Drawing similarities between Jay’s disappearance and that of beloved TV doctor Michael Mosley who was tragically found dead after going missing on the Greek island of Simi earlier this month, Mike explained: “I do hope this comes to a successful conclusion. It’s like the tragedy of Mosley here because when you look at the park, it’s a similar environment.”

READ MORE: Jay Slater missing in Tenerife LIVE updates as desperate search for teen continues

“But because he made that phone call, they may be able to pinpoint that area. It’s different in that way to Mosley, It’s a tighter area. The police will be conducting all sorts of search teams and using helicopters and potentially drones. Park rangers will know particular tracks and where best to search. I am sure the Spanish police will be putting together a professional and coordinated search.”

In addition, host Andrew Pierce also pointed out that Jay is a lot younger than Michael Mosley had been, and may be better equipped to deal with the tough environment as a healthy young man.

“Looking at the photos of him, he is a fit lad, let’s just hope he has found a source of water and my prayers go to his mum and the rest of his family,” added Andrew. “Hopefully he is just dehydrated and the police are able to treat him.”

Mike also went on to highlight that another positive aspect in the case was that Jay’s last known sighting was away from sea, which would have added another raft of dangers to the case. “The good thing here is, it’s away from the sea”, he said. “The danger is if people go in the sea. That really is a problem. He does appear to be on land in that island.”

Jay, who originally hails from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was last heard from on Monday when he phoned his friend to tell her he was trying to walk back to his accommodation after a night out - a journey that would take 11 hours on foot.

In the call to his friend Lucy, Jay revealed he had gone to stay with people he had met at a rave, but after missing the bus back to his accommodation, was trying to make the journey on foot, but had low phone battery, was lost, and in need of water. His last location before his phone died was shown as the Rural de Teno park, a mountainous area popular with hikers.

Search efforts remain ongoing.