Jay Slater's friends leave Tenerife as mystery deepens over teen's disappearance

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of teenager Jay Slater continues, as two of his closest friends have now left Tenerife and returned to the UK. It's been over three weeks since 19-year-old Jay was last seen on the Spanish island on June 17, enjoying a holiday with friends Lucy Law, 18, and Brad Hargreaves, 19.

His last known location was the Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas, where he was partying the night before he went missing. Both friends have since left the popular holiday destination and are back in Britain. Lucy reportedly returned to the UK last week, while Brad, along with his mother Rachel who has been actively involved in the search for Jay through a Facebook page she manages, came back this past Sunday.

The Hargreaves family have so far chosen not to comment. As the search efforts persist in Tenerife, several online trolls, posing as armchair detectives, have continued to share their own theories about Jay's disappearance. Some have even heartlessly questioned Lucy's account of what happened on the day he vanished, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Lucy, who was the last known person to speak to Jay, said he told her he was lost, thirsty and had only 1% phone battery left before he disappeared without a trace in Tenerife. Despite the police accepting her story, many online trolls have taken to social media to criticise and harass the teenager.

Lucy has temporarily deactivated her Facebook account but made a fleeting return to social media after coming back to the UK, according to The Daily Star. She took to Instagram earlier this week, posting a cryptic message that only deepened the intrigue for those following the case.

Accompanying a selfie with Jay was a crying emoji and a blue heart, though this post has since been deleted. Meanwhile, as friends of Jay have returned home, his uncle Glen Duncan, who has been vocal about his dissatisfaction with the search efforts, is reported by the Mirror to have also returned to the UK on Tuesday. Speaking previously to Sky News from Santiago del Teide, he shared the family's "despair" but also their unwavering hope of finding Jay.

"So far we've just been in touch with the British consulate out here who have been saying it's still a live investigation, we have just got to sit tight," Glen Duncan stated, expressing the emotional toll the situation is taking.

Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, vanished after leaving a rave in Tenerife with two other Brits and spending the night at an Airbnb in a secluded village, on what was his first trip overseas. The last known contact with Jay was on Monday, June 17, when he attempted to make his way back to Los Christianos, where he had been vacationing with Lucy and another friend, Brad.

What's the latest on the search for Jay Slater?

On Tuesday, officials further verified that they are concurrently looking at multiple leads in their search for Jay, despite alleged speculations that he could be 'missing presumed dead'. A Civil Guard representative said: "The investigation is ongoing and several lines of inquiry are being pursued."

In an effort led by the local community to track down the 19-year-old, The Mirror reported that Shane Yerrell, a well-known mountaineer, has joined forces with the search team. Over the weekend, Yerrell, together with Jay's father Warren, 58, brother Zak, 24, as well as other family members and friends, canvassed the area where Jay was last seen.

Yerrell reaffirmed his support for Jay's family, which includes his devastated mother Debbie, 55, in their time of need. He said he would go back to the island to lend a hand in the search.

Shane, who serves as the mayor of Waltham Abbey in Essex and boasts a record of trailblazing on Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Olympus alike, voiced despair, saying: "They're just living on hope. It's awful - they've got no answers. They don't know whether Jay is alive or dead."

Shane, a 40-year-old from Essex who has raised nearly £200,000 to help families in distress since 2011, flew more than 2,000 miles to Tenerife last Thursday to aid the family of missing teen Jay after offering his assistance. He confirmed the family's enduring hope for Jay's survival, stating: "Of course. I would be exactly the same. Until you know for sure.."

Despite no sightings of the teenager, missing persons expert Charlie Hedges has offered a ray of hope, suggesting that survival is possible if Jay has been living off rainwater and plants.

This view was echoed by army reservist Juan Garcia, who criticised the police's decision to halt the search prematurely, telling The Times: "Two weeks is too premature to end the search. [Slater] could be alive somewhere - someone can drink from rainwater and eat plants. The family should not give up hope."