Jay Slater's mum confirms how family will spend £48k donations in latest emotional update

Jay Slater’s mum has issued an emotional update on the family’s GoFundMe page while they continue to search for the British teen.

Debbie Duncan, 55, said that the family are going through “an unimaginable time”, but are continuing to put all of their efforts into finding Jay, as she confirmed how they plan to spend the remainder of the £48,605 which has been raised.

It comes after police on the Spanish island called off the search for Jay on Sunday (June 30) after 12 days of looking for the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer.

Read more: The 7 bombshells dropped by Jay Slater private investigator from stolen Rolex to mystery men

Writing on the fundraising platform, Debbie said that alongside some of the money going towards paying for local volunteers and mountain rescue, the family is also putting together a package of equipment for Brit searchers who have flown to Tenerife.

Debbie wrote: “In the meantime, we will continue to use part of the funds to support the volunteers working hard in the mountains to find Jay. We are currently looking after Paul Arnett, putting together a package of any equipment and essentials he needs and going up to do a drop for him. We are also supporting Callum Fahim and his group with accommodation and other essentials.”

Paul Arnett is a Brit Tiktoker who flew to Tenerife following news that Jay had gone missing, and has documented his experience since landing on the Spanish island. He was among the few dozen people who joined what was supposed to be a "massive" search last weekend.

While Jay’s mum has praised Spanish police participating in the operation, Mr Arnett has been critical of the official effort, blasting the weekend search as a "massive PR thing". Speaking in one TikTok, he said: "So guys I've literally been waiting for absolutely ages now, this is a massive PR thing I'm telling you now... There's people everywhere, literally people everywhere and nobody is doing anything."

She also confirmed that the family will continue to withdraw money from the fundraising pot in order to help pay for their accommodation in Tenerife, while they continue the desperate search to try and find Jay.

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The 19-year-old from Lancashire was last seen on Monday, June 17, after he left an Airbnb in Masca, in Rural de Teno Park, Tenerife. Jay had attempted to walk back to his accommodation in the south of the island - a 20 hour walk away - at around 8am but has not been seen since. He had flown to the Spanish island to attend the NRG music festival with his friends.

In an update on GoFundMe on Wednesday, Debbie said: “Hi again everyone. Your generosity has been vast, and we are so grateful for all of your support and kindness during this unimaginable time for our family.

“As I said in my official statement, the Spanish police conducted a land search for 12 days which involved every resource they had available. Although the land search ended, the Spanish police still continue with their investigations into why Jay had travelled to the location so far away from his accommodation. We offer our sincere thanks to the Spanish authorities, who continue to follow lines of inquiries.

“In the meantime, we will continue to use part of the funds to support the volunteers working hard in the mountains to find Jay. We are currently looking after Paul Arnett, putting together a package of any equipment and essentials he needs and going up to do a drop for him. We are also supporting Callum Fahim and his group with accommodation and other essentials.

“The remaining funds will continue to be used to support the rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay as well as our own expenses as we remain in Tenerife looking for our boy. We will continue to keep you all updated on the progress on our GoFundMe page, and we thank you for your continued support. Please keep sharing and supporting our fundraiser to help us bring Jay home.”

Debbie's update comes the same day as private investigator Mark Williams-Thomas - who is helping the family free of charge - released an in depth video online confirming Jay's last known movements. Read more about that here.