Jay Slater's mum speaks of 'extremely distressing' detail as she makes urgent plea

The devastated family of 19-year-old Jay Slater has condemned the "vile" comments and baseless theories spreading rapidly across social media as police intensify their efforts to find him.

Jay, an apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was on a holiday with friends for a music festival on the island. Tragically, just four days into their trip on June 17, Jay disappeared without a trace.

After an exhaustive 13-day search operation, Spanish authorities ended the active search in the challenging terrain near Masca on Sunday, though they have pledged to continue investigating Jay's case.

Read more: Jay Slater's mum issues heartbreaking new statement about 'our beautiful boy'

On Tuesday evening, Jay's mother spoke out to the public, providing an update on the investigation and urging the media and public to allow Spanish law enforcement to proceed with their inquiries without hindrance.

As they cope with their grief, the family is also dealing with the additional burden of harmful online rumours regarding Jay's whereabouts, reports the Mirror.

Their sorrow is exacerbated by one particular aspect - the numerous cruel conspiracy theories about Jay's disappearance that are being shared online. The family said: "We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and can only describe this as vile, the negative comments are extremely distressing to our family."

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The family of Jay Slater have expressed their immense distress and confusion over his inexplicable disappearance, having last been seen in an area quite remote from where he was staying. In a heartfelt statement, Jay Slater's mum shared:. "My son, Jay Dean Slater, came to the holiday island of Tenerife on the 13th of June with his friend to attend a music festival. On the 17th of June after not returning to his apartment he was reported as a missing person. Jay is a normal guy who is in his 3rd year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends.

"We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance. Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing. He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him.

"We do not have any information on his whereabouts. The Guardia Civil have worked tirelessly up in the mountains where Jay's last phone call was traced. They 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 of the authorities in Spain who persist in pursuing various leads. We would like to say to the press/news/reporters, that although we do not want to lose the momentum of Jay's disappearance, we really would like to maintain our privacy and crucially let the Spanish police get on with their investigations without hindrance from press.

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"We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and can only describe this as vile, the negative comments are extremely distressing to our family.

"We also embrace the love and support we have received from across the globe. It has not gone unnoticed, especially his home town in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire. As a family we would like the world to respect our privacy at this present time."