Yahoo News Jay Slater's mum's heartbreaking admission as family swerves press conference
Concerns are mounting for Jay Slater who disappeared while on holiday with friends in Tenerife. His mother, Debbie Duncan, has described the past week and a half as a living nightmare.
Debbie, aged 55, travelled to the Canary Island with other family members after learning of 19-year-old Jay's disappearance on the morning of Monday, June 17. A frantic search is still ongoing, with family and friends clinging to the hope that the apprentice bricklayer will be found safe and sound.
Police searching for Jay are now concentrating their efforts on the location where the festival-goer's mobile phone last 'pinged', returning to a ravine in a mountainous area of the island, reports the Mirror.
At a press conference held today, Detective Mark Williams-Thomas, a private investigator who assisted in the Nicola Bulley case, urged the two men who accompanied Jay to the Airbnb after the rave on Sunday night to "come forward with crucial information".
Explaining why Jay's family did not participate in the conference, he said: "The family are very grateful for you to be here. They appreciate the press are a really important aspect of the story but they are reluctant to speak because they really want to work with Spanish police, and Spanish authorities and they have not sanctioned this. We have to respect that.
"Since I have been here and worked with the family, I have spent yesterday with them and the night before and they are very, very united family and they are very supportive and their one mission of course is to find out what happened to Jay. They still live with the hope that Jay will return and he is, not safe, but still alive."
In an interview with Mail Online, Debbie, a school finance advisor from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, shared her distress, saying she's now at her 'wit's end'. "It's been a week now and it's been awful. I've barely slept and I'm at my wits' end. The Spanish police are doing a good job and we are getting updated from the consulate so we just put our faith in them."
She added: "I know people in the UK have come forward as well who were at the festival and they are giving details of what they know but I'm not being told about that. Jay's very good friends from home have also been over and have put up posters. They are good kids and like me just want him home."
Sources informed MailOnline that the distraught mum is so tormented that she is 'on the verge of a breakdown'. This comes as Debbie issued a five-word warning to those who've criticised the fundraiser set up to 'Get Jay Slater Home', which at the time of writing has raised more than £35,000 and counting.
Debbie, tormented by the speculation surrounding her son Jay's disappearance, has made a heartfelt plea to online trolls, reminding them, "This may happen to you". In a Facebook post, Debbie expressed feeling 'let down' by some of the public reaction, stating: "I really am saddened by all your comments. You seem to be so bothered about this GoFundMe page.
"I really hope I am not taking my son home in a body bag. The funds are not released and won't be if not needed. I really cannot believe the British public are not supporting me in trying to find Jay. This may happen to any of you one day. Very let down by you all."
Amidst wild rumours and cruel comparisons to Karen Matthews, who infamously plotted her daughter Shannon's kidnapping in 2008, Debbie has clarified why she hasn't been out searching for Jay since flying out to the island. From her hotel, Debbie addressed the hurtful social media chatter: "People keep asking on social media 'why aren't I up there? ' and calling me the new Karen Matthews. I just can't face it."
She added: "I'm just exhausted. I'm still hopeful. I'm not feeling negative just yet. I know it's five days. It's not just that they've said absolutely not. I don't know what it's been like today because I've been advised to stay away because I would just break down."
