Yahoo News Missing Jay Slater latest: Tenerife Airbnb owner speaks of moment she saw last saw teen
The owner of the remote Airbnb where Jay Slater stayed the night before he vanished in Tenerife has spoken out about the morning he 'walked off alone' - as the major search to find him continues for its fifth day.
The 19-year-old, from Lancashire, went missing on Monday morning after last speaking to his friend Lucy at around 8am. His last known location was where his phone 'pinged' in a vast mountainous area around half a mile north of Masca.
He appeared to have been trying to walk back to the south of the island when he phoned his friend Lucy to say his battery was on 1 per cent and that he needed a drink of water. Jay has not been seen or heard from since, with a huge search underway in the 'dangerous' mountain terrain on the north of the island.
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Ophelia, the owner of the holiday rental, Casa Abuela Tina, where Jay is understood to have stayed after with two people he met on the island after partying at the NRG festival, has spoken to the Manchester Evening News about her 'worry' for the missing teenager. She claimed she saw him walking uphill alone on Monday morning.
Speaking outside the holiday cottage on Friday, she said: "It’s dangerous walking around here, it’s easy to lose yourself. He walked up the road when I saw him for the last time.
"He was alone. He was walking normally, though he was fast."
Ophelia said that Jay had also asked about catching the bus from the area that morning before leaving on foot along the road - the only route through the area. She said she was 'very worried' but, in the height of the media storm, added: “We are not to blame”.
The rental property is listed online as a holiday home. It is understood to have been rented by two men Jay was with the night before he vanished.
Police have since been searching in the rural mountainous areas along the north west of the island, near to the Masca village. On Friday, the Civil Guard confirmed to the Manchester Evening News that there had been 'no developments' in the search.
Officers were seen looking over the mountains with binoculars with mountain rescue teams wading through the overgrown hills. The force confirmed a search was being carried out across the wider Masca area.
It is thought that the north west of the Island, around the Parque Rural de Teno, was the main focus. Jay's family, including his mum Debbie, have flown out to the Spanish island to assist officers.
Debbie said she was in a 'living nightmare' and said she wished she'd told her son not to go to Tenerife before he went missing. Speaking to ITV News, she said: "I wouldn't wish this on anybody. I want my baby back. It's a nightmare, an absolute living nightmare."
