Yahoo News Missing Jay Slater's family share image that shows 'last sighting' of him in Tenerife
The family and friends of a British teenager who is missing in Tenerife have shared a picture of a 'possible sighting' of the teenager as the desperate search to find him goes on.
The search for Jay Slater is now into its second week after the 19-year-old was reported missing by his friends on the Spanish island last Monday (June 17). The teenager reportedly walked off alone into a mountainous area in the Rural de Teno Park, close to the village of Masca, after leaving an Airbnb rental apartment where he had stayed with two people he met at the NRG music festival.
Urgent searches, involving Civil Guard officers, firefighters and mountain rescuers, have been ongoing in the vast area since his disappearance. Jay's loved ones now believe may have been a 'possible sighting' of him in the village of Santiago del Teide - which is around 7km from Masca.
Follow LIVE updates on the search for Jay in our blog here
His family and friends said the image appeared to show a male walking past a church in the village at around 6pm on Monday - around ten hours after he was reportedly last heard from. They believe the blurry image could possibly have resembled Jay.
The Civil Guard has not directly confirmed to the M.E.N whether this sighting is being investigated. Family friend Rachel Hargreaves said the police are looking into 'every lead'.
Speaking from the village of Santiago del Teide yesterday, dad Warren said: "You think, has somebody got him? Because no matter if you were drunk or whatever, you don't go off that road up there.
"And there are people up there... you don't go along that road for more than 20 minutes without somebody stopping you or passing you.
"I knew right from when I went up there that he wouldn't have gone [off that road]. He isn't stupid. When I saw the police I asked them, seriously, 'would you go off that road?' and I think it woke them up a bit.
"It started out as it being a lad who had gone walking and got lost, or that he may have fallen. But it doesn't make sense. Nobody would walk off that road. Why would he have gone uphill?
"It's dangerous; it's a massive mountain. It's not just a hill. It was only when I went up there myself [that I noticed]. People that go out to a party don't come up here."
Yesterday, the fundraiser set up by Jay's friend Lucy hit its target of £30,000. The page was set up three days ago and was 'approved by the family'.
A post on the fundraiser yesterday said: "We have not yet withdrawn any funds and are currently covering the expenses, such as the trip to Tenerife and accommodation, ourselves. The funds will remain on hold with GoFundMe until we post a further update on this page.”
Jay's mum Debbie Duncan said she had 'not slept' since the 19-year-old disappeared. She said she did not know whether the Spanish authorities turning down an offer of help from the UK was because they viewed it as 'an insult'.
Asked how the family was coping with the situation, Ms Duncan said: "We’re not. I’m not coping very well at all. I’ve not slept, I’m exhausted. It’s been awful. I can’t give up on him, I just can’t."
Yesterday (Sunday) marked the seventh day of gruelling searches, that has seen drones, helicopters, fire crews and search dogs alongside mountain rescue teams deployed in a desperate bid to locate him. Throughout Sunday morning, search teams attempting to locate the British teenager also narrowed their efforts on a small hut close to the area where Jay’s phone is last said to have 'pinged'.
Emergency workers have been focusing their search on a 30-kilometre area in hopes to find the 19-year-old, focusing on three different areas - the Masca Gorge, La Vica, and Las Portelas, as well as the surrounding Masca area.
