Missing teen Jay Slater's heartbroken dad says: "It doesn't make sense"

The dad of missing teen Jay Slater says his son's sudden disappearance in the mountains of north west Tenerife 'doesn't make sense'.

Speaking on the seventh day of the major search efforts, as he put up missing posters on buildings in the village of Santiago del Teide, dad Warren Slater along with son Zak and family friend Rachel Hargreaves revealed that Spanish cops were looking into 'every lead'.

The 19-year-old from Lancashire vanished on Monday morning, June 17, after he reportedly walked uphill into the mountains alone. It is believed that he stayed at a remote Airbnb north of Masca village, nestled in the vast mountainous landscape the evening before with two people he had recently met at the NRG music event, reports the Manchester Evening News.

However, the seventh day of searches in the Rural de Teno park, involving mountain rescue teams, local police, the Civil Guard and fire crews, once again left his devastated family without answers.

This comes after mum Debbie previously told reporters there had been a possible sighting that was being investigated, of somebody who looked like missing Jay, walking past a church in the nearby village of Santiago del Teide, around 7km away from the Masca village.

This potential sighting is yet to be confirmed by the local cops, but Jay's friends and family claimed they have informed cops and that CCTV is now being looked into.

The family gave out printed posters to passers-by and stuck them on buildings in the area, they also shared a still image of someone who they believe matches Jay's appearance.

They claimed somebody had reported the potential sighting of somebody who looked like Jay, walking through the local church square at around 6pm on Monday - ten hours after he was reportedly last heard from. The posters are now reminding locals of the ongoing police probe, urging anyone with information to make contact with police immediately.

The Civil Guard has not directly confirmed whether this alleged sighting is being investigated. Despite the blurry image, family friend Rachel Hargreaves said the police are looking into 'every lead'.

Speaking from the village of Santiago del Teide, 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."

Rachel Hargreaves, who previously told reporters that the family are all 'living in hope' of finding Jay, said that the family are 'doing all they can to bring him home'. She also praised mountain rescue teams for their ongoing efforts.

"We have to take each lead and act on it," she said. "Having been up there [the mountain] ourselves, and after all the searching, we get the impression that he can't be there.

"We are six days in, but doing all we can to bring him home. This morning I told police where the CCTV cameras are around here. We aren't giving up.

"He's an intelligent boy; nearly a fully qualified bricklayer. He would've stood out like a sore thumb up there and somebody would've seen him.

"They've got on foot patrols, drones, helicopters out. The mountain rescue teams have mapped the area out and shown us they're doing all they can. They had a detailed map and showed us where they were searching."

A firefighter also involved in the search said that he thought it was 'strange' that they had not yet found Jay, saying: "The days are passing by... but he still hasn't appeared."

So far, the last time Jay was reportedly heard from was on Monday morning, June 17, when his phone 'pinged' in the middle of a mountainous ravine around half a mile north of Masca.

Today, Sunday, June 23, 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 this 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 are currently searching 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.

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