Mystery man Jay Slater stayed with at Tenerife Airbnb issues statement

A man who was present at the Airbnb where teenager Jay Slater stayed the night before his mysterious disappearance in Tenerife has broken his silence, retelling his encounter with the British teen. Slater, 19, from Lancashire, hasn't been seen or heard from for over a fortnight, and efforts to find him in difficult terrain in the island's northwest were halted by local authorities last weekend.

Slater vanished following a stay at an Airbnb in the secluded Masca village, after departing a southern Tenerife nightclub with two men. Before his phone gave out, he gave his friend, Lucy Law, a call telling her he was planning to walk back southwards - potentially up to an 11-hour journey on foot.

One of the men Slater shared the Airbnb accommodation with has now spoken out, reportedly telling MailOnline: "He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive."

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The individual identified as Ayub Qassim is reported to have invited the teenager back to the holiday apartment after attending a rave in South Tenerife, before Slater disappeared the following day.

Qassim, 31, who rented the Airbnb property under the name Ayub Abdul, along with another man, has already had a discussion with Spanish law enforcement. Both men stayed in Tenerife for an extra day following Slater's disappearance to cooperate with the police, who have previously stated that they were "irrelevant" to the ongoing investigation, reports the Mirror.

Mr Qassim remarked: "I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go, his friends had all left him. I know Jay, through friends, I'm not going to bring someone back to mine if I don't know them. I'm doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It's a bit mental. I haven't even done anything."

Back in Barking, east London, Mr Qassim has refuted any claims of an altercation with Jay.

Former British police detective Mark Williams-Thomas has questioned why Jay didn't return to his Airbnb to charge his phone or get some water. He also mentioned that Jay " posted a Snapchat saying that he'd taken a £12,000 Rolex from a person", which is believed to be linked to an incident at the rave.

Williams-Thomas added: "We've received information that would suggest that Jay left the rental property feeling scared and he would not return to the rental, even though that would have been the most sensible course of action."

He noted in the video: "We've been unable to validate this in terms of a reported theft" but also stated: "However, friends of Jay said he would not make this up and the watch was subject of later conversation between the friends."

Describing Jay's actions on the day of his disappearance, Mr Williams-Thomas, renowned for investigating numerous prominent missing persons cases, stated: "The evidence is that Jay walked off on the rental, walked for about 30 minutes, and then sent his location at 8.49am and 8.50am. And we know that he was at that stage off the road on a track with loose stones."

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