Spanish police WON'T say if club altercation over 'wealthy man's missing designer watch' is linked to Jay Slater's disappearance in Tenerife

The Civil Guard declined to say today whether it was actively investigating whether Jay’s disappearance was linked to an altercation outside a club.

The incident supposedly took place in the southern Tenerife resort of Los Cristianos after a wealthy Eastern European man had his designer watch stolen. One of Jay’s friends has reportedly told the police the watch theft could be linked to the teenager going missing.

The police force has consistently said "nothing has been ruled out" but continues to define Jay's case as a missing persons inquiry and not a criminal probe. It comes as the search for the 19-year-old from Lancashire is called off.

READ MORE: Jay Slater search in Tenerife is CALLED OFF by police as officers give up on finding teenager

Police have brought an end to their search near the mountain village of Masca for missing Jay Slater. Police have however said the case 'remains open', awaiting any further information that may lead to finding Jay.

The Civil Guard today said the near fortnight-long search, which has involved sniffer dogs, a helicopter and mountain rescue experts, had been brought to an end. They said officers would continue to act on any tip-offs or other information that came in - but the active work that has been ongoing since June 17 when the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer was reported missing would now cease.

Confirmation of the dramatic development came less than 24 hours after a ‘last push’ operation involving around 30 police, firefighters and Civil Protection along with a handful of volunteers, failed to find any trace of the 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle.

A Civil Guard spokeswoman said today: “The search operation has now finished although the case remains open.”

A well-placed source added: “The daily operation which has been going on in and around Masca close to where Jay was last seen has been brought to an end. If any information comes in that merits a new search though it will be acted upon.

"My understanding is Jay’s parents have been informed of what obviously is a major development. Nothing of any relevance was found during yesterday’s large-scale search.”

Jay was last seen by a local resident in Masca in north-west Tenerife just after 8am on June 17 walking northwards along the road out of the village after stopping to ask her for directions. His phone last pinged near to a look-out point where search teams gathered yesterday to begin the last day of the operation.

Friend Lucy Law said Jay had called her shortly after he was last seen to say he was thirsty and had no water and just one per cent battery on his phone. The Civil Guard says the ‘parallel’ investigation by police investigators which they are not sharing information on is continuing despite the suspension of the ‘visible’ mountain search in and around Masca.