'Worrying' Jay Slater theory as family detective says 'in past 24-48 hours'

A renewed search for missing teenager Jay Slater is to begin in Tenerife on Saturday after Spanish police appealed for expert volunteers to help.

The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, disappeared following an attempt to walk back to his accommodation on June 17. On Friday, the Guardia Civil appealed for volunteer associations, such as firefighters, and individual volunteers who were experts in rugged terrain to assist in a “busqueda masiva”, or massive search, to take place today (June 29).

The Spanish police force said the search, beginning at 9am in the village of Masca, near to his last-known location, would be co-ordinated to take in a steep rocky area, including ravines, trails and paths. It marks the 13th day in the search for the apprentice bricklayer.

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It comes as a former British police detective working for Jay's distraught family has now said the Tenerife drugs scene could play a role in the disappearance. Mark Williams-Thomas told The Sun: "In the past 24-48 hours, information has come to light that gives rise to concern that drugs are a worrying aspect here. This is a line of inquiry."

He added: "You get out of your car and, within 30 seconds, you are offered every kind of drug imaginable — and that is an alarming aspect. There is no doubt an undercurrent of drugs, but I can’t tell you if that has had a direct impact."

Mr Williams-Thomas, 54, also told the Mirror: "A strong working hypothesis remains that Jay has come to natural harm in the terrain as he took the rugged course back down the hill from the point of his location drop, where I am confident now that he was at 8.50am last Monday morning. So for the police chief to issue a statement in Spanish asking local residents, who will know the area well, to join a massive co-ordinated search is a very good action to take ."

Jay, an apprentice bricklayer, attended the NRG music festival on the island with two friends before his disappearance and his last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the island – which was about an 11-hour walk from his accommodation. On Friday, the teenager's friend Brad Hargreaves told ITV’s This Morning he had been on a video call with him before his disappearance when he heard him go off the road.

He said: "He was on the phone walking down a road and he’d gone over a little bit – not a big drop – but a tiny little drop and he was going down, and he said ‘I’ll ring ya back, I’ll ring ya back’ because I think someone else was ringing him."

He confirmed he could see his friend’s feet "sliding" down the hill and could hear he was walking on gravel. However, Brad said he and his friend were both laughing at that point. He added: "He didn’t seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was."

He told the programme he still had hope for Jay and was "praying" for him to come home. Earlier this week, his mother Debbie Duncan, who travelled to the island following his disappearance, said money raised online would be used to support mountain rescue teams, and to cover her own accommodation and food costs.