The Yorkshire man who 'vanished' on Tenerife 20 years before Jay Slater

Kevin Ainley, a former Yorkshire man who was 24 years old at the time, vanished in June 2004 while he was working and living on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Despite repeated calls for information over the years, his whereabouts remain unknown.

Kevin, who had lived in Wakefield, but originally from Lancashire, recently relocated to the tourist hub of Playa de las Americas just three months before his disappearance. The press hardly picked up his story at the time.

Speaking on the BBC website during an appeal in 2016, Gemma Brooke, his sister, revealed how the family's desperation for answers was growing. She stated: "It is no exaggeration to say we have been put through 12 years of hell. Somebody must know something."

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On the day of his mysterious disappearance, Mr Ainley distributed flyers for a bar named the Sportsman in an area referred to as 'the patch'. He also socialised with a friend, visiting local bars and clubs.

Later that day, he shared a meal with another companion at Merlins, a Chinese buffet restaurant. The last sighting of him on record that day showed him walking towards the Sportsman, reports the Express. His personal items and passport were eventually discovered in his flat.

Although a thorough investigation into his disappearance was conducted by Spanish authorities and subsequently reviewed by Lancashire Police, all efforts to locate him have proved futile.

In her 2016 remarks, Ms Brooke also pleaded: "We are convinced there must be someone out there who saw or heard something. I just hope that if someone does know something they can find it in their hearts to come forward and help put us out of our misery."

She created a Facebook page titled "Kevin Ainley, if ya out there this is for you." Upon its creation, she penned: "He is a crazy kind of guy, always ready to party and would always stand out in a crowd, but despite all his personality he has vanished off the face of the earth.

"When he disappeared all his belongings were left behind in his flat including passport, money, phone, pictures and clothes. We hope and pray that he is still out there as he's left a huge void in his family's life and we would love to know he is safe somewhere.

"I am creating this group for anyone who knew or may know him, please leave him messages or even pass one on to him if he is out there somewhere." On June 13 this year, just days before Jay Slater disappeared, she posted: "Never gets easier... the pit of empty space that lives in our family... I miss you terribly r kid."

In July 2018, Lancashire Police issued a fresh appeal for information, which unfortunately yielded no results. Officers expressed a particular interest in speaking to anyone who might have witnessed a dispute between Kevin and some door staff at the Cafe Del Moar in the early hours of June 13.

Garry Fishwick, Review Officer at Lancashire Police, then stated: "I appreciate the length of time that has now passed, but every year that comes and goes is another year of unanswered questions and diminished hope for Kevin's family who are desperate for information."

Kevin, who had resided in Fleetwood in Lancashire and Wakefield in Yorkshire before moving to Tenerife, was described as being approximately 5ft 8in tall with dark brown hair. He has distinctive tattoos on his arms the name 'Kevin', a small devil and a Native American woman.

Jay Slater, aged 19, is believed to have departed from the NRG music event on Tenerife by car with two men he did not previously know to a remote part of the island in the early hours of Monday, June 17, and has not been seen since.

His last contact was with a friend via phone at 8.15am that day, stating he had missed a bus and had no water with just one per cent phone battery. A search - now in its 11th day - is being undertaken to find the missing teen.