Jay Slater: ‘Living nightmare’ hunt for missing British teenager on Tenerife enters sixth day
Helicopters, rescue dogs and drones have continued to scour the holiday island of Tenerife for a missing British teenager as concerned family and friends endure a “living nightmare”.
The hunt for 19-year-old Jay Slater from Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn in Lancashire, is now in its sixth day.
Lancashire Constabulary said that while the case “falls outside the jurisdiction of UK policing”, it has offered to support Spanish police “if they need any additional resources”.
The force added: “They have confirmed that at this time they are satisfied that they have the resources they need, but that offer remains open and they will contact us should that position change.”
Jay Slater. Pic: Lucy Law
The apprentice bricklayer was holidaying with friends on Tenerife before he disappeared on Monday.
He was last heard from when he called a friend to say he was setting off on an 11-hour walk to get home, after he missed his bus.
Pic: PA
Ofelia Medina Hernandez, who was the last person to see Mr Slater, told Sky News: “I saw the boy in the morning, at around 8am.
“He asked twice what time the bus came.
“I told him ‘at 10 o’clock’.
“He came back and asked me again, and I told him again – at 10 o’clock.
“After that, he walked off and I didn’t see him anymore.
“Later, I went in my car, and I saw him – he was walking fast.
“But I didn’t see him again after that.”
Her account came as photographs showed the property where he was last seen in the northwestern mountain village of Masca after attending the NRG music festival.
Pic: PA
Pic: PA
‘We are drained beyond words’
In a post on the Facebook page Jay Slater Missing, the administrator of the group Rachel Louise Harg said family and friends were “drained beyond words”.
She said: “There isn’t an update for anyone unfortunately.
“Struggling to find words at this time but all I can say is we are looking still and everyone is doing all they can.
“We are drained beyond words – I just can’t say no more, I wish I could.
“I wish this would end now, this living nightmare.
“Searches are ongoing and we remain positive.
“Thanks to you all supporting and helping we can’t thank you any more, much love.”
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Focus on unusual details will only grow
In the mountains on the outskirts of northern Tenerife, a narrow road winds upwards, with a dramatic view of the sea below.
Beneath the beauty of the scenery, parts of the area where British teenager Jay Slater was last located are barren and remote.
One of the properties on the route through the national park is Casa Abuela Tina, the villa Jay travelled to with two men in the early hours of Monday, before he disappeared.
Just yards away from the villa’s front door you can see the bus stop that would have taken Jay back to Los Cristianos – the part of the island he was staying in near a bustling strip full of British tourists.
The teenager was agonisingly close to being able to make his way home – and as search teams comb the mountains, that fact will surely be on their minds.
Why did Jay decide to try the 11-hour walk, and why did he go to the villa with two strangers in the first place?
As the search continues, a focus on highly unusual details of this story will only grow.
Searchers check river at bottom of ravine
On Friday, search and rescue personnel joined officers from the island’s Guardia Civil near Masca to comb an area of overgrown terrain.
Teams also paid close attention to a river called Barranco Madre del Agua at the bottom of a ravine, where emergency workers carefully picked their way through fallen dead palm trees.
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Mr Slater’s friend Lucy Law, who attended the music festival with him, said he called her at about 8.30am on Monday and told her he was “lost in the mountains, he wasn’t aware of his surroundings, he desperately needed a drink and his phone was on 1%”.
Meanwhile, members of the local community rallied together at a church service in his home town to express their hope of his safe return.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”
A man’s body has been recovered from an area of flooding in North Yorkshire, police have said, as major incidents have been declared in two counties.
The body was found near Intake Lane in Beal, close to Eggborough and Knottingley.
Police believe the man may have entered the water in the last 24 to 48 hours.
Follow the latest on the weather
North Yorkshire Police said: “Despite extensive enquiries, including with our colleagues in Humberside and West Yorkshire Police, we have been unable to identify him.
“He was found without any identification or personal belongings.”
The man was also described as white, in his early 50s to 60s, with light brown short hair and stubble.
He was wearing brown walking boots, blue denim jeans, a multicoloured knitted jumper and possibly a dark green waterproof coat, police added.
It comes after Leicestershire and Lincolnshire both declared a major incident in response to the extreme weather hitting the UK and Ireland.
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Leicestershire Fire and Rescue was the first emergency service in England to declare an incident and said it had received more than 200 calls since Monday morning over widespread flooding.
Crews had found cars stuck in floodwater and evacuated residents from flooded homes and rising waters, with some 17 people rescued as of 1.45pm.
The Lincolnshire Resilience Forum declared a major incident shortly after, and noted that emergency services had rescued children who were stranded at a school in Edenham.
Meanwhile, the Met Office has three yellow weather warnings – each for snow and ice – in effect throughout Monday evening and Tuesday morning.
Pic: Met Office
A warning covering the west and north coast of Scotland – reaching into Inverness and Aberdeen – will last until midday, while an alert in effect for all of Northern Ireland will last until 11am.
The Met Office has also issued a warning covering Wales and parts of northwest England on Monday evening, moving into southwest England, the Midlands and parts of southern England in the early hours of Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a yellow weather warning for snow is in effect across the south of England – stretching from just above Truro in Cornwall to Canterbury in Kent – from 9am to midnight.
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