By now you’ve probably heard the news about Jay Slater, 19, from Lancashire, who’s been missing in Tenerife since Monday morning after attending the New Rave Generation festival with friends on the island.
The latest news is that he attended the festival, missed the last bus back to his accommodation, and so decided to walk the 11-hour trip. He called his friend Lucy and told her he was lost with little water and had one per cent phone battery left. He also mentioned he had ‘cut his leg on a cactus.’
The last phone location data showed he was in a mountainous area of a national park 10 hours away from his accommodation. Helicopters have been seen flying over the area since Monday with rescue crews searching the steep mountains.
There’ve been all sorts of crazy potential plot twists to the story, although they mostly sound like people trolling his mum over Snapchat. Speaking as the search for Jay Slater continues, mum Debbie said:
‘There’s no ransom demand come in yet but I got a Snapchat about 10 minutes after I got off the plane saying “kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money” which I passed on to police with the number it came from because I had my wits about me at the time and got my eldest son Zac to take a screen grab before it disappeared.’
She’s now worried that Jay has been ‘taken against his will’ after getting mixed up with the wrong people, although again, it’s probably just idiots online trying to entertain themselves. In any case, police have also searched Jay’s accommodation on the island for clues. His friend Lucy, who travelled with Jay to the island, also believes ‘something weird is going on’:
‘There’s something weird going on. It is suspicious. In two days you’re telling me someone’s not seen him. Jay’s not stupid, it was just before 9 o’clock in the morning when he rang me so broad daylight and the area he was in is full of hikers.’
I guess it’s best to keep an open mind, but the longer the search goes on, the less hope there is of finding Jay Slater in one piece. His flight back to the UK was this morning, and obviously, he never made it.
Mum Debbie has flown in to Tenerife herself to assist with the search, and says:
‘The consulate has been really good so far. I’m obviously beside myself with worry which is why I’ve flown out here with my eldest son to do anything we can to help.
‘We’re just praying the police or someone finds Jay. I know there’s a mountain rescue team out and a helicopter.
‘Nothing’s ever going to be enough when your youngest son’s gone missing but it sounds as if the police here are taking this very seriously and doing the best job they can.’
She added:
‘He’d been at a three-day festival so he would have consumed a fair bit of alcohol but Jay was snapchatting with friends before he went missing and seemed very compos mentis.’
She also acknowledged she’s been bombarded with prank phone calls with Jay went missing:
‘I just don’t know why people would want to do things like this. I’ve been getting lots of prank calls. It’s sickening.’
Indeed. Proper bunch of sickos out there. Here’s hoping Jay is found alive and well by the end of today, and people stop giving his mum unnecessary grief on Snapchat. Come on, she seems like such a sweet lady!
To watch all hell break loose between two lads on a flight from Edinburgh to Tenerife, click HERE.