Jay Slater’s mother slams ‘vile’ conspiracy theories on disappearance as new search begins in Tenerife

The mother of Jay Slater has issued a new statement as it approaches one full month since the British teenager went missing in Tenerife, as a fresh team of volunteers insisted “there is more we can do” to find him.

The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire had been at the NRG music festival on 16 June before going to an AirBnB in the village of Masca with two men. He left the following morning and appeared to start an 11-hour walk back to his apartment in the tourist area of Los Cristianos.

He was last seen by a cafe owner whose brother owns the cottage where his two new acquaintances were staying, who said the teenager had asked her about bus times before deciding not to wait two hours for a service.

She then saw him walk out of the village, and his phone was last detected at 8.50am in the Rural de Teno National Park. The teenager had earlier called friends to say he was lost, had injured his leg, and had 1 per cent battery left on his phone.

With the official search for Mr Slater called off after 12 days, his family have criticised local police and residents for not doing more to help their son, as they continued to look for him themselves and with the assistance of volunteers.

In a statement issued on Sunday via the British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global, his mother Debbie Duncan criticised the “awful comments and conspiracy theories” on social media as “vile” and warned they were hindering efforts to find him.

Ms Duncan wrote: “As we approach four weeks of our beautiful Jay’s disappearance, we cannot put into words the heartache we are suffering as a family.

“Jay is a typical young man who loves life with a bright future ahead of him. This month will mark the end of his three year apprenticeship with the world at his feet. He is loved by everyone and has a close bond with his family and many many friends

“We would also like to say that we are aware of the awful comments and conspiracy theories that are filling social media. These theories are hindering the people trying to help us in their investigations here in Tenerife and are vile to see as a family.

“He is a loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend to so many. He is such a popular boy this and is very distressing for us all to read.”

Aided by volunteers, the family have continued their search, with further support from TV investigator Mark Williams-Thomas, who also became involved in the high profile search for Nicola Bulley last year. A GoFundMe campaign set up to support the family in its efforts has raised more than £50,000.

Ms Duncan said people’s generosity in donating to the campaign had made it possible for volunteers to continue searching.

Netherlands-based non-profit Signi Zoekhonden has deployed a team of five people and four dogs to Tenerife on Sunday, a move which Ms Duncan said had taken “a lot of planning”.

Speaking as the team prepared to board a flight to Tenerife, volunteer Marieke Krans told the BBC: “We are very committed to come and we are confident in the dogs and in ourselves.

“Our dogs are trained to find people, both alive or dead, and have more skills. They can search underwater, and up mountains, whatever it may be. They are really creative and that means there is more we can do. We will go where the dogs lead us.”