Yzabelle Bostyn
THE loved ones of missing Brit, Jay Slater, claim ‘something sinister is going on’ as the search for the 19-year-old in Tenerife enters its fourth day.
One of the last people to speak to the teenager says they fear he has been kidnapped.
He was last heard from on Monday, June 17, as he walked home via a mountainous path in north-west Tenerife.
The apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, reportedly rang his friend, Lucy Law, to say he was lost, dehydrated and only had one percent phone battery.
According to the MailOnline, the call suddenly cut off and he has not been in contact or seen since.
His mother, Debbie Duncan, believes he was taken ‘against his will’.
She has flown to Tenerife to join the expansive search.
Now, Jay’s friend, Lucy confirmed she is ‘convinced’ he was kidnapped in an exclusive interview with MailOnline.
She said it was ‘so weird’ and ‘out of character’ of the young man, claiming ‘the more time goes on, the more I’m sure he has been taken.’
Photo: Facebook
Lucy says he is ‘not stupid’ and would have known to walk to the road in an attempt to flag down a car or ask someone for help.
She claims the last time she heard from him was around 9am, when hikers and holidaymakers ‘would have been walking.’
He was last seen getting into a car with two people he had met on Sunday evening after spending the day at NRG music festival in southern Tenerife.
It is thought he travelled with them to a property in Rural de Teno Park, around 40 minutes driving or 10 hours walking from his Playa de las Americas accommodation.
Aside from the call to Lucy, the last sign of Jay is a blurry Snapchat image of a hand holding cigarettes at a Buenavista del Norte property at around 7:30 am on Monday.
The four day search now involves mountain rescue crews, sniffer dogs and police.
Over 15 of Jay’s loved ones are also in Tenerife to help with the search efforts.
This includes his father, Warren Slater and brother, Zak.
Described as ‘chaotic’ by the MailOnline, the search shifted from the village of Masca in north-west Tenerife to the south yesterday afternoon.
The change was prompted by a false sighting of Jay getting out of a taxi, leading police to focus on the tourist areas of Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas.
Now, the efforts have returned to their original spot.
Lucy, the last person to hear from Jay, criticised the Spanish police for ‘not taking the hunt seriously’, affirming ‘I think they could be doing more.’
She said she had been her own investigation on Las Veronicas Strip in Los Cristianos, where she ‘picked up some information.’
Upon presenting the Guardia Civil with the information, she claims they asked: ‘who is Jay Slater?’
She said the incident ‘doesn’t really give you much confidence’, saying the searchers are ‘desperate’ for some news.
Lucy commented the search looks ‘dodgier’ as the days go on and says the lack of sightings ‘make it all the more sinister.’
Jay’s mother, Debbie Duncan, says she has a ‘bad feeling’ about the incident, as she has heard ‘there’s a lot of bad people in Tenerife’.
She suspects he is ‘being held against his will’ as he is ‘not stupid’ and ‘wouldn’t have gone walking down bloody mountains.’
Although no ransom demand has appeared, Ms Duncan claims she has been receiving phone calls from Brits with ‘northern accents’ who claim to have kidnapped her son.
Yesterday after touching down in Tenerife she alleges she received a message that read: “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money.”
Now, Accrington and Rossendale College, where Jay was studying for his apprenticeship, have issued a statement.
It read: “We are deeply concerned about the recent news regarding one of our apprentices, Jay Slater, who has gone missing while on holiday in Tenerife.
“The safety and wellbeing of our students are of utmost importance to us, and our thoughts at this worrying time are with Jay’s family and friends.”
Ms Duncan, who has been staying on the south of the island where Jay had been staying, said she is ‘beside herself’ with worry.
Despite Lucy’s criticism, Jay’s mother said the Spanish police were taking the incident ‘very seriously’ and ‘doing the best job they can.’
She also revealed she has been receiving ‘sickening’ prank calls from blocked numbers claiming to be holding her son for ransom.
Some seven GoFundMe pages have also been fraudulently set up, claiming to raise funds for the search.
However, a real page managed by Jay’s family has now been verified, raising over £13,000.
