Yzabelle Bostyn
SPANISH police have made a devastating prediction on the search for Jay Slater as they begin to comb caves some 12 days after the teenager vanished.
The search for Jay has moved to caves near the Airbnb he left before he disappeared on Monday, June 17.
As reported by the Independent, the Los Carrizales caves are about an hour-and-a-half walking distance from the accommodation.
It comes as Spanish police searching for Jay Slater have claimed it is ‘very unlikely’ he will be found alive if he got lost in the mountains.
According to a source consulted by the Sun: “No-one at the moment is talking about the search being brought to an end, even though it’s very unlikely Jay has survived if he got lost in the mountains in the way we were told he did.
“There will be a point when the operation that’s taking place at the moment has to at least be scaled back but right now the search teams appear to have decided they want to give themselves more time.”
Official Guardia Civil sources have also confirmed the search will continue today.
Locals have echoed this warning, saying Brits who disappear on the islands are ‘difficult’ to find.
Anita, a local resident interviewed by the Independent, claimed people go missing in the mountains ‘every summer’ and it can be ‘months’ before the police find anything.
She said: “We often have hikers go missing, every summer it is the same. Police come for a week and search and then they go – sometimes it can take months for a body to be found as the mountains are too difficult to search.”
A former Metropolitan Detective Chief Inspector, Peter Kirkham, has also given his theories, stating Jay probably got lost and fell in a ravine, deliberately disappeared or has been kidnapped.
Kirkham, who served the Met police for 20 years, recommended police prioritise the two men whose Airbnb Jay left just before going missing.
“The reports that Jay had left his friends and gone off with two men he had apparently just met whilst clubbing make this a possibility requiring urgent investigation.
“The two men – who reportedly say that Jay left them in good health – are the key start point here and the police in Tenerife should be prioritising investigation of this line of enquiry.”
Referencing his three theories, he continued: “Taken together, these three basic categories of theory cover pretty much every possibility. In order to conduct a thorough and competent investigation the police must keep an open mind and pursue lines of enquiry relating to all three of them.”
It comes as another former Met officer, Peter Bleksley, has claimed the Spanish authorities’ rejection of help from Lancashire Police was an attempt to keep ‘control’.
He said: “Policing is all about control, the world over. They control people in demonstrations, crowds at football matches, crime scenes, witnesses and suspects.
“The minute you let another law enforcement agency into your inquiry you start to surrender that element of control, and the police don’t like that. That will be why they declined assistance from Lancashire Police.”
Yesterday, the MailOnline also revealed new pictures showing Jay at a pool party in the days before he disappeared.
The photos were shared on Facebook by a Scottish holidaymaker, who has not been identified.
They saw Jay at a resort in Playa de las Americas, with his friend, Lucy Mae Law.
She said: “Just came across these in my camera roll. Not sure if they could be of any help.
“Jay sort of looks like he’s standing by himself while Lucy is speaking to his other friends.”
