Police make volunteers plea for Jay Slater search
By Jonny Humphries, BBC News
Handout
Police have called on volunteers to help with a large-scale search for missing British teenager Jay Slater.
The Spanish Guardia Civil said the search will begin in Tenerife on Saturday and called on “private volunteers” with expertise in difficult terrain to help.
Mr Slater, 19, has not been heard from since the morning of 17 June, when he failed to return to his accommodation in the south of the island.
The search will focus on the ravines and trails around the village of Masca, and will start from the Mirador de la Cruz de Hilda restaurant.
Mr Slater’s last known location was in a mountainous area near the village, which is about 40 minutes drive from where he was staying.
The Guardia Civil said it was calling on specialist voluntary organisations including firefighters and civil protection teams.
A spokesperson described the terrain as “a steep, rocky area, full of unevenness and with a multitude of ravines, trails and paths.”
The force added that it was also calling on members of the public to help, but only those with expertise in such conditions.
The search is due to take place from 09:00 BST in Masca.
The Spanish authorities have already deployed specialist search dogs, helicopter crews and drones in the search.
Mr Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, was in Tenerife to attend the NRG music festival in the tourist hotspot of Playa de las Americas.
His friends say he was seen getting into a car with two British men he met during the holiday.
He sent messages in the early hours of 17 June from an Airbnb property in Masca, which sits within the Rural de Teno national park on the north west of the island.
Earlier a spokesperson for the Guardia Civil described the search area as “huge” and said its officers and other agencies were searching “everything”.
‘Second by second’
Rachel Hargreaves, the mum of Mr Slater’s best friend Brad, said family and friends were living “second by second” while the search continued.
On Thursday Ms Hargreaves said the intense social media speculation around the case had resulted in some people trolling the family, which has added to their “living nightmare”.
A crowdfunding page set up for donations to help Mr Slater’s family while the search is ongoing, has now surpassed £40,000.
Lancashire Police has said the force had offered assistance to the Guardia Civil, which declined saying it had “the resources it needed”.
It also said it had not interviewed in connection with the case anyone who had recently returned from Tenerife.
Mr Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, previously told the BBC her son was on his first holiday with friends without any parents.
He’s just an all-round nice, bubbly guy with hundreds of friends who love being in his company,” she said.
“He’s gorgeous, he’s beautiful. He’s my baby.”
