By Nick Garnett in Tenerife and Jonny Humphries, BBC News
PA Media
The search for a British teenager who went missing after a night out in Tenerife has entered its fifth day with rescue teams and police focusing on a rural village and a valley below it.
Despite extensive search efforts involving drones, dogs and a helicopter, no trace of Jay Slater has been found.
The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, was last heard from when he called a friend shortly before 09:00 BST on Monday.
His last known location was on a path in the mountainous terrain of the Rural de Teno national park on the north-west of the island.
Handout
Mr Slater’s friends and family have said he got into a car with two men he met while on holiday and left the group he travelled with in the tourist hotspot of Playa de las Americas, in southern Tenerife.
The search teams appear to be methodically searching along a mountain road and have focused on a ravine, before moving to a valley in the village of Masca.
Police and mountain rescue officials have been seen examining a steep area behind the apartment Mr Slater had reportedly been driven to.
Investigators have been taking away bags of rubbish from the area to try and find any clues, but have not had any leads so far.
The apprentice bricklayer was on his first holiday without his parents and was attending the NRG music festival with two friends.
Lucy Law, who was the last person to speak to him, said he told her in their call that he had missed a bus and decided to walk the 10-hour journey home but was lost, needed water and his phone was on 1% battery.
The national park is about a 40-minute drive from where Mr Slater and his friends were staying.
In his home town in Lancashire, people have been placing blue ribbons on buildings in support of Mr Slater and his family and a prayer service was held on Thursday night at West End Methodist Church.
His friend Callum Thorpe, who has known him since primary school, said initially he thought Mr Slater had simply “been to an afterparty” and not turned up.
However, he said that as time has gone by, it had “got more serious and it’s getting a bit scary now”.
“I followed it on social media and Facebook… and it’s getting more and more worrying now,” he said.
“We all just want the best and find out what we can.”
He said the ribbons were in place to represent Mr Slater and “turn his home town blue”.
“We just want him home, that’s all we want,” he added.
A post in a Facebook group set up by Mr Slater’s friends, which now has more than 450,000 members, said the search had left them “drained beyond words”.
Rachel Louise Harg wrote that she was “struggling to find words” on Thursday night, but added: “All I can say is we are looking still and everyone is doing all they can.”
She said she was in a “living nightmare”, but searches were ongoing “and we remain positive”.
On Tuesday, Mr Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan and older brother Zak Slater flew to the island to join the search.
On Wednesday, the Guardia Civil in Tenerife moved the search area to the south of the island, around Los Cristianos, based on a tip-off.
However, a spokesperson confirmed to the BBC that the information had been “discounted” and the search was relocated back to the north of the island.
Lancashire Police said it was supporting the family and liaising with the British Embassy but had not deployed officers to the island or interviewed any witnesses.
Speaking to the BBC, Ms Law said Mr Slater had “got shorts and t-shirt on”, but had “no suncream, he’s got no water, he’s got no coat”.
“He’s not prepared for any of the weathers up here. It’s not safe,” she said.
“He’s never been up here before, it would be so easy for him to get lost.”
Ms Law has called for the British police to assist with the investigation, so “we can bring him home to his family”.
“That is all that we want, all that we need,” she said.
What we know so far
- Sunday 16 June – Jay Slater and friends attend final day of the NRG music festival at Papagayo night club in the tourist hotspot of Playa de las Americas
- Monday 17 June – Between 03:00 and 06:00 BST Mr Slater got into a car with two men he had met during the holiday and left Playa de las Americas
- 07:30 – Mr Slater posts a photograph on his Snapchat account showing him at the doorway of a property, tagged with the location Parque Rural de Teno
- Between 08:30 and 09:00 – Mr Slater calls his friend and says he missed a bus back south and was attempting to walk the 10-hour journey
- The call cuts out, with his phone’s last location showing a path in the mountainous Rural de Teno national park, popular with hikers
- Tuesday 18 June – Despite his friends searching the area, no sign of Mr Slater emerges and he does not return to his accommodation
- Local police and mountain rescue teams begin searching and his mother and brother board a flight to Tenerife
- Wednesday 19 June – The Spanish Guardia Civil continue the search using drones, dogs and a helicopter but no trace is found
- The search is briefly moved to the Los Cristianos area in the south of the island due to a potential sighting, but police quickly “discount” that lead and move the search back to the original area.
- Thursday 20 June – The Guardia Civil, mountain rescue, firefighters and volunteers return to scour the national park
