Volunteers who have joined the desperate hunt for Jay Slater in Tenerife have vowed not to give up looking for the missing British teenager as Spanish police today officially ended their search after almost two weeks.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, has not been seen since he went back to an Airbnb near the remote village of Masca with two men following a night out on the infamous Veronicas strip in Playa de las Americas.
He was last seen near the rugged Rural de Teno Park on the morning of June 17 and a huge search involving dogs, drones and a helicopter has failed to find any trace.
On Saturday, police launched one final push and appealed for an army of volunteers to help but just six people turned up to join 24 mountain rescue and fire teams in the Masca valley.
In a dramatic update on Sunday morning, a spokesperson for Tenerife police said: ‘The search is now over but the investigation remains open.’ They refused to elaborate on whether it was now a criminal investigation.
Although Spanish authorities claim the case has been clouded by ‘inaccurate’ conspiracy theories on social media, Jay’s desperate family have called in the help of one social media sleuth – Paul Arnott.
The TikTok climber, who has spent more than a week in Tenerife, posted on his Down The Rapids account today: ‘I’m possibly going to move the search over to another area, either tomorrow (Monday) or this evening (Sunday) but I will tell you about that later.’
TikTok climber Paul Arnott (pictured) has said he will be focusing on a another area either this evening or tomorrow
Spanish police have ended the search for missing raver Jay Slater (centre) – almost two weeks after the British teenager vanished on the island of Tenerife. He is pictured here with his mother, Debbie Duncan
Mr Arnott (pictured) said on Monday: ‘I’m possibly going to move the search over to another area, either tomorrow (Monday) or this evening (Sunday) but I will tell you about that later.’
The mountain where search parties have gathered for two weeks was quiet this morning
On Saturday police launched one final push and appealed for volunteers to help and just six turned up to join 24 mountain rescue and fire teams at Masca
Jay’s father Warren along with with Jay’s mother Debbie and a number of his friends have flown to the Spanish island to help over the past two weeks
Spanish police and volunteers gather before searching the remote area yesterday
There has been no sign of Jay since he vanished on Tenerife on June 17
Jay’s mother, Debbie Duncan, told The Telegraph earlier this week: ‘[I] can’t thank Paul Arnott enough, also Callum Rahim [another TikTok creator] and his friends for working alongside with the search and rescue teams.
‘Myself, well you know the state of my mental health and my paranoia, you saw it first hand. As a family, we are in a living nightmare.’
Mr Arnott – who is normally based in Bedfordshire – spent £400 on a flight to Tenerife from the Scottish Highlands last Saturday to join the search. He has posted dozens of videos to his 290,000 followers, racking up millions of views, comments and likes.
When asked by MailOnline earlier this week how long he was planning to stay, he said: ‘It’s been exhausting and it’s been really hard work but I’m not giving up until we find Jay.’
Jay, 19, was last seen at around 8am on June 17 by the owner of an Airbnb he had gone back to with two men after a rave. He had missed a bus back to his accommodation and was seen setting off on foot for what would have been an 11-hour walk.
The decision to end the search was taken at a senior level following a meeting between investigators and mountain rescue teams at the island’s HQ i Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
On Saturday one of the search teams had told MailOnline: ‘Nothing was found and now the chief will make a decision whether to carry on, it’s up to the senior people to decide, there is no established cut off time.
‘But obviously we cannot carry on searching for ever so what we know will be evaluated and then the senior investigators will make that decision.’
Jay’s phone last pinged near to a look-out point where search teams gathered yesterday to begin the last day of the operation.
Friend Lucy Law said Jay had called her shortly after he was last seen to say he was thirsty and had no water and just one per cent battery on his phone. Another friend, Brad Hargreaves, said he also spoke to Jay that morning and thought he had veered off the main road and may have slid down rocks.
The Civil Guard says the ‘parallel’ investigation by police investigators which they are not sharing information on is continuing despite the suspension of the ‘visible’ mountain search in and around Masca.
After partying on the final night of the three-day NRG festival in Tenerife’s Playa de las Americas resort, Jay had gone back to an Airbnb in Masca with two men he had met on holiday. It was here that he sent two Snapchat messages from there to his friends.
Ofelia Medina Hernandez, the owner of the villa, said she saw Jay standing at a nearby bus stop at around 8am.
He asked her when the next bus was to Los Cristianos, but when he was told it wasn’t until 10am, he set off on foot.
Jay’s father, Warren Slater, yesterday said he was ‘disappointed’ after only a handful of volunteers turned out to join the hunt for his son.
Just six volunteers including Mr Arnott and a few Spanish nationals joined the search on Saturday, with temperatures pushing 23C.
‘It’s a bit disappointing that there are no British apart from Paul but I suppose to them he’s just a British lad who’s come out here and got drunk,’ Warren said.
The father added he was ‘grateful’ to those who gathered to look for his son.
‘You can see just how dangerous it is and what gets me is the trollers who are having a go at us for not searching,’ he said.
Police revealed yesterday that two mystery British men who were with Jay the night he disappeared were ‘not relevant’ to their investigation.
The development raised eyebrows among many as TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas, who worked on the missing people cases of Madeleine McCann and Nicola Bulley, had described the men as ‘key witnesses’ and appealed for them to come forward.
Cipriano Martin, head of the Spanish Civil Guard’s Mountain Rescue team in Tenerife, said: ‘Those men have been spoken to and they don’t have any relevance whatsoever for the case.’
However little is known about the two mystery men, who have not spoken publicly, besides the fact that they are British, black and in their late 30s to early 40s.
One is said to go by the nickname Johnny Vegas and one is described as around 6ft, stocky and with short dark hair. He was seen with an orange wristband but little else is known about the other man.
It comes after police said they were investigating a scuffle outside Papagayo Beach Club, where Jay was seen partying on June 17.
It is believed a fight – involving an Eastern European man who reportedly had his valuable Rolex stolen – broke out after the venue had closed.
One of Jay’s friends, who had travelled to Tenerife to help in the search told detectives the alleged incident could have led to his disappearance.
Authorities were reviewing CCTV footage from the venue where the incident occurred.
Another theory which is understood to be on the table is that the valuable watch had somehow wound up in the cottage where Jay had travelled – and that he then ventured into the wilderness in an attempt to steal it.
Earlier this week, MailOnline revealed new photos of Jay chatting to friends at a hotel pool party just two days before he vanished.
The investigation also took a strange twist when the mayor of Tenerife revealed that police were quizzing locals who claimed they had seen Jay ‘watching the Euros’ in a bar in Puerto de Santiago – a coastal resort on the island.
After partying on the final night of the three-day NRG festival in Tenerife’s Playa de las Americas resort, Jay had gone back to an Airbnb in Masca with two men he had met on holiday
Jay Slater is pictured with his mother Debbie and his brother Zak
There was no sign of Spanish police on the Masca mountains on Sunday morning as the search was called off
The search for missing teenager Jay Slater has officially ended, 14 days after he went missing
Guardia Civil agent Cipriano Martin has confirmed the two mystery men who invited Jay Slater back to their Airbnb hours before he vanished ‘don’t have any relevance whatsoever for the case’
Spanish police begin a final search for Jay yesterday
TV detective Mark Williams Thomas previously called on the two mystery men who were with missing teenager Jay Slater to come forward
Earlier this week, MailOnline revealed pictures showing apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, lounging by the pool of the Hard Rock Hotel in Playa de las Americas with dozens of other holidaymakers before he went missing. Pictured: With friends Brandon Hodgkin and Lucy Mae Law
Dressed in camouflage style swimming trunks the picture was taken on the second day of the NRG festival at a pool party which was described on social media as ‘epic’
Also, in the picture with her back to the camera in a white skirt, is Jay’s friend Lucy Mae Law, 19, left, and it was taken on June 15 – just two days before he vanished
Holding a plastic cup in his hand (right) he appears to be standing by himself while Lucy (left) is talking to another group of boys
The claim followed the earlier release of a grainy CCTV image from Santiago del Teide which Jay’s family were hopeful was him, and which police were looking at.
The image shows a figure walking past a church at around 6pm the day he went missing – ten hours after his phone last pinged.
The CCTV was taken close to a church, San Fernando Rey, where Jay’s mother previously told MailOnline that a man has come forward to say he saw someone matching her son’s description sitting on a bench with two men.
On Friday, Jay’s friend Brad Hargreaves told ITV’s This Morning he had been on a video call with him before his disappearance when he heard him go off the road.
Jay Slater has not been seen since he went back to an Airbnb with two men after a night out in Tenerife
Jay’s family released this CCTV image of a figure they believe to be the 19-year-old. It was taken at around 6pm on the day he went missing – 10 hours after his phone last pinged
The apprentice bricklayer went back to the Casa Abuela Tina Airbnb (pictured) near the rugged Rural de Teno national park with two mystery men
In its Airbnb listing Casa Abuela Tina is described as being a farmhouse within the ‘unique natural landscape’ surrounding it
It is known that Jay sent pictures of himself inside the house and from outside on Snapchat to his mum and friends
The teenager posted this Snapchat image on the morning he went missing in Spain
The search pictured beginning yesterday in the early morning near to Jay’s last-known location in the village of Masca
The volunteers pictured as they begin the co-ordinated search which took place in a steep rocky area, with ravines, trails and paths all searched thoroughly
He said: ‘He was on the phone walking down a road and he’d gone over a little bit – not a big drop – but a tiny little drop and he was going down, and he said ‘I’ll ring ya back, I’ll ring ya back’ because I think someone else was ringing him.’
He confirmed he could see his friend’s feet ‘sliding’ down the hill and could hear he was walking on what sounded like rocks or stones.
But, Mr Hargreaves said he and his friend were both laughing at that point.
He added: ‘He didn’t seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was.’
He told the programme he still had hope for Jay and was ‘praying’ for him to come home.
Earlier this week, his mother Debbie Duncan, who travelled to the island following his disappearance, said money raised online would be used to support mountain rescue teams, and to cover her own accommodation and food costs.
Warren Slater and his son Zak, 24, pictured last Saturday at the remote mountain spot where Jay’s mobile phone last pinged
Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan revealed her choice not to attend with Jay’s father and brother had caused her to be on the receiving end of vile social media trolls who have compared her to Karen Matthews
Donations flooded in after GoFundMe appeal ‘Get Jay Slater home’ was set up by Lucy Law which has raised £43,000 as of Sunday.
In an update on Thursday, Ms Duncan said: ‘We are currently working with GoFundMe to withdraw part of the funds, which are being safely held.
‘I wanted to share that these funds will be used to support the mountain rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay.
‘Additionally, since our stay in Tenerife needs to be extended, we will also use the funds to cover accommodation and food expenses.’
Ms Duncan has described her son’s disappearance and the wait for news as a ‘living nightmare’.
