Jay Slater ‘spotted watching Euros matches’, says local mayor after ‘several witnesses’ come forward with shock claims
THE mayor of a town close to where Jay Slater vanished says locals believe they may have seen the teen watching Euros matches.
Jay, 19, disappeared in Tenerife ten days ago and search crews have so far failed to find any trace of him.
His phone was last traced to the Masca ravine in a desolate Rural de Teno park after he made a final frantic call to friend Lucy Law last Monday.
Drones, sniffer dogs, helicopters and dozens of emergency workers have been hunting for the Lancashire since.
But several locals in the town of Santiago del Teide believe they may have spotted Jay in the days since he disappeared.
Mayor Emilio Jose Navarro told Reuters news agency some of them have been interviewed by police, including a few who said they thought they had spotted Jay on the coast watching Euros matches.
Jay’s family have been sharing a grainy CCTV image from the same town they hope could be a sighting of the teen.
The image shows a figure walking past a church at around 6pm last Monday some 7km from the Masca village Jay was last known to be.
Navarro said: “We know the police are investigating (the CCTV images).
“They have asked for the town hall’s security cameras and they are also working with the company that handles those cameras.”
Much of the ten-day hunt has been focussed on the unforgiving 2,000ft “badlands” Masca ravine.
And yesterday, cops on the island drafted in reinforcements with specialist sniffer dog teams.
Search dog units trained specially to comb large areas have been flown in from Madrid some 1,300 miles away.
But search cops say the new dogs are much better trained to handle the vast landscape.
After going to a rave on June 16, Jay headed to Masca, on the north of the island, with two British men he had met that evening.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay stayed at their rented Airbnb for a couple of hours before trying to make his way back to his holiday accommodation last Monday morning.
The Sun yesterday revealed Brit cops still have not quizzed the two mystery pals Jay went home with before he vanished.
The holidaymakers were quizzed by local cops at the small cottage before they travelled back to Luton Airport.
Both men are said to hail from Luton, Bedfordshire. One has the nickname ‘Johnny Vegas’.
Cops in the UK revealed they have no intention of speaking with the men, despite growing concerns over Jay.
Lancashire Constabulary, whose offer of assistance was refused by local cops, said it will not pursue the tourists.
Bedfordshire Police, which looks after Luton Airport, will not seek to speak with the men, alongside London’s Met.
Meanwhile, Jay’s machete attack victim today defended the search for the missing teen and urged sleuths to stop tormenting his family.
Tom Hilton was left with his skull split open when an eight-strong gang – including Jay – ambushed him with a machete, golf clubs and an axe.
Tom, then 17, was left fighting for his life after the assault in Rishton, Lancashire, in 2021.
But despite his ordeal, brave Tom has slammed online trolls and told them to instead “help find” Jay, who vanished in Tenerife more than a week ago.
Timeline of Jay Slater’s disappearance
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
SUNDAY JUNE 16 – MONDAY 17
Jay goes to a rave at the 2024 NRG music festival in Tenerife, around Arona on the south of the island
8.35pm – Jay posts a smiling Snapchat video of him laughing with friends
He leaves the rave with two men he met that day and is driven back to their accommodation across the island
MONDAY 17
7.30am – Jay posts a Snapchat of a hand holding a cigarette in the area where the accommodation was – near the rural de Teno Park on the north of the island
8.30am – Jay calls his friend Lucy Law and tells her he missed a bus, had one per cent of battery left on his phone and was stuck in the “middle of nowhere”
9am – A missing persons report is filed and the search for Jay begins
TUESDAY 18
2am – Police knock on the door of Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan’s home and tell her to catch the first flight out to Tenerife
7am – She flies out from Manchester Airport alongside her son Zak to help with the search
Debbie is sent a Snapchat message saying “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money.”
WEDNESDAY 19
12.30pm – Police move the search to the south of the island briefly after a false sighting
Cops search his hotel room for clues as his mum says there was “nothing untoward there”
Debbie gives a heart-wrenching interview where she shares fears he has been “taken” and says “I just want my baby back”
THURSDAY 20
Cops begin day four of the massive search for Jay
FRIDAY 21
Lancashire cops offer to help with the search but Tenerife authorities say they are “satisfied that they have the resources they need”
Search turns to 22,000ft ravine in Masca – part of an area dubbed “the badlands” by locals
SATURDAY 22
The sixth day of the search begins with sniffer dogs, cops, mountain rescue and firefighters again taking to the hills in northern Tenerife
Possible new sighting of Jay places him near a church with two men at 6pm on Monday – although unconfirmed by police
Jay’s dad Warren and brother Zak visit the search site in Tenerife
SUNDAY 23
Cops focus their search around small outbuildings in de Teno park near where Jay’s phone last pinged
Jay’s mum Debbie says trolls are comparing her to Karen Matthews
The GoFundMe set up by Jay’s friend Lucy surpasses £30,000 after just three days
Exclusive Sun footage shows Jay appearing to fall and stumble back up at a rave before he vanished
MONDAY 24
Search for Jay enters eighth day
Police expand search area north to parts of Buenavista del Norte
Jay’s dad says his family are in ‘a living hell’