Amateur Jay Slater TikTok sleuth wants to start his OWN crowdfund to pay for rescue team risking row with teen’s family
A TIKTOK influencer posing as a sleuth has announced he wants to start his own crowdfund appeal to search for Jay Slater.
Paul Arnott, 29, flew to Tenerife more than a week ago to film himself looking for Jay, 19, in a bizarre vanity project.
He has shared dozens of clips with his 305,000 followers on his TikTok page “Down The Rapids” – many with shocking clickbait titles such as “body found” in big yellow letters.
Armed with his camera, Paul, from Bedfordshire, has been filming himself walking over mountainous terrain looking for clues.
He claimed in one video he had been welcomed by cops on the island.
But a photo shows Paul storming off after he was ignored by officers at the scene.
Now wannabe detective Paul has revealed he wants to start his own crowdfund appeal to pay for his own hunt.
Self-described explorer Paul said: “What I would be interested in doing is setting up my own fund to pay for a team from Scotland mountain rescue to come out here.”
Dozens of amateur sleuths have taken it upon themselves to scour the area Jay was last known to be on June 17 after cops called off the search.
Paul told the Mail: “The police say they have searched everywhere but I’m not happy with that.
“If they had searched everywhere they would have found him, but they haven’t and I’m convinced he is on that mountain.”
Jay’s family were left “blindsided” when detectives on the island axed the hunt less than two weeks after Jay vanished.
They blasted trolls and amateur sleuths for hampering the search.
Crowds of pretend sleuths have flooded the desolate Rural de Teno National Park after authorities axed the search on Sunday.
Shameless British visitors are also treating the area Jay vanished from as a warped tourist attraction as they swarm the Casa Abuela Tina Airbnb the teen went to.
A photo shows several hire cars parked up outside.
Armchair sleuths sat behind their computers some 2,000 miles away in the UK have also been pathetically trying to solve the case.
Many are using Google maps to scour the desolate Rural de Teno park to hunt for clues before plastering their wild thoughts over social media.
Thousands of keyboard bashers have also joined pathetic Facebook groups, including one called Jay Slater Discussions and Theories.
Within the publicly visible groups are dozens of cruel, senseless posts spewing completely unfounded claims and vile comments.
Former cop Charlie Hedges told The Sun about the risks of online sleuths and amateur detectives trying to crack the case.
He urged the public not to take it upon themselves to help the search as he noted despite their best intentions they may end up causing more trouble.
Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, vanished after a night out at the NRG festival at Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas.
He was last seen travelling with the two mystery men in the north of the island in the Rural de Teno park.
Jay made a final frantic phone call to pal Lucy Law to tell her he was stranded in the “middle of nowhere” at about 8.50am on June 17.
Panicked Jay, facing an 11-hour walk back to their hotel, told her he needed water and only had one per cent of battery left on his phone.
Rescue crews focused their efforts around the 2,000ft Masca ravine close to Jay’s last known location – the desolate Teno Nature Reserve.
But the search was ditched on Sunday – sparking a deluge of amateur sleuths to flood the area as they attempt to crack the case themselves.
Jay’s heartbroken parents Debbie and Warren on Monday begged police not to give up investigating their son’s disappearance during a crunch meeting.
They are also considering again asking British police to help find the teen and authorities on the island rejected their help.
Police on the island had insisted they had the resources they needed for the hunt before issuing a cry for volunteers for Saturday’s final search.
A source close to the family told The Sun: “They’ve been trying to get in touch with groups in Tenerife and beyond who specialise in missing persons
“They may also try to appeal, again, to the British Police to help. They don’t understand why the police in Tenerife wouldn’t welcome the extra support and help which was being offered.
“What did they have to lose? If every stone had been left unturned Jay’s family would be able to accept this. But it doesn’t feel like that’s the case.”
Meanwhile, a top investigator who worked on the Madeleine McCann case has urged Jay’s family to use £47,000 donated by well-wishers to fund a private search.
Former cop Mark Williams-Thomas – who jetted to Tenerife to help the search – said the GoFundMe cash could be used to draft in a team of experts.
