Jay Slater’s mum reveals how family will use £48,000 GoFundMe donations including supporting sleuths helping with search
THE FAMILY of missing teen Jay Slater have revealed they will use the funds to continue their search – including funding volunteers helping with the hunt.
The family is set to remain in Tenerife after police called off the land search after 14 days of looking for the 19-year-old.
A GoFundMe donation page created by Jay’s friend Lucy has raised more than £48,000 for the family of Jay to continue their search.
In a statement on a crowdfunding page set up to help find the missing teenager – which has neared £50,000 of donations – his mother shared an update on how the funds would be used.
She said: “Your generosity has been vast, and we are so grateful for all of your support and kindness during this unimaginable time for our family.
“We will continue to use part of the funds to support the volunteers working hard in the mountains to find Jay.
“We are currently looking after Paul Arnett, putting together a package of any equipment and essentials he needs and going up to do a drop for him.
“We are also supporting Callum Fahim and his group with accommodation and other essentials.
“The remaining funds will continue to be used to support the rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay as well as our own expenses as we remain in Tenerife looking for our boy.”
The teenager, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, disappeared on the Spanish island the morning after attending a music festival with two friends on 17 June.
His disappearance sparked a massive two week manhunt, as pals of the missing 19-year-old say all they have is hope and prayers after the search was called off.
Spanish authorities say “there is no current evidence of criminality” in the case, with his family saying they will not give up hope of finding him.
Friends and family of Jay have recently slammed trolls, calling their comments “distressing”.
The mother of one of Jay’s friends Brad, Rachael Hargreaves posted in a Facebook group asking strangers to be kind.
She said: “Please be kind, this is real. It’s torture.
“Our hearts are completely shattered.
“All we have is hope and prayers.”
It comes as a private investigator revealed Jay “stole a Rolex” before he vanished and the first picture of the man who rented the Airbnb where he spent his last night was revealed.
Five questions still unanswered in Jay Slater's disappearance
By James Halpin
Missing Rolex after ‘scuffle’
Police launched a new probe on Saturday morning over the theft of a Rolex watch just hours before Jay disappeared.
It is unclear exactly how Jay’s disappearance might be linked but one of Jay’s pals told detectives the alleged theft may have led to Jay wandering off on his own to try and find the watch.
The Rolex disappeared when a fight broke out at the club Jay was partying at with investigators questioning taxi drivers and bar staff present on the strip.
Police clear duo
Two mystery Brits who partied with Jay Slater on the night of his disappearance were labelled “not relevant” by investigators.
Investigator Mark Williams-Thomas said the men stayed with Jay at an Airbnb cottage in Tenerife before he vanished.
They are said to both be in their late 30s or early 40s and from Luton, Bedfordshire, with one going by the nickname “Johnny Vegas”.
The men were only briefly asked to speak with cops before being allowed to fly home to the UK.
Just six volunteers for ‘massive’ search
Yesterday, Tenerife cops launched what they called a “massive” new search with the help of specialist volunteers to find the 19-year-old Brit.
However, just six volunteers reportedly turned up, claimed Tiktoker Paul Arnott, 29, who flew in to help with the search.
Jay’s father Warren and older brother Zak were seen at the search site.
The area being searched is a 2000ft ravine that has a steep hiking trail traversing it down to the sea.
Mystery final phone calls
Jay’s last phone call to his pal Lucy Law has been shrouded in mystery with it springing up several questions.
The 18-year-old woman told reporters Jay had called her in a panic at around 8.30am on Monday June 17.
She recalled him saying he wasn’t able to catch a bus and was going to start walking back to his flat.
Jay told her his phone was almost out of power, that he had cut his leg on a prickly cactus and he badly needed a drink.
Pinging phone
Search teams narrowed their efforts to a small group of buildings close to where Jay’s phone last pinged, but found nothing last week.
Jay took a 45 minutes car journey with two men to an Airbnb near Masco in the Rural de Teno, a national park in the island’s north.
He posted a Snapchat picture at the £40-a-night digs at around 7.30am appearing to show him holding a cigarette and walking down some stone steps.
After deciding to leave the cottage, Jay rang Lucy before his mobile went dead at 8.50am near a hiking trail in the park.
Rachael went on: “Watching his mum break down every single second is torture. It’s absolutely soul destroying that we can’t find him.
“His mum is absolutely broken, it’s cruel.
“I can’t believe some people are hacking my accounts and Jay’s family’s making up pure lies and pretending we are all in on it.
His friend Lucy who was on holidays with Jay, set up a GoFundMe for the family.
She said: “We are all so worried and we just want him home.”
In a heartbreaking statement, his mum Debbie Duncan said she was aware of the speculation and conspiracy theories, calling them “vile”.
She said: “The negative comments are extremely distressing to our family.
“We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance.
“Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing.”
Jay’s devastated mum said “words cannot describe the pain and agony” after the search for her son was called off.
Debbie Duncan said in a heartbreaking statement “we just want to find him” after the family vowed to keep looking as cops called off the hunt after 14 days.
JAY SLATER CASE
The young Brit vanished after a night out at the NRG festival at Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas on June 17.
He was last seen travelling with the two mystery men in the north of the island in the Rural de Teno park.
The morning after he made a final frantic phone call to pal Lucy to tell her he was stranded in the “middle of nowhere”.
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.
His other friend Brad Hargreaves revealed a second call in which Jay told him he had veered off the main path – leading to speculation he may have slid down rocks.
The disappearance sparked a desperate round-the-clock search with his heartbroken mum and family jetting out to the island to join the hunt.
