Jay Slater missing update: Teenager could still be alive ‘drinking rainwater’, investigator says

A private investigator has urged Jay Slater’s family “not to give up hope”, claiming the missing teenager could still be alive “drinking rainwater and eating plants”.

His disappearance sparked huge national interest and a huge search operation but following a gruelling 13-day search, the Spanish Civil Guard called off its operation on Sunday.

However, private investigator and army reservist Juan García, 53, said that it was too early to halt the search.

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Jay Slater’s father Warren, 58, has been searching a trail at Jay’s last known location at Rural de Teno Park on Wednesday.

Asked if he thinks Jay may have been heading towards the sea, which was visible in the distance, Warren told the Manchester Evening News: “Maybe”.

“I’ve done this trail now twice. Every step I’ve took there’s been an opening. If you land on one of those cactus’ you’re not moving. Surely somebody’s gonna find you after two weeks.”

Speaking about the area below him, he said: “It’s hundreds of square feet of this little bushy stuff. You can’t explain this to somebody unless they see it. You can take a photograph or film it, but until you’re here…”.

The man whose AirBnb Jay Slater visited before disappearing said they knew each other through friends.

Ayub Qassim is believed to be one of two men who invited Jay Slater back to their holiday accommodation in Masca in the early hours of Monday morning.

Jay left the Airbnb at around 8am but having missed the bus back down to his own accommodation in Playa de Las Americas, he attempted an 11 hour journey through the remote and challenging terrain of Rural de Teno park.

Mr Qassim said Jay left the house “alive” and said he knew Jay “through friends”.

“I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them,” he told the MailOnline. “I don’t know if he had beef elsewhere because I don’t know him that well, I only know him through friends.”

He added: “He’s a cool guy, Jay. He ain’t got a problem with me, I haven’t got a problem with him or his mates. We just all talk to each other and everything was sweet.”

Forensic officers were spotted at the AirBnb in Masca on Tuesday, the Manchester Evening News reports.

Two police officers were seen inside the holiday rental apartment where Jay stayed the night before his disappearance. The men, who were both wearing plain clothes, exited the property shortly after 11am wearing forensic style blue slip-ons over their shoes.

They were then seen taking the slip-ons off before speaking to a local, who had let them into the property with a key.

A TV detective investigating Jay Slater’s dissapearance has said the teenager was told by friends to head back to an AirBnB where he had stayed the night before he went missing.

Mark Williams-Thomas – who also investigated Nicola Bulley’s disappearance – has been assisting Jay’s family in their search for the 19-year-old in Tenerife.

Jay seemingly left the Veronica’s party strip in the south of the island in the early hours of Monday morning with two men he had met, before taking an hour-long drive to

They travelled an hours drive back to their holiday accommodation in Masca, which Jay left several hours later and having missed the bus, attempted to walk 11 hours back towards his own accommodation.

Mr Williams-Thomas highlighted Jay’s strange decision to embark on the walk through challenging terrain rather than return to the AirBnb.

He said: “He was told to go back to the rental. He said he could not do that and that he had already been walking 30 minutes and that he was now off the road and walking on a track, where there were loose stones.”

From the party vibes of the neon-lit strip of Playa De Las Americas to the spiritual hikes across cacti-infested ravines in the heat, there is something for everyone.

The man who invited Jay Slater back to his AirBnb before he disappeared has broken his silence.

The 19-year-old went missing after he left the holiday accommodation early on Monday morning to catch a bus back towards his own accommodation on the other side of the island.

Ayub Qassim invited Jay back to the remote holiday cottage near the village of Masca after a night out in Playa de las Americas.

“He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive,” he told the MailOnline.

He added: “I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go, his friends had all left him. I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them.

“I’m doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It’s a bit mental. I haven’t even done anything.”

He insisted they had no argument and he had even given Jay a blanket to sleep in. He and his friend – who was also staying at the AirBnb – extended their trip for a day to speak with police before travelling back to the UK.

Spanish police have described the pair as “irrelevant” to the investigation.

In an emotional statement, his family described him as a “beautiful” boy who had been studying for an apprenticeship at the time he disappeared.

They said: “My son, Jay Dean Slater, came to the holiday island of Tenerife on 13 June with his friend to attend a music festival.

“On 17 June after not returning to his apartment he was reported as a missing person.

“Jay is a normal guy who is in his third year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends.

“We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance.

“Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing. He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him.”

The Daily Mail’s Nick Pisa said he had spoken to a man who had “found a pair of sunglasses” on the gorge, and had handed them in to the police.

Pisa explained to GB News: “I’ve now spoken to an ex-British Army officer who found some sunglasses up there. He was asked not to put them in a plastic bag because of humidity, but to wrap them up in tissue paper, which he did.

“He handed them in and he had to give DNA and his fingerprints. The question is, are they connected to Jay?”

The Missing Persons Tenerife Facebook Group has swollen from 340 members to almost 8,000 in a fortnight.

Most, but not all of those joining are British nationals, some of whom are worried about their safety in visiting Tenerife, as well as those having an interest in the Jay Slater case.

Its admin Deborah Clarke-Topper said the spike meant other historical missing persons cases are gaining attention.

She told The Independent: “It is clear that the coverage of the case is building a perception that Tenerife is not a safe destination, and that the police do not act as favourably toward Britons on holiday as they would their own citizens.

“However, I am sure that the Spanish police are extremely earnest in their investigation and reaching a conclusion to it is what they want, regardless of the nationality of the missing person. As long as the case remains unresoved there will be negative perception on the safety of holiday makers.”