Jay Slater’s family continue search a fortnight on from disappearance as police call off operation

The 19-year-old disappeared on Monday June 17 near Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife (Supplied)

Jay Slater’s family say they are not giving up despite the official search for the teenager coming to an abrupt end.

Tenerife officials brought their gruelling 13-day search to a close on Sunday following calls for volunteers to assist in a busqueda masiva – a massive search – on Saturday.

The 19-year-old disappeared on June 17 near Buenavista del Norte, after travelling there with two men he had met at a festival around 27 miles further south on the island.

The apprentice bricklayer was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with shorts and trainers, and his phone shows his last location as the Rural de Teno park at 8.50am that Monday morning.

Despite the efforts of mountain rescue teams, the Guardia Civil and volunteers, no trace of the Lancashire teenager has been found in the mountain region. Mr Slater’s family, however, have not given up and vowed to continue their own search for him.

The case captured the attention of the nation, with volunteers flying to the island and thousands donating to a fundraiser set up for Mr Slater’s family.

Mr Slater attended the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas with two friends before his disappearance, and had travelled to an Airbnb in Masca during the early hours of the morning with two older men who were renting the property. A police spokesperson later said they had been ruled “not relevant” to the case.

The last person to speak to Jay was his friend Lucy Law, who described a frantic phone call with him. She said he told her he was “lost in the mountains, he wasn’t aware of his surroundings, he desperately needed a drink and his phone was on 1 per cent”.

Ms Law set up a GoFundMe appeal titled “Get Jay Slater Home”, which had raised more than £46,000 as the police search came to an end.

A Guardia Civil spokesperson said on Sunday: “The search operation has now finished, although the case remains open.”

TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who worked on the Nicola Bulley case, offered his services free of charge and flew to Tenerife to conduct his own investigation last week.

He urged Mr Slater’s family to use the money raised to hire “experts” to continue the search.

He wrote on X: “In light of the police search ending. I have suggested the family should use the GoFundMe money to continue the search using experts in searching.”

He added on Monday he had been able to speak to “important witnesses” and now had a “very detailed picture of Jay’s movements” in the lead-up to his disappearance.

Mr Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan, who is in Tenerife alongside his father Warren Slater and brother, had previously said the funds would be used to cover their costs while they stay on the island.

Rachel Hargreaves, a close family friend who has joined Mr Slater’s parents on the largest of the Canary Islands, told MailOnline: “No one is leaving until we find Jay.”

She added: “We stay and we do what we need to do. Nothing has changed. We will continue to search for him.”

Helicopters, drones and search dogs were all deployed in an effort to find Mr Slater, and officers were seen combing through the rugged terrain in the hope of finding the teenager.

On Friday, the force had appealed for volunteers, such as firefighters and individual volunteers who have expertise, to assist in what was meant to be a final push in hopes of finding him.

However, Mr Slater’s father Warren Slater revealed he was “disappointed” that just six volunteers turned up to join in the search for his son.

One volunteer was TikToker Paul Arnott, who has been assisting Mr Slater’s family in continuing the search on Monday after local police cut it off.

He previously criticised the operation as being a “PR exercise” as he described official teams “sitting in their cars” rather than out searching.

Mr Arnott also claimed he was following a new lead that involved some sunglasses, which had allegedly been found by a local man.

He told MailOnline: “There have been some new developments and these sunglasses could be key.”