Jay Slater missing – latest: Family urged to use GoFundMe to carry on search as TikToker uncovers ‘new clue’
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Jay Slater’s father makes six-word plea to son at visit to site of search
Jay Slater’s family have been urged to use fundraising donations to hire “experts” to continue the search for the missing teenager.
Spanish police said the hunt for the 19-year-old from Lancashire had ended, with the case remaining open on Sunday as the gruelling search entered another week.
But his family have vowed to carry on looking for him regardless.
TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas flew out to conduct his own investigation and has urged the family to use some of the £46,000 raised to help 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.”
It comes as an amateur sleuth claimed to be following an unofficial “new clue”.
TikTok climber Paul Arnott, who has been searching for Jay in Tenerife, said that a pair of sunglasses similar to the ones Jay was last seen wearing had been found close to where his mobile phone last pinged.
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TV detective continues investigation as police finish search
TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas said he now has a ‘very detailed picture’ of Jay Slater’s movements before he went missing as he continues his private investigation.
Tenerife’s Civil Guard ceased their search for the missing 19-year-old on Sunday after almost 2 weeks of searching the Rural de Teno park.
Williams-Thomas, who helped investigate Nicola Bulley’s dissapearance, urged his family to use the GoFundMe donations to pay for private detectives to keep the search alive.
He wrote on X: “Although the police search in the mountains and around Masca has concluded, the police investigation into Jay Slater’s disappearance remains ongoing. In regard to our investigation we have been able to speak to important witnesses and now have a very detailed picture of Jays movements over 16 & 17th along with important background information.
“We still have a number of outstanding actions , but have given the family a preliminary breakdown of findings.
“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.”
Athena Stavrou2 July 2024 06:00
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Are TikTokers and Facebook sleuths drowning out actual leads in the hunt for Jay Slater?
Fake rumours of a body being found in the hunt for Jay Slater had spread like wildfire across Facebook, TikTok and other social media sites as thousands of users share disinformation.
A mocked up Facebook post from one of the Slater’s family inner circle was shared with the message: “Jay’s body has been found. Our hearts are with his family in these evil times, we’ve heard from locals it was the job of the Morrocans [sic].”
The mother of Jay’s best friend Rachel Louise Harg, who also set up the GoFundMe page to go towards search efforts, was forced to amplify the cruel prank as she distanced herself from it, insisting the official update group: “This isn’t me.”
The Independent’s Barney Davis reports:
Are TikTokers and Facebook sleuths drowning out leads in the hunt for Jay Slater?
Investigators say armchair sleuths spreading memes and misinformation are harming missing teenager’s family
Athena Stavrou2 July 2024 05:00
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The strip popular with teenagers where Jay Slater spent his night before disappearing
Lined with garish neon signs, booming music and ridiculously cheap drink deals, Veronica’s Strip in Tenerife could be seen as a British teenager’s heaven or a nightmare.
Young Britons appear to be the main clientele along the popular street in Playa de Las Americas, with hundreds gathering this week to celebrate the end of their A-Level results.
It was here that Jay Slater spent his Sunday evening clubbing, before disappearing 37km away in the mountain region of Rural de Teno national park, with few clues leading as to why the teenager would travel such a distance.
The Independent’s Holly Evans reports from Tenerife:
The strip popular with teenagers where Jay Slater spent his night before disappearing
Drugs are widely available along the street which is crowded with nightclubs and bars
Athena Stavrou2 July 2024 03:30
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Ex-British police suggests Jay Slater ‘may not be missing’
A former British police officer has suggested that Jay Slater might not be missing at all and the police should thoroughly investigate his disappearance in Tenerife.
Graham Wettone, who served in the Met for three decades, told MailOnline that the Spanish police should “take another look” after the law enforcement authorities called off the search for the missing teenager nearly two weeks after he vanished.
“It seems to me on the face of it that they are just focusing on the mountain, but I would hope they are looking at other avenues and those include criminality,” he said.
“I’ve been following this case closely and discussing it with colleagues and it’s certainly a very bizarre one, lots of things just don’t add up,” the ex-cop added.
Athena Stavrou2 July 2024 02:00
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Mystery British men of ‘no relevance’ to investigation
Spanish police have declared that the two British men who put up missing British teenager Jay Slater the night before he disappeared are of “no relevance” to the investigation.
The 19-year-old vanished two weeks ago near Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife, after travelling there with two men he had met at a festival around 27 miles further south on the island.
Cipriano Martin, head of the Civil Guard’s Greim mountain rescue unit, said: “Those men have been spoken to and they don’t have any relevance whatsoever for the case.”
Athena Stavrou2 July 2024 00:30
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Mayor defends decision to calll off Jay Slater search
A mayor has insisted police in Tenerife are probing several lines of inquiry in the search for missing British teenager Jay Slater.
“The investigation that the Civil Guard is carrying out in this case has several lines of inquiry open,” local Mayor Emilio Navarro told Sky News.
“It’s not that the search has stopped. Maybe, yes, in the territory, the field search, but other lines are open.”
Barney Davis1 July 2024 23:57
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Jay Slater case ‘doesn’t add up’ ex-Met officer says as he urges Spanish police to let British force help
Spanish police have been urged to accept help from British investigators in the hunt for Jay Slater in Tenerife, as a former police officer warned: “Things just don’t add up.”
Policing expert Graham Wettone, who was in the Metropolitan Police for 30 years, said he has been pouring over the evidence in the hunt for the missing 19-year-old. He believes there were too many “inconsistencies” in the mystery of his disappearance and called for detectives to look more closely at the days before he vanished.
My colleague Amy-Clare Martin has the full story:
Let British police help in hunt for missing Jay Slater, ex-Met officer says
Former Met Police officer Graham Wettone warns of “inconsistencies” and urges police to look at days before 19-year-old’s disappearance
Athena Stavrou1 July 2024 23:00
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Pub makes £1,000 donation to GoFundMe after crass joke on social media
Bees Knees Accrington, which friends said Jay Slater visited, posted a disturbing joke mocking the teen vanishing during the Euros.
The pub has said they have severed ties with the social media firm Affordable Social posting on their behalf after uproar from family friends of Mr Slater.
They have made a £1,000 offering to the fundraiser becoming the largest donator.
A statement read: “Affordable Social were challenged three months ago to improve our social media pages via light hearted humour, good content and sports talk.
“The post that made it onto the page was neither one of the above and was highly insensitive and deeply offensive. As a business we are utterly gobsmacked that this has happened and how somebody could find good humour in a missing boy.”
Barney Davis1 July 2024 21:34
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Ex-British police urges Spanish authorities to look into Jay Slater’s bank accounts
A former Scotland Yard detective has urged Spanish police to look into Jay Slater’s bank accounts as the search for the 19-year-old is called off.
Graham Wettone also said he hoped the Civil Guard had at least secured the AirBnb Jay was at to collect evidence.
He told MailOnline: “They seem to be focusing primarily on the fact that they were told he wandered off into the mountain, but we are now almost two weeks in, and nothing has been found up there.
“I would hope that they have at least secured the Airbnb because if evidence is there then it will need to be gathered.
“But to be honest, I would even go back further to the days leading up to his disappearance - have they checked his bank accounts for anything untoward in the hours before he went missing.”
Athena Stavrou1 July 2024 21:30
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GoFundMe nearing £50k mark
The official fundraiser for Jay Slater is nearing the £50,000 mark as his family are advised to use the funds to continue the search privately.
As of noon on Monday, the GoFundMe stands at £46,680, with a total of 3.9k donations.
The Tenerife Civil Guard calling off the search does not appear to have deterred people from donating. Questions have previously been raised about how the funds would be used, with Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan assuring they would be used to cover family and friends’ costs as they look for Jay.
TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas said had advised the family to continue their search privately.
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.”
Athena Stavrou1 July 2024 20:00
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