Search teams looking for missing British teenager Jay Slater on the Spanish island of Tenerife have found the body of a young man.
“After 29 days of constant search, the lifeless body of a young man has been found in the Masca area,” stated the Guardia Civil, Spain’s law enforcement agency, on Monday. “All indications are that it could be the young British man missing since June 17, pending full identification.” Preliminary investigations suggest the young man “could have suffered an accident/fall in the inaccessible area,” it added.
Jay Slater, a 19-year-old from Lancashire, northern England, went missing nearly a month ago after attending the NRG festival on the southern part of the island. He was last heard from around 8:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET) on June 17, according to his friend Lucy Mae, who set up a GoFundMe page.
Mae wrote on the GoFundMe page that Slater “had met two people on Sunday night” and left to go to their apartment, which was “in a very secluded location.” She mentioned that Slater left the apartment at 8 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) and walked for half an hour before “frantically ringing me when his phone reached 1 percent.”
“His last location was on an off-road track, which was a 10-hour walk from his hotel,” Mae added.
LBT Global, a charity supporting British nationals in crisis overseas, posted on Facebook expressing sadness over the discovery. “It is understood the body was found close to the site of his mobile phone’s last location,” the charity said. “Although formal identification is yet to be carried out, the body was found with Mr. Slater’s possessions and clothes.”
Lancashire Police confirmed that the Guardia Civil had notified them about finding a body. “While at this stage no formal identification has been carried out, our thoughts are very much with Jay’s family at this time, and we continue to offer them our support,” the police statement added.
The discovery of Jay Slater’s body brings a tragic end to the extensive search efforts. While formal identification is still pending, the evidence strongly indicates that the body found is that of the missing teenager. Our thoughts and condolences go out to Jay Slater’s family and friends during this difficult time.
