The official search for missing Jay Slater was called off yesterday after volunteers traced his last known location on Saturday.
The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer, from Lancashire, disappeared on June 17 in the remote Rural de Teno area of Tenerife, while there for the NRG rave festival with friends. He had travelled to an Airbnb in the village of Masca - about an 11-hour walk from where he was staying in the south of the island - before attempting to make the journey back on foot.
The Spanish Guardia Civil announced they officially called off their search yesterday after nearly two weeks of looking for Jay. It came after they called for 'private volunteers' with expertise in difficult terrain to help with their final hunt on Saturday. The search focused on the ravines and trails around the mountainous area of Masca, where Jay was last known to have been.
Police called on specialist voluntary organisations, including firefighters and civil protection teams, to set off at 9am from the Mirador de la Cruz de Hilda restaurant on Saturday. A spokesman described the terrain as "a steep, rocky area, full of unevenness and with a multitude of ravines, trails and paths." But the tough job in 23C heat meant that few Good Samaritans turned up.
It was reported that only six people arrived to aid the search, and Jay's father Warren Slater later expressed his disappointment in the low number to have showed up for his son. The emotional 58-year-old told the Mail: "It's a bit disappointing that there are no British apart from Paul [Arnott], but I suppose to them he's just a British lad who's come out here and got drunk."
Lashing out at the online trolls and sleuths who have slated the family, Warren said: "I'm grateful to those who have come out here because you can see just how dangerous it is and what gets me is the trollers who are having a go at us for not searching. It's not the local park, these are big mountains, the terrain is dangerous, put yourself in our position would you go out in these conditions?
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"It's tough, it's hard, we are leaving it to the professionals and I'm grateful for those who have turned out today and I want to thank them for what they are doing." Jay's older brother Zak Slater, 24, also visited the search site on Saturday with his dad. Warren is estranged but on good terms with Jay's mum Debbie Duncan, 55.
Last week, Debbie confirmed funds would begin to be withdrawn from the GoFundMe - titled 'Get Jay Slater home' which reached nearly £44,000 - to pay for food and accommodation for Jay's family to stay in Tenerife, and fly more loved ones out to the island to sustain the search. Former British police officer Mark Williams-Thomas, 54, has advised them to bring in a team of experts to carry out their own private search.
Speaking in the hours after the search officially came to an end, he said: "The police have put considerable resources into searching for Jay and of course it is very disappointing for the family that the search by the police has now ended. I have advised the family to use the GoFundMe money to bring in a large team of experts to flood the area from where we know Jay last was."