Below is the full statement issued by Spanish police following the discovery of human remains during the search for Jay Slater, who went missing in the north-west of Tenerife on June 17th:
Jay disappeared on June 17th (Instagram)
A body has been discovered during the search for Jay Slater, a month after he went missing in Tenerife. The full statement from Spanish police marks a tragic end to the mysterious disappearance.
Jay, 19, from Lancashire, went missing on June 17 after holidaying with friends on the Spanish island for a three-day music festival. He went missing the day after attending a rave at Papagayo nightclub. He left the club with two men and headed to an Airbnb in the village of Masca, around 37km (23 miles) north.
The next morning, Jay spoke to his friend Lucy Law, who said he planned to walk back, a journey that took 11 hours. Jay has not been seen or heard from since. His phone last rang when it ran out of battery somewhere in the mountains near Masca. Spanish police focused their search efforts there until they officially called it off on June 30.
Jay’s family remains in Tenerife and continues to search for him with volunteers and experts in the treacherous terrain of the northwest of the island, and today Spanish police issued a statement saying that human remains believed to be Jay’s have been found in the Masca region.
A spokesman for the Security Guards said today: “After 29 days of searching, the young man’s body was found in the Masca area. Given the complexity of the case, this discovery is the result of 29 days of vigorous and careful searches by the Security Guards, whilst protecting natural spaces.”
Jay’s father, Warren Slater, and brother, Zach, watch him in the mountains (Stan Kujawa)
“All evidence indicates that the body is that of a young British man who went missing on June 17th, although full identification is pending. Initial investigations suggest that he may have suffered an accident/fall in the area where he was found,” police later added in a more detailed statement: “Officers from the Security Forces, attached to the Mountain Rescue Intervention Group (GREIM), discovered the body of a young man this morning in the Masca area, which belongs to the municipality of Buenavista del Norte.
Body found during search for Jay Slater
“All indications are that the young British man, missing for 29 days, may have died as a result of an accidental fall in the deserted and restricted area where he was found. Various units of the security forces have been searching tirelessly every day in the Maska area where the young man is believed to have gone missing, which has led GREIM officers to find his body in a highly restricted area. Post-mortem results are awaited to confirm that it was an accident.”
A photo of the search and rescue team searching for Jay (Stan Kujawa)
Graeme’s officers led a visible search using helicopters and sniffer dogs that continued for nearly two weeks before police announced it was being called off. Police made no public statements that the search was continuing, and there were few outward signs that a scaled-down search was underway.
Police announced on June 30 that “the search effort has concluded but the case remains open,” after calling for volunteers for a “final search” the day before. A source added: “The daily search efforts in and around Masca, close to where Jay was last seen, have concluded. However, if there is any information that merits a new search we will act on it. My understanding is that Jay’s parents have been informed that there has apparently been a major breakthrough. Yesterday’s extensive search did not turn up anything relevant.”
