The family and friends of Jay Slater, a 19-year-old from Lancashire, are desperately appealing for information after he went missing in Tenerife yesterday, Monday 17th June. Jay had travelled to Tenerife for a music festival with friends but has not been heard from since.
He was attending the festival with his friend Lucy and another companion but decided to stay overnight with new acquaintances he met during a night out. According to Lucy, the apartment he went to was "in the middle of nowhere," and Jay likely underestimated the distance from their original accommodation.
Yesterday morning (Monday) Jay attempted to walk back but was unable to catch a bus. In a distressing phone call to Lucy, he mentioned that his phone battery was critically low, he needed water, and he was lost.
"I don't know where I am," Jay told her before his phone died. His last known location, according to phone data, was in the mountainous area of the Rural de Teno Park, a popular hiking destination near Santiago del Teide in the west of the island.
Since then, Lucy has been frantically searching the area and has reported Jay’s disappearance to the Local Police and the British Embassy. Jay's mother is also en route to Tenerife to assist in the search efforts.
Lucy described the sequence of events leading to Jay's disappearance: "He went out, met some people, and ended up far from our place. He left their apartment around 8am to catch a bus but ended up lost in the mountains. He called me at about 8 o'clock in the morning, saying his phone was on 1% battery, he needed water, and his phone was about to die."
Mountain rescue teams were dispatched by local authorities following reports of Jay’s last known location. Despite these efforts, there has been no sign of him as yet.
Lucy, aided by local residents and volunteers, spent all of yesterday searching the area. "A lovely lady hired a car and drove me up there. We searched everywhere, checking every nook and cranny," she said.
Jay was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, shorts, and trainers, and carrying a black bag. The Manchester Evening News has reached out to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office for more information on Jay's disappearance.
