Lancs Police issues Jay Slater statement after making pledge to send cops to Tenerife

Jay Slater's home police force appears to have ruled out sending officers to assist in the search for the missing teen, despite previously making such an offer to counterparts on Tenerife.

Lancashire Police made an offer to cops looking for the Oswaldtwistle lad, 19, on the island to send specialist officers to help in the early days of the hunt.

At the time, this was snubbed by Spanish Police who claimed they had sufficient resources.

However, local police on the island called off their search on Sunday, June 30, while insisting that their investigation into Jay's disappearance continues.

At the weekend the Guardia Civil also gave the green light for independent searches to resume in the area, giving the green light to Lancashire Police to send officers to Tenerife to look for Jay.

Currently, only volunteers, TikTok amateur sleuths and former British detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who exposed the Jimmy Saville scandal, appear to be looking for Jay.

Express.co.uk asked the force if, in light of these developments, it was considering sending the team it had previously offered up to look for Jay.

The response from the force suggested it isn't.

A force spokesperson said: "Our position remains the same as per the statement in June. We continue to support the family."

This original release said: "First and foremost, our thoughts are with Jay's family at this time. They must be going through the most distressing ordeal not knowing what has happened to their loved one.

"We have specialist officers who are continuing to support Jay's family.

"While this case falls outside the jurisdiction of UK policing, we have made an offer of support to the Guardia Civil to see if they need any additional resources. They have confirmed that at this time they are satisfied that they have the resources they need, but that offer remains open and they will contact us should that position change.

"Once again, our thoughts remain with Jay's family and friends at this distressing time."

Express.co.uk pressed the force on why it could not issue a new statement, considering the position has changed, in that the local force is no longer investigating, but has given the green light to third parties to do so, especially considering the original offer it made.

The force has yet to respond.

We also asked it to say if it has given any consideration to sending any Lancashire Police resources to Tenerife since the local search was called off and since the local police gave the green light to independent searches, or if this will now be considered.

Express.co.uk previously revealed that the force had ruled out speaking to the two men who Jay left with to go to their Airbnb in the early hours of June 17.

One of them has since been identified as convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim.

We also pointed out to the force that it does have powers to review missing persons cases that happened outside the jurisdiction.

In 2018 Lancashire Police carried out a review and appealed for information into the case of Kevin Ainley, then 24, who went missing from Tenerife on June 14 2004.

But, being 14 years later it yielded no new leads and he has never been found.

Express.co.uk asked the force why it was not launching a review into Jay's case now, when there will be more chance of obtaining evidence, rather than carrying out a retrospective review in years to come.

We also asked when it last communicated with Jay's family.

It has yet to respond to all our questions.

It could be worthwhile for the force to investigate given the recent theories that Jay's disappearance could be connected to organised crime gangs linked to the UK and Tenerife.

It has also been claimed that Jay stole a £12,000 Rolex watch from someone not long before he went missing after he posted a Snapchat to that effect.

An unnamed Brit, who is involved in the watch trade in Tenerife and has mutual friends with Jay, called for British police to investigate.

He told the Sun: “The Spanish police have failed to pick up all the threads and it’s time British detectives stepped in. Jay might have gone missing on Tenerife but many of the people he crossed paths with are British.”

Jay is thought to have left an after party after the NRG music event on Tenerife by car on June 17 with Mr Qassim and another, as yet, unidentified man at around 4am.

It was previously said they were strangers but has begun to emerge that he may have loosely known them through other associates.

Jay sent a picture of him inside their car to his friends via Snapchat.

They went to the men's Airbnb apartment 40 minutes away on the other side of the island in the Rural de Teno National Park, a 10-hour walk from where he was staying with his friends.

The pair had rented a hire car to allow them to drive easily around the island and back to their remote holiday let, named Casa Abuela Tina, located just outside the village of Masca.

There are reports they only rented it for the night.

At 7.30am he is believed to have left their apartment and sent two more Snapchat images of himself outside.

The woman who owned the property said she saw him leave soon after, saying he would walk after missing a bus – a journey that would have taken 10 hours on foot – and this is the last official sighting.

He called one friend while he was on the walk after 8am, but at around 8.30am is said to have made a panicked call to another friend, saying he was lost and had no water, just one per cent phone battery.

Tenerife police reportedly asked the two men to stay an extra day to question before they were allowed them to fly home.

Mr Qassim has been spoken to by media and Mr Williams-Thomas and said they just allowed Jay somewhere to stay and he was fine when he left the property.

Mr Williams-Thomas says his probe has discovered that Jay was scared to return to the Airbnb, even when it became clear he would struggle to get back to his resort in the treacherous environment.