A TV detective has claimed that missing teenager Jay Slater left the Airbnb where he had spent the night before he disappeared "because he was hungry".
Mark Williams-Thomas is probing the apprentice bricklayer's disappearance in Tenerife and has recounted a conversation with one of the men the 19-year-old went back to the Airbnb with. He stated that he interviewed a man named Ayub Qassim who claimed to have driven the Oswaldtwistle teenager to an AirBnB in Masca after meeting him in Playa de las Americas in the south of the island.
The 31-year-old reported that Jay left the AirBnB alive following a gathering that took place after a music festival he had been to. He was said to have been transported to Masca by Mr Qassim, known by the nickname 'Johnny Vegas', and another individual, both of whom Spanish police have not considered relevant to their investigation into Jay's disappearance, the Express reports.
READ MORE: Jay Slater's dad claims 'everything stinks' as he questions Tenerife search
Jay vanished after he embarked on a walk back to his lodging in Los Cristianos on June 17. It is thought that he missed a bus and opted to walk the journey, which is approximately an 11-hour trek.
The search for the teenager was called off by Tenerife's Guardia Civil after extensive efforts involving helicopters, drones, and search dogs. TV sleuth Mr Williams-Thomas, who is making his own enquiries and is not part of the official police response, told MailOnline he had spoken to Mr Qassim.
He claims Mr Qassim told him that on the morning after the party in Playa de las Americas he offered to drive Jay back. Revealing the "real reason" Jay allegedly turned down a lift later in the day, the former Met Police detective added: "Qassim said to him 'Chill, mate, I'll drop you off later, when I wake up', but he said Jay said, 'Nah, I need some scran, I'm hungry'."
Jay then reportedly told Mr Qassim that a woman had told him buses to Los Cristianos were every 10 minutes, but Mr Qassim said there wasn't a bus, adding, "Do what you like", before going back to bed.
Mr Williams-Thomas said Mr Qassim told him the next thing he could remember was getting a call from a friend of Jay's to say he was lying in a ditch somewhere and had been "bitten by a cactus".
The detective added that Mr Qassim didn't reveal the identity of the second man Jay travelled to Masca with and refused to talk about the alleged theft of a Rolex watch, which some have claimed could be linked to Mr Slater's disappearance.
Mystery still surrounds Jay's disappearance almost three weeks after he was reported missing. Jay's holiday rental was reportedly only 10 minutes away from the nightclub where the music festival after-party was being held.
Meanwhile, Jay's family are said to be desperate for Spanish police to deploy drones and other equipment over Rural de Teno park where his mobile phone was last detected.
A source told the Sun: "They are desperate for permission to be granted that will allow them to use the specialist equipment they've identified. They've been speaking to experts who have suggested items that could help - things like [radar] tracking gear, drones and kit which can help at night-time too."
