The desolate ravine where Jay Slater disappeared is both barren and intimidating yet has "eerie signs of life".
Jay, a 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer, from Lancashire, vanished on June 17 in the remote Rural de Teno area of Tenerife. He travelled to the island with two friends for a three-day music festival.
The teenager left his friends to stay at a secluded Airbnb with two men in the early hours of Monday morning and walking back to his accommodation later that day. Jay reportedly set off on the 11-hour journey on foot when he phoned a friend to tell her his phone battery was down to 1%, he needed water and had injured his leg on a cactus.
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His mobile last sent a signal from somewhere in the mountains near the village of Masca which became the focus of the Spanish police's search operation, before it was officially called off last Sunday.
Despite this, Jay's family and friends have persisted while journalists have recounted their experiences of the "unforgiving" landscape. In an article for MailOnline, reporter Fred Kelly said: "Sharp-needled cacti grow higher than a man's head and there's no sound other than the noise of geckos scuttling in the undergrowth and the distant howl of the wind above the ravine."
Unearthing chilling signs of past human activity, he said: "In a sinister twist, the Mail found eerie signs of life in one of two ruined homesteads in the ravine: shoelaces tied with twigs to form haunting symbols like something out of a horror film, empty water bottles, and - most strange of all - a set of clean women's clothes," reports Mirror.
TikTok influencer and amateur mountaineer Paul Arnott, who joined the search for Jay in Tenerife, made a potentially significant discovery on Monday. The 29 year old, backed by Jay's heartbroken mother Debbie and keeping in regular touch with the family, suggested that a pair of damaged sunglasses, similar to those Jay was known to wear, could be a crucial clue.
On TikTok, Mr Arnott said: "Moving forward a lot of new things have come out due to interviews. There are quite a few things I'm gonna chase up today as well. One is a three-word GPS. The other, apart from that, is a pair of sunglasses that were found by a man called Chris, who I'll be meeting up with later today."
Jay's dad, Warren, had previously voiced his worries about the family searching the perilous ravine themselves, highlighting "how dangerous it is". He said: "These are big mountains, the terrain is dangerous. It's tough, it's hard."
However, following the Civil Guard's decision to stop their active search, the family has continued in their efforts to find Jay Warren revealed on Wednesday: "We've been all the way down. We've walked as far as you can until it's too dangerous."
He added: "This is where his phone last pinged. This was the valley and I've come to the point of no return. We followed the path all the way down the valley. If I had mountain boots on and some ropes I would go for it, but I can't do it in Adidas sandals."
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