One of Jay Slater's close family members has said that he has 'been thinking third party involvement from the start' as the search for the missing teenagers goes into its third week.
Glen Duncan, the youngster's uncle, joined other family members in a renewed search for the 19-year-old from Lancashire. The group endured several hours under a scorching 25C temperature as they searched the valley close to the village of Masca, at the heart of the mountainous terrain in Tenerife where Jay vanished.
Mr Duncan has branded every passing day as 'just torture' as the devastated family waits for news. Speaking about the online trolls spreading horrifying rumours, Mr Duncan said: "I'm not on social media or anything so I can just block it out. It's the world we live in. If he's gone on a trail like a path like this and he's got lost there or fallen down I think he would have been found by now."
But Mr Duncan told of his suspicions, saying: "I've been thinking third party involvement from the start. There's just some things that have already been out there. Why would two lads hire a villa up here? They're down on the strip, you know what it's like down there.
"There's millions of apartments and hotels down there in Los Cristianos and Las Americas. Straight away, that's just suspicious in itself. Then apparently one who has been found came out and said he arrived alive and left alive. That line in itself is suspicious. The fact he has come out and said all his mates have left him and he had nowhere to go, he was 10 minutes from his apartment in Los Cristianos. He's not stupid. If he didn't have a room key he could have gone to reception for a replacement.
"I don't know what the police are taking seriously. I don't know if they're following up every single lead. I feel like marching down there myself and bursting into the police station. What are they actually doing now, the police, I mean they're not searching with the helicopter are they? Are they doing door to door inquiries or sitting there looking at CCTV images?"
Mr Duncan pointed out the family's lacking information from Spanish police: "Who knows what the police are doing out here, who knows? They're not really in touch, it's all a bit sketchy. They don't give anything away. I was close to Jay. He was just a typical, great young lad with a massive circle of friends who loved the good time. He was looking forward to coming here. First lads holiday, we've all been there, haven't we?" reports the Mirror.
Jay's uncle described just how treacherous the area where the teenager is believed to have gone missing can be. Jay, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, disappeared on the Spanish island on June 17. He was last seen leaving the Airbnb at around 8am that morning.
The teenager, who was on holiday with his pals Lucy Law, 18, and Brad Hargreaves, 19, had previously been partying at the Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas, before leaving the event to go back to the rented property. His last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the Canary Island – which was about an 11-hour walk back to his accommodation.
At around 8.30am on the morning of his disappearance, Jay called Lucy to say he was in the middle of nowhere, trying to get home with no water and 1 per cent on his phone battery. That was the last time anyone heard from him.
After almost two weeks of hunting for the teenager in vast and mountainous terrain, police called off the search on the ground for him. On June 30, they said officers would continue to act on any tip-offs or other information that came in but the active work that has been ongoing since the apprentice bricklayer was reported missing would cease.
"If he has wandered off I just can't see how he would wander all the way down there. When you're lost you stick to a path. I don't know if he was afraid of someone or something," said Mr Duncan.
"It's so treacherous down there. Look at the state of me. I'm not a climber, I'm not a hiker," he added, speaking about the renewed search by the family.
"It's so easy to get lost down there. There was a group of us and you can't see anybody. It got to a point where I wasn't even looking for my nephew, I was just trying to find my own way out to safety."
Lucy Law, who was the last person known to have spoken with Jay before his disappearance on June 17, posted an emotional tribute featuring a photo of them together, accompanied by a crying emoji. The Airbnb where Jay was last seen is owned by Ayub Qassim, a convicted drug dealer.
Qassim has stated: "I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go. His friends had all left him. I know Jay, through friends, I'm not going to bring someone back to mine if I don't know them. I'm doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It's a bit mental. I haven't even done anything."
Qassim also remarked: "The only comment I have to make is that Jay came to the house alive, and he left the house alive."
