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Pal who was last to speak to Jay Slater updates on his ‘suspicious’ disappearance & insists ‘something weird’s going on’
Jay's worried friend Lucy has been up in the mountains every day since he disappeared helping to look for him
THE LAST person to speak to missing Brit teen Jay Slater has said his disappearance is "suspicious and weird".
Jay, 19, was on the island for a festival and had stayed the night with people he had just met after a rave before disappearing on his way home on Monday.
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Jay mysteriously vanished after making a frantic phone call at 8am to his pal Lucy Mae - saying he was in the "middle of nowhere".
A desperate search was quickly launched for the teen with mountain rescue, firefighters, drones, sniffer dogs and police helicopters.
Worried friend Lucy has now said: “There’s something weird going on. It is suspicious. In two days you’re telling me someone’s not seen him.
“There’s a restaurant 10 minutes away that he would have seen or walked past. It’s suspicious and it’s weird."
It comes as...
- Jay, 19, was first reported missing on Monday after vanishing on his way home from a rave the night before
- His stepdad Andy said Jay is "no mug" but could've taken a wrong turn on a 10-hour walk back to his hotel
- Mum Debbie was told by cops at 2am on Tuesday to catch the first flight to Tenerife
- She was later bombarded with prank calls from trolls claiming to have kidnapped her son
- A Coronation Street star with a connection to Jay's family published an appeal for help to find him
- Jay's posted a Snapchat the night before he vanished showing him smiling with friends
Fighting back tears, Lucy said today that her friend "isn't stupid" and he called her from an area "full of hikers" in "broad daylight".
She added: “Fair enough it didn’t open for another two hours but if that were me I would have sat and waited at the restaurant till it opened.
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"As soon as it opened I would have said, ‘Please can you put my phone on charge’ and then I would have rung someone, I would have rung a taxi."
There’s something weird going on. It is suspicious. In two days you’re telling me someone’s not seen him
Lucy Mae, Jay's friend
Cops have said they are keeping an "open mind" about Jay’s disappearance on the third day of the mammoth search.
Jay, an apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire, had flown out to Tenerife with friends Lucy and Brad for the 2024 New Rave Generation (NRG) festival which ended on Sunday.
He left a rave on Sunday night with two other men he had just met to go to their apartment, Manchester Evening News reports.
Jay's last known location was the Teno Rural Park in the northwest of the island - a popular hiking spot for tourists.
He shared a Snapchat post on Sunday night before he disappeared, showing the teen smiling with friends.
It was filmed at around 8.30pm in the Arona area of Santa de Cruz on the south of the island, where the festival was held.
After calling Lucy at 8am on Monday a missing person’s report was filed at around 9am and the search kicked into gear.
Jay's mum Debbie Duncan and older brother Zak flew out on Tuesday to join the efforts.
He sounded very distressed... I’m thinking now whether he was just distressed because he had no water or because of something else
Lucy Mae, Jay's friend
An emotional Lucy said today: “I’ve been up there myself every day. There’s something not right. The police are not telling me anything."
Recalling their last conversation on Monday she said: “I’d left the festival to come back to my hotel early because I was tired. Jay had stayed on with two new friends he’d made.
“I took that last phone call from Jay around eight o’clock in the morning.
“He just said to me, ‘I need a drink, it’s really hot, I don’t know where I am and my phone’s going to die. I said, ‘If you’re ever going to listen to anything I’m going to say to you, it needs to be now.
“If you’re in the middle of nowhere with no water and no phone you’re going to be f****d so you need to turn around and go back to wherever you came from and get help.
“He’s like, ‘I can’t go back, I don’t know where I am’. But he sounded very distressed and I don’t know what’s going on and I’m thinking now whether he was just distressed because he had no water or because of something else.”
FAMILY'S PAIN
Debbie's partner Andy Watson, told Lancashire Live how police urged the family to get out to the island as soon as possible in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
He said: "It was about 2.30am in the early hours.
"The police said 'the best thing you can do is get yourself out there', we knew it was bad.
"This was his first holiday on his own. I'm just hoping he's gone to another party."
A stricken Debbie was flying out from Manchester Airport by 7am that morning.
Andy, 63, added "every mum who has a child out there has gone to help".
Mum Debbie said yesterday that she has been bombarded with horrific prank calls during the search, from trolls claiming to have kidnapped Jay.
She told how Brits with "northern accents" were calling her from blocked numbers, claiming they had her son captive and were keeping him because he owed them money.
Debbie said: "I just don’t know why people would want to do things like this. I’ve been getting lots of prank calls. It’s sickening.
"People ringing me and saying they’ve got Jay because he owes them money."
She told press in Tenerife: "I’m obviously beside myself with worry which is why I’ve flown out here with my eldest son to do anything we can to help."
MAMMOTH SEARCH OPERATION
The huge search is set to continue early today near the village of Masca, in the northwest of the island near his last known location, Manchester Evening News reports.
The "Jay Slater Missing" Facebook group, which gained almost 140,000 members in just days, said cops were stopping drivers in the area to show them Jay's photo.
Fiona Duncan, possibly Jay's maternal aunt, announced in the page today that she would be travelling out to help with Jay's uncle and vowed to find him.
She wrote: "Myself, Jay’s uncle and sister in law fly out today at 3pm to search for Jay.
"I just want to thank everyone for their kind words and support. We will find him."
Debbie told MailOnline today that she wouldn't be going up to the mountains to help with the search but would wait for news from Los Cristianos in the south.
She said: "We haven't had any real update but I'm waiting for news from the British consulate.
"There was talk of a helicopter going over the area today but I can't face going up there I'm going to stay here in Los Cristianos and wait for news.
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"His friends and Lucy are up there helping and I have more family coming out today.
"We all just want him found safe and sound as quickly as possible."
Coronation Street star's plea for help
By Anita Markoff, TV reporter
VICKY Entwhistle, who used to play Janice Battersby on ITV soap Coronation Street, shared a heartbreaking post on Tuesday as the search continues for missing teen Jay Slater.
Vicky shared one of the missing posters circulating online, adding: "My God Mother’s Grandson has gone missing. His Mother has flown out 7pm. To join the police search.
"Hope to God they find him. Please pray for him."
Fans flocked to the comments to offer reassurance, with one saying: "Saw this on Facebook Vicky, it seems to be getting shared far and wide, hopefully there will be some good news imminently with all the love and support out there, just makes it so much harder when abroad! Love and prayers for you all."
Another offered: "We are in Tenerife if we can help in any way let us know."
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