Jay Slater: Body found in search for British teenager - with possessions and clothes also recovered
The body "does look to be that of Jay Slater" says LBT Global, a British overseas missing persons charity which has been working with the Slater family.
Monday 15 July 2024 21:21, UK
Rescue workers searching for missing British teenager Jay Slater in Tenerife have found a body and are trying to identify it, Spanish police have told Sky News.
"Evidence strongly suggests" the remains are those of the 19-year-old, officers said.
The body "does look to be that of Jay Slater" said LBT Global, a British overseas missing persons charity which has been working with the Slater family.
It added in a statement: "It is understood the body was found close to the site of [Jay Slater's] mobile phone's last location.
"Although formal identification is yet to be carried out, the body was found with Mr Slater's possessions and clothes.
"A post mortem and forensic enquiries will follow."
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Police said in a statement that the Civil Guard's mountain rescue group had located the "lifeless body of a young man in the Masca area after 29 days of constant search".
They added: "Given the complexity of the case, the discovery has been possible thanks to the incessant and discreet search carried out by the Civil Guard during these 29 days."
Parts of the countryside were "preserved" so they were "not filled with curious onlookers", they told Sky News's Jay Marques.
Officers went on: "All indications indicate that it could be the young British man who has been missing since June 17 - in the absence of full identification.
"The first investigations reveal he could have suffered an accident fall in the inaccessible area where he was found.
"We are awaiting the results of the autopsy."
This looks like a bleak conclusion
After 29 agonising days, this will be the worst possible blow for Jay Slater's family.
Some of the 19-year-old's loved ones, including his parents, are still in Tenerife and had held out hope the search for the apprentice bricklayer would somehow end in good news.
Having spoken to them last month, it was clear to me how much of a toll this was taking, with his father Warren asking reporters how they would feel if this was their own son.
He joined the search effort at points, retracing Jay's steps in Masca and handing out missing person posters in another nearby town.
Today's update isn't just a reminder of how painful this will be for the family, but also of how difficult it would have been for anyone to survive going missing in the rural, rugged conditions of northwest Tenerife.
The statement from La Guardia Civil used the word "inaccessible" to describe the area they found a body in, while also suggesting the person may have had an accident or fall.
While it's important to stress that a formal identification process is yet to take place, in a case shrouded with speculation from the start, this looks like a bleak conclusion.
Police commentator Graham Wettone said the geography of the area where Jay Slater went missing made the search much harder.
"Clearly the terrain is exceptionally difficult to navigate, but especially to search thoroughly and properly with the resources, the equipment, and tactics they were using," he said.
Read more:
A timeline of Jay Slater's disappearance
Mr Slater was last heard from after setting off to walk from a northern area of the island back to his holiday accommodation in the south - a journey of about 11 hours.
He flew out to the Spanish island with friends on 13 June to attend a music festival at Papagayo nightclub in the southern resort of Playa de las Americas three days later.
At 8.30am on 17 June he called his friend Lucy Law, telling her he had missed a bus, his phone battery was on 1%, and he had cut his leg on a cactus.
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On Sunday, his mother Debbie Duncan said the family "cannot put into words" the heartache they have been through.
She said her son was "loved by everyone and has a close bond with his family and many, many friends".
Ms Duncan described her boy as a "loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend to so many".
She also said that certain comments online were "very distressing for us all to read".
Ms Duncan added: "We are aware of the awful comments and conspiracy theories that are filling social media.
"These theories are hindering the people trying to help us in their investigations here in Tenerife and are vile to see as a family."