Jay Slater’s mother 'heartbroken' after court confirms death
The manager of a café in Tenerife close to the search scene for missing Jay Slater, has warned of "something very strange" in his story.
Jay had been missing on the Spanish island since June 17 after separating from his two friends Lucy and Brad, and leaving a rave by car with two British men he had befriended on a bar strip. The teenager then stayed with the men at an Airbnb in Masca, a remote and notoriously treacherous village.
He was last heard from by his friend Lucy Mae as he attempted to make his way back to the touristy town of Los Christianos, where he was originally staying. But Jay had never made it back.
The 29-day search for apprentice bricklayer Jay, came to an end on Monday at around 10am when a body was discovered not far from where Jay's phone last pinged. A helicopter was called in to recover the body - which has since been confirmed in court to be the body of the 19-year-old.
Elvira, who runs Teno, an eatery in the remote national park in northwest Tenerife, spoke to reporters about her sadness following the grim find on Monday.
The Manchester Evening News received comments from manager Elvira on the evening of July 14, just before closing time, where she expressed her bewilderment at 'something very strange' in Jay's case - with the police presence and media scrutiny being an unfamiliar sight to the residents of Teno.
"It surprised me a lot that Jay ended up here," Elvira remarked. "Very much. It's not normal here, it's something very strange. Having the police here every day over two weeks, and nothing. It's something inexplicable."
The café served as a convenient lookout point for the official search operation for 19-year-old Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire.
The Civil Guard in Tenerife confirmed Yesterday that the missing man’s body found in a ravine near the village of Masca is that of Jay Slater and said everything was pointing to him dying in an accidental fall.
They also said his injuries had included broken bones in a statement released shortly after court officials also revealed Jay’s identity had been confirmed through fingerprints after initially claiming full identification wouldn’t happen till “next week” because the body was “very deteriorated.”
The question of whether police now have a £12,000 watch the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer reportedly confessed to stealing from a reveller during an altercation outside Papagayo Beach Club near his holiday accommodation, remains unanswered.