An ex-Met Police officer has said the disappearance of Jay Slater “doesn’t add up” and that British cops should be allowed to help.
Policing expert Graham Wettone, who was in the Met for 30 years, believes there are too many “inconsistencies” in the mystery of Mr Slater’s disappearance and called for detectives to look more closely at the days before he vanished.
The former police officer told MailOnline: “There are so many inconsistencies in what I am seeing and reading. I think the Spanish police need to take a step back and think ‘Why did he go missing where he did and in what circumstances?’
“They seem to be focusing primarily on the fact that they were told he wandered off into the mountain, but we are now [three] weeks in, and nothing has been found up there.
“I would even go back further to the days leading up to his disappearance, have they checked his bank accounts for anything untoward in the hours before he went missing.
“Were there any patterns forming that would point to him going wandering off but the fact he is said to have done that just doesn’t square with me. Was there anything sinister and untoward there, that would have made him go off with these two men, is there anything in his past that needs looking at more fully.”
Mr Slater has been missing since June 17 when he went to a rave with friends before travelling across Tenerife to stay with two fellow Brits. Since then no trace of him has been found.
The family of the teenager has vowed to continue the search themselves after being left “disappointed” that a call for volunteers for a search on Saturday saw just six people turn up to help.
The volunteers, together with professionals, formed a total group of 30 to 40 people.
After no sign of the teenager was found, Spanish police said on Sunday: “The search operation is over. Yesterday was the final day of the search.”
Police are keeping the investigation open and could yet open up searches in the south of the island, but have not provided an update.
Jay’s father Warren and his son Zak arrived in Tenerife on Saturday to speak with the search teams who have concentrated their efforts on the rugged terrain above the village of Masca.
Just six volunteers including British TikTok mountaineer Paul Arnott and a few Spanish nationals joined the search on Saturday.
Warren said: “It's a bit disappointing that there are no British apart from Paul but I suppose to them he's just a British lad who's come out here and got drunk.”
The father added he was 'grateful' to those who gathered to look for his son, an apprentice bricklayer last seen following an after party at the end of a three day festival on the Spanish party island on June 17.
“You can see just how dangerous it is and what gets me is the trollers who are having a go at us for not searching.”
Warren described the difficulty navigating the terrain as they searched desperately for the missing 19-year-old.
“It's not the local park, these are big mountains, the terrain is dangerous, put yourself in our position would you go out in these conditions?” he said.
“It's tough, it's hard, we are leaving it to the professionals and I'm grateful for those who have turned out today and I want to thank them for what they are doing.”
Warren added: “We just still can't believe it; it's been so tough on us, and I want people to think about us as parents and what we are going through.
“All those trollers having a go at us, they don't know how we feel, why don't they come up here and have a look and see for themselves how dangerous it is.
“I've come up here now myself because I wanted to have a look about with Zak and to thank those who are up here and have given their time.
'I just didn't think this would go on for so long, I dropped his mum and brother off at the airport and thought they would be back in a few days.
“I just thought he's gone out had a drink and ended up at some girl's place as we all did when we were younger, he's our youngest I just want him home.”
On Friday, Mr Slater's friend Brad Hargreaves told ITV's This Morning he had been on a video call with him before his disappearance when he heard him go off the road.
He said: "He was on the phone walking down a road and he'd gone over a little bit - not a big drop - but a tiny little drop and he was going down, and he said 'I'll ring ya back, I'll ring ya back' because I think someone else was ringing him."
He confirmed he could see his friend's feet "sliding" down the hill and could hear he was walking on gravel.
But Mr Hargreaves said he and his friend were both laughing at that point.
He added: "He didn't seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was."
The last person to speak to Mr Slater was his friend Lucy Law.
She said Mr Slater told her in a frantic phone call before he went missing that he was "lost in the mountains, he wasn't aware of his surroundings, he desperately needed a drink and his phone was on 1%".
A GoFundMe appeal Get Jay Slater Home was set up by Ms Law and had raised more than £43,000 as the police search came to an end.
Mr Slater's mother, Debbie Duncan, travelled to the island as the search took place.
She said the money raised online would be used to support mountain rescue teams, and to cover her own accommodation and food costs.
