The family of teenager Jay Slater have turned off donations from a fundraising page set up after his disappearance in Tenerife, saying “our journey of trauma and grief will continue forever”.
Mr Slater died after sustaining multiple injuries consistent with a fall in a rocky area.
His remains were found near the village of Masca in July after he went missing following the Spanish island’s NRG music festival the previous month.
We do not and will never understand how Jay's story reached every corner of the globe
The Spanish Civil Guard said Mr Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, could have fallen in the steep and inaccessible area where he was found.
A GoFundMe page titled Get Jay Slater Home received £72,821 before it was closed on November 21.
The final message posted on the page explained how the donations were spent. They included a search team from the Dutch non-profit organisation Signi Zoekhonden and his family’s stay in Tenerife while efforts to locate Mr Slater continued.
Mr Slater’s family also said in the post that they were able to give him a “truly deserved… send-off” at his funeral in August.
The message, signed off by Mr Slater’s family and friends, read: “With your support we were able to stay in Tenerife until we got our beautiful boy back to the UK.
“We were able to fund the Signi search team from the Netherlands who supported us throughout the days when Jay was found.
“Jay truly deserved the send-off we were able to give him and we thank you all for that.
“We have been overwhelmed with messages of support from all over the globe and will be eternally grateful to all of you.
“Our journey of trauma and grief will continue forever and we will never recover.”
Jay's family and friends are trying to come to terms and process this tragic loss and thank you from the bottom of our hearts
The message continued: “We lost our beautiful boy in extremely tragic circumstances whilst the world watched.
“We do not and will never understand how Jay’s story reached every corner of the globe.
“Our journey is far from over but the burdens eased with your support.
“We would also like to thank the person who looked after Jay’s fundraiser page whom we have been in constant contact with, especially whilst in Tenerife – the support and advice you gave will not be forgotten.
“Donations will be turned off with this final message.
“Jay’s family and friends are trying to come to terms and process this tragic loss and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
