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A body has been found in the search for missing British teenager Jay Slater along with his clothing and possessions, nearly a month after he went missing in Tenerife.
The 19-year-old was last heard from on Monday 17 June, when he phoned his friend Lucy Law at 8.15am to say that he was lost, dehydrated and had 1 per cent phone battery.
After attending the New Generation Rave music festival on Sunday evening, the apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire travelled to a remote Airbnb near the village of Masca with two men he had met at the event.
His phone’s last location was recorded at 8.50am in the Rural de Teno national park, a mountainous area, popular with hikers.
Following a vast search, the Spanish Civil Guard said on Monday – 29 days after he went missing – that a body had been discovered by mountain rescue specialists in a steep and “very inaccessible” area near Masca.
“All indications” suggest that the body found could be that of Jay Slater, who “could have died due to an accidental fall in the steep and inaccessible area where he was found”, the Civil Guard has said.
With post-mortem and forensic investigations yet to conclude, questions remain over how the apprentice bricklayer went missing in an area inundated with tourists.
Why was Mr Slater in the national park?
In his last Snapchat post at 7.30am, Mr Slater tagged Parque Rural de Teno Buenavista del Norte, an area in the northwest of the island, known for its rugged and sparse terrain.
He is believed to have travelled to the area during the early hours of Monday morning with two British men, without realising the distance from his apartment in the tourist area of Los Cristianos.
Around an hour later, he phoned his friend Lucy to tell her he had missed his bus, and was planning to make the 11-hour walk back to Los Cristianos, in the southwest of the island.
He told her he had cut his leg on a cactus, was unsure of his location and had barely any phone battery to use a maps app to make his way back.
Before a body was found on Monday, search teams had scoured the area, with police previously deploying helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs to help with the search.
The terrain is difficult, with deep ravines dropping from the main road and coarse shrubbery and cacti spreading across the mountainside. Experienced hikers have previously lost their way and died in the Masca Valley, yet no clue has been offered as to why the teenager would leave the safety of the main road.
Why did he choose an 11-hour walk instead of waiting for a bus?
Despite being pointed towards a bus stop, Mr Slater decided against waiting another two hours for a bus to take him into town.
Speaking to MailOnline, Ofelia Medina Hernandez said she had seen the teenager standing by the bus stop and had asked about buses back to Los Cristianos.
She said: “I held up my fingers on my hands to say ‘10am’ as he didn’t understand me, then I went home briefly before driving up the mountain to Buenavista del Norte, but this time I saw him walking on the road out of the village.
“It was no more than 10 or 15 minutes after I had spoken to him and he was about a kilometre from the house. I drove past him and that’s the last I saw him.”
Given that there is a main road nearby, questions have been raised as to why Mr Slater appears to have wandered into the wilderness. His friend Ms Law said: “What I don’t understand is if he did walk down then why wasn’t he seen by anyone?
“It’s a busy time of day. The place is full of hikers and holidaymakers. He could have asked them for help or stopped somewhere but no one has seen him at all.”
Who were the men Mr Slater was with?
After meeting two men, who have been described as British, during the festival, Mr Slater decided to return to their Airbnb while his friends went home.
Little is known about them, and they have since flown back to the UK after being questioned briefly by Spanish police.
In the immediate aftermath of his disappearance, his friend Ms Law tracked them down at their Airbnb after spending time matching images from Mr Slater’s Snapchat to the location.
She told MailOnline: “They seemed startled and surprised that I had found them, and I asked them where Jay was.
“They said he had gone out to try and look for cigarettes and then come back and said he was leaving to try and get a bus back into town.
“They just seemed shocked that I had managed to find them and I know the police have spoken to them but I’ve since found out they have left the country. They need to be spoken to properly.”
Announcing the discovery of a body on Monday, LBT Global, a charity supporting Mr Slater’s family, said post-mortem and forensic enquiries would take place.
“LBT Global are supporting the family at this distressing time and ask for everyone to afford them space and privacy to come to terms with the news,” the charity’s statement said.
