JAY Slater’s body was found in a treacherous ravine so dangerous that even the locals refuse to walk past.
Cops revealed today the teen suffered “broken bones” following a horror “fall from height” – with Tenerife residents revealing where they think Jay may have gone wrong.
9
9
Searchers discovered Jay’s remains on Monday – four weeks after he disappeared while on holiday with his pals for the NRG music festival.
Masca local Helena Gomes said the rough terrain looks beautiful from afar with the ocean visible in the distance – but up close it is rocky, unstable and perilous with every step.
She told the Mirror: “You see how bad it is, we don’t even walk there, so if someone gets into trouble it is going to be hard for anyone to find the body.
“No one is surprised it took so long, why he was there is a mystery, he should never have been going that way, maybe he saw the ocean and thought it was the best way.
“We just feel so bad for his family but are so proud of the searchers who found him, they never gave up.”
Dramatic footage released from the Tenerife Guardia Civil on Monday showed rescue workers using a helicopter to reach an “inaccessible” ravine where Jay’s body was found.
Footage shows the searchers hacking at bushes and climbing up the sides of the huge mountains as part of their hunt.
The valley being searched was only about a mile from where Jay was last seen.
It is “exceptionally difficult” to safely navigate down the valley on foot, another local told Sky News.
A second added: “It is sad – the spot where they found him shows he had gone a long way into the ravine.
“It is hard to understand how he got there.”
Mark Williams-Thomas, who has been working on the case out in Tenerife, says rescue workers would have seriously struggled to find Jay after cops labelled the area as “very inaccessible”.
He claimed a single foot placed incorrectly or an unfortunate slip may have been fatal.
It comes as…
Apprentice bricklayer Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancs, vanished in the area on June 17 after leaving an Airbnb he went to with two men.
As he attempted the 11-hour walk back to his own accommodation through the rough and rocky terrain, it is feared accidentally fell.
Jay’s devastated mum Debbie Duncan has asked to see her son one last time despite cops saying his body has deteriorated over time.
A family spokesman told The Sun: “Formal identification of Jay’s body will be done using a DNA sample provided by the family to the Spanish Guardia Civil during the early stages of the search.
“There should be no need for the family to have to perform a formal identification.
“Debbie has said she wants to see him one last time.
“Obviously that’s a personal voice but given he’s been there the best part of a month in those conditions, I’m not sure that’s a memory she will want.”
9
9
9
Jay vanished without a trace on June 17 while on holiday with friends Brad Hargreaves and Lucy Law.
He had gone in the early hours with two men to their Airbnb in the north of the Canary Island after leaving a music festival at a nightclub.
Police cancelled the search on June 30 after they launched a final official attempt to find Jay.
Police hunting for Slater were forced to search in secret as amateur sleuths risked disrupting the case.
Cops in Tenerife had so far remained tight-lipped about their investigation – sparking a barrage of online speculation.
Social media was rife with armchair detectives peddling vile conspiracy theories and hounding Jay’s devastated family.
Some amateur sleuths even took it upon themselves to fly to the island in a bid to crack the case themselves.
It fuelled cops to keep their work even more private as they refused to add to the “circus” caused by trolls and wannabe sleuths, police sources say.
The source told The Sun: “For many of the officers in Tenerife, they’d never dealt with a missing persons’ case like this.
“There were so many armchair detectives offering theories, and people arriving on the Island who said they could solve the mystery.
“They had no interest in feeding that.”
TIMELINE OF THE TRAGEDY
THE grim discovery of a body comes after weeks of agony for Jay’s friends and family. Here is how the events unfolded:
Sunday, June 16: Jay and his friends party at the last day of NRG music festival being held at Papagayo night club in Playa de la Americas, Tenerife.
June 17 3-6am: Jay leaves with Ayub Qassim and another man for a £40-a-night Airbnb 23 miles away in the village of Masca.
7.30am: Jay shares a photo on Snapchat standing at doorway of the Airbnb.
8.50am: He calls pal Lucy Mae Law and says he is “lost in the middle of nowhere” with no water, a cut to his leg and one per cent on his phone.
Tuesday, June 18: Pals search area but no sign of Jay. Local cops and mountain rescue teams start official search. Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan flies to Tenerife.
June 19-20: Spanish police deploy drones, dogs and a helicopter, but find no trace. Search moves to Los Cristianos amid possible sighting, but it is ruled out and they return to Rural de Teno, near Masca.
June 21: Lancashire Police offer support but it is declined.
June 22: Mum Debbie issues emotional appeal to Jay saying “We just need you home.”
June 24: Claims of Jay sighting in Santiago del Teide — near to where he disappeared — and family believe a grainy CCTV image could be of him.
June 25: Debbie issues plea for her son to come home as more friends fly out and TV investigator Mark Williams- Thomas joins search.
June 29: Cops rule Mr Qassim, and other man at Airbnb, out of investigation.
June 30: Spanish cops officially suspend hunt but say probe “remains open”. His family continue to search.
July 15: A body is found by helicopter search team close to where his phone last pinged. His possessions are discovered next to human remains. Spanish cops say it points to an “accidental fall”.
Today: Tenerife authorities confirm the body found in mountainous area of island is Jay’s.
9
9
9
Discussion about this post