As the search for missing Jay Slater continues, members of the local community gathered at a church event as his friends waited for the return of the British teenager they described as the “life and soul of the party”.
The 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn in Lancashire, was on holiday in Tenerife with friends when he went missing on Monday.
He disappeared after telling a friend he would be walking 11 hours to get home after missing the bus, and new photographs show the property where he was last seen.
At a church in his hometown, locals wore blue ribbons to mark a service of hope while leaving messages for the missing teenager.
Members of the local community left messages
The local community in Mr Slater’s village gathered at a local church event as the search for him continued
Two friends, speaking to Sky News, also shared stories of the teenager they hoped would be found soon.
A friend of Slater said: “We’ve known him for a long time. We always hang out with him. He’s the life and soul of the party.
“Wherever you see him, he always has a smile on his face. He’s always a happy guy.”
“He is truly unique,” they added.
Mr Slater’s stepfather left a message for the teenager
Mr. Slater’s dog, Buster
Jay Slater, 19, was last heard from Monday morning. Photo: Facebook/Rach Louise Harg
They continued: “I don’t think you could walk down any street [in Oswaldtwistle] and someone would say they don’t know him. He is constantly happy wherever he wants you to see him, no matter what.
“He always has a smile on his face. I hope someone somewhere knows something and he can be found.”
A second friend told Sky News: “I can’t hope enough, I literally can’t. This has been on my mind since Monday morning.
“I just can’t understand why this happened to him and why no one heard anything. It’s crazy, I’m speechless.”
The friend continued: “We feel like we can’t do anything about it because we’re here and he’s there. If we could get a flight tomorrow, we would.”
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Candles were lit in the service of hope as the search for the teenager continues
West End Methodist Church in Oswaldtwistle opened its doors to the public to share their hope that the teenager would be found
West End Methodist Church in Oswaldtwistle opened its doors for an hour on Thursday evening for friends, family and people from the local community to show their support for the search.
Mr Slater’s stepfather, Andy, was present at the church with the teenager’s dog, Buster.
He signed a “come home soon Jay” message of hope from both of them.
Reverend Matt Smith
Reverend Matt Smith told Sky News: “You can see from the tapes and everything that’s coming out that everyone is very united here.
“There are things on Facebook coming up as well, just wanting us to do something to allow them to come and share their respects and their prayers and their well wishes for the family and show that we want Jay to come home.”
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He continued: “Over the few days we realized he wasn’t found, in fact we were becoming more and more worried about what happened to him, and the family going there and responding in that way as well.
“The community is just coming together to support each other and it’s really important to support each other when that happens and look out for each other.”
A friend previously told Sky News that Mr Slater had “cut his leg” and didn’t know where he was that night.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
