Jay Slater’s uncle said the 19-year-old’s disappearance in Tenerife was “just torture” for the family, but they are not giving up hope.
Glen Duncan, 41, was among a group of nine family members and local volunteers who spent Saturday searching for Mr Slaterwhich has not been seen since June 17th.
Duncan, along with Slater’s father, Warren Slater, and his older brother, Zak, hiked the trails and hiked up and down the slopes of Barranco Juan Lopez, a canyon near where Slater’s phone last rang.
The area has already been searched by police helicopters and drones, but local hiker Juan Garcia, who led the latest search on foot with his dog Caperucita, said it was a “maze” and “like looking for a needle in a haystack”.
Slater’s uncle described the “treacherous” conditions when he returned from the search in scorching heat and said “it’s easy to get lost” but believes if Slater had fallen he would have been found by now.
Family and volunteers faced ‘treacherous’ conditions in remote search area
He said he is close to his nephew, a “typical, normal 19-year-old” who was family-oriented and had a large circle of male and female friends.
“He’s just a typical young guy with a huge circle of friends and he was looking forward to coming here,” he said.
Asked how the family is dealing with the situation, he said: “It’s just torture.”
But he said they are not giving up hope and that Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, is “not going anywhere.”
“You have to hold on because we don’t know,” he said. “He wasn’t found, so you have to hang on.
“I’m sure Madeleine McCann’s parents still believe, after all these years, that she will be found somewhere on the other side of the world.”
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Tenerife police ended their search for Slater’s land last week. Photo: Europa Press/AP
Duncan said the family is frustrated with the lack of communication from police on the island, adding: “It’s getting to the point where you’re angry.”
“Who knows what the police are doing here,” he said. “They don’t reveal anything.”
He said he hopes they are “following up on every lead” but asked: “What are they actively doing?
“Are they doing door-to-door inquiries, are they studying CCTV footage? I don’t know.”
Police in Tenerife called off the search for Mr. Slater on June 30, after 12 daysbut told Sky News his family may bring in their own search and rescue teams to look for the missing teenager.
The hunt in the northern village of Masca, near Slater’s last known location, involved a steep rocky area, gullies and trails.
TikTok star gives up search for Jay Slater
Helicopters, drones and search dogs were sent to find the apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, but to no avail.
The Guardia Civil said the investigation is still ongoing but will not disclose the lines of inquiry.
Mr Slater’s family previously told Sky News they want to use part of the £50,000 of donations via a crowdfunding page to pay for specialist search and rescue teams, which would likely cost thousands of pounds – but were awaiting permission from authorities.
The Guardia Civil told Sky News Search teams from other locations can come “without any problems” to collaborate with the search.
They said they must notify the Guardia Civil “for good management of information and resources” and have not yet received a request.
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Jay Slater’s last known moves
Slater traveled to Tenerife with friends on June 13 to attend a music festival at Papagayo nightclub in the southern resort of Playa de las Americas on June 16.
After leaving the event, he got into a car the next morning and traveled to a small Airbnb in Masca with two men, who police said were “not relevant” to the case.
Jay was last seen in Masca – hours away from his accommodation
At 8.30am on June 17, he called his friend Lucy Law, saying he had missed the bus and tried to walk back to his accommodation.
He said he “cut off the leg” of a cactus, “had no idea where he was,” was “lost in the mountains” and that his phone battery was at “1%,” Law said. Shortly after, his battery ran out and he was reported missing at 9:04 am.
Its last known location was in the Teno Rural Park, near Masca.
The owner of a local cafe previously told Sky News that Slater tried to catch a bus back to Los Cristianos, where he was staying.
‘Jay Slater asked me the bus times’
Ofelia Medina Hernandez said she spoke to the teenager at 8 a.m. the day he disappeared, telling him the bus would arrive at 10 a.m. — but he started walking.
She said she later passed him “walking fast.”
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
