THE HUNT for missing British teenager Jay Slater enters its sixth day today as officers search a sparse, brutal area of northern Tenerife.
Mountain rescue turned its efforts to an area known locally as “the badlands” yesterday, searching a 2,000-foot ravine in a remote park.
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Photos from the scene show police, firefighters, volunteers and sniffer dogs examining the desolate Teno Nature Preserve, Jay’s last known location.
Residents and experts have warned of treacherous conditions in the area – where the air is “thin” and temperatures change quickly.
Teenager Jay, 19, from Lancashire, went missing on Monday while on holiday with two friends and has not been seen since.
He left a rave with two people he just met on Sunday night, stayed at their AirBnB in the village of Masca and missed the bus home on Monday.
Jay made a frantic phone call to his friend Lucy Law to say he was stuck in the “middle of nowhere” and appeared to be embarking on an 11-hour journey home.
An urgent 24-hour search was quickly launched, with Jay’s heartbroken mother and family jetting to the island to join the hunt.
Today, police efforts are spread over 30 kilometers in and around the Masca area where Jay was last seen.
The owner of a local car rental company warned of treacherous conditions in the parks where efforts are focused.
It is very cold at night, especially with the thin air and cold wind
Andrew Knight, local
Andrew Knight, who runs Sanasty Car Hire Tenerife, lent his vehicles to help with the hunt.
He said The mirror: “You are up there, the air is very thin, you have clouds around you.
“It gets very cold at night, especially with the thin air and cold wind.
“It would be really cold if you were there without sweaters and jackets and stuff.”
The 29-year-old warned that the weather in the hills is also “constantly changing”.
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Come as…
Jay’s last known location was on a mountainous road on the northwest side of the island on Monday.
He faced at least an 11-hour walk home after missing the bus and ended up walking through the hostile environment.
A popular area with hikers, the park includes challenging trails, uneven terrain, and steep drops into the water below.
Jonathan Stones, who moved to Tenerife more than two decades ago at the age of 13, said the Teno Nature Reserve is one of the most inhospitable places on the island.
He told The Sun: “The location where Jay was last located via his mobile phone is where he has the least chance of survival.
“The desolate landscapes surrounding the island’s vacation spots are called ‘malpais’ by locals – a word that translates into English as ‘bad land’.”
The former journalist, 50, warned that the scorching heat could be deceiving, with comfortable temperatures in the morning turning into scorching highs by 11am.
He added: “With no shade in sight, no water available and a deep ravine, the sun becomes an even fiercer adversary.
“And the gloomy respite offered by the hilltops is short-lived.
“The sun moves quickly across the mountainsides and anyone who hides behind a craggy outcrop is soon driven from their hiding place in search of the next.
“I desperately hope this is a riddle solved in time for Jay to be safely reunited with his family.”
What happens nowadays is that a lot of people walk around in normal sneakers, shorts, shirts… Sooner or later an accident will happen
Vicente Infante, Tenerife Mountain Federation
Vicente Infante, from the Tenerife Mountain Federation, has already warned of the dangers of hiking there without the appropriate equipment.
He said: “In the past, hikers were prepared, they wore appropriate footwear, helmets… In short, they carried all the equipment.”
“What happens nowadays is that a lot of people walk around in normal sneakers, shorts, shirts… that’s where the risks lie.
“More and more people are going, so sooner or later an accident will happen. It’s inevitable.”
Apprentice bricklayer Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancs, traveled to a rented property in Masca village with two friends he met at a rave festival on Sunday night.
The Airbnb owner said Jay asked about a local bus before attempting the nearly 11-hour walk back to his hotel on Monday morning.
Ophelia, owner of the Casa Abuela Tina vacation rental — where Jay stayed on Sunday — said she is “very worried” about the teenager.
She said she saw him climbing a hill in the vast mountainous area near Masca.
British police officers yesterday offered to help in the search for Jay.
But Lancashire Police said the Spanish Guardia Civil refused their “offer of support” to help search for the teenager.
Timeline of Jay Slater’s Disappearance
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
SUNDAY, JUNE 16 – MONDAY, 17
Jay goes to a rave at the NRG 2024 music festival in Tenerife, near Arona in the south of the island
8:35pm – Jay posts a smiling Snapchat video of him laughing with friends
He leaves the rave with two men he met that day and is taken back to his accommodations on the other side of the island.
MONDAY 17
7:30 am – Jay posts a Snapchat of a hand holding a cigarette in the area where the accommodation was located – near the Teno rural park, in the north of the island
8:30 am – Jay calls his friend Lucy Law and says he missed a bus, still had one percent battery left on his phone and got stuck in the “middle of nowhere”
9am – A missing persons report is filed and the search for Jay begins
TUESDAY 18
2am – Police knock on the door of Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan’s house and tell her to catch the first flight to Tenerife
7am – She leaves Manchester airport alongside her son Zak to help with the search
Debbie receives a Snapchat message saying “Kiss your boy goodbye, you’ll never see him again, he owes me a lot of money.”
WEDNESDAY 19
12:30 pm – Police briefly move the search to the south of the island after a false sighting
Cops search his hotel room for clues as his mother says “there was nothing untoward there”
Debbie gives a moving interview where she shares her fear that he was “taken” and says “I just want my baby back”
THURSDAY 20
Police begin fourth day of massive search for Jay
FRIDAY THE 21ST
Lancashire Police offer to help with the search, but Tenerife authorities say they are “pleased to have the resources they need”
The search turns to a 22,000-foot ravine in Masca – part of an area nicknamed the “badlands” by locals
SATURDAY 22
Sixth day of search begins with sniffer dogs, police, mountain rescue and firefighters returning to the hills in northern Tenerife
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
