Bombshell NEW sighting of Jay Slater 10 hours after he was last seen, revealed by his mother as cops hunt teen in ravine

JAY Slater’s devastated mother has revealed a major development in the search for the missing teenager.

Debbie Duncan, speaking from Tenerife, said her son may have been seen with two men around ten hours after he was last seen on Monday morning.

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Debbie told Mail Online: “Someone came forward to say they saw someone they thought was Jay coming back down the road sitting on a bench.

“He was with two men who looked a little worn out, and they were near a church, this guy came forward and told the police about it and they are investigating.

“We don’t know if it was Jay for sure, but it’s a start.”

Debbie, 55, has been in Tenerife since Tuesday helping with the police search for her 19-year-old son.

She revealed that the new sighting identifies Jay’s possible movements at 6pm on Monday – 9 hours after his missing person report was filed.

The worried mother said: “They said it was about 6pm, ten hours after he was seen by the village lady.

He was with two men looking a little worn out, and they were near a church, this guy came forward and told the police about it and they are investigating.

Debbie Duncan, Jay’s mother

“But if it was him, what was he doing there and who are these two men?”

She added: “All I know is I’m going to stay here as long as it takes, I’m not going home unless it’s with Jay. I’m not going anywhere until they find him.”

Police have not yet confirmed the new sighting of the missing teenager.

It comes as rescue efforts turn their focus to an area known locally as “the badlands”, 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.

Local residents and experts have warned of treacherous conditions in the area – where the air is “thin”, temperatures change quickly and the mountains drop sharply to the water below.

On Monday morning at around 8am, Jay made a frantic phone call to his friend Lucy Law to say he was stuck in the “middle of nowhere”.

He said he had cut his leg on a cactus, was thirsty and was about to embark on an 11-hour walk home.

The panicked phone call was the last anyone heard from Jay.

A missing persons report was made around 9am that morning – triggering a round-the-clock manhunt.

The Lancashire teenager was last seen by the owner of an AirBnB where he had stayed on Sunday night.

Ophelia, owner of Casa Abuela Tina holiday accommodation – where he spent the night – said she saw him walking up the hill in the vast mountainous area near Masca.

Ophelia told MEN: “It’s dangerous to walk around here, it’s easy to get lost. He walked up the road when I last saw him.

“He was alone. He walked normally, although he was fast.”

It is understood the Airbnb was rented by the two men Jay returned with after the closing night of the NRG festival on Sunday.

TRAICIOUS CONDITIONS

Today, police efforts are spread over 30 kilometers in and around the Masca area where Jay was last seen.

Local residents and experts have warned of dangerous conditions in the area – where the air is “thin”, temperatures change quickly and the mountains drop sharply to the water below.

The owner of a local car rental company spoke about the treacherous environment where efforts are focused.

Andrew Knight, who runs Sanasty Car Hire Tenerife, lent his vehicles to help with the hunt.

He told The Mirror: “You’re up there, the air is very thin, there are clouds all around.

“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”.

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’.”

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.”

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