The father of missing British teenager Jay Slater made an emotional visit to the search site last night to mark the first visit from a close family member.
A tearful Warren Slater, 58, said “I just want my son back” as he looked out over the 2,000-foot-deep ravine in the remote mountain village of Masca, Tenerife, as the search for his son continued.
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Slater was supported by his son and Jay’s brother, Zak Slater, 24, who was too upset to comment when he was approached at a viewpoint.
Warren, wearing sunglasses, a hat and shorts, put his arm around Zak as they surveyed the scene below them.
Warren and Zak also joined eight of Jay’s friends at the lookout above Masca.
He said, “I just want the boy back.”
Meanwhile, mother Debbie Duncan, speaking away from the scene, said: “I’m exhausted. I’m still hopeful. I’m not feeling negative yet. I know it’s five days.
“It’s not just that they said absolutely no. I don’t know what it’s been like today because I was advised to stay away because I could fall apart.
“My boy could be in there somewhere.
“We are all devastated. He’s just a normal boy from a small town in Lancashire. These things don’t happen. “
“I had contact with him while he was in Tenerife. He was on vacation, saved up, and was looking forward to it.
“I haven’t slept in five days. My brain isn’t working well and I’m tired and exhausted.”
Earlier today, a devastated Debbie revealed a major development in the search for the missing teenager.
She said her son may have been seen with two men about ten hours after he was last seen on Monday morning in the remote village of Masca.
She revealed that a witness went to the police and claimed to have seen Jay sitting on a bench with two men 5.6 kilometers away in Santiago del Teide.
The heartbroken mother said she now fears “something nasty” has happened to the teenager.
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 – around 10 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.
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“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.
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.
Jay’s mother Debbie today criticized the investigation into her son’s disappearance for not allowing input from British police.
On Friday, Lancashire Police offered to help the Spanish Guardia Civil in their efforts to find the teenager.
But local police rejected the offer and insisted they had the “resources” needed to find him.
The mother also told The Guardian that she spent eight hours in a police station as they revealed plans to step up the rescue effort.
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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 a 10-hour walk home.
The panicked phone call was the last time anyone heard from him.
A missing persons report was made around 9am that morning – triggering a round-the-clock manhunt.
It was later revealed that 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, said she saw him climbing a 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.
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
Possible new sighting of Jay puts him near a church with two men at 6pm on Monday – although not confirmed by police
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
