The furious father of missing teenager Jay Slater has hit back at trolls criticizing his family as he joins the desperate search for his son.
Warren Slater asked detectives to imagine the pain he was feeling and said they should come and “see for themselves” how difficult the search is.
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The distressed father and his son Zak today joined police and the public to search the mountainside near the village of Masca where Jay went missing on June 17.
Distraught, Warren spoke briefly after arriving at the meeting point in a rental car at around 3.15pm this afternoon.
Wearing a black North Face T-shirt, shorts and sunglasses, the emotional father expressed his disappointment at the turnout of volunteers.
He said: “It’s a bit disappointing that there are no Brits other than Paul, but I suppose to them he’s just a British lad who came here and got drunk.
“I’m grateful to everyone who came here because you can see how dangerous it is and what bothers me are the trollers who are attacking us for not looking.”
Warren emphasized how the terrain is “dangerous,” adding that it is “not your local park.”
He added that he and his loved ones are “leaving it to the professionals.”
He thanked everyone who came to the search and added: “We still can’t believe it; It’s been really hard for us and I want people to think about us as parents and what we’re going through.
“All those trollers attacking us don’t know how we feel, why don’t they come here and take a look and see for themselves how dangerous it is.”
He concluded: “I just didn’t think it would last this long. I left his mother and brother at the airport and thought they would be back in a few days.
“I just thought he went out for a drink and ended up at some girl’s house, like we all did when we were younger, he’s our youngest, I just want him home.”
The Slater family have vowed to stay in Tenerife “as long as necessary” to locate Jay and “have no intention of returning home”.
A family source told The Sun Online: “Taking advantage of the funds is not something the family did lightly – but they had no choice.
“They are determined to remain in Tenerife for as long as it takes to find out what happened to Jay.
The source added: “The family is devastated at the moment – but especially for his mum and dad, being in Tenerife means they will be on the ground as soon as any news breaks.
“They are also desperate to maintain momentum in the search. His biggest fear is flying home and the search will start to dwindle. Every second counts to find Jay.”
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 – The 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
Day six of the search begins with sniffer dogs, police, mountain rescue and firefighters again heading to the hills of northern Tenerife
Possible new sighting of Jay puts him near a church with two men at 6pm on Monday – although not confirmed by police
Jay’s father Warren and brother Zak visit the search site in Tenerife
SUNDAY 23
Officers focus their search on small outbuildings in Teno Park, near where Jay’s phone last rang.
Jay’s mom Debbie says trolls are comparing her to Karen Matthews
GoFundMe set up by Jay’s friend Lucy surpasses £30,000 after just three days
Exclusive Sun footage shows Jay appearing to fall and trip at a rave before disappearing
MONDAY 24
Search for Jay enters eighth day
Police expand search area north to parts of Buenavista del Norte
Jay’s dad says his family is in ‘hell’
TUESDAY 25
British climber found by Jay search teams says he ‘didn’t need saving’
Madeleine McCann police officer arrives in Tenerife to join the search
Tenerife police call in reinforcements from Madrid – including specialist sniffer dogs
Jay went missing on Monday last week while on holiday with two friends for the 2024 Tenerife NRG festival.
On Sunday night he had gone to a rave with those two friends, Lucy and Brad, but left with two new people he had just met.
Police had previously called the mystery men “key witnesses” in the case, but today gave a major update and said they are “not relevant” to the 19-year-old’s disappearance.
After returning to his accommodation near the village of Masca, Jay missed the bus home on Monday morning and faced a 10-hour walk.
He made a panicked phone call to Lucy Law to say he was lost in the middle of nowhere, that his phone was about to die and that he needed water.
That was the last time anyone heard from him and at around 9am a missing persons report was made.
It turns out that new witnesses will be questioned after the alleged theft of a Rolex hours before the teenager’s disappearance.
A new “massive” search began today with the help of expert volunteers amid a final “all or nothing” effort to find Jay.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
