JAY Slater’s mum Debbie Duncan spent eight hours in a police station in Tenerife on Friday before slamming their investigation to find her son.
The distraught mum said cops have “stepped up” their search, now in its sixth day and fears something “untoward” may have happened to him.
LancsLive/MENMissing Brit teenager Jay Slater, last seen in northern Tenerife on Monday morning[/caption]
Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan has slammed the police investigation
Ian WhittakerCops, firefighters and mountain rescue are in the sixth day of their search operation in Tenerife[/caption]
Debbie told The Guardian she spent the day in a police station as they revealed plans for ramping up the rescue effort.
She said: “I think its been stepped up”, but shared fears that she still worries “something untoward” could have happened to her son.
Tenerife cops have promised her they will “investigate all leads” after vowing to keep an “open mind” on Wednesday.
Jay, from Lancashire, has been missing on the island since Monday morning after he got lost in the mountainous terrain of northern Tenerife.
Cops are currently focusing on a 2,000ft ravine and the surrounding Masca area near the Rural de Teno Park – Jay’s last known location.
Debbie said: “They’ve got all the plans, their locations. They have got this map they were showing us, shaded different colours.
“It’s difficult with all the Spanish police and British police, they have to let the Spanish police do the investigation, but I want somebody to come out here.”
On Friday Lancashire Constabulary offered to help Spain’s Guardia Civil in their efforts to find the teenager.
But local police rejected the bid and insisted they have the “resources” required to find him.
Debbie slammed their refusal of help and said she has even screamed and shouted at members of the local force.
She told Mail Online: “I know the Spanish police mean well, but the problem we are having is the language barrier, we just don’t seem to be getting told. I’m sure they are doing their best.
“They told me they had used dogs and drones and then they said Lancashire police had offered their resources but they turned it down, but I think that would have really helped.
“I would feel happier if our people were over helping. It’s just so difficult not knowing where he is, the area and the terrain is rough, but the police were saying that now there are too many people up there and it could interfere with their investigation.”
It comes as…
Bombshell new vid shows Jay at a rave hours being he vanished
Pics show Airbnb teen partied at before going missing
Jay was spotted ‘walking alone’ by locals
Jay’s mum was sent a message saying “kiss goodbye to your son” amid family fears he’s been kidnapped
She gave a tearful plea and said “I just want my baby back”
His family have endured days of bogus theories and sick messages from trolls
Cops searched the teen’s hotel room in Tenerife for clues
Owner of the AirBnB Jay stayed in on Sunday saw him walking off on his own uphill in the Masca mountains
A possible new sighting of the teen placed him with two men on Monday at 6pm – 10 hours after he vanished
Jay’s last-known location was on a mountain road on the north west side of the island on Monday, in the desolate Teno Nature Reserve.
Locals and experts have warned of the treacherous conditions in the area – where the air is “thin”, temperatures change rapidly and the mountains drop sharply to the water below.
Andrew Knight, who runs Sanasty Car Hire Tenerife, has lent his vehicles to help in the hunt.
He told The Mirror: “You’re up there, it’s very thin air, you’ve got cloud around.
“It does go very cold at night, especially with the thin air and the wind chill. It would be pretty cold if you were up there without jumpers and jackets and things.”
And Jonathan Stones, who moved to Tenerife more than two decades ago at 13, said the Teno Nature Reserve is one of the island’s most inhospitable spots.
He told The Sun: “Where Jay was last located through his mobile phone is where he stands the least chance of survival.
“The desolate landscapes around the island’s holiday hotspots are referred to as ‘malpais’ by locals — a word that translates into English as ‘bad land’.”
Debbie, speaking from Tenerife, also revealed today that her son may have been spotted with two men some ten hours after he was last seen on Monday morning.
She told Mail Online: “Someone has come forward to say they saw someone who they thought was Jay walking back down the road sat on a bench.
“He was with two men looking a bit worse for wear, and they were by a church, this guy has come forward and told the police about it and they are looking into it.
“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 massive police search for her 19-year-old son.
She described her distress as the amount of bogus conspiracy theories being bandied around online: “I’ve seen some things on social media but now I’m staying off that, I’m just shattered, I’m so exhausted.”
Timeline of Jay Slater’s disappearance
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
SUNDAY JUNE 16 – MONDAY 17
Jay goes to a rave at the 2024 NRG music festival in Tenerife, around Arona on 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 driven back to their accommodation across the island
MONDAY 17
7.30am – Jay posts a Snapchat of a hand holding a cigarette in the area where the accommodation was – near the rural de Teno Park on the north of the island
8.30am – Jay calls his friend Lucy Law and tells her he missed a bus, had one per cent of battery left on his phone and was 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 mum Debbie Duncan’s home and tell her to catch the first flight out to Tenerife
7am – She flies out from Manchester Airport alongside her son Zak to help with the search
Debbie is sent a Snapchat message saying “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money.”
WEDNESDAY 19
12.30pm – Police move the search to the south of the island briefly after a false sighting
Cops search his hotel room for clues as his mum says there was “nothing untoward there”
Debbie gives a heart-wrenching interview where she shares fears he has been “taken” and says “I just want my baby back”
THURSDAY 20
Cops begin day four of the massive search for Jay
FRIDAY 21
Lancashire cops offer to help with the search but Tenerife authorities say they are “satisfied that they have the resources they need”
Search turns to 22,000ft ravine in Masca – part of an area dubbed “the badlands” by locals
SATURDAY 22
The sixth day of the search begins with sniffer dogs, cops, mountain rescue and firefighters again taking to the hills in northern Tenerife
MEN MediaSpanish cops refused the help of British forces on Friday[/caption]