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Jay Slater was captured on camera making his way through a crowded nightclub in footage shared on social media.
Hours later he was seen walking alone in the Tenerife mountains as it was revealed two Brits renting the property where he was last seen have now flown back to the UK.
Andy Watson, the long-term partner of Jay Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan, confirmed that the person in the night club footage was the 19-year-old.
Local cafe worker Araceli, who works in the business next to the rental property where Jay Slater was last seen, told the Mirror: “I never saw the missing boy, but I know people saw him walking on his own. I saw the two British men who stayed here.
“They came in for cafe con leche a couple of times.
“The police have spoken to them both. They arrived on Saturday and were due to stay until Monday, but they left on Tuesday.”
Mr Slater was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with shorts and trainers, and his phone shows his last location as the Rural de Teno park.
Latest pictures as searchers scour shrubland close to the village of Masca, Tenerife
On Friday, search and rescue personnel joined officers from the island’s Guardia Civil near the village of Masca where they appeared to focus on a specific area of overgrown terrain.
Some officers used binoculars to survey the landscape before heading towards the bottom of the hillside.
Search teams paid close attention to a river called Barranco Madre del Agua at the bottom of a ravine, where personnel with sticks carefully searched through fallen dead palm trees.
The unanswered questions about missing teenager’s disappearance in Tenerife
Holly Evans reports:
Schoolfriends just want Jay home as they turn home town blue
In Jay Slater’s home town in Lancashire, people have been placing blue ribbons on buildings in support of his family and the safe return of the popular local teenager.
His friend Callum Thorpe, who has known him since primary school, said initially he thought Mr Slater had simply “been to an afterparty” and not turned up.
However, he said that as time has gone by, it had “got more serious and it’s getting a bit scary now”.
“I followed it on social media and Facebook… and it’s getting more and more worrying now,” he told the BBC.
“We all just want the best and find out what we can.”
He said the ribbons were in place to represent Mr Slater and “turn his home town blue”.
“We just want him home, that’s all we want”, he added.
Footage of Jay Slater at nightclub before he went missing
Andy Watson, the long-term partner of Jay Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan, confirmed to the Sun that the person pictured in the footage was the 19-year-old.
The teenager is seen walking past a camera in the busy nightclub hours before going missing.
Jay Slater had to be talked into going to Tenerife before vanishing- stepdad claims
Speaking from the family home in Oswaldtwistle, Jay’s stepdad Andy Watson revealed the teenager had been reluctant to go abroad.
Jay travelled to Tenerife earlier this month to attend the three-day NRG music festival.
“[His friends] had to talk him into going,” Andy, 63, told LancsLive.
“He wasn’t really that keen.” Jay’s mum Debbie has also described how her youngest son had to be persuaded to go on the holiday.
“I wish I hadn’t encouraged him,” Debbie told ITV.
Local says Jay Slater seen on his own
A Tenerife local Araceli, who works in the business next to the rental property where Jay Slater was last seen, told the Mirror: “I never saw the missing boy, but I know people saw him walking on his own. I saw the two British men who stayed here. They came in for cafe con leche a couple of times. One was aged about 40. The other one was slightly younger.
“The police have spoken to them both [the British men]. They arrived on Saturday and were due to stay until Monday, but they left on Tuesday.”
Asked if they had to remain to be interviewed by the police, she responded: “I don’t know.”
Jay Slater’s stepfather questions ‘why would he walk eight hours?’
Jay Slater’s stepfather Andy Watson has thrown doubt on the suggestion the teenager would have attempted to walk several hours back to his accommodation.
Speaking to MailOnline, he said: “He has me run him down to the hairdressers, 200 yards away – why would he walk eight hours?
“Who lives in the mountains? It would be wrong to speculate, but everyone has their own impression in their head. I wouldn’t have gone off with two people I didn’t know. But he’s 19, he’s impressionable, isn’t he? If someone said there’s more drink at our house, he’s going to go.”
Mapped: Jay Slater’s last known movements before disappearance
Recap: British teenager missing in Tenerife after telling friends he was lost and his phone was on 1%
A young British man has been reported missing while on holiday with his friends in Tenerife.
Jay Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, was last heard from at around 8am GMT on Monday.
The Foreign Office confirmed it is supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain.
Matt Mathers reports:
Community members and friends gather at church for missing teen
Community members and friends of missing teenager Jay Slater gathered at a church in his hometown as the search continued.
Friends, family members, and people from the local community arrived at the West End Methodist Church in Oswaldtwistle, where Mr Slater lived, to show their support for the search and pray for his return.
The friends of the British teen tied blue ribbons to mark a service of hope and left messages.
A friend of Mr Slater who attended the church event told Sky News that he is the “life and soul of the party”. “Everywhere you see him he’s just constantly got a smile on his face. He’s always just a happy chap.”
“He’s just one of a kind really,” they added.
Another friend said they are at a loss for words and can’t seem to understand what and why has this happened to him.
“We feel like we can’t do anything about it because we’re over here and he’s over there. If we could get a flight tomorrow we would do,” the friend said.
Source: independent.co.uk
