Search for Jay Slater in Tenerife is ANNOUNCED by police as officers give up on finding teenager

Police have ended their search near the mountain village of Masca for missing Jay Slater. Police said, however, that the case “remains open” pending any additional information that could lead to finding Jay.

Gardaí said today that the nearly two-week search, which involved sniffer dogs, a helicopter and mountain rescue experts, had ended. They said officers would continue to act on any information or other information received – but the active work which has been underway since June 17, when the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer was reported missing, will now cease.

Confirmation of the dramatic development came less than 24 hours after a “last-ditch” operation involving around 30 police, fire and Civil Defense officers, along with a handful of volunteers, failed to find any trace of Oswaldtwistle, aged 19, from Lancashire.

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A spokeswoman for the Civil Guard said today: “The search operation has now ended, although the case remains open.”

A well-placed source added: “The daily operation in and around Maska, close to where Jay was last seen, has come to an end. If any information turns up, it is worth a new search, although it will be taken into account.

“I understand that Jay’s parents have been informed of what is obviously a major development. Nothing relevant was found during yesterday’s extensive search.”

Jay was last seen by a resident of Masca, north-west Tenerife, just after 8am on June 17, walking north along the village road after stopping to ask for directions. His phone rang for the last time near a lookout point where search teams gathered yesterday to begin the final day of the operation.

Friend Lucy Law said Jay called her shortly after he was last seen to say he was thirsty and had no water and only 1% battery on his phone. The Civil Guard says the “parallel” investigation by police investigators about whom they are not sharing information is continuing, despite the suspension of the “visible” search of the mountain in and around Masca.