Jay Slater: Every word of the Spanish police statement after the body was found

Spanish police have issued a statement after a body was found in the search of Jay Slater. Authorities issued the major update today, Monday, July 15, following a month-long search for the missing 19-year-old, who went missing on Monday, June 17.

Jay, an apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had been on the island with two friends for a three-day music festival. The 19-year-old disappeared in the early hours of Monday, June 17, as he tried to return to the town of Los Christianos, where he was staying with his friends Lucy Law and Brad Hargreaves.

He was last heard from on Monday morning when he called his friend Lucy to say he was trying to make the 11-hour drive back to their accommodation. He also said he was disoriented, needed water and that his phone had 1% charge.

A Civil Guard spokesman said today: “After 29 days of constant searches, the lifeless body of the young man was found in the Masca area. The discovery was possible thanks to the tireless and discreet search carried out by the Civil Guard during these 29 days.

“Everything points to the body being that of the young British man who went missing on June 17, pending full identification. Initial investigations indicate that he suffered an accident/fall in the area where he was found.”

Although the official search has ended, Jay’s family and volunteer groups have continued to scour the treacherous rural village in the hope of finding him. The teenager’s mother Debbie Duncan and brother Zak also flew to Tenerife after being alerted in the early hours of Tuesday morning. They were later joined by Jay’s father, Warren Slater, who said his son’s sudden disappearance “makes no sense”.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page set up to help search for Jay has raised more than £50,000, which Debbie said will be used to fund mountain rescue teams and the family’s extended stay on the island.

Debbie, 55, said she was in a ‘living nightmare’ as she searched for her son as other loved ones had to defend them from cruel trolls offering unnecessary theories and speculation and sometimes malicious.

Emergency workers expanded their search for the teenager after data from his phone showed his last known location near Masca. This included a ravine about 100 meters below the rental property where Jay was last seen, as well as in the mountains between Masca and San Jose and Masca and Las Portelas.

Speaking to Sky News during the first week of the search, Debbie said: ‘As a family we are in a living nightmare. We have no other updates other than Jay is still missing and we’re just ignoring the social side of things.”