Jay Slater’s family holds on to hope – as online sleuths travel to Tenerife in hunt for missing British teen
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More than a week on from Jay Slater’s disappearance, his dad Warren is still doing everything he can in the effort to help find his son.
He is holding on to hope, even as the situation becomes increasingly desperate.
This morning in the town of Santiago del Teide on the outskirts of the national park where Jay went missing, Warren was surrounded by a group of family friends, all armed with posters covered in Jay’s face, asking anyone with information to alert the police.
The group are convinced that a blurry screenshot of some CCTV footage is a key piece of information, telling journalists it shows Jay in the town square, 10 hours after his phone was last located.
The Spanish police have not confirmed the sighting and beneath Warren’s hope is frustration too.
He told us some officers had been “brilliant”, but that there had also been a lack of communication from others.
“They could be doing everything but if they are doing [something], they’re not telling us what they’re doing, if you understand what I’m saying,” he said.
The image of Warren at points tearful, and surrounded by cameras, is a snapshot of the interest and speculation that has surrounded this case.
That press attention on the ground in Tenerife is dwarfed by an online storm of conspiracy and debate that has even seen a group of Britons come to Tenerife, taking themselves up to the arid, treacherous landscape where emergency services have so far failed to find the bricklayer from Lancashire.
Mr Slater’s family have shared a blurry image of who they believe could be the missing teenager
Read more:
What we know about the search – one week on
‘Picture being painted of Jay Slater is just not true’
In Santiago del Teide we meet one of those people, Paul Arnott, who has been sharing clips of his own search effort on social media, including TikTok. “I heard on the internet, but they needed help,” he said.
“I was following the story and I wasn’t planning to come out, but as soon as I heard they needed help, that’s when I came out,” said Mr Arnott, 29, from Bedfordshire.
Paul Arnott has been sharing clips of his own search for Mr Slater on social media
He added: “It’s a search and rescue, but the more people are involved the better it’s going to be.”
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While people like Paul defy official advice to try and help, the formal search at the scene which last week saw drones, sniffer dogs and helicopters deployed, seems to be getting smaller.
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Today a handful of officers stood and surveyed the area, clearly not much closer to resolving this strange case.
