Police in Tenerife have called for volunteers to take part in a large-scale search for missing British teenager Jay Slater.

Officials said it would take place on Saturday in the village of Masca on the Spanish island.

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Volunteers called for in Jay Slater search

In a statement, police said: “The Guardia Civil prepares and coordinates a large search to find the young British man missing in the village of Masca.

“The collaboration of all those Volunteer Associations is requested: civil Protection, firefighters, etc., and even private volunteers who are experts in the abrupt search terrain.

“The massive search will be carried out on Saturday, 29 June from 9am.

“Bearing in mind that this is an abrupt, rocky area, full of unevenness and with a multitude of ravines, paths and roads, the collaboration of all those Associations of Volunteers who can help in this raid that is intended to be carried out in a directed and coordinated manner is requested,” the statement said.

view of the Los Carrizales ravine where British teenager Jay Slater is being searched for, with the island of La Gomera in the distance, on the island of Tenerife, Spain, June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Borja Suarez
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The Los Carrizales ravine which was being searched by police. Pic: Reuters

Canarian police officers carry out a drone search for the young British man Jay Slater in the Los Carrizales ravine, on the island of Tenerife, Spain, June 26, 2024. REUTERS/Borja Suarez
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Canarian police officers carry out a drone search in the Los Carrizales ravine. Pic: Reuters

Police said volunteers should call the Guardia Civil on 696434031 before 8pm this evening if they want to join the search.

More on Jay Slater

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The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared following an attempt to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus.

Jay Slater: Search dogs have now been brought in for the hunt for missing British teenager

The apprentice bricklayer had attended the NRG music festival on the island with two friends before his disappearance and was last heard from on Monday last week.

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Police search mountains for Jay Slater

The walk from Mr Slater’s last known location, Rural de Teno Park in the north of the island, to his accommodation would have taken about 11 hours on foot.

Map showing Jay Slater's last known location on Tenerife, Masca, Los Carrizales where police are searching and Los Cristianos, where Jay's accomodation was
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Map showing Jay Slater’s last known location in Masca, Los Carrizales where police are searching and Los Cristianos, where Jay was staying

Meanwhile, one of Mr Slater’s friends told ITV’s This Morning about his last video call with the 19-year-old.

Brad, a close friend of Mr Slater, said yes to the reporter’s question as to whether he saw the missing teenager’s feet slide on rocks. He said that is how he knew Mr Slater was not on a road, and described the sound as when someone is walking on gravel or stones.

Brad added that Mr Slater went down a “little drop” in one of his last video calls.

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‘My son went missing in Ibiza – I know how Jay Slater’s parents feel’

He said the missing teenager was not concerned and that they were both “laughing” about the situation.

“He said, ‘look where I am’. He didn’t seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he were,” Brad said.

“I said, ‘put your location on’. He said: ’15-minute drive, fourteen-hour walk’. I don’t know if it’s accurate or not so I said to him: ‘It’s only a 15-minute drive, get a taxi’.”

New search could be the final push

Shingi Mararike, Sky News correspondent, in Tenerife

Almost as soon we arrived today to cover the search for Jay Slater in this sprawling national park on the outskirts of Tenerife, things felt different.

The police presence was smaller, with fewer vehicles and officers. They appeared to have stopped searching the caves and ravines they’d honed in on earlier this week.

Instead, the small team of officers drove towards some of nearby hamlets along the twisting, narrow road, before turning around and coming back to the observation point near where Jay’s phone is thought to have been last located.

There, they stopped for an animated discussion. As they gestured towards parts of the rural, arid landscape, it was clear they were coordinating and planning.

Then, within minutes, came an update from the Civil Guard. Tomorrow, at 9am they would be re-doubling their efforts to find Jay, working with other emergency services and even inviting the help of volunteers with experience in traversing difficult terrain.

That landscape presents a clear challenge, but another issue for those searching tomorrow will be just how busy the area of Masca is.

It’s a compact town full of hikers and tourists, a busy place from early in the morning.

The search party will have to navigate all of these obstacles as they attempt to retrace the teenager’s last-known steps and find clues for what may have happened to him.

Tomorrow marks the 13th day searching for Jay Slater and this is perhaps a final push from the Civil Guard to make some kind of headway.

Even with more resource and manpower, it will be a gruelling day for all those involved.

Today’s police statement comes as Mr Slater’s family welcomed the help of a TikTok creator among those leading an online search for the missing teenager.

Sky News spoke earlier this week to Paul Arnott, who has been sharing clips of his own search effort on TikTok and said he came to Tenerife when he heard the family “needed help”.

According to The Daily Telegraph, his efforts attracted the interest of Mr Slater’s family, who contacted him and arranged a meeting on Thursday.

Jay Slater is an apprentice bricklayer. Pic: PH Build Group
Image:
Jay Slater is an apprentice bricklayer. Pic: PH Build Group

“They said they’re really proud of what I’m doing,” Mr Arnott, 29, told the newspaper.

Mr Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, told the paper she has “every faith” in the police and singled out Mr Arnott, who runs the TikTok account Down the Rapids and describes himself as an “explorer”, and another TikTok creator Callum Rahim for thanks.

Read more:
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Emergency services using drones hone in on area

“[I] can’t thank Paul Arnott enough, also Callum Rahim and his friends for working alongside with the search and rescue teams,” she said.

“Myself, well, you know the state of my mental health and my paranoia, you saw it first hand. As a family, we are in a living nightmare.”

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Social media has also had a dark side for the family, with Ms Duncan and her son’s friends at the centre of conspiracy theories.

The construction company that employs Mr Slater shared a post on Facebook earlier on Thursday urging people to stop sending them “cruel” emails and to stop posting theories online.

Also on Thursday, Ms Duncan said £36,000 raised by more than 3,200 donations will help cover her accommodation and food costs during her extended stay on the island as well as support rescue teams.