Sunday is the seventh day of the search for 19-year-old Briton Jay Slater, who went missing in Tenerife at the beginning of the week. The search participants include, among others: father and brother of the missing person. “I hope someone helped him,” Warren Slater told Sky News. – I just want him to come back, that's all. This is my son, added the man.
Jay Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, England went missing on Monday morning in Tenerife, near the Teno landscape park in the mountainous, north-western part of the island. The teenager flew with friends to the Canary Islands to attend the NRG music festival on Sunday. Photos from Sunday evening appeared on social media showing Jay – wearing a gray T-shirt with green patches on the shoulders – having fun. After the party, the 19-year-old was said to have traveled to the northwestern part of the island to spend time with people he met on a night out.
A 19-year-old Briton went missing in Tenerife. It was his first holiday trip with friendsReuters
According to Sky News, the last contact with the boy took place on Monday around 8 am. He then called his friend Lucy Law, with whom he had flown to the island, and said he was walking back to their accommodation because he had missed the bus. It is not clear whether he was aware that this route could take up to 11 hours, Sky News points out.
The boy told his friend that he was thirsty and his phone battery was dying. As the girl reported, the 19-year-old informed her that he “cut his leg on a cactus.” When she told him to go back to where he started, he said he didn't know where it was. Then their conversation was interrupted. There has been no contact with him since then.
The search is ongoing
A large-scale search has been ongoing on the island for almost a week, with the participation of local police and mountain rescue teams, as well as relatives and friends of the 19-year-old. The action uses, among others: drones, helicopters and tracking dogs. According to British media, citing the services, the area where the Briton disappeared is a dry and barren part of the island, where there are no lakes, rivers or streams, which means access to drinking water is difficult.
Rural de Teno National Park in Tenerife Shutterstock
As reported by Sky News, on Saturday, the sixth day of the search, rescue teams were again searching Teno National Park – the last location recorded by Slater's phone. Police in Lancashire, where the missing man is from, said they had offered the Spanish Civil Guard to help with the search “if additional resources are needed”, but Spanish authorities have not yet taken up the offer.
“I just want him back”
The search participants include, among others: father and brother of the missing person.
“I hope someone helped him down that mountain,” Warren Slater told Sky News. – I just want him to come back, that's all. This is my son, added the man. With his voice breaking, he confessed that the last few days had been a “nightmare.” With difficulty holding back tears, he walked away from the camera, repeating, “I just want him to come back.”
Search for a 19-year-old British manJames Manning/PAP
– We don't know where he is, what happened, we don't know anything. I do not know what to say. We just want him to come home safely,” said the 19-year-old's brother, Zak Slater.
A few days earlier, in an interview with the BBC, the boy's mother said that she had not been able to sleep since her son's disappearance. – It doesn't seem like it's true. It was his first holiday abroad with friends. I encouraged him to go and said: you will have a great time, she recalled. She said about her child that he is a “nice, full of life guy who has hundreds of friends who love being around him” and that “he is wonderful, he is beautiful.”
Main photo source: James Manning/PAP