In a nook of Tenerife, a winding, slim highway takes you in direction of a small village referred to as Masca. At factors on the route, the view of the ocean under and the mountains above is breathtaking.
This place, with its handful of homes and cafes, nestled amongst ravines and rockfaces, is a couple of 40-minute drive from the elements of the island most British vacationers know, nevertheless it may as properly be a world away.
There is not the bustle of the resort cities within the south, with their golf equipment and bars. As an alternative, there are huge expanses of land which might be arid and tough to traverse on foot.
Within the 13 days because the disappearance of Jay Slater, a 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire, the hikers and vacationers who come to Masca have been joined by two extra teams of individuals.
The primary are the emergency providers, together with the civil guard, volunteer firefighters and mountain rescue groups finishing up the so-far unsuccessful seek for Jay. The second group are journalists like me, making an attempt to know a case shrouded in hypothesis and questions.
Jay’s journey
These questions start with Jay’s journey which began at Papayago, the nightclub the place he was final pictured having fun with the tip of the New Rave Technology (NRG) competition late on 16 June.
The membership is in Playa De Las Americas, not too removed from Los Cristianos the place he was staying. Filled with British revellers and close to the seashore, the strip is an space Jay would have been rising accustomed to, having been on the competition for 2 days.
However on the occasion’s third and closing night time, as an alternative of going again to the lodging he was sharing with mates, Jay jumped in a automobile with two males, travelling to a small Airbnb in Masca.
That is the place the details about his actions and whereabouts begins to thin, other than the testimony of 1 eyewitness we met on our first full day in Tenerife.
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Ofelia Medina Hernandez runs a restaurant above the Airbnb and says she noticed Jay at about 8am on 17 June.
“He requested twice what time the bus got here,” she informed us. “He got here again and he requested me once more, and I informed him once more, at 10 o’clock.
“Later I obtained in my automobile, and I noticed him, he was strolling rapidly, however I did not see him once more after that,” she added.
Regardless of the door to the Airbnb being simply yards from a bus cease which might have taken him again down south, Medina Hernandez described Jay strolling within the unsuitable route.
One other key element of the timeline is a dialog Jay had with a pal on the telephone at round 8.30am that day. He informed them he was strolling again after lacking a bus – a journey that would take 11 hours on foot.
He additionally mentioned he was misplaced, in want of water, and solely had 1% cost on his telephone.
His telephone is believed to have been final positioned close to an observatory round an 18-minute stroll away, which is the place the efforts of the emergency providers had been targeted within the first week.
The search
That seen flurry of exercise included emergency providers utilizing a helicopter, drones and sniffer canines.
Nonetheless, as the times went on, that sprawling search turned a extra tightly targeted one, with smaller teams of officers pockets of land, like ravines and caves.
Pic: Adele-Momoko Fraser
Regardless of permitting us to movie them at a distance, the groups, led by the civil guard, have refused to present a lot steering on the bottom, as an alternative selecting to launch updates and photographs by way of WhatsApp.
With no information convention or formal interviews on provide, they’ve largely saved journalists at the hours of darkness.
‘I simply need him again’
One group who’re hoping for info and updates greater than anybody else are Jay’s family members.
A small group of his family and friends have stayed in Tenerife, clearly struggling to come back to phrases with the void left by his absence and the prospect he won’t return.
Pic: Adele-Momoko Fraser
On the primary Saturday after his disappearance, we met his dad Warren and brother Zak for the primary time and their anguish was clear.
Talking to us close to Masca, after making an attempt to retrace Jay’s steps, Warren mentioned he was “simply hoping that someone has helped him off this mountain”.
“That is all I would like, that someone has helped him get off this mountain. I simply need him again and that is it. He is, my son.”
His voice then cracked and he walked away from the digital camera and repeated: “I simply need him again and that is it.”
Regardless of his seen ache, Warren has additionally to push this search ahead in his personal method. Two days later within the city of Santiago Del Teide, we meet him once more.
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Pic: Adele-Momoko Fraser
That afternoon he was tearful once more – however decided, handing out flyers with a small group of mates.
Their motive for selecting the city, which is 7km away from Masca, was due to a grainy CCTV picture that instructed Jay was final seen within the city’s sq..
On-line hypothesis
The household hinging a lot hope on that info was an perception into how this case is not nearly what’s taking place on the bottom, but in addition the narrative on-line.
A Fb group referred to as Jay Slater Lacking – Solely Official Group reached greater than 500,000 members in lower than per week and was inundated with hypothesis across the case, earlier than feedback within the group had been restricted.
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Police share new CCTV picture
The noise on social media, coupled with the state of affairs, have added to his household’s misery, one thing his mom Debbie Duncan who can also be in Tenerife, alluded to in an announcement.
“I’ve each religion in them down on the bottom and the superb searches they’re finishing up together with extra superb guys up there,” she mentioned.
“As a household we’re in a residing nightmare. Now we have no additional updates apart from Jay continues to be lacking and we’re simply ignoring the social media facet of issues.”
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It is clear although that social media has not solely damage the household, in addition they really feel it is helped them too, some extent Debbie made when specifically thanking Paul Arnott.
A hiker from Bedfordshire, he has travelled from Fort William in Scotland to Spain and promised to remain nevertheless lengthy it takes to seek out {the teenager}.
By no means too removed from the police search, Paul has been scrambling down ridges and climbing hills on his personal whereas frequently updating his followers in TikTok.
Away from the small display is the fact of the state of affairs, as the hunt for Jay enters its 13th day.
It is a interval that guarantees to be pivotal, with the Spanish Civil Guard calling on volunteer businesses reminiscent of Civil Safety and firefighters, in addition to “particular person volunteers who’re consultants in rugged search terrain” for a “large search”.
In a case that has seen each twist and switch adopted in locations properly past the rugged terrain of North West Tenerife, at the moment appears like the start of 1 final push to attempt to discover Jay Slater.