British teenager missing in Tenerife – what we know so far

A Lancashire teenager has been missing on the Spanish island of Tenerife since Monday morning.

Jay Slater's mother, a team of mountain rescuers and the local Civil Guard are searching for the 19-year-old after he disappeared while on vacation with friends.

The last person to speak to him said he told her he was lost and that his phone's battery was almost dead around 8:15 a.m. local time on Monday.

Here's what we know so far.

“I ended up in the middle of nowhere”

Mr Slater, of Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn, was last seen by friends on a night out in Tenerife Sunday evening, after going to the NRG music festival.

The last person to speak to him was his friend Lucy, who says she called her Monday morning to tell her he was lost, needed water and only had 1% of his life. charge on his phone.

She told the Manchester Evening News that someone Mr Slater had met on his night out drove him back to their flat in a rental car without him realizing how far away he was.

“He ended up in the middle of nowhere. Jay obviously thought he could get home from there,” she told the newspaper.

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Lucy says that during the short phone call he claimed he had missed a bus while trying to get back to his holiday accommodation and was therefore trying to walk instead – a journey which would take 11 hours.

His phone then went dead, and his last live location was Teno Rural Park, a mountainous area popular with hikers.

Mr Slater's stepfather Andy Watson told The Sun his stepson was “not an idiot” and “very street savvy” but may have lost his bearings then that it was dark.

What do the authorities say?

Local police say they employed a specialist mountain rescue team, including a police helicopter, to search for Mr Slater.

A Civil Guard spokesperson said it was “focusing on the area around the village of Masca”.

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement: “We are supporting the family of a British man missing in Spain and are in contact with local authorities.”

Mr Slater's family have set up a Facebook group to help review aerial footage, CCTV footage and social media footage to find him.

A missing person sign says Mr Slater was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, shorts, trainers and a black bag.

What does this have to do with Coronation Street?

Coronation Street star Vicky Entwistle, best known for her role as Janice Battersby in the soap, is the goddaughter of Mr Slater's grandmother.

She posted on Tuesday: “My mother Dieu's grandson is missing. His mother flew out at 7 p.m. To join the police search. I hope they find him. Please [pray] for him.”

Mr Slater's mother, Debbie Duncan, flew to the island on Tuesday.

She said: “It's just traumatic and it doesn't seem real. It's just horrible, it's horrible.

“I think he was arrested against his will with what was said, but that’s in the hands of the police.”

She said of her son: “He's just a great person that everyone wanted to be with. He's handsome, he's a popular guy.”

She added that the police who carried out the search had been “very efficient”.