Devastated mother of missing Tenerife teenager Jay Slater plagued by 'sickening' hoaxes

The devastated mother of teenager Jay Slater, currently missing in Tenerife, has been tormented by “sickening” pranks pretending to have her son.

Jay Slater had traveled to the Spanish island with his friends Lucy and Brad to attend a music festival. On Sunday evening (June 16), Jay, 19, an apprentice bricklayer, decided to stay out after meeting some new friends while his friends returned to their apartment.

The next morning, around 8:15 a.m. Monday, Lucy received a call from Jay telling her that he had missed a bus home but was going to make the 11-hour drive back to their resort. She said Jay had only one percent battery left on his phone and his cellphone was dead, with its last known location showing him “in the middle of the mountains”.

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His mother Debbie, who has since traveled to Tenerife to help with the search by mountain rescue teams and the Civil Guard, revealed she had received “horrible” calls from trolls.

She claimed that British people with “northern accents” had phoned her with hidden numbers and claimed they had her son captive and were keeping him because he owed them money.

She said: “Some of the phone calls I’ve received have been horrible. I just don't know why people would want to do things like that. I received a lot of prank calls. It's disgusting. People call me and tell me they have Jay because he owes them money.

“But that doesn't put me off and I want to keep it in the news because it's going to increase the chances that Jay will be found safe, which is obviously what we're praying for.”

A desperate search is now underway for Jay, originally from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, near the village of Masca, in the Parque Rural de Teno.

Speaking from the south of the island where her son was staying, Debbie added: “I'm obviously beside myself and that's why I flew here with my eldest son to do whatever we can for help. We just pray that the police or someone finds Jay. I know there is a mountain rescue team and a helicopter.

“Nothing will ever be enough when your youngest son goes missing, but it seems the police here are taking this very seriously and doing their best.”