Investigator reveals dramatic new revelation in missing teen investigation

Jay Slater confessed to friends he had stolen a £12,000 Rolex watch and was trying to sell it hours before disappearing, a former detective has claimed.

Mark Williams-Thomas, who is investigating the disappearance of the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer in a remote mountainous area of ​​Tenerife, posted an update on X on Wednesday morning.

The investigator, who also investigated the disappearance of Nicola Bulley, claimed Jay's friends revealed the missing raver sent them a Snapchat in the early hours of June 17 in which he admitted to stealing the luxury watch.

Mr Williams-Thomas said Jay was driving in a Seat Leon hire car to Casa Abuela Tina's Airbnb near the village of Masca with two older British men just after 6am when he made the shocking claim about Rolex.

MailOnline today revealed the first picture of one of the men, who used the name Ayub Abdul to book a £40-a-night holiday rental online.

Although the former police detective could not verify that an alleged robbery had taken place, he said Jay's friends assured him the missing teenager would not have made it up.

Mr Williams-Thomas said he was making the new information public to “provide some clarity and dispel the total inaccuracies” fuelled by conspiracy theories.

It comes in the form of:

Mr Williams-Thomas described how, shortly before 6am, Jay left the popular Veronicas strip where he had been partying with friends on the final night of the three-day NRG festival in the Playa de las Americas resort in Tenerife.

He and the two men — who Jay and his friends had spent time with over the previous two days — took an hour-long drive down the highway back to the Airbnb.

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It was during this trip that Mr Williams-Thomas claims Jay posted a Snapchat message in which he claimed to have taken the £12,000 Rolex from an unknown person. MailOnline has contacted Jay's family about the allegations.

Police previously said they were investigating a fight outside the Papagayo Beach Club, where Jay was seen partying the night he disappeared.

A fight – involving a large Eastern European man who was allegedly robbed of his prized Rolex – is believed to have broken out after the venue closed.

One of Jay's friends, who had travelled to Tenerife to help with the search, told detectives the alleged incident could have led to his disappearance.

Mr Williams-Thomas said he was “unable to validate” Jay’s Snapchat claim “in terms of a reported theft”.

He added: “However, Jay's friends said he wouldn't make this up and the watch was the subject of a later conversation between the friends.”

The TV detective said Jay had contact with friends on social media while he was at the Casa Abuela Tina property.

These included a Snapchat photo he sent to friends on the doorstep of the chalet at 7.30am, in which he was holding a cigarette.

Jay was last seen around 8am trying to return to his holiday accommodation.

He asked the owner of the Airbnb when the next bus to Los Cristianos left, but when she told him 10am, he set off on foot for what would have been an 11-hour walk.

The Airbnb owner said she later saw Jay walking uphill in the vast mountainous area.

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Mr Williams-Thomas said Jay spoke to at least three friends via text and phone as he walked back, telling them he was lost.

His friend Lucy Law said Jay called her shortly after he was last seen to say he was thirsty, had no water and had only one per cent battery on his phone.

Another friend, Brad Hargreaves, said he had also spoken to Jay that morning and thought he had driven off the main road and possibly slipped on some rocks.

Mark said in a video update today: “Two people told him to go back to the rental.

“He said he couldn’t do that and he had already been walking for 30 minutes and was now off-road and walking on a track where there were loose stones.”

Jay sent his location to friends at 8:49 and 8:50, who showed him on a hiking trail in Teno Rural Park. No one has seen or heard from him since.

Mr Williams-Thomas claimed Jay left the holiday home because he was scared.

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He said: “We have received information which suggests that Jay has left the rental property and will not be returning to the rental property, even though that would have been the sensible thing to do, and also where he could have charged his phone, got water and made contact with friends.

“We are continuing to investigate this aspect.”

The two men who accompanied Jay spoke to police on the island before returning to the UK. Spanish police said they were “not involved” in the investigation.

Mr Williams-Thomas, who travelled to Tenerife last week to help, has been conducting his own investigation after Spanish police called off the search on Sunday. He said his team believed there was no third-party involvement.

He said: “We have, however, ruled out the possibility of hostage-taking or kidnapping as no credible ransom demand has been made.

“We have no evidence at this stage to suggest that a third party criminal is involved in Jay's disappearance.”

He said he still had a number of avenues of research to explore and was therefore keeping an “open mind”.

The decision comes after a Spanish judge revealed on Monday that there was “no current evidence of criminality”.

Many, including Jay's mother, Debbie Duncan, believed he had been taken against his will.

Tenerife police ended the massive search on Sunday, dealing a blow to Jay's family. However, on Tuesday, two plainclothes officers returned to the Airbnb.

They spent about two hours looking for the Airbnb.

Last night, Jay's mother, Debbie, posted an update, saying: “Jay is a normal guy who is in his third year of apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a wide circle of friends.

“We are a very close family and we are absolutely devastated by his loss. Words cannot describe the pain and agony we feel.

“This is our beautiful boy, he has his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him. We have no information on his fate.”

Debbie and Jay's father Warren and brother Zak have remained in Tenerife as they desperately search for answers.