Jay Slater: British teenager missing in Tenerife 'would never have made his mother worry like this' | World News

“If he saw anyone the first thing he would do is say 'I need to call my mum' – I know that for sure,” a friend of Jay Slater told Sky News.

A British teenager missing in Tenerife “would never let his mother worry like that”, a friend has told Sky News.

Lucy Law said Jay Slater, 19, was “not a stupid boy” and would have flagged down any passing car or spoken to passers-by.

Mr. Slater, of Lancashire, was missing on the Spanish island since Monday morning.

His mother, a team of mountain rescuers and the local civil guard are searching for him after he disappeared while on vacation with friends.

Ms Law said he called her to say he “didn't know where he was”, that he “needed a drink” and that he had “cut his leg on a cactus”.

Although his cell phone battery dropped to 1%, he managed to send her a photo of his location.

When she told him to go back to where he had left, he said he didn't know where that was, Ms Law said.

He was without food or water, she added, and was wearing a T-shirt and shorts. “It’s very hot during the day and very cold at night,” she said.

“So during the day he will be very hot without drinking, and at night he will be very cold without suitable clothing.”

Ms. Law and others printed posters in Spanish and English and stuck them “everywhere,” she said.

Shortly after Mr Slater disappeared, an American woman offered to drive Ms Law to the mountains.

There was “literally no trace of him anywhere,” she said. “We drove all day.”

Mr. Slater had posted a photo online of some mountains next to a house he had visited in the mountains.

Ms. Law then drove around looking for a lamp and some flowers visible in this photo.

“We managed to find the house,” she said. “I knocked on the door and there were two people.”

They told Ms Law that Mr Slater had gone out to have a cigarette before returning and saying he wanted to go home.

“They told me he spoke to the neighbors next door and they told him there was a bus every 10 minutes to go back to Los Cristianos.

“The bus stop was right next to the house. So obviously if he had gone to get the bus he wouldn't have gotten lost because [the stop] was visible from the front door.

Learn more:
What we know so far about Jay Slater's disappearance

The descent from the mountains takes an hour's drive. “Everything looks the same, it’s just a road and hills,” Ms Law said.

“I don't understand why he came out of the house and then decided to walk. I think he may have gone walking with a battery and didn't realize the actual distance he had to walk.”

There are “so many questions that remain unanswered,” Mr. Slater’s friend said.

“He’s not a stupid boy.”

“What I find most bizarre about this is the fact that no one saw it.

“And he’s not a stupid boy – he’s got some sense about him.

“I saw so many people here and I asked everyone if they had seen it – that’s what I find weird.

“If he had seen someone or a car he would have reported it, he would have said he needed a phone to contact someone.”

She added: “He would never let his family worry like that – he would never let us worry like that.

“If he saw someone, the first thing he would do is say, 'I have to call my mother' – I know that for sure. He would never let his mother worry like that.

“It’s just horrible, I’ve never been so worried in my life.

“Since then, I literally haven’t slept at all.”