Jay Slater: Hunt for 'living nightmare' to find missing British teenager in Tenerife continues | World News

The apprentice mason was last heard from on Monday, telling a friend he was undertaking an 11-hour walk home after missing his bus.

Helicopters, rescue dogs and drones continue to scour the tourist island of Tenerife in search of a missing British teenager, while his family and friends experience a “living nightmare”.

The hunt for the 19-year-old Jay Slater of Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn in Lancashire, is now in its fifth day.

The apprentice mason was on vacation with friends Tenerife before disappearing on Monday.

He was last heard from when he called a friend to say he was leaving for an 11-hour walk home, after missing his bus.

Ofelia Medina Hernandez, who was the last person to see Mr Slater, told Sky News: “I saw the boy in the morning, around 8am.

“He asked twice what time the bus was coming.

“I told him ‘at 10 o’clock’.

“He came back and asked me again, and I told him again – at 10 o’clock.

“After that he left and I didn’t see him again.

“Later I got in my car and saw him: he was walking fast.

“But I didn’t see him again after that.”

His story came as new photographs showed the property where he was last seen in the northwest mountain village of Masca after attending the NRG music festival.

“We are exhausted beyond words”

In a post on the “Jay Slater Missing” Facebook page, group administrator Rachel Louise Harg said family and friends were “exhausted beyond words.”

She said: “There is unfortunately no update for anyone.

“I'm having a hard time finding the words right now, but all I can say is that we're still searching and everyone is doing everything they can.

“We are exhausted beyond words – I just can’t say more, I wish I could.

“I wish it would end now, this living nightmare.

“Research continues and we remain positive.

“Thanks to your support and help we can't thank you anymore, lots of love.”

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Researchers check the river at the bottom of the ravine

Search and rescue personnel joined officers from the island's Guardia Civil near Masca on Friday to comb an area overgrown with vegetation.

Teams also paid close attention to a river called Barranco Madre del Agua, at the bottom of a ravine, where rescuers were carefully making their way through fallen dead palm trees.

Mr Slater's friend Lucy Law, who attended the music festival with him, said he called her around 8.30am on Monday and told her he was “lost in the mountains, that he was unaware of his surroundings, was in desperate need of a drink and his phone was at 1%.”

Meanwhile, members of the local community gathered at a religious service in his hometown to express their hope for his safe return.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”