Jay Slater's mother tells of 'pain and agony' after her teenager went missing in Tenerife | Spain

The mother of a teenager who disappeared while on holiday in Tenerife has said words cannot describe the “pain and agony” her family is feeling.

Debbie Duncan described Jay Slateras, 19, as a handsome boy who had his whole life ahead of him.

“We just want to find him,” she said in a statement, condemning as “vile” some of the wildest speculation and conspiracy theories online.

Slater, an apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, went missing on Monday June 17 after attending a weekend rave in the island's Playas de las Americas resort with friends.

He was last heard from at around 8.15am when he told a friend, Lucy Law, that he planned to walk back to his holiday accommodation after missing a bus, a journey that would take him 10 to 11 hours on foot.

Slater also said he was thirsty, had only 1% charge left on his phone and didn't know where he was.

For almost two weeks, emergency services, mountain rescue teams, sniffer dogs, drones and helicopters have been involved in a coordinated search for Slater.

This resulted in what has been described as a “massive search” – a massive search – was launched on Saturday. It was unsuccessful and the following day, the Guardia Civil of Tenerife declared that the search for Slater had ended, but that the case remained open.

There have been few new developments for the family to hold on to.

In his statement, through the UK charity for missing people abroad LBT Global, Duncan said: “Jay is a normal man 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. He is our beautiful boy, he has his whole life ahead of him and we just want him back.”

Duncan thanked the Spanish authorities who continue to follow up on leads in the investigation.

The search has been widely covered by the media. Duncan said: “We want to say to the press, journalists and reporters that while we don't want to lose the momentum of Jay's disappearance, we really want to preserve our privacy and most importantly let the Spanish police continue their investigation without being hampered by the press.”

In addition to dealing with the grief of a missing loved one, the teenager's family and friends say they have had to deal with a lot of “online noise” surrounding the case, including hurtful accusations, rumors and conspiracy theories.

“We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and we can only call it vile,” Duncan said. “The negative comments are extremely distressing to our family.”

“We also acknowledge the love and support we have received from around the world. This has not gone unnoticed, particularly in his hometown of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire.”

Slater and his friends were at the three-day NRG Tenerife Weekender festival in Tenerife. In the early hours of Monday morning, Slater left the resort by car with two Britons and headed to an Airbnb property in Masca, a remote hilltop hamlet in the northwest of the island.

Tenerife authorities said they had spoken to both men and that they were “in no way involved in the case”.