Mother of British teenager missing in Tenerife says search is a 'living nightmare'

The mother of a British teenager who went missing while on holiday in Tenerife has said searching for her son is “a living nightmare”.

Jay Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was last heard from on Monday morning as he told a friend he planned to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus, a journey which should take around 11 hours on foot.

Mr Slater's mother, Debbie Duncan, flew to Tenerife, in Spain's Canary Islands, on Tuesday morning in search of her son, an apprentice bricklayer.

Ms Duncan told ITV News: “It's just a nightmare, it's an absolute living nightmare.

“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. I just want my baby back.

“Please, anyone who can help – look it up. It's a huge area up there.

“He's somewhere or someone knows where he is.”

Mr Slater had traveled to Tenerife to attend the NRG music festival on the island.

Ms Duncan said: “I wish I hadn’t encouraged him to go. I should have said, “Don’t go to Tenerife.”

“I just think he was probably still in a good mood, buzzing – he doesn't know where he is. He doesn't know the extent of the long journey he took to get there.

“And he just thought, 'I'm going to walk.' And that's apparently what he told the last person he contacted.

Describing her son, Mrs Duncan said: “He’s the life and soul, he’s a beautiful boy. »

Mr Slater's friend Lucy – who accompanied him to the island to attend the festival – told the Manchester Evening News (MEN) that he had gone to stay with people he had met on holiday after a night outing.

She said she received a call from Mr Slater on Monday at around 8.15am after missing the bus and he was trying to walk home, although he said he was lost, that he had needed a glass of water and he only had 1% battery on his phone.

Lucy told the MEN that one of the people Mr Slater met drove them back to his apartment in a rental car and that the missing man did not realize how far away he was.

“He ended up in the middle of nowhere. Jay obviously thought he could go home from there,” she said.

“But in the morning he went for a walk, using his maps on his phone and found himself in the middle of the mountains with nothing around.”

Mr Slater was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with shorts and trainers.

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. »