Search for missing British teenager in Tenerife hampered by social media conspiracy…

June 22, 2024, 07:32

The search for the missing British teenager in Tenerife is in its sixth day after efforts were hampered by conspiracy theories posted in social media groups set up to help find the 19-year-old.

Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, had traveled to the Canary Islands for a music festival weekend with two friends when he went missing on Sunday evening.

He was attending the New Rave Generation (NRG) festival, but chose to stay with a group of strangers he had met instead of returning to where he was staying with friends.

Jay made a final call to one of his friends, Lucy Mae Law, around 8 a.m. Monday before disappearing. He looked disoriented, explaining that he was “in the middle of the mountains” with “nothing around,” she said.

On Friday, Jay's search area reportedly moved to the Masca Valley ravine area, about 100 yards below a rental property he visited after the festival.

Read more: Spanish police reject help from Lancashire Police as desperate search for missing Briton Jay Slater continues

Friends, family and other volunteers came to the scene to help with the search, with some posting videos on social media, including Facebook and Tiktok.

However, with more than 464,000 people joining the “Jay Slater Missing” Facebook page, other users have speculated conspiracy theories about his disappearance are hampering the search.

Some suggested the teenager had been kidnapped or was in hiding, while other articles speculated that Spanish police had recovered his belongings but were keeping the discovery “secret”.

Online moderators urged users not to post “unnecessary” and inaccurate information and said they were banning those who post “malicious” comments.

One user said: “Some of the comments and posts here are absolutely disgusting… Have some respect please. »

A crowdfunding site, set up by Jay's friend Lucy, to 'bring Jay Slater home', has received more than £24,000 in donations.

Debbie Duncan, Jay's mother, traveled to Tenerife on Tuesday to help with the search and said it had been “a living nightmare”.

She told ITV News: “He's life and soul, he's a beautiful boy.”

Learn more: Helicopters and sniffer dogs deployed as Spanish authorities focus on new areas in search of missing Jay Slater

Learn more: Web sleuths bombard social media pages with conspiracy theories as search for missing Jay Slater enters fifth day

It comes after Lancashire Police confirmed they had offered to help in the search for Jay but were turned down by Spanish police.

In a statement, the force said: “Although this matter does not fall within the remit of the UK police, we have offered our support to the Guardia Civil to see if they require additional resources.

“They have confirmed that at this time they are happy to have the resources they need, but this offer remains open and they will contact us if this position changes.”

Jay's friends criticized the Spanish police for “not doing a good enough job”.

Lucy told The Times: “We drove around the island for 12 hours. We were everywhere you can imagine, up and down the mountain several times and looking for places where he could have sheltered.

“We have to do it ourselves because the Spanish police don't do a good enough job. They don't even speak English.

“The process has been very slow here, so we need the British police to come and help them.”

The owner of the apartment Jay went to after the festival said she saw him “walking fast” down a dangerous ravine.

Ophelia, owner of Casa Abuela Tina, said she was “very worried” about him following his disappearance.

She said she saw him leaving alone in a mountainous area near Masca.

“It’s dangerous to walk around here, it’s easy to get lost,” she told the Manchester Evening News.

“He was walking down the road when I last saw him.

“He was alone. He walked normally, although he was fast.”

On Thursday evening, the Spanish Civil Guard shared a video of their search efforts for Jay.

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The footage showed officers traversing different stretches of the mountainous region on foot, by car and by helicopter.