Search for missing teenager ends in dramatic fashion

However, in a dramatic conclusion to the mystery that has gripped the British public, a Guardia Civil spokesman said today that the search had ended.

“The search operation is now over, although the case remains open,” said a spokeswoman for the service.

Jay Slater flew to the Spanish island for the NRG music festival before checking into an Airbnb in Masca with two men he met at the event.

The next morning, the apprentice bricklayer spoke to his friend Lucy Law just before 9am local time, who told him he had missed his bus, his phone had only one per cent battery left and he would walk home.

Since his disappearance, many theories and speculations have emerged on the internet as to what might have happened to Slater.

The end of the operation comes after Spanish police called for volunteers to join a “large-scale” search.

However, reports suggest that only a handful of volunteers showed up for the searches.

Among the group were British TikTok climber Paul Arnott, a German couple and a few Spanish nationals.

“It's a bit disappointing that there are no Brits apart from Paul, but I guess to them he's just a British boy who came here and got drunk,” said Jay's father, Walter Slater.

“You can see how dangerous it is and what annoys me is the trollers who attack us because we are not looking.”

He went on to say he was “grateful” to those who came together to help search for his son who was last seen on June 17.

He added: “This is not the local park, these are big mountains, the terrain is dangerous, put yourself in our shoes, would you go out in these conditions?

“It's tough, it's difficult, we leave that to the professionals and I'm grateful to those who came today and I want to thank them for what they do.”