Unanswered questions about the disappearance of a missing teenager in Tenerife

As the search for missing teenager Jay Slater enters its fifth day, family and friends have spoken of their despair and frustration at Spanish police as the case makes no progress.

The 19-year-old was last heard from on Monday morning, when he phoned his friend Lucy Law at 8.15am to say he was lost, dehydrated and had 1% phone battery.

After attending the New Generation Rave music festival on Sunday night, he went to a remote Airbnb with two men he had met at the event.

His phone's last location was recorded at 8:50 a.m. in Teno Rural National Park, a mountainous area popular with hikers.

No other trace of him has been discovered.

As concerns grow over his welfare, questions begin to emerge as to how the apprentice mason apparently disappeared into an area flooded with tourists.

Why was Mr. Slater in the national park?

In his last Snapchat post at 7:30 a.m., Mr. Slater tagged Parque Rural de Teno Buenavista del Norte, an area in the north of the island known for its rugged and sparse terrain.

He reportedly went to the area early Monday morning with two new acquaintances, without realizing the distance that separated him from his apartment located in the tourist area of ​​Los Cristianos.

About an hour later, he called his friend Lucy to tell her he had missed his bus and was planning to do the 11 a.m. walk.

He told her he'd cut his leg on a cactus, wasn't sure of his location, and had almost no phone battery to use a maps app to get back.

Search teams are currently scouring the area, with police deploying helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs to assist in the search.

Why did he choose to walk 11 hours instead of waiting for a bus?

Despite being directed to a bus stop, Mr Slater decided not to wait another two hours for a bus to take him into town.

Talk to Online mailOfelia Medina Hernández said she saw the teenager standing near the bus stop and asked about buses to Los Cristianos.

She said: “I put my fingers up on my hands to say 10 a.m. because he didn't understand me, then went home briefly before heading up the mountain to Buenavista del Norte, but this time I saw him walking on the road coming out of the street. village.

“It was only ten or fifteen minutes after I spoke to him and he was about a kilometer from the house. I walked past him and that was the last time I saw him.

Given there is a main road nearby, questions have been raised as to why Mr Slater appears to have wandered off into the wild. His friend Ms Law said: “What I don’t understand is if he went down, why wasn’t he seen by anyone? X

“It’s a busy time of day, the place is full of hikers and holidaymakers, he could have asked them for help or stopped somewhere but no one saw him at all.”

Who were the men Mr. Slater was with?

After meeting two men described as British during the festival, Mr Slater decided to return to their AirBnb while his friends went home.

Little is known about them and they have since returned to the UK after being briefly questioned by Spanish police.

Immediately after he disappeared, his friend Ms Law found them at their AirBnb after spending time matching images from Mr Slater's Snapchat with the location.

She said Online mail: “They seemed surprised and surprised that I found them, and I asked them where Jay was.

“They said he went out to try to get some cigarettes and then he came back and said he was leaving to try to catch a bus back to town.

“They just seemed shocked that I had managed to find them and I know the police spoke to them, but I have since found out they had left the country. You have to talk to them properly.