Who is Jay Slater? Search for missing teen goes viral, sparking police concern

The search continues for a British teenager who went missing a week ago after a music festival in the Canary Islands, Spain.

The case has captivated internet sleuths who spread rumors and conspiracy theories online, with Spanish police fearing the noise would have a negative impact on the search.

Here's what we know about Jay Slater's disappearance.

Who is Jay Slater?

Jay Slater is a 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire in the North West of England.

He disappeared after attending a music festival on Sunday June 16 on the island of Tenerife.

His friends raised the alarm after Mr Slater called his traveling companion Lucy Law to tell her he was lost and was trying to walk back to their accommodation but needed water.

Mr Slater said his phone's battery was at 1 per cent.

The call was disconnected.

Where did he disappear?

At Mr. Slater's the last known location is a mountainous path in the Teno Rural Park, which was determined by a ping from his phone.

The national park lies northwest of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa.

The 19-year-old and his two friends had attended a music festival at the Papagayo nightclub in the tourist hotspot Playa de las Américas south of Tenerife.

His friends say they last saw him get into a car with two men he met while on vacation, leaving Playa de las Américas.

It is believed that he and the two men went to an apartment in the village of Masca.

The owner of the apartment told reporters she saw Mr Slater walking down a steep road in front of the property.

BBC journalists described Teno Rural Park as “isolated and wild” and said deep ravines and large mountains made it a difficult area for rescue teams to search.

What do we know so far?

Sunday June 16

• Jay Slater and two friends attend the final day of the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas.

Monday June 17

• Between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.: According to friends, Mr Slater got into a car with two men he met while on holiday.
• Around 7:30 a.m.: Mr. Slater tags Parque Rural de Teno Buenavista del Norte in Snapchat post
• Around 8:15 a.m.: Mr. Slater calls Mrs. Law to tell her that he had missed a bus and was planning to walk back to their accommodation. The call is disconnected.

Tuesday June 18

• His friends searched the area around their accommodation after Mr Slater failed to return home.
• Local police and mountain rescue teams begin searching.

Wednesday June 19

• Spain's Guardia Civil, one of the country's two national law enforcement agencies, is continuing the search with drones, dogs and a helicopter.
• A potential sighting sees the search briefly moved to Los Cristianos, but police rule out this lead and return to the original search area.

Thursday June 20

• The Guardia Civil, mountain rescue, firefighters and volunteers continue to search Los Cristianos.

Friday June 21

• Lancashire Police released a statement saying they had offered to help with the search.
• Rescue teams are focusing on the trails in a valley surrounding Masca, as well as two ravines.
• Police are investigating near the apartment where Mr Slater is believed to have gone.

Saturday June 22

• Research continues around Masca.

What do we say to each other online?

Speculation about what happened to Mr Slater circulated online, causing the search to go viral.

Numerous groups discussing theories about Mr. Slater's whereabouts have been created on Facebook.

Social media users suggested Mr Slater had been kidnapped or was in hiding, but these theories were not put forward by the police.

His mother, Debbie Duncan, said Spanish police feared that online discussions could have a negative impact on the search.

“They actually said there was too much noise, that it was affecting things,” she said.

Several fundraising pages were created and then suspended by GoFundMe after concerns were raised about the identity of the organizers.

A Facebook group believed to have been set up by Mr Slater's family said Ms Duncan did not want fundraising pages to be created.

The administrator of a Facebook page set up to aid searches also said someone who was not Mr Slater had logged into the 19-year-old's Instagram account.