Jay Slater's family in 'torture' as search for the missing Brit, 19, focuses on Tenerife gorge where teen's phone lost its signal almost three weeks ago
Missing Brit Jay Slater's family are in 'torture every day' as the search for the 19-year-old hits 20 days.
His uncle Glen Duncan, 41, who is one of nine family members and volunteers on the ground in Tenerife, said the agonizing operation to find Jay in 'treacherous' conditions is 'just torture' but added that the family are not giving up hope.
Mr Duncan is alongside the teenager's father and brother focusing on the gorge where the 19-year-old's mobile phone lost its signal nearly three weeks ago.
They have been joined by a team of seven local hikers and a dog who spent more than four hours combing the unforgiving terrain.
Under fierce sun with temperatures of 25C the group fanned out a long and tricky path which leads down to the sea just below the remote village of Masca on Tenerife's north west coast.
The teenager disappeared after attending a rave in Playa de las Americas which he left in the morning of June 17. He then travelled back to a £40-a-night Airbnb cottage in Masca with two older British men.
As he tried to walk the 11 hours back to his hotel, Jay called best friend Lucy to say he was lost, in desperate need of some water and his phone battery was on 1 per cent.
It comes as:
- Jay Slater's friend says 'we ain't drug mules' as missing 19-year-old's mother issues update on day 20 of Tenerife search
- Jay Slater's family can use their own search-and-rescue teams in Tenerife hunt for missing 19-year-old, Spanish police say
- Jay's best friend broke her silence to share a new picture of the missing teenager nearly three weeks after he vanished in Tenerife.
- MailOnline revealed the 31-year-old British man who Jay Slater visited in AirBnb before vanishing is a convicted drug dealer who insists the missing teen 'came to the house alive, and he left the house alive'
- MailOnline revealed the first picture of Briton who booked £40-a-night Airbnb where missing teen Jay Slater stayed hours before he vanished
Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, travelled to the Canary Islands for a musical festival with his friend Lucy and another friend last week
Jay's father Warren and brother Zak pictured on Wednesday hiking through the mountain track where Jay's phone was last located. They have returned to a Tenerife gorge with a search team
Warren and Zak pictured today searching the gorge with friends and locals
A group of people, including Warren and Zak, pictured on the hunt for Jay this afternoon
Jay's father Warren pictured scouring the unforgiving Tenerife landscape today in search for Jay
A group of family, friends and volunteers walked around the remote scenery where Jay's phone lost its signal almost three weeks ago
Mr Duncan said: 'He's not been found so you've got to cling on.
'It's just torture every day. It's got to a point now where the sadness has gone and it's just anger.'
Yesterday, Jay's family were told by Spanish police that they can use their own search-and-rescue teams in the Tenerife hunt for the missing 19-year-old.His devastated family previously told Sky News they were waiting for authorities to allow them to use some of the £50,000 of donations, raised through a crowdfunding page, to pay for specialist search and rescue teams.
The Guardia Civil then confirmed such teams could be brought in from elsewhere 'without any problem' to help with the hunt for the 19-year-old.
Today, using whistles the group could be seen walking along the steep slopes of the valley in the Parque Rural de Teno.
Clouds occasionally tumbled down the seaward facing mountains quickly dissolving as they met the hot warm air in the valley.
Spanish police previously focused their search for the teenager on the mountainous village and Rural de Teno National Park in north-west Tenerife where his phone last pinged.
But on June 30, the search and rescue mission was dramatically called off after nearly 14 days, leaving his desperate family 'in the dark'.
Spanish police added that the Jay's family would have to notify them 'for good management of information and resources' but that they had not received a request yet.
Warren and Zak pictured on July 3 on the mountain track where Jay's phone was last located
Jay (right) pictured alongside his mother Debbie and brother Zak (left) who flew out to Tenerife after his disappearance
A map showing Jay Slater's last known movements before he disappeared
Jay Slater's best friend Lucy Law previously posted this picture on social media of the missing teenager nearly three weeks after he vanished in Tenerife
Lucy (pictured) was one of the last people to hear from Jay and had gone to a festival with him the night before he disappeared
Jay's family have previously been advised to fund an independent search party after Tenerife's Civil Guard ended their hunt for him 'prematurely'.
Army reservist and private investigator Juan García, is among those advising Jay's mother on how to continue with a private search.
Speaking to the Times, he said that 'two weeks is too premature to end the search'.
'[Slater] could be alive somewhere — someone can drink from rainwater and eat plants. The family should not give up hope,' he said.
Earlier today, Slater's heartbroken mother Debbie Duncan also issued a fresh update.
A post on an official Facebook group read: 'Debbie and family would like to thank the local hiking group who have worked tirelessly planning routes and searching for Jay they are extremely overwhelmed with the kindness of them all. Thank you.'
Jay had been attending a three day NRG festival which ended on Sunday, 16 June in Papagayo beach club in South Tenerife.
His friend Lucy- who had gone to the festival with him - said Jay had gone to stay with people he met after a night out.
She received a phone call from Jay at around 8am on Monday morning saying he'd missed his bus and was trying to walk back but was lost, needed a drink and only had 1% battery on his phone. The phone call then cut off.
The teenager's phone died at around 8.50am, with his last known location registered in the remote Rural de Teno park, more than ten miles from the popular resort Guía de Isora.
Jay was reported missing at around 9am the same morning and police launched a mountain rescue.
The search for the teenager continued this afternoon as his family brought in a search team
A search group pictured today at the Tenerife gorge where Jay lost his phone signal
Warren pictured with other volunteers at the Tenerife gorge this afternoon
Searchers combed the undergrowth for any sign of the missing teenager today
Jay's final Snapchat shows the teenager laughing and smiling at around 8.35pm on the night before he went missing
Search crews are seen last week scouring the area where Jay is believed to have gone missing
Ayub Qassim invited Jay, 19, back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife and says: 'He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive'
Jay Slater, 19, went back to Ayub Qassim's remote cottage – called Casa Abuela Tina – at 5am on the day he vanished
Mountain rescue crews and sniffer dogs had been searching the mountainous area of north-west Tenerife for the 19-year-old up until this afternoon.
But suddenly police focus shifted to the tourist hotspots of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas in south Tenerife, after a false sighting of him getting out of a taxi.
It later emerged the report was false and police, having wasted precious time in the blistering 27C heat, were forced to move attention back to their original site.
The 19-year-old had gone back to the remote cottage in the village of Masca with two British men in the early hours of Monday morning after a rave in Playa de las Americas on June 17.
Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, left the £40-a-night two bedroom property called Casa Abuela Tina at 7.30am and posted two pictures from it on Snapchat.
Spanish police dramatically called off the search for Jay on Monday but said their investigation into his disappearance was ongoing.
On July 3, one of the British men who the missing teenager spent his final hours with claimed Jay Slater found himself at the Airbnb cottage at the centre of the mystery because as 'all his friends left him'.
Ayub Qassim says he invited the apprentice bricklayer, 19, from Lancashire, back to his £40-a-night rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife hours before he vanished on June 17.
The 31-year-old, who booked the Airbnb under the name Ayub Abdul, broke his silence, telling MailOnline: 'He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive.'
MailOnline exclusively revealed that Qassim was jailed nine years ago for being the mastermind behind a sophisticated operation to flood Wales with Class A drugs.
Spanish police searching for Jay spoken to Qassim and the unnamed friend known only as 'Johnny Vegas' as part of their inquiries but concluded they were 'irrelevant' to the investigation.
Jay was last seen by a witness walking off in search of a bus stop close to the Airbnb at around 8am on Monday, June 17. He called a friend to say he was making the 11-hour walk back to his hotel in Playa de las Americas but has not been heard from since.
Former detective Peter Bleksley criticised Spanish police, suggesting they may be afraid a proper investigation would hit tourism on the island.
Earlier today, the teenager's friend insisted they are 'not drug mules' as the search for the missing 19-year-old nears the end of its third week.
As conspiracy theories and fake videos have swirled around on social media, Brad Hargreaves - who went on holiday to Tenerife with Slater and described him as his 'best mate' - has tried to set the record straight.
Slater's 'best friend' Brad Hargreaves, pictured, has insisted that they were 'not drug mules'
The £40-a-night Casa Abuela Tina holiday rental near the remote village of Masca where Jay spent his final hours before going missing
After flying out to the island for the three-day NRG music festival, Mr Hargreaves said he has experienced vile trolls on social media, The Sun reports.
'Thinkin' I'm involved in it all is beyond me,' he said. 'We've been mates for years, came on our first holiday together and unfortunately this has happened.
'We ain't drug mules or whatever.... people need to know the facts before talking s*** on the internet...'
