Jay Slater volunteer says search area 'like labyrinth' - as missing teen's mum issues update

Jay Slater's mom expressed her gratitude to a nearby hiking group for their ongoing efforts to find her 19-year-old son, who has been missing in Tenerife for almost three weeks.

Juan Garcia led a group of volunteers who were joined by some of Mr. Slater's relatives on Saturday. They concentrated on searching in a gorge near the spot where Mr. Slater's phone was found.

After searching Barranco Juan Lopez with helicopters and drones, Mr. Garcia described the area as a complex maze and compared it to searching for a tiny needle in a large haystack.

The terrain was filled with cactuses and shrubs, and the hiker informed Sky News: "He might be close by, just two meters away, and we wouldn't be able to spot him."

One of the group members mentioned that they had created maps and search plans to carry on with the mission of locating Mr. Slater in the following days.

The authorities in Tenerife stopped looking on 30 June after looking for 12 days. However, Debbie Duncan, his mother, mentioned that she and her family will continue to stay on the island.

The last time her son was spotted was on June 17th when he left an Airbnb in the small mountain town of Masca to hike back to his lodging, a trip that was estimated to take 11 hours.

Ms Duncan has shared an update about the GoFundMe page that was created to support the search for her son. The total donations raised so far have exceeded £51,000.

"We are so grateful for the generosity and assistance we've been given. We want to express our heartfelt thanks to the nearby hiking club for their guidance in mapping out the paths to locate our dear Jay," she expressed.

She went on to say that a fantastic group of people from the area have reached out and offered to help with the search.

Even though they are not open to receiving money for their search mission, we will assist them by providing supplies. We truly appreciate their willingness to contribute.

We are still receiving interest from skilled teams who are eager to help us in our search. We are currently in discussions with them to determine how they can contribute to the effort.

"However, for us to enlist their assistance, they must first obtain authorization from the Spanish government."

Following the search conducted by Mr. Slater's uncle, Glen Duncan, and his father Warren Slater and brother Zak, Mr. Slater's family expressed that his disappearance has been extremely difficult for them. Despite the challenges, they remain hopeful and determined in their search efforts.

The man, who is 41 years old, talked about the dangerous conditions he faced while coming back from the search. He mentioned that it is easy to lose one's way in the scorching heat. He also expressed his belief that if Mr. Slater had taken a fall, he would have been discovered by now.

He thinks someone else might have been involved in Mr. Slater's disappearance. He said Mr. Slater was a "wonderful young man with lots of friends and was excited to visit here".

He also mentioned that the family is feeling annoyed because they haven't received any updates from the police on the island. He expressed, "It's starting to make us really mad."

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The police search in the northern village of Masca, close to where Mr. Slater was last seen, covered a rugged terrain including steep cliffs, valleys, and pathways.

Helicopters, drones, and search dogs were used to try and locate the apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, but unfortunately they were unable to find him.

Following the suspension of their search efforts, the Guardia Civil informed Sky News that the family of the missing teenager is now allowed to bring in their own teams to continue the search and rescue mission.

The Guardia Civil have stated that they are still conducting an investigation but they are not sharing any details about the leads they are following.

Learn more: Family of Jay Slater responds to TikToker who has stopped searching. Jay Slater's mother discusses how the family plans to use the donations.

What Jay Slater was doing before he disappeared

Mr. Slater went to Tenerife with his friends on June 13th to go to a music festival at Papagayo nightclub in the popular Playa de las Americas resort on June 16th.

Following the event, he departed and the next morning he hopped into a car and journeyed to a cozy Airbnb in Masca with two individuals, who authorities stated were not connected to the investigation.

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He phoned Lucy Law at 8:30am on June 17th, saying he had missed his bus and attempted to walk back to where he was staying.

According to Ms Law, he mentioned that he had injured his leg on a cactus, didn't know his location, was stranded in the mountains, and had a low phone battery at 1%.

Just a little while later, his phone died and he was declared missing at 9:04am.

He was last spotted in the Teno Rural Park, close to Masca.

The owner of a nearby cafe told Sky News that Mr. Slater attempted to take a bus back to Los Cristianos, where he was staying.

Ofelia Medina Hernandez mentioned that she had a conversation with the teenager at 8am on the morning he went missing. She informed him that a bus was expected to arrive at 10am, but he decided to start walking instead.

She mentioned that she saw him later walking quickly as she drove by.