Jay Slater might not be ‘missing’ – cops must find out if there was ‘third-party’ involvement, says ex-Brit cop
JAY Slater might not be “missing” and police need to find out if there was third-party involvement in his disappearance, an ex Brit cop says.
The search for the 19-year-old was today called off by cops as Graham Wettone, who was in the Met for 30 years, said “things just don’t add up”.
Jay vanished in Tenerife on the morning of June 17 after attending a dance music festival and helicopters, drones and dogs have since been combing the island for clues.
Wettone – who has extensive experience working on missing persons cases – has examined the evidence and urged Spanish police to accept an offer of help from their British counterparts.
Speaking to MailOnline he explained how he thinks after two weeks searching with “nothing found” the Spanish police should “take another look.”
He said: “It seems to me on the face of it that they are just focusing on the mountain, but I would hope they are looking at other avenues and those include criminality.”
Wettone also said he would have put up a road block to stop people and ask them if they had seen anything.
The ex-cop added: “I’ve been following this case closely and discussing it with colleagues and it’s certainly a very bizarre one, lots of things just don’t add up.”
Wettone explained how he would challenge the witnesses despite this being a difficult task as it calls their honesty into question.
Previously police had said two mystery Brits who partied with Jay were “key witnesses” in the case but soon after declared them as “not relevant”.
Despite the hunt for the missing teen ending today, Jay’s distraught family have said they will continue to search for him.
The Sun understands Jay’s loved ones have not given up hope of finding him as a family friend insisted “nothing has changed”.
The decision to call off the search has left Jay’s parents and “heartbroken and devastated”, a family source told The Sun today.
They said parents Debbie, Warren and brother Zak – who are all still in Tenerife – are feeling a “sense of bewilderment”.
Speaking before the search ended Jay’s mum Debbie, 55, described being “at her wits’ end” following her son’s disappearance while his dad, Warren, said his family are in “a living hell”.
After going to a rave that finished in the early hours of June 17, apprentice bricklayer Jay headed to Masca with two British men he had met that night.
He shared a final Snapchat from their Airbnb of a hand holding a cigarette at 7.30am.
Jay then tried to make his way back to his holiday accommodation – an 11-hour walk away.
But at around 8.50am he made a desperate call to his friend Lucy saying he was lost in the “middle of nowhere” and had just one per cent battery on his phone.
Jay also said he had cut his leg on a cactus and needed water.
It is unclear whether the call to Brad was separate to the one made to Lucy.
Timeline of Jay Slater’s disappearance
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
SUNDAY JUNE 16 – MONDAY 17
Jay goes to a rave at the 2024 NRG music festival in Tenerife, around Arona on the south of the island
8.35pm – Jay posts a smiling Snapchat video of him laughing with friends
He leaves the rave with two men he met that day and is driven back to their accommodation across the island
MONDAY 17
7.30am – Jay posts a Snapchat of a hand holding a cigarette in the area where the accommodation was – near the rural de Teno Park on the north of the island
8.30am – Jay calls his friend Lucy Law and tells her he missed a bus, had one per cent of battery left on his phone and was stuck in the “middle of nowhere”
9am – A missing persons report is filed and the search for Jay begins
TUESDAY 18
2am – Police knock on the door of Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan’s home and tell her to catch the first flight out to Tenerife
7am – She flies out from Manchester Airport alongside her son Zak to help with the search
Debbie is sent a Snapchat message saying “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money.”
WEDNESDAY 19
12.30pm – Police move the search to the south of the island briefly after a false sighting
Cops search his hotel room for clues as his mum says there was “nothing untoward there”
Debbie gives a heart-wrenching interview where she shares fears he has been “taken” and says “I just want my baby back”
THURSDAY 20
Cops begin day four of the massive search for Jay
FRIDAY 21
Lancashire cops offer to help with the search but Tenerife authorities say they are “satisfied that they have the resources they need”
Search turns to 22,000ft ravine in Masca – part of an area dubbed “the badlands” by locals
SATURDAY 22
The sixth day of the search begins with sniffer dogs, cops, mountain rescue and firefighters again taking to the hills in northern Tenerife
Possible new sighting of Jay places him near a church with two men at 6pm on Monday – although unconfirmed by police
Jay’s dad Warren and brother Zak visit the search site in Tenerife
SUNDAY 23
Cops focus their search around small outbuildings in de Teno park near where Jay’s phone last pinged
Jay’s mum Debbie says trolls are comparing her to Karen Matthews
The GoFundMe set up by Jay’s friend Lucy surpasses £30,000 after just three days
Exclusive Sun footage shows Jay appearing to fall and stumble back up at a rave before he vanished
MONDAY 24
Search for Jay enters eighth day
Police expand search area north to parts of Buenavista del Norte
Jay’s dad says his family are in ‘a living hell’
TUESDAY 25
Brit hiker found by Jay search teams says he ‘didn’t need to be saved’
Madeleine McCann cop lands in Tenerife to join search
Tenerife cops call in reinforcements from Madrid – including specialist sniffer dogs
WEDNESDAY 26
Locals claim they have spotted Jay watching Euros
Investigator reveals descriptions of two men Jay partied with
Cops scour exact spot where ‘mystery grainy figure’ was seen
THURSDAY 27
Detectives ‘fear it’s unlikely Jay will be found alive if in mountains’
Search hones in on series of caves in desolate park
Family ‘turn to help of TikTok sleuth’
FRIDAY 28
GoFundMe goes £10,000 over target as it hits £40,000
Tenerife cops announce huge search for Jay & appeal for volunteers
SATURDAY 29
Cops launch a massive new search for Jay as they call on volunteers to help out
Investigators rule out two mystery Brits seen with Jay before his disappearance
SUNDAY 30
The search for Jay Slater is called off
Haunting photographs revealed the inside of the Tenerife Airbnb where Jay Slater stayed before he vanished.
Cops in Tenerife said officers would continue to investigate the case if any major tip-offs or information comes in.
Attempts to find Jay have often been overshadowed by vile internet trolls and insensitive conspiracy theorists.
The family source from the UK said: “Jay’s family can’t help thinking the trolls have won and that they have got the way.
“So many people have been putting horrible messages out there which has only added to the family’s torment.”
Confirmation of the decision to halt the hunt for Jay came less than 24 hours after a “last push” search was launched.
Five questions still unanswered in Jay Slater's disappearance
By James Halpin
Missing Rolex after ‘scuffle’
Police launched a new probe on Saturday morning over the theft of a Rolex watch just hours before Jay disappeared.
It is unclear exactly how Jay’s disappearance might be linked but one of Jay’s pals told detectives the alleged theft may have led to Jay wandering off on his own to try and find the watch.
The Rolex disappeared when a fight broke out at the club Jay was partying at with investigators questioning taxi drivers and bar staff present on the strip.
Police clear duo
Two mystery Brits who partied with Jay Slater on the night of his disappearance were labelled “not relevant” by investigators.
Investigator Mark Williams-Thomas said the men stayed with Jay at an Airbnb cottage in Tenerife before he vanished.
They are said to both be in their late 30s or early 40s and from Luton, Bedfordshire, with one going by the nickname “Johnny Vegas”.
The men were only briefly asked to speak with cops before being allowed to fly home to the UK.
Just six volunteers for ‘massive’ search
Yesterday, Tenerife cops launched what they called a “massive” new search with the help of specialist volunteers to find the 19-year-old Brit.
However, just six volunteers reportedly turned up, claimed Tiktoker Paul Arnott, 29, who flew in to help with the search.
Jay’s father Warren and older brother Zak were seen at the search site.
The area being searched is a 2000ft ravine that has a steep hiking trail traversing it down to the sea.
Mystery final phone calls
Jay’s last phone call to his pal Lucy Law has been shrouded in mystery with it springing up several questions.
The 18-year-old woman told reporters Jay had called her in a panic at around 8.30am on Monday June 17.
She recalled him saying he wasn’t able to catch a bus and was going to start walking back to his flat.
Jay told her his phone was almost out of power, that he had cut his leg on a prickly cactus and he badly needed a drink.
Pinging phone
Search teams narrowed their efforts to a small group of buildings close to where Jay’s phone last pinged, but found nothing last week.
Jay took a 45 minutes car journey with two men to an Airbnb near Masco in the Rural de Teno, a national park in the island’s north.
He posted a Snapchat picture at the £40-a-night digs at around 7.30am appearing to show him holding a cigarette and walking down some stone steps.
After deciding to leave the cottage, Jay rang Lucy before his mobile went dead at 8.50am near a hiking trail in the park.
Some 30 cops, firefighters and rescuers all took to the mountains in Masca – along with a handful of volunteers – on Saturday.
But the hunt, centred around Jay’s last known location, failed to find any trace of the teen from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire.
A Civil Guard spokeswoman said today: “The search operation has now finished although the case remains open.”
A well-placed source added: “The daily operation which has been going on in and around Masca close to where Jay was last seen has been brought to an end.
“If any information comes in that merits a new search though it will be acted upon.
