Missing persons charity boss slams trolls who reported seeing Jay Slater at ‘Sainsbury’s & watching the Euros at a pub’
THE FUMING boss of the missing persons charity aiding Jay Slater’s family has slammed cruel trolls who sent fake leads on the teen’s whereabouts.
They reported seeing the 19-year-old at Sainsbury’s, watching a Euros game and on the Eurostar before his body was found on Monday.
Matthew Searle, CEO of LBT Global, said he got hundreds of nasty messages, emails and phone calls with false tips on the apprentice bricklayer after he went missing on June 17.
Vile trolls dared to sent hoax ransom demands to the teen’s devastated family claiming to be holding Jay hostage.
Others claimed that Jay had been seen in a Sainsbury’s in southern England, watching a Euros match at a pub and on a Eurostar train.
Cops are now said to be investigating the messages received by Searle and Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan under telecommunications laws.
The charity boss said the trolls had slowed legitimate investigations into Jay’s disappearance because he needed to “follow up on every single lead”.
He told The Sunday Times: “We knew for a fact a lot of these were baseless but you have to follow up every single lead.
“So I’ve investigated sightings of Jay Slater in a Sainsbury’s in Basingstoke, watching a Euros match in a pub in Droitwich and another of him on the Eurostar.”
He added: “It’s been very, very difficult.
“We’re going to get a case where the police will be dealing with the malicious side of it, and they miss an opportunity to actually rescue someone and someone’s life will be lost.”
Sending a false communication that causes “annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety to another” is a crime under the Communications Act of 2003.
Those found guilty of the offence may face up to six months in prison.
Many of those who sent the nasty bogus tips used “burner” SIM cards and single-use email addresses, making it difficult for him to identify those involved.
Searle plans to meet with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper about the damage and hurt caused by online trolls who transformed Jay’s tragic disappearance into a true-crime spectacle.
He told Sky News earlier this week: “Ultimately it hinders the search and it’s terrifyingly horrible for a family that are going through this.
“Wherever there’s a real-life crime drama acting out in front of our eyes on television, half the population need to jump on Facebook, set up a Facebook group… to tell the world ‘what really happened’.
“It’s really worrying to the point where our charity thinks it’s time that it has to stop.”
Matt Searle previously slammed online trolls who disbelieved that Jay’s family need all that cash and more through his GoFundMe page.
He said: “This hate comes from people who, I assume, have never had to repatriate a deceased loved one.
“Those costs can top £20k easily.
“These people probably haven’t had to arrange their own child’s funeral, nor felt the need to make it the biggest and best they can as it’s the last thing they’ll ever do for their child.”
Searle also revealed how the cash is being spent, saying there was only “very little spare” from the cash.
He said the search and rescue charities that looked for Jay have had their “costs covered”.
The cash has also covered the family’s accommodation as they have waited and hoped to find Jay alive.
The family is also making a donation to LBT Global “for the support we have given, support which is outside of that we are funded to do.”
Meanwhile, Jay Slater’s family hope to repatriate his body within the next 48 hours as they prepare to “make the hardest journey of their lives”, sources have revealed.
A GoFundMe raising money to support the family and pay for a funeral back in the UK reached £70,000 on Saturday.
Jay’s devastated mum Debbie Duncan is currently working with authorities in Tenerife to “finalise the last details” which would allow his body to be released.
The Sun understands the authorities are now “very close” to allowing this to happen.
A source said: “Officials are literally dealing with a final couple of matters and then Jay’s family will be able to take him back home and to start planning for the funeral.
“For Jay’s family the last few days have been horrendous.
“Until they get home they don’t really feel as if they can start the grieving process or the process of saying goodbye.
“Taking Jay’s body back will be the hardest journey of their lives. But they know it’s something they have to do.
“Their focus and aim is to give Jay the most fitting send-off possible and to celebrate and remember his life.”
TIMELINE OF THE TRAGEDY
THE grim discovery of a body comes after weeks of agony for Jay’s friends and family. Here is how the events unfolded:
Sunday, June 16: Jay and his friends party at the last day of NRG music festival being held at Papagayo night club in Playa de la Americas, Tenerife.
June 17 3-6am: Jay leaves with Ayub Qassim and another man for a £40-a-night Airbnb 23 miles away in the village of Masca.
7.30am: Jay shares a photo on Snapchat standing at doorway of the Airbnb.
8.50am: He calls pal Lucy Mae Law and says he is “lost in the middle of nowhere” with no water, a cut to his leg and one per cent on his phone.
Tuesday, June 18: Pals search area but no sign of Jay. Local cops and mountain rescue teams start official search. Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan flies to Tenerife.
June 19-20: Spanish police deploy drones, dogs and a helicopter, but find no trace. Search moves to Los Cristianos amid possible sighting, but it is ruled out and they return to Rural de Teno, near Masca.
June 21: Lancashire Police offer support but it is declined.
June 22: Mum Debbie issues emotional appeal to Jay saying “We just need you home.”
June 24: Claims of Jay sighting in Santiago del Teide — near to where he disappeared — and family believe a grainy CCTV image could be of him.
June 25: Debbie issues plea for her son to come home as more friends fly out and TV investigator Mark Williams- Thomas joins search.
June 29: Cops rule Mr Qassim, and other man at Airbnb, out of investigation.
June 30: Spanish cops officially suspend hunt but say probe “remains open”. His family continue to search.
Yesterday: A body is found by helicopter search team close to where his phone last pinged. His possessions are discovered next to human remains. Spanish cops say it points to an “accidental fall”.