Jay Slater’s desperate mum slams trolls over £33k GoFundMe as Tenerife cops hit back after turning down Brit police help
MISSING Jay Slater’s heartbroken mum has slammed online trolls questioning what the £33,000 GoFundMe donations will be used for.
Cops looking for the 19-year-old in Tenerife have also hit back at critics blasting them for turning down help from British police.
Jay, 19, has been missing for a week now with search crews failing to find any trace of him so far despite the case gaining global attention.
Dozens of online sleuths have started to question parts of the case -which infuriated Jay’s mum distraught mum Debbie Duncan.
A desperate Debbie lambasted the huge number of cruel conspiracy theorists – saying she has been left feeling “very let down”.
A GoFundMe page set up by close pal Lucy Law surpassed its £30,000 goal within days – but some have questioned what the money will be used for.
Debbie said: “I am really am saddened by all your comments. You seem to be so bothered about this GoFundMe page.
“I really hope I am not taking my son home in a body bag.
“I really cannot believe the British public are not supporting me in trying to find Jay. This may happen to any of you one day. Very let down by you all.”
Debbie also pleaded with the public to let the cops handle the situation rather than getting involved online.
Lucy, the pal Jay frantically phoned last Monday, has also hit out at Spanish police in recent days claiming not enough is being done.
She called on British officers to get involved in the hunt after it was revealed Lancashire Police’s offer to help Jay was last week rejected by local cops.
Civil Guard officers on the island told their British counterparts they had the “resources” required.
It led to backlash from Jay’s family and friends who wanted cops to swoop in from the UK to join the hunt.
Now police in Tenerife have warned they will not be sidetracked by criticism as they insisted they are “totally focused” on the search.
Tenerife’s force has yet to make any official comment about the Lancashire Police claims and insisted today it had no intention of doing so at this stage.
A well-placed source said: “The Civil Guard is not going to reply to criticism or praise it receives here.
“Officers are just doing their job, they’re focused on the search and they’re going to continue with the work they’re doing without anyone taking time out to respond to the evaluations other people are making.
“The force is aware of some of the comments that are already out there but are prioritising what needs to be done which is to search for Jay.
“Just imagine how much chatter there’d be if we did publicly respond.”
Jay’s devastated mum was then brought close to tears as she told news channel ITN how vicious trolls have been comparing her to Karen Matthews – a woman dubbed “Britain’s worst mum”.
Matthews made headlines in 2008 when she cooked up a sickening plot with relative Michael Donovan to make money off her daughter’s fake kidnapping.
Matthews and Donovan devised the plan to claim £50,000 in reward money for finding Shannon despite her being tied up to a bed at Donovan’s home.
It comes as…
- Footage obtained by The Sun shows Jay appearing to stagger back to his feet at a club
- Jay’s mum gave a tearful plea and said “I just want my baby back”
- Owner of Airbnb where Jay stayed saw him “walking fast” up a dangerous ravine
- Brit cops offered to fly out and help but Spanish officials said no
- Jay’s mum slammed the Tenerife police investigation
- A possible new sighting of Jay placed him 3.5 miles away from where he vanished with two men
- The missing teen’s dad and brother visited the search site
- Cops turn their search to several brick outbuildings near Jay’s last known location
The frantic search for Jay entered its eighth day on Monday with crews continuing to draw blanks on where the teen may be.
Drones, sniffer dogs and helicopters have all been involved in the mammoth mission, with the operation now focused on three main areas near where Jay was last known to be.
Jay made a final call to Lucy last Monday morning to tell her he was lost in the middle of nowhere, his phone was about to die and he needed water.
He had been to a rave the night before with pals Lucy and Brad, but left the club with two men he had met that night.
The teen went back to their Airbnb in an unforgiving mountainous area near the village of Masca.
After leaving their accommodation, Jay missed the bus home on Monday morning and was faced with a tough 10-hour walk.
He has not been seen or heard from since.
A Civil Guard spokesman said this morning the search for Jay was continuing in the area near Masca in the Teno Rural Park.
His phone last “pinged” in the park with officers trying to find any evidence of where he went next.
The spokesperson said: “No hypothesis is being ruled out.”
It comes as Jay’s family believe there may have been a sighting of him in the village of Santiago del Teide hours after he disappeared.
Grainy footage shows a figure walking past a church around 7km from the Masca village Jay vanished from one week ago.
His loved ones have shared a grainy CCTV shot of a mystery figure from around 6pm the day Jay disappeared that they say has a likeness to Jay.
Jay’s mum said a man had come forward to say he saw someone matching her son’s description sitting on a bench with two men in the same area.
Cops on the island refocused their efforts around a 2,000ft ravine on Friday – an area known by locals as “the badlands”.
Locals and experts warned of the perilous conditions in the area – where the air is “thin”, temperatures change rapidly and the mountains drop sharply to the water below.
A Civil Guard source said officers involved in the search are still hopeful Jay will be found alive.
But that they are “acutely aware time is of the essence here”.
Warren Slater, Jay’s dad, said last week “I just want my boy back” as he overlooked the search area with his other son Zak.
He said his son’s disappearance “doesn’t make sense” as he put up missing posters in the village of Santiago del Teide and shared the CCTV image.
A tearful Warren told MEN: “It started out as it being a lad who had gone walking and got lost, or that he may have fallen.
“But it doesn’t make sense. Nobody would walk off that road. Why would he have gone uphill?
“It’s dangerous; it’s a massive mountain. It’s not just a hill. It was only when I went up there myself [that I noticed]. People that go out to a party don’t come up here.”
A firefighter familiar with the area said it is “strange” that Jay hasn’t been found yet.
As former detective Mark Williams-Thomas – who worked on the Madeleine McCann case – offered to help the search effort.
Investigative journalist Mark said he believes he would be able to work out quickly whether there was “third party involvement” in Jay’s disappearance.
Jay’s mum has shared concerns that something “untoward” may have happened to her son as the search goes into its eighth day.
Mark posted on X: “I have this morning reached out to missing Jay Slater’s mum offering the help of my team to get her answers as to what has happened to Jay.
“Lots of speculation about what could have happened and if they give me total access and with feet on the ground I will very quickly be able to say if his disappearance is him alone or if it has third party involvement.”
Mark produced and featured in Madeleine McCann: The Case Against Christian B, a documentary about the toddler’s disappearance in 2003.
He worked as a police officer with the Met for around 10 years and then became a private detective.
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