Death of Jay Slater

Jay Slater
File:Jay Slater.webp
Disappeared	17 June 2024 Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Status	Missing for 2 months and 23 days
Parents	Warren Slater (father) Debbie Duncan (mother)

On the morning of 17 June 2024, 19-year-old Jay Slater from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire disappeared in Tenerife, Spain after attempting to walk eleven hours back to his accommodation after missing a bus. Slater attended a music festival in south Tenerife with two friends the day before his disappearance.

Local Guardia Civil police and rescuers are searching a 2,000-foot-deep ravine in the Teno Nature Reserve, as well as Masca and surrounding areas in the hunt for Slater.

Background

Jay Slater

Slater is from Oswaldtwistle, a town in Lancashire, North West England. In August 2023, Slater was given an 18-month community order with 25 days of rehabilitation activities and 150 unpaid work after he was involved in a serious attack on a 17-year-old in 2021.

Debbie Duncan

Slater's mother, Debbie Duncan flew out to Tenerife the day after his disappearance.

Disappearance

Slater attended the three-day NRG music festival in south Tenerife on Sunday afternoon. After the festival, Slater went to the mountain village of Masca with two men he met at the festival. At around 8:00 a.m. the following day, Ofelia Medina Hernandez, the last known person in contact with Slater, told him that his bus back was due at 10:00 a.m. Hernandez recalls driving past Slater as he "walked fast". Fifteen minutes later, at 8:15 a.m., Slater called his friend Lucy Law to tell her that he was lost as he walked from Masca to where he was staying in Los Cristianos, on the south coast of Tenerife. Slater said that his phone had 1% battery and that he needed water. His last known location is the Rural de Teno National Park. At 9:04 a.m., Slater was reported missing.

Responses

On 21 June, Lancashire Constabulary published a statement regarding Slater's disappearance. It said they have 'specialist officers who are continuing to support Jay's family', and that they have offered support to the Guardia Civil who rejected it, however, the offer remains open and they will be in contact should their position change.

On 22 June, the NRG (New Rave Generation) music festival which Slater attended before his disappearance released a statement.

Social media

A Facebook group to help find Slater was set up by his family on 18 June, the day after his disappearance. As of 22 June, the group has over 500,000 members. On 21 June, Rachel Louise Harg, a moderator of the group, criticised members of the public for theorising about Slater's location and living status. She continued later on that day by saying that people had hacked into Slater's social media accounts, with his Instagram account being 'accessed multiple times'.

Slater's friend Lucy started a GoFundMe page to support his friends and family who had travelled to Tenerife while the search continued, which has raised over £27,000 as of 22 June. Slater's mother, Debbie Duncan, said that she did not want any fundraising pages to be made and has urged people not to donate to any. Following the start of the fundraiser, GoFundMe published a statement, with a spokesperson saying 'all campaigns are under review and no money will be transferred unless we can verify it goes straight to his family'. This came after widespread online speculation about the intention of how the money would be used. Facebook group administrator Rachel Louise Harg said the funds raised would go to Slater's friends and family staying in Tenerife.