Map Reveals Jay Slater’s Final Steps in Remote Valley, Miles from Safety
In the remote wilderness of Tenerife, British teenager Jay Slater met a tragic end. After losing contact with his friend in the mountainous Masca region on the morning of June 17, the 19-year-old from Lancashire disappeared without a trace.
The previous night had been filled with joy and laughter as Jay and his friends partied at the Papagayo Beach Club in Playa de las Americas, celebrating the end of the NRG music festival. Just a few hours later, Jay found himself stranded and alone over 30 kilometers away in Rural de Teno Park.
Surrounded by towering gorges and rocky cliffs, Jay decided to embark on an 11-hour trek back to his hotel. Unfortunately, he never made it.
Yesterday, tributes were left by Jay’s family off the main road leading north from the village of Masca, near the isolated ravine where rescue workers had to cut through the undergrowth with machetes to reach him, as reported by the Manchester Evening News.
Bouquets of blue and white flowers carried heartfelt messages from Jay’s mother, Debbie Duncan, his father, Warren Slater, and his older brother, Zak. These were placed on a dirt track 22 miles from the town Jay was trying to reach. His disappearance triggered weeks of intensive searches by the Civil Guard and mountain rescue teams, with the internet awash with theories about what had happened as Jay’s family shared numerous desperate appeals.
Four weeks later, search crews discovered the lifeless body of a man. Specialist mountain teams and police used a helicopter to retrieve the remains, found in a steep ravine surrounded by mountains and undergrowth. The area was described by the police as “rough and inaccessible.”
It was subsequently revealed that the body was Jay’s. An investigation by the Canary Islands’ High Court of Justice is still ongoing, although Jay’s autopsy revealed he suffered “multiple injuries compatible with a fall in a rocky area.”
A map now illustrates just how far Jay’s body was found from the Airbnb rental where he stayed, and the vast area where his phone last ‘pinged’ before running out of battery on the morning he was reported missing. After spending a few hours at the holiday cottage with two British men, who were quickly ruled out of inquiries, Jay walked uphill towards a viewpoint near where his mobile phone location was picked up.
He had informed his friends he was going to attempt the 11-hour walk back to Los Cristianos, in the south of the island, instead of waiting for a bus. However, his journey took him in the wrong direction. The fourth marker delineates the exact location in a precarious and treacherous ravine where his remains were ultimately discovered, roughly two miles from where he was last before his mobile phone battery depleted.
This mountainous area is situated over 20 miles from the bustling resort where he was vacationing with his friends, a journey that spans more than an hour by vehicle. Jay’s mother, Debbie Duncan, confirmed receiving “the worst news” upon learning that the body found was indeed her missing son. She said, “I just can’t believe this could happen to my beautiful boy. Our hearts are broken.”