Police Question Locals After Witnesses Claim Missing Teen Jay Slater Was Seen Watching Euros in Tenerife

Spanish police are questioning locals who claimed they saw the missing teenager Jay Slater at a bar watching the Euros, Tenerife’s mayor has revealed.

Several witnesses have reported seeing Jay, 19, from Lancashire, watching football in Tenerife after his reported disappearance. Jay has been missing in the Canary Islands since the early hours of June 17, with a large-scale police search still underway.

The mayor of Santiago del Teide, Emilio Jose Navarro, said some locals told him they had seen the missing teen watching some Euro matches. Jay’s family is currently on the island and has shared a grainy CCTV still that they believe could be the missing teenager.

“We know the police are investigating (the CCTV images). They have asked for the town hall’s security cameras and they are also working with the company that handles those cameras,” Mr. Navarro said. Speaking to MailOnline, Mr. Navarro clarified that he had not seen Jay watching football but that witnesses claimed they had. “There has been a lot of fake news and misunderstanding of what I said,” he told the publication. “To be clear, I did not say I saw him watching football; locals have told me that they have heard from others that they saw someone looking like the boy in a bar at Los Gigantes further along the coast.”

Jay was last heard from by his friend Lucy on June 17. His mother Debbie Duncan and her son’s friends flew out to Tenerife to assist in the search efforts, alongside his ex-girlfriend Jessica Ingham. Speaking ahead of the search on Tuesday, Ms. Duncan said, “It’s been a week now and it’s been awful. I’ve barely slept and I’m at my wits’ end. The Spanish police are doing a good job and we are getting updated from the consulate so we just put our faith in them.”

Speaking to MailOnline, she continued, “I know people in the UK have come forward as well who were at the festival and they are giving details of what they know, but I’m not being told about that. Jay’s very good friends from home have also been over and have put up posters. They are good kids and like me just want him home.”

Friends of the missing British teenager have criticized online theories about his disappearance, urging people to be considerate of his family. Jay’s friend and ex-girlfriend Jessica, 19, said, “What really gets me is all these online detectives who have got nothing better to do than spread malicious rumors and gossip. It’s not helping the situation. People need to remember he is a missing person, and his mother is absolutely sick with worry and she doesn’t need to read all kinds of rubbish that are being written about him.”

Drones, sniffers dogs, and helicopters have been searching the Rural de Teno National Park and its surroundings in northern Tenerife since 19-year-old Jay Slater vanished more than a week ago. Much of the hunt has been focused on the 2,000ft ravine where his phone last pinged a nearby cell tower at 8.50 am on June 17.

Jay, an apprentice bricklayer, headed to Masca with two British men at the end of a three-day rave he flew to Tenerife to attend. Jay told his friend he was lost in the middle of nowhere with no water and had just one percent battery on his phone. When she told him to return to where he had walked from, he said he did not know where that was. He sounded disoriented and explained that he was “in the middle of mountains” with “nothing around”.

Jay’s friends have criticized Spanish police for “not doing a good enough job” in the search for him. However, officers have said they are “totally focused” on tracking the 19-year-old down and will continue to prioritize that, despite facing criticism. Lancashire Police said they had offered to help but were rejected.

In an unrelated event, British man David Larkin, 51, was found by Spanish police as they continued their search for Jay. Officers said they rescued a “tired and disorientated” man in mountainous terrain, but Mr. Larkin, an experienced hiker, said he did not need help. “I can tell you now; I wasn’t tired and I wasn’t disoriented, and I didn’t need rescuing,” he told the Mail. “I think there was a lot lost in translation… I had water, I was wearing layers, I had my rucksack with food and I’m an experienced hiker.”

Police initially said in an online post: “Locals observed how said hiker entered very early into an area of difficult access not suitable for travel and after several hours passed without him returning to the starting point, they alerted the agents who were at that time in the search for missing young man, Jay Slater. Tired and disoriented, he was located by the agents and the rescue team who helped him get out of the ravine.”

Explaining what happened, Mr. Larkin said: “The mountain rescue people took my picture and then dropped me off, and I’m very grateful but I didn’t need helping, and to be honest it extended my day. I did go in through a difficult path, and the trail isn’t that well marked but I do know the way, I managed it and when they came towards me I did explain I was ok.” He added that he was unable to return home until nearly 7 pm after being taken to safety “the long way”. “I don’t want to appear ungrateful, and I thanked them for their concern but I was fine,” he said.