Jay Slater's mum issues update as search for her son nears four weeks
Jay Slater's mum, Debbie Duncan, has issued a new statement as the search for her son nears its fourth week.
Jay went missing from the northwest of Tenerife back on Monday 17 June, after attending a festival with a group of friends over the weekend.
He was last heard from on the Monday morning after calling a friend and telling them his phone only had one percent battery, and that he 'needed a drink'.
He also said that he had cut his leg on a cactus, and didn't know where he was.
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However, while the official police search was called off, Jay's family and friends have continued their search.
Mark Williams-Thomas - who has worked on several high profile investigations, flew out to Tenerife to help with the case.
One detail that has since emerged is that after the festival, Jay went to a £40-a-night Airbnb rental in Masca with a man named Ayub Qassim and another lad in the early hours.
Thomas explained that he has been in touch with Qassim, 31, to gather more crucial information.
After speaking with him, Thomas believes that all the evidence 'strongly supports that Jay left the Airbnb suddenly, walked for thirty minutes before wandering off road on the Monday where he dropped a location ping'.
Meanwhile, Paul Arnott, also known on TikTok as @downtherapids has been sharing regular updates as he continues to search for Jay.
As the investigation now enters its fourth week, Jay's mum, Debbie Duncan, has shared on update, which has been posted on Facebook.
It reads: "Jay's family would like to thank you all for your continued support at this difficult time. Almost 4 weeks on and we are still no further in finding our beautiful boy.
"He was only 4 days into his holiday and his disappearance still remains a mystery. We are still here in Tenerife searching daily with the help of volunteers and local hiking groups.
"Paul is also still working tirelessly, which we are so grateful for and send him so much love and respect."
Debbie continued to explain that they have enlisted the help of a team of experts from the Netherlands, who will also be getting involved in the search.
"As you all know the Guardia Civil gave up the land search after 12 days," she said.
"We have been actively working with search and rescue teams and we can now confirm that we have a team of experts flying in over the weekend from the Netherlands, who will carry on the search with their specialist dogs.
"We are only able to fund this with the generosity of all those who donated. The team are the Signi Zoekhondon and this has taken lots of planning to get them over so thank you so much for your kindness.
"Jay is just a normal hardworking young lad from Lancashire who is very loved by all who know him. He is about to finish his 3 year apprenticeship this month. Although we don't have any answers to his disappearance we obviously have to remain positive.
"Please continue to pray for him and our family. There is a lot of negativity unfortunately and this is adding to the heartbreak of the unknown.
"So I would please just say send the love and positive thoughts to Jay, our beautiful son."
Topics: Jay Slater, News
Lucy Devine