Jay Slater search update as 'significant new info' given to police 'explaining actions on the night'

An investigative journalist and former detective who has been involved with the investigation into the disappearance of Jay Slater has offered an update.

Mark Williams-Thomas presented the documentary The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, that exposed the notorious paedophile's heinous crimes, and has investigated a number of other cases including the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and the PPE scandal during the pandemic.

He's now been involved with the search for Jay Slater, who went missing in Tenerife the morning after he'd attended a festival on the island.

The last contact anyone has had with him was on 17 June as he was walking back from a home in the northwest part of Tenerife, saying that he didn't know where he was and that his phone battery was running low.

Police have ended the official search, but said they would continue to respond to information they received.

Williams-Thomas had previously said that Slater had been heading back from an Airbnb near Masca, having been told he could get a bus.

Police have said that the person renting out the Airbnb that Slater stayed in was 'irrelevant' to the investigation.

The investigator said that Slater had walked for about 30 minutes before going off-road, and that looking into the disappearance had 'opened up an established criminal network with links to drugs, violent crime and theft'.

Now he's added that he's since received a 'significant new piece of information' that he's shared with the authorities.

In a video posted on social media, Williams-Thomas said that by Monday (15 July) it'd be four weeks to the day that Slater had gone missing in Tenerife, adding that all of the messages people had sent in with information since then had been 'read and noted'.

Williams-Thomas explained that people shouldn't tell him about theories or discussions they'd seen on social media as investigators were already well across those platforms, saying 'there is no need to contact us regarding anything you've read or seen online'.

He added that they'd received some 'valuable information' that they'd managed to 'turn into useful intelligence and evidence'.

On top of that he asked anyone who saw Jay in the last 48 hours before his disappearance to get in touch once more.

"We've now had the opportunity to speak with or obtain information from nearly all the people that we know in the hours and days leading up to his disappearance," he said.

"However, there are still a few that we've not spoken to and I would urge them to get in contact so they can be ruled out of the investigation.

"Of those people we've spoken to we are aware that not everything they've told us will be the truth.

"There are a number of reasons for this, including their own involvement in criminal activity."

Williams-Thomas added that a number of Slater's friends 'have fully engaged with us' and noted they'd discussed things 'that could cause them to be unfairly judged by the public'.

The investigator said that Slater was most likely 'in or around the mountains', and that the new information he'd passed along to the police 'provides some clarity as to why he may have left in a hurry and did not want to return to the rental'.

He added that many of the theories you might have heard about the Oswaldtwistle teen were 'just made up', and finished his update by saying 'our thoughts remain with Jay's family and friends'.

Jay Slater's disappearance: timeline of key moments

Sunday 16 June

Jay attends the New Rave Generation music festival with friends at Papagayo nightclub in the tourist resort of Playa de las Americas in the south of the island.

Monday 17 June

In the early hours of Monday, Jay goes to stay in an apartment in the north of the island with people he had met over the course of the night.

7.30am

Jay posts a picture on Snapchat from the doorway of the property he stayed at overnight, tagged as being in Rural de Teno park.

8.30am

He calls his friend, Lucy Law, telling her he had attempted to walk back to his accommodation after missing his bus – a journey that would take more than ten hours.

Jay Slater went missing on 17 June (X/@mwilliamsthomas)

He said he had 'cut his leg' on a cactus and had 'no idea where he was'.

He also said his phone was on one percent battery. His last known location is Rural de Teno park.

9.04am

He is reported missing.

Tuesday 18 June

After friends spend the previous day searching to no avail, local police and mountain rescue teams scour Rural de Teno park for Jay.

His family fly out to Tenerife to join the search.

Wednesday 19 June

The search is temporarily moved to the Los Cristianos area in the south of the island due to a potential lead, but this amounts to nothing and the search returns north.

Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan says she fears her son had 'been taken against his will'.

A TV detective has joined the hunt for Jay Slater (X/@mwilliamsthomas)

Sunday 23 June

TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas offers his team's expertise in the search for Jay. He writes on X: "If [Jay's family] 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."

Sunday 30 June

The Tenerife Civil Guard announce they are ending the search for Jay after 13 days, but the investigation remains open and they will follow up any new leads. Jay's family vow to continue the search themselves.