Jay Slater's father 'disappointed' at number of volunteers searching in Tenerife for missing teenager
The father of missing British teen Jay Slater has expressed disappointment at the number of volunteers who joined a mass search in Tenerife.
The 19-year-old Briton has not been seen since June 17 on the Spanish island, which prompted the Civil Guard to ask for public help in tracking him down.
Reports suggested the volunteers spent Saturday looking through a vast area from the village of Masca, near Mr Slater's last-known location.
However, the tough job in 23C heat was being completed by a lesser number of Good Samaritans than Jay’s father Warren had hoped for.
On Friday, the Guardia Civil appealed for volunteer associations, such as firefighters, and individual volunteers who were experts in rugged terrain to assist in a "busqueda masiva", or massive search, on Saturday.
Sky reported the number was 30 to 40 while the Mail suggested that only six people turned up to help the effort.
Warren Slater, 58, said that apart from his older son Zak and British TikTok mountaineer Paul Arnott he was not given assistance from their country.
He told the Mail: “It's a bit disappointing that there are no British apart from Paul but I suppose to them he's just a British lad who's come out here and got drunk.”
“You can see just how dangerous it is,” he added in regards to the heat and the terrain. “What gets me is the trollers who are having a go at us for not searching.”
Jay attended a music festival on June 16 in southern Tenerife but vanished following an attempt to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus.
He called a friend the next morning to say he was “lost in the mountains”.
His family arrived the next day and search teams began in the area.
Rachel Hargreaves, 34, the mother of Jay’s best friend Brad has also travelled out to Tenerife and said online trolls have blighted the search effort. She added that one had even impersonated her late mother.
Ms Hargreaves runs a Facebook group of some 590,000 set to help find Jay and has been assisting his mother Debbie Duncan.
“We’re living the worst nightmare you can live and this does not help,” Ms Hargreaves told the BBC.
“The picture of my mum is an old one but it was on my Facebook and somehow they have got their hands on it
“I’m a strong person and that affected me. Things don’t normally get to me.”
Of the search on Saturday, Sky’s Becky Johnson said it was “another day of no news”.
She wrote: “The Civil Guard put a call out for volunteers experienced in walking among this terrain to join specialist teams for a ‘massive search’.
“But just a handful of locals turned up to help police, volunteer firefighters and other volunteer rescue teams.
“By early evening it was over. Another day and no news.”
