A search is underway for Jay Slater, a 19-year-old British teenager from Lancashire who has been missing in Tenerife since Monday.
Slater, who was on holiday on the Spanish island, last contacted his friend Lucy after missing a bus following a night out.
He told her he planned to walk back to his accommodation, a journey expected to take around 11 hours on foot.
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During their conversation around 8:15 a.m. on Monday, Slater mentioned he was lost, needed water, and had only 1% battery left on his phone. Shortly after, his phone cut off, with its last known location being the Rural de Teno park, a popular hiking area in the mountains.
Lucy revealed that one of the individuals Slater met on his night out had driven him to their apartment in a rental car, and Slater had not realized how far away it was. “He’s ended up out in the middle of nowhere. Jay thought he could get home from there,” she said. “But in the morning, he started walking, using his phone’s maps, and ended up in the mountains with nothing around.”
At the time of his disappearance, Slater was wearing a white T-shirt, shorts, trainers, and was believed to be carrying a black bag. His mother, Debbie, flew to Tenerife on Tuesday morning, expressing her deep concern.
“I’m obviously beside myself with worry, which is why I’ve flown out here with my eldest son to do anything we can to help,” she told the Daily Mail. She added that local police were taking the situation very seriously and doing their best to locate her son.
A Civil Guard spokeswoman in Tenerife confirmed that extensive efforts were being made to find Slater. These efforts include deploying a specialist mountain rescue team and a police helicopter, with a focus on the area around the village of Masca. Additional emergency services, including firefighters, are also involved in the search operation.
The Foreign Office has stated, “We are supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”
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