More than £70,000 has been raised for Jay Slater’s family following a heartfelt plea from his devastated mother for funds to give him the “send-off he deserved.”
The family’s GoFundMe page has garnered £70,081 from over 5,600 donations since it was set up the day after Mr Slater vanished in a remote part of northern Tenerife in July.
The 19-year-old’s body was found on Monday after a gruelling four-week search involving police, mountain rescue teams, and volunteers.
On Thursday, his mother, Debbie Duncan, expressed her gratitude: “We are overwhelmed with grief and are so grateful for your support. We want to give our boy the send-off he deserves, so please do continue to share and support our fundraiser however you can.”
Jay Slater, an apprentice bricklayer, was last heard from on Monday, June 17. He had told a friend he planned to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus, a journey expected to take around 11 hours on foot. He later travelled to an Airbnb in the remote Masca valley with two men, one of them known to be Briton Ayub Qassim, but left their accommodation at around 8 a.m. to travel home.
The teenager was last seen by a cafe owner, who said he had asked about bus times before deciding not to wait two hours for a service. She then saw him walk out of the village, and his phone was last detected in the Rural de Teno National Park, near where his body was found weeks later.
A frantic search was launched for Mr Slater after he disappeared, with police, mountain rescue teams, and volunteers scouring the mountainous terrain for two weeks. Despite the official search being called off, his heartbroken family vowed to keep looking for him and criticized local police and residents for not doing more to help their son.
At the time, his mother Debbie Duncan shared: “As we approach four weeks since our beautiful Jay’s disappearance, we cannot put into words the heartache we are suffering as a family. Jay is a typical young man who loves life with a bright future ahead of him. This month will mark the end of his three-year apprenticeship, with the world at his feet. He is loved by everyone and has a close bond with his family and many, many friends.”
She also addressed the misinformation and speculation surrounding his disappearance: “We would also like to say that we are aware of the awful comments and conspiracy theories that are filling social media. These theories are hindering the people trying to help us in their investigations here in Tenerife and are vile to see as a family.”
The outpouring of support and donations reflects the community’s desire to help the family honour Jay Slater’s memory and alleviate some of their burdens during this unimaginably difficult time.
