Spanish police have announced the discovery of human remains believed to be those of Jay Slater, a British teen who went missing nearly a month ago on the island of Tenerife. Formal identification has not yet been made, but all indications suggest it is the 19-year-old.
“The Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group of the Civil Guard has located the lifeless body of a young man in the Masca area after 29 days of constant search,” the police statement said. “All indications indicate that it could be the young British man who has been missing since last June 17.
LBT Global, a charity supporting Slater’s family, confirmed that the body was found with Slater’s clothing and possessions near the last known location of his mobile phone.
Slater was last seen on June 17 as he set out to walk from Masca, a village in the northwest of the Canary Island, to Los Cristianos in the south, where he had been staying. The journey, which would have taken approximately 11 hours on foot over rugged terrain, proved fatal.
According to his friend Lucy Law, Slater made a frantic call that morning, saying he was “lost in the mountains, he wasn’t aware of his surroundings, he desperately needed a drink and his phone was on 1%.”
Police stated that the body was discovered in a very remote area, and an autopsy will be conducted to confirm the cause of death and determine if it was accidental.
Slater, an apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle in northwest England, had attended a music festival the day before his disappearance.
The discovery brings a tragic end to the intensive search effort that has been ongoing for nearly a month, involving helicopters, drones, and search dogs.
