Sick fraudsters create fake GoFundMe page for Brit teenager missing in Tenerife
19 June 2024, 12:26
The family of the British teenager who went missing in Tenerife have warned the public to not donate to fake fundraising pages set up claiming to help find him.
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Jay Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, had travelled to the Canary Islands for a weekend music festival with two friends when he disappeared late on Sunday evening.
The teenager was attending the 'New Rave Generation' (NRG) festival, but chose to stay behind with a group of strangers he had met instead of returning to where he was staying with friends.
He disappeared after calling one of his friends, Lucy Mae, at around 8am on Monday sounding disorientated, explaining that he was "in the middle of mountains" with "nothing around".
His family, who said they have said they "have never been so worried" for the safety of Jay, have now had to take to social media to alert concerned strangers about falling for fake fundraising pages
It is understood Seven fake GoFundMe pages have been set up for donations in the family's name with several people already donating.
On a Facebook group created by the family called "Jay Slater Missing", they said: "This is the only official "missing Jay Slater" Facebook group. Jay's mother DOES NOT want a GoFundMe set up so DO NOT donate to one!!"
Several users replied that there are "about seven" fake fundraisers people donated "£100+" to but it is understood that the pages have all been taken down as of this morning.
Jay's mother, who flew out to Tenerife to help with the search, also revealed that she had received "sickening" prank calls from several hidden numbers claiming they had taken Jay and were holding him for ransom.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News about Jay's disappearance, his friend Lucy said: "He's gone on a night out, he's gone to a friend's house, someone that he has met on holiday.
"One of the people he has met has hired a car out of here, so he's driven them back to his apartment and Jay has gone there not realising how far away it is."He's ended up out in the middle of nowhere. Jay was obviously thinking he would be able to get home from there.
"But then in the morning he's set off walking, using his Maps on his phone and ended up in the middle of mountains with nothing around.
"He rang me saying his phone was on 1 per cent, he said 'I don't know where I am, I need a drink and my phone is about to die'."
A final Snapchat video from Jay has revealed he was smiling and laughing on the evening before he went missing.
Lucy said she is frantically searching for her friend on the island, having made several reports to local police in Tenerife and made contact with the British Embassy.
Lucy has spoken to the people Jay was staying with on Sunday night who said the teen left their apartment around 8 am on Monday.
"I've never been so worried in my life. I was there all yesterday, a lovely lady messaged me on Facebook and said she had hired a car and would drive me up there", Lucy added.
"We were there all of yesterday, we were driving around looking around everywhere, looking in all the nooks and crannies."
Speaking from the south of the island, his mother Debbie said: "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.
"We're just praying the police or someone finds Jay. I know there's a mountain rescue team out and a helicopter.
"Nothing's ever going to be enough when your youngest son's gone missing but it sounds as if the police here are taking this very seriously and doing the best job they can."
According to friends, Jay attempted to make his way home across a mountainous area close to Tenerife's Teno Rural Park around 8am while his phone is believed to have switched off 8:50am.
The last known location registered close to the PR-TF51 hiking trail, several hundred feet above the village of Masca in southern Tenerife.
Read more: Three children missing after day out at Thorpe Park as police launch urgent search
He was said to be wearing a white t-shirt, shorts, trainers and a black bag at the time he disappeared.
The British Foreign Office have now said they are in contact with the family.
“We are supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities,” they said in a statement.
Posting to a Facebook group set up in an effort to locate him, Jessica Rogers, Jays sister-in-law, noted that the family have "had no updates".
One friend wrote on the Facebook site "I can’t take my eyes off the Masca webcam! Been staring at it for hours thinking somehow he’s just gonna dander down them steps. Stranger things have happened eh"
Another wrote: "Hoping jay is found soon, every mothers worst nightmare."
Temperatures in the south of Tenerife peaked at around 26 degrees celsius on Monday.
Before his phone ran out of battery, his last known location registered in the 'Rural de Teno' National Park - a mountainous area popular with hikers.
The park also has a live 24hour webcam which friends have been accessing in a bid to catch a glimpse of the teenager.
