'Nothing will be the same without you': Jay Slater's best friend breaks silence after body discovered in search for teen
15 July 2024, 16:37 | Updated: 15 July 2024, 16:39
Jay Slater's best friend has broken his silence following the discovery of a body in the hunt for the missing teenager.
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Spanish police said today they had recovered remains during the search for the apprentice bricklayer after he vanished on the holiday island of Tenerife last month.
Brad Hargreaves, who was on holiday with Slater before his disappearance has now taken to social media to post a tribute following the news.
Mr Hargreaves, who had been helping with the search, posted two pictures of him and Slater alongside a heartfelt message to his best friend.
"No words. Nothing be the same without you. Rest easy brother. Love you always," he wrote in a post, followed by a broken heart and crying emoji.
Formal identification still needs to take place but the remains were found with the 19-year-old’s clothes and possessions near his last known location, charity LBT Global said.
Members of a mountain rescue team from the Spanish Civil Guard discovered the body near the village of Masca, with the force suggesting that Slater could have fallen in the steep and inaccessible area where he was discovered.
Mr Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had attended the NRG music festival with two friends before his disappearance, and his last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the Canary Island, which was about an 11-hour walk from his accommodation.
He had travelled to an Airbnb in Masca after a night out, but the two men said to have rented the property were later ruled “not relevant” to the case.
LBT Global, which supports the families of British people missing overseas, said: “LBT Global is saddened to announce that a body found in Tenerife does look to be that of Jay Slater.
“It is understood the body was found close to the site of his mobile phone’s last location.
“Although formal identification is yet to be carried out, the body was found with Mr Slater’s possessions and clothes.
“A post-mortem examination and forensic enquiries will follow.
“LBT Global are supporting the family at this distressing time and ask for everyone to afford them space and privacy to come to terms with the news.”
His family endured conspiracy theories and “awful comments” being posted online during the search for the apprentice bricklayer, but supporters had raised £50,000 to help fund the hunt for the teenager.
Tenerife’s Guardia Civil said on Monday that officers are waiting for the results of a post-mortem examination to confirm that Mr Slater died as a result of an accident.
Spanish police called off the search for the apprentice bricklayer at the end of June after helicopters, drones and search dogs were deployed to find him.
But in its statement on Monday, the force said teams had not stopped searching every day.
“The discovery was possible thanks to the incessant and discreet search carried out by the Civil Guard during these 29 days, in which the natural space was preserved so that it would not be filled with onlookers,” its statement read.
