British man, 31, who was with missing Jay Slater at Airbnb before he vanished insists 'he left house alive'
3 July 2024, 21:43
A 31-year-old British man who was with missing teen Jay Slater at an Airbnb before he vanished has insisted "he left the house alive".
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The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, has been missing in Tenerife since June 17.
He had travelled to the Canary Islands for a weekend music festival with two friends when he disappeared.
Jay attended the 'New Rave Generation' (NRG) festival, but chose to stay behind with two men he had met instead of returning to where he was staying.
Ayub Qassim was with Jay just before he disappeared, after inviting the teen back to his Airbnb.
He has insisted that Jay left the holiday rental alive, adding that he "hadn't even done anything".
Read more: Jay Slater's dad breaks silence with heartbreaking question about whereabouts of missing teenage son
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"The only comment I have to make is that Jay came to the house alive, and he left the house alive," he told MailOnline.
"I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go, his friends had all left him.
"I know Jay, through friends, I'm not going to bring someone back to mine if I don't know them.
"I'm doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It's a bit mental. I haven't even done anything."
The 31-year-old is understood to have returned to his family home in London.
He said he did not have an argument with Jay and had even given him a blanket to sleep in.
He continued: "If I'd fallen out with him would he even come to mine?
"There were no problems. You've seen the last images of him with his red blanket around him.
"I don't know if he had beef elsewhere because I don't know him that well, I only know him through friends."
It comes after Jay's father, Warren Slater, revealed he is "baffled" by the disappearance.
"Why did two grown men take a young boy to a valley to a bed and breakfast?" he told the Sun.
He said: "You just don't disappear. It's just ridiculous that somebody can just disappear.
"He's a young boy, he's fit. He's fitter than us all put together. He's played football all his life, he's fit as a flea.
"You just don't disappear. I don't know... it's just a mystery... it's baffling."
The father of the 19-year-old spoke just hours after it was claimed Jay was scared when leaving the remote holiday rental in the village of Masca - 20 miles from his accommodation.
He allegedly told pals he couldn't return to it.
Read more: Inside the Tenerife Airbnb where missing teenager Jay Slater stayed before going missing
After weeks of Spanish police hunting for the teen, his mother confirmed on Tuesday that the land search had been called off.
Debbie Duncan said "words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing".
She thanked the Guardia Civil, who she said had "worked tirelessly up in the mountains where Jay's last phone call was traced".
