Timeline of Jay Slater's disappearance: Everything we know as remains are found 29 days after he went missing
15 July 2024, 13:18
Human remains have been found in the area where British teen Jay Slater went missing, 29 days after his disappearance.
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The 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had travelled to Tenerife for a weekend music festival with two friends when he disappeared during the early hours of June 17.
The teenager, an apprentice bricklayer, was visiting the island with two friends to attend New Rave Generation' (NRG) festival, but chose to stay behind with two men he had met that evening instead of returning to where he was staying with friends.
In the days that followed, local Guardia Civil police continued to scour Tenerife's rugged terrain, with sniffer dogs, off-road vehicles and helicopters brought in to track down the missing teenager.
Now, two weeks since calling off their search, human remains have been found in the area near where Mr Slater went missing.
Timeline of events
Sunday, 16 June - Jay Slater left the New Rave Generation' (NRG) festival rave in South Tenerife with two men he'd met that evening, telling friends he was staying at their apartment in an undisclosed location. The men had a hire car.
20:35 - Jay is seen in the final Snapchat clip before his disappearance, wearing a grey t-shirt with a green stripe.
Monday, 17 June
08:15 - Jay made his final phone call to friend Lucy Mae Law, 18, at around 8.15am on Monday.
He sounded disorientated and explained that he was "in the middle of mountains" with "nothing around". His phone was on 1% battery and he said that he needed water.
Jay's final phone pings narrow his location to a mountainous area of a national park, around 10 hours' walk from his accommodation.
08:50 - Jay's phone dies. The device's last known location is thought to be near a ravine in the Rural de Teno national park close to the PR-TF51, above the rural village of Masca in southern Tenerife.
09:04 - Police in Tenerife are alerted, and Lucy also gets in touch with the British Embassy in Tenerife.
14:00 - Jay's friends begin circulating a description of Jay, including that he was wearing a white t-shirt, shorts, trainers and a black bag at the time he disappeared.
Temperatures in the south of Tenerife peaked at around 26 degrees celsius on Monday.
Tuesday, June 18
02:30 - Jay's mother Debbie Duncan and step-dad Andy Watson, 63, are told of his disappearance when police officers in the UK arrive at their door.
The force advised Jay's parents to get "yourself out there".
11:35 - Ms Duncan and Jay's brother Zak Slater arrive in Tenerife after travelling from Manchester airport.
13:00 - 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".
13:45 - Specialist mountain rescue teams from the Guardia Civil join the search, with helicopters and sniffer dogs deployed in an effort to track down the teenager.
14:30 - Jay's mother posts an appeal to Facebook asking for anyone with information to contact her as the hunt for Jay continues.
Back in the UK, friends use the national park's live 24hour webcam in a bid to catch a glimpse of the teenager.
Read more: Three children missing after day out at Thorpe Park as police launch urgent search
16:30 - The British Foreign Office confirmed 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.
Evening - A spokesperson for the Civil Guard confirms that mountain rescue teams and helicopters have been deployed in the search.
Wednesday, June 19
12:30 - Tenerife's Civil Guard temporarily shift search efforts to the tourist areas of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas, on the south of the island.
It follows reports of a sighting, which turns out to be a “false lead”.
Afternoon - The search resumes in the national park.
Thursday, June 20
05:00 - Slater’s friend, Lucy Mae Law, launches a GoFundMe page, with the money being used to pay for living costs of the family as they search for Jay.
Lucy Mae Law told MailOnline: “The whole thing is just so weird.
“It's been three days now since he was last seen and the more time goes on the more I'm sure he has been taken. At first I wasn't so sure but now I'm convinced."
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."
Saturday, June 29
Police launch a "massive" search for Jay Slater. It fails to result in any new information.
Sunday, June 30
Police pause their search for the missing teen, but commit to following all possible leads in a bid to find him.
Monday, July 15
Human remains are found in Tenerife by police searching for missing teenager Jay Slater.
The Spanish Civil Guard located a lifeless body in the village of Masca.
Initial investigations suggest he succumbed to an accident or a possible fall.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard said: “After 29 constant days of searching the lifeless body of the young man has been found in the Masca area.
“The discovery has been possible thanks to the tireless and discreet search carried out by the Civil Guard over these 29 days.
“Everything is pointing to the body being that of the young British man who disappeared on June 17, pending full identification.“Initial inquiries are pointing to him having suffered an accident or fall in the area where he was found.
"Thanks to the incessant and constant search carried out by the different units of the Civil Guard, in which they have not stopped searching for the young man every day in the Masca area, where he had allegedly disappeared, this morning GREIM agents, Mountain specialists, have found the lifeless body of the young man in a very inaccessible area."
