Body found in Jay Slater search is that of missing Briton, police confirm
16 July 2024, 13:17 | Updated: 16 July 2024, 13:59
A body found in Tenerife has been identified as that of missing teen Jay Slater.
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In an update provided on Tuesday, a court spokesperson confirmed the remains were those of the 19-year-old Brit.
Fingerprints were used to identify the remains, a court official confirmed on Tuesday.
Authorities confirmed that the injuries present on the body were consistent with falling from a cliff.
Jay from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared 29 days ago following a night out with friends on the island.
Civil Guarda discovered human remains on the island yesterday - close to where the missing Lancashire teen was last seen.
The discovery was made near the village of Masca on Monday morning, with the mountain rescue division of the Civil Guard confirming the discovery.
They confirmed the "lifeless body of a young man in the Masca area after 29 days of constant search".
An update from officials on the island initially noted that formal identification would be unlikely until “next week".
The Spanish police force did, however, confirm that all evidence pointed towards that of the missing teen.
Read more: Body found in hunt for Jay Slater was 'very deteriorated' as Tenerife officials reveal key details
"It looks as if he fell from a height so he would most likely have been killed instantly and he wasn't there for a long time," a family spokesman said on Tuesday morning.
Adding: "the whole family is absolutely broken" but they "appreciate the remoteness" of the area.
Documents belonging to Jay Slater is said to have been discovered on the body.
Slater had attended a rave on the Veronicas strip in Playa de las Americas earlier in the night when he chose to return to an remote Airbnb with two men he met on the trip.
The teenager was visiting the island to attend a three-day music festival - the NRG Tenerife Weekender.
Early the following morning, Jay is believed to have attempted to return to his Airbnb - an 11 hour walk away.
Calling a friend at 8am, Jay told a friend he had cut himself and that his phone was on 1% battery.
It comes as a former Met Police detective working on the Jay Slater case following the discovery of the human remains,.
Mark Williams-Thomas, who also worked on the search for Madeleine McCann, said the missing teen may have fallen to his death while travelling through an “inaccessible area” in Tenerife.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, the investigator wrote: “Human remains found and all indications are that it is Jay Slater.
"The first investigations reveal that he could have suffered an accident fall in the inaccessible area.
"Family have been updated and formal identification will follow."
