Mountaineer enlisted to help find Jay Slater reveals three major issues hampering search
10 July 2024, 09:49
A mountaineer enlisted to aid in the search for missing teen Jay Slater has revealed three major issues slowing the hunt down.
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Shane Yerrell, the mayor of Waltham Abbey in Essex, joined Jay’s desperate family as they searched the Tenerife mountains where he vanished.
The British teen has been missing for four weeks, with police halting their search after just three.
This week, Yerrell flew out in a bid to help Jay’s family continue their hunt but has warned of three major issues hampering their search effort.
He told the Mirror: "It's really not easy. I struggled on the mountain and so did his family, but it didn't bother them because their priority is powering through to find Jay.
"The altitude and the heat makes it really difficult and the mountain is massive.
"You go over one edge and then there's another bit. It's unbelievable out there. It would take weeks or months to cover."
Jay’s dad, Warren Slater, echoed these sentiments, as he warned it would take an “army 10 years” to search the region where his son vanished.
Essex-based climbing expert Yerrell added: "They're just living on hope. It's awful - they've got no answers. They don't know whether Jay is alive or dead.
"They are doing everything to find him. They're not just out for an hour, they're out all day 9.30am until 6pm.
"I feel for all of them, his dad in particular. I'm a parent and my child is only a few years younger than Jay. The whole thing is heartbreaking not having any answers."
Read more: Jay Slater's uncle vows family will continue search after police update on missing teen
According to The Sun, sources close to the police are still hopeful of finding the teen alive and have insisted he has not yet been classed as “missing feared dead.
This comes as Jay’s father said the family feels like it is “going round in circles” as the search continues to hit stumbling blocks.
"It’s just a riddle and I don’t know the outcome," Mr Slater, 58, told the Manchester Evening News.
"We’re going round and round in circles.
"From the bnb, he's a fit lad, 25 minutes you can get to the top, to where the cafe is. If he's followed the road and been where we've been today, it's took him an hour and a half.
"Dozens of cars would have gone past him. We got here at 9am and the 10am bus passed us. And it would have passed him. I've been up here three weeks and I've never seen as many cars."
Mr Slater recently pleaded with Interpol to get involved in the search for Jay.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: "As a family, we need to ask the British authorities to help. He's a British citizen. Get Interpol involved.
“At the moment, it’s just us. I haven’t got a team. We need a team to come over here and find out for us what the police are doing and what we need to do.
"Our hands are tied over here - we need experts.”
