Teams of volunteers have joined a huge new search for missing British teenager Jay Slater in Tenerife after a new clue involving an allegedly stolen Rolex has emerged.
As the hunt for the missing 19-year-old enters day 13, police are now investigating a scuffle outside Papagayo Beach Club, where Jay was seen partying on June 17.
It is believed a fight – involving an Eastern European man who reportedly had his valuable Rolex stolen – broke out after the venue had closed.
One of Slater’s friends, who had travelled to Tenerife to help in the search told detectives the alleged incident could have led to Jay’s disappearance.
Authorities are now reviewing CCTV footage from the venue where the incident occurred.
Another theory which is understood to be on the table is that the valuable watch had somehow wound up in the cottage where Jay had travelled – and that he then ventured into the wilderness in an attempt to steal it.
This clue comes shortly after an ‘army of volunteers’ answered the Spanish police’s call for help and are now helping them comb the rugged mountain area where the missing raver disappeared today.
On Friday the Guardia Civil appealed for volunteer firefighters and experts in rugged terrain to assist in a ‘busqueda masiva’, or massive search, taking place today.
The search began at 9am near his last-known location in the village of Masca as the volunteers attempt to retrace his last-known steps.
The co-ordinated search is taking place in a steep rocky area, with ravines, trails and paths all being thoroughly searched.
It started from the Mirador de la Cruz de Hilda restaurant and volunteers were told to bring food and water with them as the search is predicted to take last the entire day.
It has been reported that today’s search could be ‘perhaps a final push from the Civil Guard to make some kind of headway’.
The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, has not been seen since June 17 after he went missing following a night out on the infamous Veronicas strip in Tenerife’s Playa de las Americas resort.
The apprentice bricklayer then went back to the Casa Abuela Tina Airbnb near the rugged Rural de Teno national park, in the remote village of Masca, with two men he had met at the three-day NRG music festival.
The owner of the villa said she saw Jay standing at a nearby bus stop at around 8am.
He asked her when the next bus was to Los Cristianos, but when he was told it wasn’t until 10am, he set off on foot for what would have been an 11-hour walk.
Jay was last seen at around 8.15am walking uphill near the national park. He then phoned his friend Lucy Mae Law at 8.50am to tell her that he was ‘tired, thirsty and disorientated’ with only one per cent battery left on his phone.
In their first direct appeal for help, a spokesperson for the police said on Friday officers were preparing a ‘coordinated large scale operation’.
The search has so far focused on the Masca gorge, around 3000ft above sea level, which has been combed by police, drones, dogs and helicopters since he was reported missing.
But despite the extensive searches over the past 13 days, no trace of Jay has been found.
It comes as:
Spanish police has also faced criticism for refusing an offer of help from their Lancashire counterparts last week, as the search for Jay now enters day 13.
A statement from the police HQ on Tenerife said: ‘Collaboration is requested from volunteer associations, civil protection teams, firefighters and even individuals who are experts in rugged search terrain.’
A spokesman previously clarified that it was not asking the ‘unexperienced’ general public to join the search.
The GoFundMe page set up to provide financial support to the family smashed through the £40,000 barrier.
It recently emerged that ghoulish visitors on ‘Jeep safari tours’ are flocking to the Tenerife Airbnb where Jay spent his final hours before vanishing.
Although Jay only spent a matter of hours in Casa Abuela Tina, the villa once popular with hikers attempting to trek up the Teno mountains now appears to have become a tourism spot.
The road outside the two-bedroom farmhouse is packed with rental cars of British tourists and groups taking photos from Jeep ‘safari’ tours, The Times reports.
One woman, who lives in Birmingham and Spain, told the newspaper: ‘This is our second time here. I asked to drive this route because I just wanted to see it one more time. I want to get some answers.’
‘It gives me actual chills,’ she added.
The teenager’s mystery disappearance has led to a number of internet sleuths flying to Tenerife to join the search in the mountains.
Although Spanish authorities claim the case has been clouded by ‘inaccurate’ conspiracy theories on social media, Jay’s desperate family have called in the help of one TikTok sleuth – Paul Arnott.
The 29-year-old, who runs the TikTok account Down the Rapids and describes himself as an ‘explorer’, has been searching for Jay since Saturday.
He has posted more than 70 videos since, racking up millions of views as he joins police and sniffer dogs in the mountains. He said they had been focusing on two specific routes off the main road which lead to a water source.
‘I’m meeting the family today,’ Mr Arnott – who paid £400 for a flight from Fort William to Tenerife – told The Telegraph. ‘I’ve been speaking with Brad’s mum, Rachel. They wanted to bring me food but I said no. They said they wanted to meet me. They said they’re really proud of what I’m doing.’
Jay’s mother, Debbie Duncan said she ‘can’t thank Paul Arnott enough’ as she also praised fellow TikTok creater Callum Rahim and his friends for helping with the search.
She said the family were ignoring the unfounded social media conspiracy theories which have threatened to derail the search.
It comes as police on Thursday started searching around caves near Los Carrizales, a new area in the Masca valley which they have not looked at before.
Two abandoned shacks where Jay’s phone last pinged have been the police’s focus so far.
revealed on Thursday new photos of Jay chatting to friends at a hotel pool party just two days before he vanished.
And on Tuesday, the investigation took a strange twist when the mayor of Tenerife revealed that police were quizzing locals who claimed they had seen Jay ‘watching the Euros’ in a bar in Puerto de Santiago – a coastal resort on the island.
Police in Tenerife have said no one is talking yet about halting the search for Jay.
The Civil Guard, which has been leading the operation where the teenager was last seen, said it was continuing as normal on Thursday.
More sniffer dogs trained in searching for people over large expanses of land were flown in from Madrid and joined the operation on Tuesday.
A Civil Guard spokesman said: ‘The Civil Guard is continuing to search for the young British man who disappeared, carrying out inspections of all the paths, trails and ravines belonging to the village of Masca within the municipality of Buenavista del Norte.’
The force also released footage showing officers moving on foot through some of the rough and remote terrain and others carrying out aerial inspections in a helicopter.
A well-placed source added: ‘No one at the moment is talking about the search being brought to an end.
‘There will be a point when the operation that is taking place at the moment has to be at least scaled back. But right now the search teams appear to have decided they want to give themselves more time.’
It comes as Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan revealed she is in talks with GoFundMe to release some of the £36,000 in donations given to an appeal in order to help finance rescue efforts and ‘living costs’ in Tenerife.
Ms Duncan, 55, said the money would be used for mountain rescue, accommodation and food expenses.
In a statement posted on GoFundMe on Thursday, she said: ‘First, I would like to thank everyone for your support, kind messages, and good wishes. It’s difficult to wrap our heads around what is happening right now, but we are not losing hope that we will find Jay and return home together.
‘We are currently working with GoFundMe to withdraw part of the funds, which are being safely held. I wanted to share that these funds will be used to support the mountain rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay.
‘Additionally, since our stay in Tenerife needs to be extended, we will also use the funds to cover accommodation and food expenses.
‘I’m surrounded by wonderful people who are by my side, but far from their loved ones, so we’ll also be using part of these funds to fly them to Tenerife so we can support each other during these dark times.
‘Thank you again for all your donations and support, this means the world to us.’
The appeal was started last week by his friend Lucy and reached its £30,000 target in just three days although some contributors have expressed concerns over where the funds will go.