A prominent retired detective has said he would treat the case of missing teenager Jay Slater like a murder investigation to ensure vital evidence is not lost in the crucial first 24 hours.
Steve Gaskin has been a senior investigator with the Metropolitan Police for over 25 years and is a criminal psychologist. That things are “not looking good” for the 19-year-old who disappeared in Tenerife last Monday.
He says if he was the SIO – the senior investigating officer – when police receive a missing persons report about Jay, he would have to make an instant decision: it is either a missing persons investigation or a murder case. He added that if he was unsure he would always prefer to treat it as a murder.
Steve “If we treat it like a murder from the start, and then if it turns out it isn’t a murder, then nothing is lost, we’ve only got a couple of hours – people call it the golden hour, but that’s really the golden hour.” 24 hours – to gather forensic evidence before it’s too late.
‘I’d like to know what he had for breakfast. Why did the 19-year-old bricklayer disappear, what was he doing there, I’d like to know everything about him, who was the last person to want to see him.’ Also check out all the biographies I’d speak to police in the UK. Does he have a criminal record here or in Spain? What do we know about him?
Steve, who worked on the case of serial killer Levi Bellfield, now runs the Crime Lab with his wife, former detective Keith Gaskin. The father-of-three uses his two decades of experience in murder investigation to feed the public’s ever-growing appetite for true crime.
As the BBC’s Silent Witness, the Gaskins host a series of interactive crime-related events, including talks such as ‘Inside the Mind of Lucy Letby’, ‘Why Children Kill’ and ‘How to Get Away with Murder’. Disappearance, Steve added: “There is a lot of speculation, but I just want to get the facts straight.” I’d like to know who he spoke to, who reported on what they said and I’d also like to know the backgrounds of all these people.
“Where is the CCTV? Do any of these people have a criminal record? The whole idea is to get a clear, factual picture. And I want that to happen as quickly as possible. The longer this goes on, the more you’re likely to suspect a criminal element. After that time, it doesn’t look good.”
Steve added that he had a similar case to Jay: a 19-year-old went missing in Battersea, London, while working at Scotland Yard. He added that he immediately treated it as a murder case and required his team to report hourly what facts they knew.
He added: “We had four investigators on the case, that’s a lot of resources, they were diverted from other cases, but we found him.”
Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, has been missing on the holiday island since Monday. He was last seen by the Airbnb owner and is thought to have missed a bus visiting friends in the south of the island, an area popular with British tourists.
The last known location was found in Rural del Teno, a mountainous area in the west of the island. The nearest town is Santiago del Teide. He lived in the south of the island in a flat with friends. One of those pals, Lucy May, told police she was awakened at 8.30am by Jay’s call, who said: “He was lost in the mountains, unaware of his surroundings, desperate for a drink and his phone was on 1%.”
Shortly before his disappearance, Jay was chatting with friends on the social media Snapchat and appeared to be in a normal and stable state of mind. His phone died at around 8.50am and his last known location was recorded near a hiking trail several hundred feet above the small village of Maska.
Steve explains how he would investigate Jay’s disappearance:
Investigate immediately as a murder.
Treating Jay’s disappearance as a murder will allow resources to be put into the investigation immediately so vital evidence is not lost.
Close Watch the video surveillance and collect evidence of the location where Jay was last seen.
Find out all about Jay, who he is, why he was in Tenerife, what he was doing in the UK, whether he has any criminal records here, in Spain or in the UK.
Who was last seen or spoken to? to him
What do they know, who are they, do they have a reason to say what they are saying, can their version of events be verified using CCTV, phone records or forensics
Take a family member from the UK to Tenerife to help us find out more about Jay
Recruit other resources
The detective team is reporting their findings hourl,Aerial reconnaissance, drone and foot search team
Forensic search in Tenerife and the UK
In addition to the forensic search of Jay’s residence, we need to Do the same in the UK and inspect his home and workplace to see if there are any clues as to why he disappeared.
Send a Spanish officer to the UK to assist in liaising with both police forces.
Apply to the UK court for Jay’s phone records
This will be crucial as they will be able to locate him and also show us historically who he was communicating with in the weeks, days and hours leading up to his disappearance
After the first golden 24 hours
Everything has to be built up as the longer it takes the less likely a positive outcome is
