Former British police officer Mark Williams-Thomas is supporting the family of missing teenager Jay Slater from Tenerife.
The experienced detective, who has investigated many high-profile disappearances, including that of Nicola Bree, was today found on the island where the 19-year-old bricklayer apprentice was last seen. He offered to help Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan, 55, on Sunday and is now working for her pro bono to find out what happened to her son.
Mr Williams-Thomas said he believed answers would be available within just three days before the family accepted his help. He also vowed to “track down” two Britons who are believed to have been staying with Jay at the villa the night before he disappeared.
He said: “We could determine quickly if there were any suspicious circumstances but we needed to have full access to everything and speak to all relevant witnesses.
“If the family cooperates we will get answers, which is very important for the family. It is difficult for them to deal with foreign police officers who have a different way of handling things.
But to do that we need their full cooperation and we need to speak to all the witnesses who have been with him since he arrived on the island. Some are more interesting than others.’
Before becoming one of Britain’s leading TV detectives, Williams Thomas worked as a family liaison officer and detective. He was the lead investigator on the ITV Exposure documentary Behind the Scenes of Jimmy Savile, which revealed how the late BBC presenter perpetrated systematic and disturbing abuse on young and vulnerable girls
He is believed to have landed on the Spanish island late on Monday night, the same day Jay’s family shared photos of a new possible figure, along with sightings and information about him.
The father has appealed for help in bringing him home. The grainy image was taken by a webcam at 6pm last Monday, 10 hours after the 19-year-old was last seen six kilometres above the mountain village of Masca.
Yesterday, the search was expanded to other areas in the area where the boy was last seen. Guardia municipal authorities confirmed that forest roads and trails north of the area where he was last seen are also currently being investigated.
Police and firefighters also continued to search three different valleys, including the valley where Jay’s mobile phone is believed to have last “beeped” shortly after his disappearance on Monday, June 17.
Jay had been partying at the New Rave Generation festival in southwest Tenerife before his disappearance. He had left the event with two Britons to return to a holiday apartment more than 20 miles (32 km) away from the apartment in Los Cristianos where he was staying with his best friend Lucy Lo, 18, and another friend.
On Monday morning he called Lucy to say he was trying to get home in the middle of nowhere, with no water and only 1% phone battery. His phone is thought to have died 20 minutes later, at 8.50am.
On Sunday, Williams-Thomas added: “It’s about finding Jay. I will work with them and the Spanish police in confidence to get the answers they need.
“We need to work out what’s involved with these two people (where he was staying), why he returned to the Airbnb and why he left.” It’s possible that he’s on the run, but what else could it be?”