A TikTok star campaigning for the family of missing Jay Slater claims to have found a new lead in the two-week search for 19-year-old Jay Slater in Tenerife.
Jay, a teenager from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, has been missing from the holiday island since Monday, June 17. He had been there with friends Lucy and Brad to attend the NRG Tenerife Weekender music festival, his first overseas holiday without his parents.
The bricklayer was last seen at an Airbnb in the country where he was staying with two other men. It is believed he missed a bus where he was due to visit a friend in the south of the island, popular with British tourists. Spanish police announced yesterday they were officially ending the search after finding no trace of him.
TikToker Paul Arnott, who has remained in Tenerife despite the official search having ended, suggested on his channel that the sunglasses could be a clue in the search.
He said: “As time has gone on, many new things have come to light through the interviews and today there are a few things I would also like to explore. One is the three word GPS. The other is the sunglasses that were found by a guy named Chris who I will be meeting later today.”
@christophertenerife #jayslater ♬ Original Music – ChristopherTenerife
The Guardia Civil made a final push on Saturday to find Jay, declaring war and calling on all emergency services, including all volunteers with field experience, to return to the main search sites.
Police had promised a massive search operation, but the final ground operation at the scene by the Guardia Civil was harshly criticised by TikToker Arnott, as only a few volunteers joined around 30 rescuers and professional rescuers.
Paul Arnott said he “came out straight away” after seeing Jay’s family desperately calling for help after his disappearance. He cancelled a charity event that would have cost hundreds of pounds on a flight to the island and joined the search and rescue operation on June 22.
On Saturday he recorded an impassioned TikTok video calling the official search a “giant PR stunt” before it was called off just a day later.
On his own account in treatment, he said: This is a huge PR thing, I say right now. I’m going to ask him to take my name off the list. I’m just going to go in there and do my thing. I guess that’s what I’m going to do now. Because there are people everywhere. There are literally people everywhere and no one is doing anything.”
Spanish authorities say there is “no evidence of criminal activity at this stage” in the Jay Slater case. “At this stage there is no evidence of criminal activity in this case,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
That’s not to say things won’t change because the case remains open and investigations are ongoing. But right now that’s the situation.”
The police suspension of the mountain search has been widely interpreted as a sign officers do not think he is in the area in and around the Masca Gorge which they searched with sniffer dogs, mountain rescue experts and a helicopter. Jay’s family have claimed they believe someone could be holding him against his will, though there is so far no firm evidence to suggest this.