Jay Slater had attended the NRG music festival in Tenerife with two friends before his disappearance, since which a search mission in Rural de Teno Park has intensified
A mystery man is using the Instagram account of missing Brit Jay Slater, his worried friends say.
The search for the teenager is now into its fifth day, with helicopters, rescue dogs and drones operating across northwest Tenerife. Jay, 19, disappeared while on holiday in the Canary Islands and was last heard from calling his girlfriend Lucy Lowe on Monday morning.
Friends have used the ‘official’ Facebook group to offer updates on searches, most recently activity on Jay’s Instagram account. It is understood it has been used frequently since last heard from, but friends insist neither he nor his mother had access to the account.
A family friend wrote: ‘Jay’s mums asked me to post this… For anyone asking who logged into his Instagram account: it’s not him or her, it’s someone else.’ The same friend disabled comments on a post that had been liked more than 100 times
Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, is said to have gone missing after trying to return home after missing his bus. In a separate Facebook post on the same page today, a friend said: ‘Unfortunately no update for anyone.’ We’re running out of words – I just can’t say anything more, I wish I could. I wish it would end now, this living nightmare. The search continues and we’re staying positive. Thank you all for your support and help, we can’t thank you enough, with love.”
On Friday, search and rescue workers joined officers from the island’s Guardia Civil near the village of Masca, where they appeared to be concentrating in a specific area of overgrown terrain. Some officers scanned the countryside with binoculars before heading to the base of the hill.
Jay, an apprentice bricklayer, was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with shorts, trainers and carrying a black bag. A fundraiser launched by Ms Lowe to ‘bring Jay Slater home’ has since raised more than £23,500 in donations.
A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British man reported missing in Spain and are in contact with local authorities.’
