A British father who has not seen his son since he disappeared in Ibiza four years ago has spoken of the “endless nightmare” and “absolute torture” Jay Slater’s parents are enduring.
Mark Garland’s son Ben went missing on 21 January 2020 while riding his Harley Davidson motorbike to photograph the waves near Portinatx in the north of the island.
His jacket was found in the water three days later and Garland believes his son was swept out to sea.
The disappearance of Slater, a British teenager who was last seen in the north of Tenerife on Monday 17 June, has reminded Garland of the “traumatic” days he went through when his own son first disappeared.
Mr Slater’s parents flew to Tenerife to help police and mountain rescue teams search for their 19-year-old son in the island’s rugged north.
Reflecting on his own experience of arriving in Ibiza after Ben’s disappearance.
Jay’s parents will feel empty, they’ll be tired. They’ll be confused and they’ll just want answers.
It’s a very traumatic experience.”
Asked if he had any advice for Mr Slater’s parents, he replied, “I would say never give up and get some sleep. That’s the most important thing.” He couldn’t sleep properly and every day was physically and mentally exhausting.
“I pray that Jay will be found safe and sound.”
Ms Garland, who lives in Southwick, Wiltshire, said police found around 20 bodies in the village during the three-to-four week search for Ben. But none of them were his son.
Ben was working as a deckhand on a luxury yacht at the time of his disappearance and was known to many locals in Ibiza.
Ms Garland says she visits the island once a year to talk to them and remember her son.
Speaking about her long-standing struggle with grief, the bus driver said: Unless that person has been through something similar. I have a hard time getting out of bed every day.
“Work is the best therapy for me because I know I have to get up, I know I have to pay the bills and everything else.
“But when I’m not working, it’s hard for me to get out of bed. I know you need advice but I’m too stubborn.
“I’m not over it yet and I never will.”
Mr Garland praised the efforts of Ibiza police, saying they “never gave up” on his son.
He now organises an annual motorbike event called Ride To The Tide: The Ben Garland Memorial Run, which raises funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
“Today is one of the happiest days of the year,” Garland said.
Slater had been holidaying with friends in the south of Tenerife before travelling to the mountain village of Masca in the northwest on Sunday 16 June with two people he had met at the NRG music festival.
The teenager, from Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn, Lancashire, phoned a friend at 8.30am the following morning to say he had missed his bus and was walking back to his holiday accommodation, a journey that would take 11 hours on foot.
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He also said he had gotten lost and needed water, but his phone only had 1% charge.
Slater was last seen by Masca resident Ofelia Medina Hernandez, who spoke to the boy on Monday 17 June.
Apparently wanting to return to her accommodation, Hernandez said he told her the bus was coming at 10am.
But he set off on foot and she later said she had overtaken him because he was “walking in a hurry”.
Tenerife police confirmed on Tuesday that several dogs would be sent from Madrid to take part in the search and rescue operation.