Former Scotland Yard Detective Peter Bleksley has warned of the "gloomy" signs surrounding the search for missing teenager Jay Slater as it enters its eighth day.
The 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared in Tenerife last Monday after telling a friend he planned to walk to his accommodation after missing a bus, a journey expected to take around 11 hours on foot.
Search teams have scoured the island around the location where his phone last located him, using drones, helicopters and volunteers on foot.
Speaking to GB News, Bleksley admitted he fears the search for Slater "may not have a happy ending" due to receiving "no significant updates" from the search.
Peter Bleksley warns of 'unhappy ending' as Jay Slater search continues into its eighth day
GB News / PA / Reuters
Bleksley told hosts Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster: "I think the signs are really quite gloomy. If we look at what we've known for almost a week now, his phone ran out of battery and he had no fluids with him.
"He was in unfamiliar territory, trying to make his way a considerable distance back to where he'd been staying. With no update beyond those of any significance, I fear that this is probably a story that will not have a happy ending."
Highlighting the offer of assistance from Lancashire Police in the search being rejected by Spanish Police, Bleksley suggested that the Guardia Civil, are wanting to "keep control" of the search and "have their own theories they want to stick to".
Bleksley explained: "It's quite clear to me that the Guardia Civil, who are carrying out this search for Jay, have a particular kind of theory that they're sticking to, and they're following that insomuch as that they're looking in the rural areas, the rugged outcrops, buildings and the suchlike.
Search teams have been looking for British teen Jay Slater for eight days
PA
"What they do not want is to surrender any control of this search for Jay to any other body, which inherently they would do."
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Casting doubt on the outcome of the search for Jay, Bleksley warned that although he hopes for Slater's family to be proved "fundamentally wrong", he warned that there currently is "no chink of light or anything to be optimistic over".
He told GB News: "Undoubtedly, I think all the signs are gloomy."
Criticising the "social media sleuths" and conspiracy theories surrounding Jay's disappearance, Bleksley compared the missing teen's case to Nicola Bulley, and emphasised how cases of this nature gain "such public interest" very quickly.
Bleksley explained: "The public interest in this case has been vast. The Facebook page apparently has had over half a million followers to it, and if you in any way, shape or form put Jay's name into the internet, there is reams and reams and reams of a lot of which is, quite frankly, nonsense, and some of which is heartfelt and contributed by well wishes.
Peter Bleksley warned there is 'no chink of light or anything to be optimistic over' in regards to the case
GB News
"This is so often the problem when a case takes on an identity all of its own, when it grips the public's interest. Because in the 21st century, you can go online, spout whatever nonsense you want to, and some people will think you're an authority."
Bleksley also urged both the British and Spanish Police to "shut out all of the nonsense" online in regard to the case, due to its widespread attention on social media.
He concluded: "Whoever is leading this investigation were it to be in the UK, for example, should be an experienced senior investigating officer. You learn to deal with what is in front of you the facts, the evidence, the credible information, and shut out all the nonsense.
"There will, of course, be some poor soul within policing who has to scroll through all of that to see if there is a nugget hidden deep within. But essentially the main players in the team and those carrying out the search are tone-deaf to the waffle."