British man who Jay Slater visited at Airbnb before disappearance insists teenager 'left the house alive'
Jay Slater at the Airbnb where he was last seen
PA/Getty
The owner of an Airbnb that was visited by Jay Slater hours before he went missing said he left the house alive.
Ayub Qassim invited the 19-year-old back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife just hours before he vanished on June 17.
Qassim, who is understood to be back at his family's flat in Barking, east London, is said to have known Jay through friends.
The 31-year-old booked the £40-a-night holiday rental online under the name Ayub Abdul.
Jay Slater at the Airbnb where he was last seen
PA/Getty
A sign near Masca where Jay Slater was last seen
Getty
Qassim told the Daily Mail: "The only comment I have to make is that Jay came to the house alive, and he left the house alive. I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go, his friends had all left him.
"I know Jay, through friends, I'm not going to bring someone back to mine if I don't know them. I'm doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It's a bit mental. I haven't even done anything."
Asked how well he knew Jay and what he thought of the conspiracy theories surrounding his disappearance, Qassim said: "Everyone knows each other. I'm not going to slander anyone. He's a cool guy, Jay. He ain't got a problem with me, I haven't got a problem with him or his mates."
"If I'd fallen out with him would he even come to mine? There were no problems. You've seen the last images of him with his red blanket around him. I don't know if he had beef elsewhere because I don't know him that well, I only know him through friends."
LATEST IN THE DISAPPEARANCE OF JAY SLATER
The Airbnb Casa Abuela Tina in Masca, Tenerife, where Jay Slater resided prior to his disappearance
PA
It comes after Jay's dad Warren questioned why his teenage son ended up at a remote Airbnb with "two grown men" hours before he vanished adding that he believes the police are withholding information from the family.
He said: ”I’ve gone past the sadness bit and I'm angry, if that makes any sense. I'm angry that nothing's happened. The lack of info has prompted Warren to become a detective himself.
"The police here are doing their own investigations. They're not really telling us anything, they're not telling you lot anything, we're in the dark...All I'm doing is a Colombo bit myself. I mean he might be on here, you never know, but as a dad I don't want him to be.
"You just don't disappear. He's a young boy, he's fit. He's fitter than us all put together."
A volunteer firefighter searches for the young Briton Jay Slater in the Juan Lopez ravine near Masca
Reuters
Last weekend, Spanish police said the search had ended but that the case is still open.
A spokesperson said: "The search operation is no longer active, but the case is still open and there are several lines of investigation."
Dozens of police officers, rescue teams and fire fighters have been looking since then in the steep valley, using dogs, drones and a helicopter.
"The search has gone on for many days because it is a rocky area that is hard to access," the spokesperson said.
Some volunteers joined police and other rescue workers to form a team of more than 30 people who combed the area on Saturday.
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