Jay Slater case reaches landmark as concerned mum of missing Briton issues new statement
Missing Jay Slater with devastated mum Debbie Duncan
PA
The mother of Jay Slater has issued a statement on her missing son as the GoFundMe page reaches a landmark amount.
The fundraising page to find the teenager has just hit over £50,000, with the money raised being used to help fund the search operation, as well as pay for equipment and other essentials.
After some questioned how the money is being spent, Duncan responded to neigh sayers online.
In a post on the official Jay Slater Missing Facebook group, Duncan said: “My beautiful son Jay is still missing and believe me this is no holiday.”
Missing Jay Slater with devastated mum Debbie DuncanPA“For those of you who are more concerned around the GoFundMe page I can assure you that up to now it has not been used and our stay up to now has been financed by ourselves,” she said.
The 19-year-old flew from Lancashire to the Canary Islands for a music festival but disappeared after he went to stay with people he met during a night out on June 16.
During his final call to his friend Lucy Law at 8am local time the following day, the 19-year-old said his phone had only one per cent battery, he was thirsty, and he did not know where he was.
His last location showed he was in the Rural de Teno Park - an area popular among hikers. He has not been seen since.
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The wild Masca region of Tenerife where Jay Slater went missing Reuters
Slater's last known locationGB News / Google EarthThe search has since been called off on June 30, nearly 14 days after Slater went missing, leaving his family “in the dark”.
Hitting the £50,000 mark on the GoFundMe page, Slater’s family said the overwhelming generosity of the public is helping them to stay hopeful, despite the length of time he has been missing in very harsh conditions in a remote part of the island.
The Guardia Civil has now given the family permission to hire specialist search teams to find the missing teen. The decision means external search teams are welcome to launch a detailed search “without any problem” but must notify officers for “proper coordination”.
The private search team - which is thought to be deployed by the family to Masca, the area where Slater was last spotted - must also liaise with the local police to ensure “good management of information and resources”.
The family said that some of the money raised so far would be given to volunteers who have gone out to Tenerife to aid the search for the missing teenager.
However, TikToker Callum Fahim, who had been on the island for two weeks helping search efforts, has decided to come back home after he claimed he had received no funds and paid for his trip himself.
A row broke out between Fahim and the Slater family after Duncan published a statement on the fundraising page, where she thanked the NHS worker and another TikToker, Paul Arnott, for their help.
A member of the Guardia Civil near the last known location of Jay Slater, near to the village of Masca, TenerifePAShe said part of the funds were being given to the pair, with some money being put towards “Callum’s accommodation and essentials”.
However, Fahim clapped back at the statement, stating that he had received no money and needed to pay “for his own bus tickets” to go to the search site at Masca each day.
Following Fahim’s comments, Slater’s family fired back. They said that Duncan had sent £740 to the TikToker out of her own pocket, as they now wanted to save the funds for specialist search and rescue teams which are likely to be very pricey.
Despite officially ending the search, Spanish authorities maintain that they are still committed to following up on any new information, encouraging the public to remain vigilant and report anything that may seem relevant.
After confirming the new lead, a spokesman for the Spanish police on Tenerife told GB News: “Every piece of information counts.
“We urge anyone who might have seen or heard something to come forward.”
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