New clue 'discovered' in search for Jay Slater as amateur sleuths take over search

Jay Slater/investigators in Spain

People trying to track Slater down have had to resort to using amateur help

PA
James Saunders

By James Saunders


Published: 01/07/2024

- 16:21

Updated: 01/07/2024

- 16:45

A 29-year-old climber has revealed a key clue which could belong to the missing teenager

Investigators leading the hunt for missing British teen Jay Slater have been forced to turn to TikTok detectives in order to track him down.

Just yesterday, Spanish authorities made the controversial announcement they would be calling off the search in Tenerife when he disappeared - but now, the online sleuths have discovered what could be a clue in finally bringing the case to a close.


A spokeswoman from Spain's Civil Guard had said: "The search operation is no longer active, but the case is still open and there are several lines of investigation... the search has gone on for many days because it is a rocky area that is hard to access."

And with the Civil Guard out of action on the ground, the missing apprentice bricklayer's family have had to look elsewhere.

Jay Slater

Spanish police called off the hunt for Jay Slater on Sunday

PA
Police drones in Tenerife

Police have resorted to using drones in their hunt for the teen

Reuters

Enter Paul Arnott, a 29-year-old climber who posts videos of his exploits to social media platform TikTok.

Arnott, who has been helping the Slater family - who have travelled to Tenerife in order to find the 19-year-old - revealed that a pair of sunglasses similar to the ones the teen had last been seen wearing have been found near his last known location.

GB News has seen the climber's footage, which shows the shades - black and broken - on the ground apparently near the Mirador lookout point, near Slater's last known location.

The teenager had attended the NRG music festival on the island with two friends before his disappearance, while his phone was last traced to the Masca ravine in a remote national park in the north of Tenerife.

MORE AS THE SLATER SEARCH CONTINUES:

Spanish police in Tenerife

Spanish investigators, as seen with sniffer dogs in the hills of Tenerife

PA

Jay Slater

Jay Slater had been in Tenerife for the NRG music festival when he disappeared

PA

Speaking to the Mail, Arnott said: "There have been some new developments and these sunglasses could be key.

"They were found by an army guy called Chris who lives here. I don't want to go into too much detail yet, but the family have them and are looking at them.

"They could be Jay's... They are very similar to ones he has and we are waiting to see. It could be very significant."

While speaking on TikTok in a video from the search site on Saturday, Arnott said: "I've literally been waiting for absolutely ages now - this is a massive PR thing I'm telling you now...

"There's people everywhere - literally people everywhere - and nobody is doing anything."

Jay Slater/Debbie Duncan

Duncan said her son's disappearance and the wait for news was like a "living nightmare"

PA/ITN

Slater, 19, had disappeared after trying to walk back to his holiday accommodation after missing a bus in the early hours of June 17.

Dozens of police officers, rescue teams and firefighters had been looking since then in the steep valley, using dogs, drones and a helicopter.

And a GoFundMe appeal, "Get Jay Slater home", has raised £36,000 through more than 3,200 individual donations, which Slater's mother Debbie Duncan has said will be used to support mountain rescue teams, and to cover her own accommodation and food costs during her extended stay on the island.

And though the Slaters have met with Spanish police, the search for the missing teen has today entered its third week - with Duncan describing her son's disappearance and the wait for news as a "living nightmare".

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