Jay Slater mystery: Teen's mum begs Spanish police to restart search after new clue discovered

The family have been in constant contact with investigators after being left “blind-sided” by Sunday’s decision to end the search, MailOnline has revealed.

Spanish police called off the search just 14 days after first scouring the mountains of Tenerife in search of the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer.

A major development appears to have renewed calls for further inquiries.

Amateur mountaineer Paul Arnott claimed a pair of sunglasses similar to the ones worn by Slater were found close to where his mobile phone last pinged.

A family source also told The Mirror: “The family want to be sure the police aren’t giving up on Jay.

“They are in constant contact with them about the case.”

Chris Pennington, 43, originally from Chester and a former British Army reservist who served in Iraq, found the sunglasses.

He told MailOnline: “I've done a bit of hiking and mountaineering and wanted to help out the family.

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“They are desperate to find their lad and with my background, I thought I could do my bit.

“I parked up near the viewpoint near where the phone last pinged and found them on the ground near some bushes and in the area where they have been searching.

“I don't know if they are Jay's but as a duty of care, I picked them up and told the Guardia Civil about them.

“They told me not to touch them if possible and wrap them in paper not plastic and I did and handed them in.

“They also took my DNA and fingerprints as well. It must be awful for the family with the search sacking back and they haven't had any news for two weeks weeks.

“I walked a bit further towards where they said his phone pinged but it was a challenge to get through, it was impossible.

“You would have needed a machete to get through all that undergrowth so this phone pinged from there it's because someone threw it in there.

“The sunglasses were about 50 metres from the road near a tunnel I wanted to search. I saw them glinting in the sun and picked them up.”