Tenerife locals have been left "shocked" and "surprised" at the Guardia Civil's decision to call off the search for missing teenager Jay Slater, it has been claimed.
Slater, 19, went missing on the Spanish island two weeks ago after attending the NRG music festival on the island, before travelling to an AirBnb with two other British men he had met that night.
After an extensive search of the mountainous area in which Slater's phone location was last active, Spanish Police announced they would be calling off their efforts.
Speaking to GB News, journalist Joe Cawley said the news that the search had been called off "came out of nowhere" following a call for "mass volunteers" to join them.
Jay Slater went missing two weeks ago after attending a music festival in Tenerife
Reuters / GB News / PA
Noting that only six volunteers aided the Guardia Civil in their search, Cawley revealed that the plea for outside experts to help was a "final push" in this line of inquiry to find Slater.
Cawley explained: "It was a surprise. It seemed to come from nowhere. The population of Tenerife seems pretty shocked that it's been called off after two weeks.
"The search with the extra people was a final push, as far as the police were concerned."
However, Cawley told GB News that the low turnout of volunteers may be due to the fact that the call was for "expert assistance" rather than general members of the public.
The Guardia Civil have called off their search for the missing British teenager after two weeks
Reuters
Cawley said: "The call for volunteers was the call for professional volunteers or experts in in mountain rescue, mountain climbing expert hikers. It wasn't really a call to the general public.
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"So maybe there were a limited number of people here of that ilk at the time."
Turning the discussion to the reaction of the locals on the island as the investigation in Slater's disappearance continues, Cawley added that many of the Spanish population in Tenerife are "not aware" of the case, as there has been no public appeal by police.
Cawley told hosts Tom Harwood and Sophie Reaper: "I've been talking to some young Spanish people, and a lot of the population are not aware of this case.
"Amongst the British expat community, it's the talk of the town and a lot of concern - but a lot of the locals that I've been speaking to said 'Jay who?' and then followed up by, well, a lot of people get lost in the mountains."
Joe Cawley says the police investigation into Slater is 'still open'
GB News
When asked by Sophie what the remaining lines of inquiry are for the police to investigate next now that the search on the ground has been called off, Cawley suggested that the case is "still ongoing" and police are "keeping lines of inquiry open".
Cawley concluded: "As everybody knows, there's been a lot of speculation, there are a lot of theories. The police over here do not give very much away publicly, that's just not the way that they do things.
"They said that the case is actually open, the investigation is still ongoing, but obviously the search is finished.
"I don't know where we'll get the next update from, and the family are going to continue, but I'm not sure which particular lines of inquiry the Guardia Civil are following now."