Spanish police say body found in the area where Briton Jay Slater went missing

Madrid: Spanish rescue teams in Tenerife have found human remains in the area where British teenager Jay Slater went missing nearly a month ago, local police said on Monday, adding that evidence strongly suggested the remains were those of the teenager.

The Guardia Civil police said in a statement that the deceased – confirmed to be a young male – may have died due to a fall in the difficult-to-access mountainous area, but that an autopsy would show whether it was an accident.

Dozens of troops during the search for 19-year-old British tourist Jay Slater.Credit: Europa Press via Getty Images

Slater, 19, went missing on June 17 and his phone was last traced to the Masca ravine in a remote national park on the Canary Islands archipelago.

The morning after attending a music festival, it is believed Slater had set out to walk from Masca, a village in the north-west of the island, to where he was staying in Los Cristianos in the south. It was a trip that would have taken about 11 hours on foot over rugged terrain.

A police spokesperson told Reuters by phone that the body was found on Monday morning by a Civil Guard mountain rescue group.

Jay Slater went missing after attending a music festival on Tenerife.Credit: Facebook

Slater’s family had been notified and an autopsy would take place, with the case then being transferred to a Tenerife court to determine the cause of death, the spokesperson said.

On June 30, Spanish police said they had ended a search for Slater that had involved dozens of officers, rescue workers and volunteers using dogs, drones and a helicopter.

However, on Monday they said Guardia Civil officers had nonetheless maintained a “continuous and discrete search” in the area after the official search was called off.

British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global, which has carried several statements on behalf of the family, said in an email that the body found “looks to be that of Jay Slater”.

The remains were found with Slater’s possessions and clothes, and it is understood they were discovered close to the site of his mobile phone’s last location, LBT Global said.

Slater’s mother, Debbie, said on July 13 that the family had arranged for a team of experts with specialist dogs to fly in over the weekend from the Netherlands.

“Jay is just a normal hardworking young lad from Lancashire who is very loved by all who know him,” she wrote in a statement, asking people to pray for Slater and his family.

The teenager’s disappearance garnered media attention across the UK and further afield, and also sparked conspiracy theories online.

Tourist deaths and disappearances are relatively uncommon on European islands, but they do occur in areas where the combination of summer heat and rugged terrain can lead to difficulties for ill-prepared visitors.

In June, the body of British TV doctor Michael Mosley was found after he embarked on a solo walk on the Greek island of Symi. A week later, a 74-year-old Dutch man died on Samos, also in Greece.

Reuters, AP

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