Spanish teams in Tenerife have become “frustrated” in their search for missing British teenager Jay Slater, it has been claimed.
The 19-year-old disappeared whilst on holiday on the island after attending the NRG music festival, and the search has entered its fifth day.
Slater was last seen getting into a silver car with those he had met at the festival, before ringing his friend Lucy the morning after to tell her he was on his way home after missing the bus.
Speaking to GB News, Journalist Daniel Hammond revealed that after speaking to the local authorities who are conducting the search, they feel an “element of optimism” as well as “frustration” that they have been unable to locate him.
Jay Slater went missing on Monday in Tenerife after telling a friend he ‘didn’t know where he was’
PA / Reuters
Hammond told host Martin Daubney: “I did speak to a member of the search team earlier, one of the local authorities, and he told me that there’s an element of frustration among him and his colleagues that they haven’t been able to find a single thing pointing them to where Jay is.”
Sharing his thoughts on the criticisms towards the Spanish search teams by Jay’s friends and family, Hammond affirmed that they are “doing their best”, but are “a small organisation alongside volunteers”.
Defending the Spanish efforts to find Slater, Hammond told GB News: “From what I can see, I think they’re doing the best with what they’ve got.
“I can understand where criticism would come in because it’s taken several days and we still don’t have answers, but from what I’ve witnessed, the staff here are doing the best that they can.”
Jay Slater’s last known location was picked up before his phone died
GB News / Google Earth
Highlighting the terrain of the latest part of the search, in which the team has entered a 2,000ft ravine, Hammond noted that it is “almost impossible” to keep track of the people on the ground.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Hammond explained: “We have seen drones, helicopters and search teams here on the ground scouring a massive area. It’s completely arid here, and it can be completely deceiving for people in terms of temperature and height.
“Today the search teams have centred in on a spot where Jay was last seen, and he made contact with a friend on Monday morning in a small village where he was staying in an Airbnb. They’ve scoured the area and moved into this ravine, which is about 2,000ft deep.”
Outlining some of the possible outcomes for Slater, Hammond noted that due to his apparent dehydration, he may become “disorientated” and be “caught by surprise” in terms of the temperatures and terrain.
Hammond added: “It appears that Jay’s phone has died – he may have become disorientated and stepped off the road here, where cars might have been passing by into the more rural areas, and that’s where he might have got lost.
Hammond says there are ‘still no answers’ about Slater’s whereabouts
GB News
“If you’re dressed to go to a party as Jay was, it could be incredibly cold here. One minute it’s hot. Next minute you can feel a slight spitting of rain. And at night the temperatures really draw in.”
Speaking to The Mirror, Slater’s friend Lucy Law claimed the two people he was last with have “left the country”, urging British Police to speak to them.
She said: “We need British police here. I just want to find my mate. He’s been missing three days. It’s not looking good now. We feel as though it’s down to us to find him and that we’re doing more than the police.”
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Source Agencies
