This Morning viewers have blasted the show’s decision to send Isla Traquair to report on the missing Jay Slater case live from Tenerife – 24 hours after warning members of the public wanting to help to stay put in the UK.
Traquair spoke to Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley live from the Spanish island via video link on Thursday following reports Slater had been spotted “watching the Euros” and after his mum unveiled plans to withdraw money from a GoFundMe page set up for the search.
Traquair’s appearance in Spain comes just one day after she appeared on the ITV daytime staple to warn against spreading speculation online and hindering the search of police in Tenerife.
She joined Peter Bleksley on the show on Wednesday to explain why “amateur sleuths are doing more harm than good”.
After she’d reeled off the details of the disappearance, however, Traquair offered her own possible theory as she remarked: “My thought is, he’s British, he’s standing on the side of the road, you’re thinking it’s going in one direction (but) it’s the other, so maybe he’s made that mistake.”
She also went on to theorise that somebody may decide to walk over mountainous terrain “not realising how treacherous it is” before adding that his previous criminal conviction has become a “problem” because people have lost “compassion” for Slater.
ITV This Morning: Isla Traquair retracted Jay Slater’s steps for the ITV show
ITV
The reporter also mentioned how people who’ve arrived in Tenerife to assist may cause problems for local police before taking aim at theories being banded around on social media.
“People have posted photos of a body, saying, ‘This could be his body’ and they’ve traced it to a photograph taken in Iceland, so it’s just absolute nonsense, can you imagine how traumatic that is for his family? There’s links to Moroccan drug gangs, organised crime, human trafficking,” she said before branding it “nonsense”.
Concluding her report on Wednesday, she also branded the criticism of the family’s GoFundMe as “absolute nonsense”, adding: “There’s nothing worse than a family having to deal with not knowing what has happened to their loved one.”
After hearing Traquair’s warnings on Wednesday only to see her jet to Tenerife the following day, several ITV viewers took to X, formerly Twitter, to slam the decision.
Isla Traquair joins us live from Tenerife with the latest on Jay Slater as we enter the eleventh day of searching for the missing British teen. pic.twitter.com/VOQqzmyIpu
— This Morning (@thismorning) June 27, 2024
One fan fumed: “Yesterday on #thismorning Isla Tarquair slams amateur sleuths for heading out to the location where #jayslater went missing in Tenerife, interfering & hampering police efforts. Today, Isla is in Tenerife & goes to location Jay Slater where went missing.”
“So Isla went straight from telling us all that we’re not to be ‘armchair detectives’, to hop on a flight to Tenerife to jump on a bandwagon… #thismorning,” a second added alongside a gif including the word hypocrite.
Elsewhere, a third hit out: “Oh for Gods’ sake, pack it in with this Jay Slater speculation, it’s a disgrace #thismorning.”
And a fourth pointed out: “Yesterday: Armchair detectives stay away. Today: live from Tenerife #ThisMorning,” alongside a face palm gif.
Criticism kept on coming as a fifth weighed in: “Hold on, yesterday tiktok people going to Tenerife were getting in the way but it’s okay to send yet another reporter there? #thismorning.”
And another raged alongside a snap of Traquair in Tenerife: “#thismorning 2hrs ago ‘People speculating online and people flying out harming the investigation.’ Right get me a flight to Tenerife. I don’t mean me. I’m completely different to all these people. Me standing in all the spots we’ve seen already might help. UTTERLY RIDICULOUS!” (sic)
The search for Slater entered its 11th day on Thursday, with the 19-year-old’s whereabouts still a mystery.
His mother, Debbie Duncan provided an update on Thursday via the GoFundMe page set up to help find her son.
ITV This Morning: Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley spoke to Isla in Tenerife
ITV
“It’s difficult to wrap our heads around what is happening right now, but we are not losing hope that we will find Jay and return home together,” Duncan penned.
“We are currently working with GoFundMe to withdraw part of the funds, which are being safely held.
“I wanted to share that these funds will be used to support the mountain rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay.
“Additionally, since our stay in Tenerife needs to be extended, we will also use the funds to cover accommodation and food expenses.
“I’m surrounded by wonderful people who are by my side, but far from their loved ones, so we’ll also be using part of these funds to fly them to Tenerife so we can support each other during these dark times.”
Source Agencies
