Jay Slater investigator in Tenerife posts major update on 'viral video of missing teen'
Detective Mark Williams-Thomas has shared an update in the case of Jay Slater after a 'distressing' video circulating online has viewers convinced it shows the missing teen
A leading British detective in Tenerife says a "distressing" video which viewers believe shows missing teenager Jay Slater is making the rounds online.
The 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, remains missing on the Spanish island since he last made contact with friends on June 17. Jay is known to have stayed at an Airbnb in the rural Masca village with two British men before vanishing at around 8.50am as he attempted to make his way back to the touristy town of Los Cristianos.
Despite a gruelling two week-long search, which saw helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs deployed across the mountains in Masca, Spanish police were unable to find Jay, and announced they would be officially ending their search on Sunday, June 30.
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Now, British TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who flew out to Tenerife to help track down Jay, has debunked rumours that a "distressing" video circulating online shows the missing teen.
The TV detective said: "Lots of people are contacting us about a distressing video that is circulating. The video was first posted on a social media site nine years ago and therefore cannot be Jay Slater."
It comes after the ex-cop turned his attention to an alleged 'stolen Rolex', revealing Jay had posted a video on Snapchat boasting about the theft of a £12,000 Rolex, just hours before he vanished.
Mr Williams-Thomas explained: "On route Jay posted a Snapchat saying that they had taken a £12,000 Rolex from a person. We have been unable to validate this in terms of a reported theft. However, friends of Jay he would not make this up and the watch was the subject of a later conversation between them."
He also alleged that Jay was scared when he left the holiday rental where he was last seen, adding the teenager couldn't go back to the property, despite this being the most "sensible course of action."
The detective said: "We have received information that would suggest Jay left the rental property feeling scared and that he would not return to the rental, even though that would have been the most sensible course of action, and also where he could have charged his phone and got water."
Mr Williams-Thomas ruled out that Jay has been kidnapped, despite his mum Debbie previously saying she believed that was what had happened to him. He added: "We have no evidence at this stage to say there was any third-party criminal involvement in Jay’s disappearance.
"However, there are still a number of outstanding actions and therefore we still remain open minded to the possibility of this changing. The evidence strongly supports that Jay walked off and was walking for at least 30 minutes off the road on a track before he last had contact with friends, with a very accurate location pin drop at 8.50am.
"I would make an appeal for landowners in the area of Teno Rural Park to check any outbuildings and land that they have and hope that some further searches will continue by volunteers in the area not yet searched."
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