Jay Slater’s mother has tonight told of her ‘pain and agony’ of her son’s disappearance in Tenerife as she pleaded that ‘we just want to find him‘.
Debbie Duncan, 55, tonight issued the emotional plea saying ‘our beautiful boy’ had ‘his whole life ahead of him’.
The loving mother has been on the Spanish island since June 18, having flown out there a day after the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, vanished.
Today, she and Jay’s father Warren Slater, 58 spent more than two hours talking to cops at the Guardia Civil HQ in Playa des las Americas – 16 days after he was last seen on a mountain road an hour away in the isolated village of Masca.
In a statement issued by British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global, Debbie tonight gave an insight into what her son is like as a person, calling him a ‘normal guy’ who is a ‘very popular man with a large circle of friends’.
‘We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance,’ she said.
Jay Slater’s mother Debbie has tonight told of her ‘pain and agony’ of her son’s disappearance in Tenerife as she pleaded that ‘we just want to find him’
Debbie pictured with Jay’s father Warren Slater leaving the Guardia Civil in Playa de las Americas
‘Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing. He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him.’
She went on to thank the Spanish police’s ‘tireless’ efforts to find her missing son having scoured the terrain for 12 days.
And she took the opportunity to hit out at the ‘vile’ conspiracy theories that have swirled on social media and the internet about Jay’s disappearance, describing their impact on the family as ‘distressing’.
‘We do not have any information on his whereabouts,’ she added.
‘The Guardia Civil have worked tirelessly up in the mountains where Jay’s last phone call was traced.
‘They conducted a land search for 12 days which involved every resource they had available.
‘Although the land search ended, the Spanish police still continue with their investigations into why Jay had travelled to the location so far away from his accommodation.
‘We offer our sincere thanks to the Spanish authorities who continue to follow lines of enquiries.
‘We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and can only describe this as vile, the negative comments are extremely distressing to our family.
‘We also embrace the love and support we have received from across the globe. It has not gone unnoticed, especially his home town in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire.
In a new development, two plain-clothes officers were sent to the property at 11am today. One officer (wearing sunglasses, left) is speaking to MailOnline’s Nick Pisa and the other (wearing green, right) is seen with a local
Spanish police have returned to search the Airbnb (pictured) where Jay Slater stayed just before he disappeared in Tenerife more than two weeks ago
In its Airbnb listing Casa Abuela Tina is described as being a farmhouse within the ‘unique natural landscape’ surrounding it
Jay Slater posted this Snapchat of himself standing on the steps of the Airbnb villa
TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas has said that there have been fake ransom demands made
‘As a family we would like the world to respect our privacy at this present time.’
Jay’s parents urged the public to ‘keep it going’ after they left a briefing with Spanish officers today.
It was the first time the couple had been seen together since arriving in Tenerife to join the hunt for their son – Warren and Jay’s brother Zak have visited Masca several times but Debbie has so far refused.
Emerging from the building into the afternoon sunshine, school finance officer Debbie said: ‘It’s a mystery and he’s still missing; we need to just let these guys get on with it.
‘We don’t know anything about the investigation we’re leaving it to the police.’
It comes as two plain-clothes officers returned to search the Airbnb where Jay stayed just before he disappeared.
He went back to the remote cottage in the village of Masca with two British men in the early hours of Monday morning after a rave in Playa de las Americas on June 17.
Jay left the £40-a-night two bedroom property called Casa Abuela Tina at 7.30am and posted two pictures from it on Snapchat.
Police on Sunday dramatically called off their search for the British holidaymaker. But now in a new development, two plain-clothes officers were sent to the property at 11am today.
As one of the officers left the property today, he told MailOnline: ‘I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything about the investigation or our search inside. If you want any details, speak to headquarters, I’m not allowed to talk to you. My colleague and I are from the judicial police and carrying out our own work.’
A local who saw the two officers arrive said: ‘They got here around 9am and spent almost two hours inside. They got the key from the owner. I thought it had already been searched but I don’t know for sure. It’s been taken off the market and not available to book, that’s all I know.’
The fact the property has been searched again more than two weeks after Jay was there will raise questions of how the Spanish are handling the investigation.
Meanwhile, TV investigator Mark Williams-Thomas revealed that Jay’s distraught family are being targeted with fake ‘ransom demands’.
Mr Williams-Thomas, who flew out to Tenerife last week to help with the search wrote on X: ‘So much fake content has been created in the Jay Slater case – mocked up chat, messages, pic. It’s a very different world we live in today with social media and online detectives.
‘Overwhelming response from people has been very positive people just wanting to help, even though most have no direct info, just what they have read, seen or think. Also a number of people making vile threats and ransom demands (all checked out and have no credibility).’
This was the final official search for Jay Slater on Saturday before Spanish police ended the hunt
Spanish police called off the hunt for the missing 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer, 14 days after Jay went missing
The teen’s disappearance has left some young British holidaymakers feeling unsafe and being more cautious on Tenerife. These two Brits said their group had all shared their locations with each other
In the early stages of the search, Debbie said she thought Jay had been ‘taken against his will’, while the last person he spoke to – Lucy Mae Law – also echoed kidnapping fears.
Mr Williams-Thomas, who also exposed Jimmy Savile‘s evil crimes and worked on the Madeline McCann case, has said he has ‘been able to speak to important witnesses’ and has a ‘very detailed picture of Jay’s movements’ in the lead up to his disappearance.
Jay was last seen at around 8am on June 17 by the owner of an Airbnb he had gone back to with two men after a rave.
Jay had asked the owner when the next bus to Los Cristianos was and when she said 10am, he decided to set off back to his accommodation on foot for what would have been an 11-hour walk. Search efforts has been focused on a group of small buildings close to where his phone last pinged in the Masca mountains.
The teen’s disappearance has left some young British holidaymakers feeling unsafe and being more cautious on Tenerife.
‘I was a little bit more scared coming here and we definitely made sure we had each other’s locations before we came which we wouldn’t have done before all this happened,’ one told Sky News.
Another said: ‘I think not less safe but maybe more cautious, more aware. We’ve all got our locations on… when we booked this holiday we probably wouldn’t have even considered the safety measures.’