MISSING Jay Slater’s heartbroken mother has hit out at internet trolls questioning what a £33,000 GoFundMe donation will be used for.
Officers searching for the 19-year-old in Tenerife also hit back at critics who condemned them for refusing help from British police.
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Jay Slater, 19, has been missing for a week Credit: Ian Whittaker
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Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan has hit out at internet trolls, raising questions about what the £33,000 GoFundMe will help with
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A GoFundMe page set up by friend Lucy Law has reached more than £30,000 in a few days
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The search in Tenerife has entered its eighth dayCredit: Ian Whittaker
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Rescue teams are searching near Jay’s last known locationCredit: PA
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Jay, 19, has been missing for a week and search teams have so far been unable to trace him despite the case attracting global attention.
Online detectives have now started looking into parts of the case – infuriating Jay’s distraught mum Debbie Duncan.
Debbie slammed the cruel conspiracy theorists – saying she felt “very disappointed”.
A GoFundMe page set up by close friend Lucy Law surpassed its £30,000 target within days – but some questioned what the money would be used for.
Debbie said: “I’m really saddened by all of your comments. It seems like this GoFundMe page bothers you so much.
“I really hope I’m not carrying my son home in a body bag.
“I really can’t believe that the British public is not supporting me in trying to find Jay.
“This could happen to any of you one day. You are all very disappointed.”
Debbie also pleaded with the public to let the police handle the situation rather than meddling online.
Lucy, the friend who Jay frantically called last Monday, has also hit out at Spanish police in recent days, claiming they are not doing enough.
She called on British police officers to join the hunt after it was revealed that local officers last week rejected an offer from Lancashire Police to help Jay.
Missing Jay Slater spotted staggering back to his feet in front of worried clubgoers in shock new video at Tenerife rave
Civil Guard officers on the island told their British counterparts they had the necessary “resources”.
This led to a backlash from Jay’s family and friends who wanted officers to come from the UK to join the hunt.
Now police in Tenerife have warned they will not be spared the criticism as they insist they are “totally focused” on the search.
The Tenerife force has yet to make any official comment on Lancashire Police’s claims and insisted today they have no intention of doing so at this stage.
A well-placed source said: “The Civil Guard will not respond to the criticism or praise it receives here.
“The officers are just doing their job, they’re focused on the search and they’re going to get on with the job they’re doing without anyone taking the time to respond to other people’s assessments.
“The force is aware of some of the comments that are already out there, but is prioritizing what needs to be done, which is the search for Jay.
“Just imagine how much chatter there would have been if we had responded publicly.”
Jay’s devastated mum was then reduced to tears as she told news channel ITN that vicious trolls were comparing her to Karen Matthews – the woman they called “Britain’s worst mum”.
Matthews made headlines in 2008 when she hatched a harrowing plot with cousin Michael Donovan to cash in on the fake kidnapping of her daughter.
Matthews and Donovan came up with a plan to ask for a £50,000 cash reward to find Shannon despite her being tied to a bed at Donovan’s house.
It comes as…
The frantic search for Jay entered its eighth day on Monday, and rescue crews continue to pull up nothing.
Drones, sniffer dogs and helicopters are involved in the massive mission, with the operation now focused on three main areas near where Jay was last seen.
Last Monday, Jay called Lucy last Monday morning to tell her he was lost in the “middle of nowhere,” that his phone was by the church and he needed water.
He had been to a rave the night before with his friends Lucy and Brad, but left the club with two men he met that night.
The teenager returned to his Airbnb in the unforgiving mountain area near the village of Masca.
After leaving their accommodation, Jay missed the bus home on Monday morning and faced a grueling 10-hour walk.
Since then, no one has seen or heard from him.
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Friend Lucy Law set up a GoFundMe after Jay went missing on holiday with her
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Jay Slater’s family have shared a grainy CCTV image they believe could be him
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Missing teenager Jay Slater, 19, who went missing in Tenerife on MondayCredit: Pixel8000
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Jay (right) pictured with his mum Debbie and brother Zak Credit: Tim Stewart
A Civil Guard spokesman said this morning that the search for Jay was continuing in the area near Masco in the Teno Rural Park.
His phone “pinged” for the last time in the park as officers tried to find any evidence of where he went next.
A spokesman said: “Neither hypothesis has been ruled out.”
It comes as Jay’s family believe he may have been seen in the village of Santiago del Teide in the hours after he went missing.
The grainy footage shows a figure walking past a church about 7km from the village of Masca where Jay disappeared a week ago.
His loved ones have shared a grainy CCTV image of a mysterious figure around 6pm on the day Jay went missing, which they say looks like Jay.
Jay’s mom said a man called and said he saw someone matching her son’s description sitting on a bench with two men in the same section.
Officers on the island refocused their efforts around the 2,000-foot cliff on Friday — an area known locally as the “wasteland.”
Locals and experts have warned of dangerous conditions in the area – where the air is “thin”, temperatures change rapidly and mountains drop precipitously to the water below.
A Civil Guard source said officers involved in the search were still hopeful that Jay would be found alive.
But they added that they are “very aware that time is of the essence here.”
Warren Slater, Jay’s dad, said last week: “I just want my boy back” as he surveyed the search area with his other son Zak.
He said his son’s disappearance “makes no sense” as he put up missing persons posters in the village of Santiago del Teide and shared a CCTV image.
A tearful Warren told the MEN: “It started out like it was a boy who was walking and got lost, or maybe fell.
“But that doesn’t make sense. No one would go off that road. Why would they go uphill?
“It’s dangerous, it’s a huge mountain. It’s not just a hill. It was only when I went up there by myself [that I noticed]. People who go to the party don’t come here.”
A firefighter familiar with the area said it was “strange” that Jay had not yet been found.
And former detective Mark Williams-Thomas – who worked on the Madeleine McCann case – has offered to help in the search.
Investigative journalist Mark said he believed he would be able to quickly determine whether a “third party” was involved in Jay’s disappearance.
Jay’s mum expressed concern that something “unwanted” could have happened to her son as the search continues into its eighth day.
Mark posted on X: “I reached out to the mum of missing Jay Slater this morning offering my team’s help to get her answers about what happened to Jay.
“A lot of speculation as to what might have happened and if they give me full access and my feet on the ground, I’ll be able to say very quickly whether his disappearance is my fault or whether a third party was involved.”
Mark produced and appeared in Madeleine McCann: The Case Against Christian B, a documentary about the 2003 disappearance of the toddler.
He worked as a police officer in the Met for about 10 years and then became a private detective.
Timeline of Jay Slater’s disappearance
Ellie Doughty, foreign news reporter
SUNDAY, JUNE 16 – MONDAY, JUNE 17
Jay is going to rave at the 2024 NRG music festival in Tenerife, around Arona in the south of the island
20.35 – Jay posts a smiling Snapchat video of himself laughing with friends
He leaves the rave with two men he met that day and is taken back to their accommodation on the other side of the island
MONDAY 17
7.30am – Jay posts a Snapchat of his hand holding a cigarette in the area where he was staying – near Rural Park de Teno in the north of the island
8.30am – Jay calls his friend Lucy Law and tells her he’s missed the bus, has 1% battery left on his phone and is stuck in the “middle of nowhere”.
9am – A missing persons report is filed and the search for Jay begins
TUESDAY 18
2am – The police knock on the door of Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan’s home and tell her to catch the first flight to Tenerife
7am – She flies from Manchester Airport along with her son Zak to help with the search
Debbie was sent a Snapchat message that read: “Kiss your boy goodbye, you’ll never see him again, he owes me a lot of money.”
WEDNESDAY 19
12:30 – After a false sighting, the police briefly move the search to the south of the island
Cops search his hotel room for clues as his mum says ‘there was nothing wrong’
Debbie gives heart-wrenching interview in which she talks about fears he was “kidnapped” and says “I just want my baby back”
THURSDAY 20
Officers begin the fourth day of a massive manhunt for Jay
FRIDAY 21
Lancashire police are offering to help in the search, but Tenerife authorities say they are “pleased to have the resources they need”.
The search moves to the 22,000-foot gorge in Masca – part of the area locals call “the wasteland”.
SATURDAY 22
The sixth day of the search begins as sniffer dogs, police officers, mountain rescue services and firefighters once again take to the hills of northern Tenerife
A possible new sighting of Jay placed him near a church with two men at 6pm on Monday – although police have not confirmed
Jay’s dad Warren and brother Zak visit the search site in Tenerife
SUNDAY 23
Officers are focusing their search on small outbuildings in Parc de Teno near where Jay’s phone last pinged
Jay’s mum Debbie says trolls are comparing her to Karen Matthews
A GoFundMe set up by Jay’s friend Lucy has surpassed £30,000 after just three days
Exclusive Sun footage shows Jay falling and stumbling back to the rave before disappearing
MONDAY 24
The search for Jay enters its eighth day
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Missing persons posters have been put up in TenerifeCredit: Ian Whittaker
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Jay, center, with dad Warren and brother Zak
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Search dogs are involved in the huntCredit: PA
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Jay, in a circle, looks like he’s tripped on the floor of a packed nightclub in footage obtained by The Sun
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education