Mother of missing Jay Slater describes conspiracy theorists as 'awful'

The mother of missing Briton Jay Slater has spoken of her "heartache" and criticised "awful comments and conspiracy theories" as it approaches a month since the teenager went missing in Tenerife.

The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared after setting off to walk back to his accommodation on the Spanish holiday island on June 17.

In a statement released through British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global on Sunday, Debbie Duncan said the family was "desperate to find our beautiful boy".

Ms Duncan said the family wished to thank the public for "their continued support and well wishes" and praised the British Embassy and police for "doing all they can to support us".

Statement from Debbie Duncan

But she also criticised "awful comments and conspiracy theories" posted on social media, which she branded "vile" and said were "hindering" people trying to help locate the teenager.

Jay's family would like to thank you all for your continued support at this difficult time. Almost 4 weeks on and we are still no further in finding our beautiful boy. He was only 4 days into his holiday and his disappearance still remains a mystery. We are still here in Tenerife searching daily with the help of volunteers and local hiking groups. Paul is also still working tirelessly, which we are so grateful for and send him so much love and respect.

As you all know the Guardia Civil gave up the land search after 12 days. We have been actively working with search and rescue teams and we can now confirm that we have a team of experts flying in over the weekend from the Netherlands, who will carry on the search with their specialist dogs. We are only able to fund this with the generosity of all those who donated. The team are the Signi Zoekhondon and this has taken lots of planning to get them over so thank you so much for your kindness.

Jay is just a normal hardworking young lad from Lancashire who is very loved by all who know him. He is about to finish his 3 year apprenticeship this month. Although we don't have any answers to his disappearance we obviously have to remain positive.

Please continue to pray for him and our family. There is a lot of negativity unfortunately and this is adding to the heartbreak of the unknown. So I would please just say send the love and positive thoughts to Jay, our beautiful son ❤️

Search approaches one month mark

Tenerife's Guardia Civil called off the search for the apprentice bricklayer at the end of June after helicopters, drones and search dogs were deployed to find him.

The GoFundMe appeal Get Jay Slater Home has raised more than £50,000 and Ms Duncan has said some of the funds will be used to support volunteers searching for her son in the mountains near to where his last phone call was traced

LBT Global chief executive Matt Searle said "horrific things are being posted online, and even sent directly to family and friends" as he called for an end to "the constant barrage of conspiracy theories and wild speculation".

The search in the village of Masca, near Mr Slater's last-known location, took place in a steep rocky area, including ravines, trails and paths.

Mr Slater had attended the NRG music festival with two friends before his disappearance, and his last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the Canary Island - which was about an 11-hour walk from his accommodation.

He had travelled to an Airbnb in Masca and the two men said to have rented the property were later ruled "not relevant" to the case, according to reports.

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