Friends and relatives of missing Jay Slater have flown out to Tenerife to support parents Debbie Duncan and Warren Slater in the desperate search for their son – but they have been targetted by trolls
Police are continuing their hunt to find missing British teenager Jay Slater – and are being helped by his desperate family and friends.
Rachel Hargreaves, the mum of Jay’s friend Bradley, who travelled to Tenerife with the teen for the NRG festival, has flown out to the Canary Island to support distraught mum Debbie Duncan. Amid the search for the apprentice bricklayer, who has not been seen since June 17, Rachel has helped run an online Facebook group that the family set up.
But the page, which now has more than 590,000 members, has seen Rachel targetted by online trolls – with one cruelly impersonating her late mother. Ms Hargreaves, a chef from Accrington in Lancashire, said she received a friend request on the social media platform from a fake account, using the name and photo of her mother who died eight months ago.
Meanwhile, her son, who she said is “not coping well”, received a message from the account saying ‘I miss you’. The mum said they have received thousands of comments and messages in the group from people genuinely trying to help with the search, however these have unfortunately been missed over the deluge of negativity and bizarre conspiracy theories.
Ms Hargreaves told the BBC: “The picture of my mum is an old one but it was on my Facebook and somehow they have got their hands on it. We’re living the worst nightmare you can live and this does not help. I’m a strong person and that affected me. Things don’t normally get to me.”
She and Jay’s mum Debbie had always been in touch because of their sons’ friendship, and have since grown closer. Rachel added: “You can’t put into words how you feel. I’m just here trying to support and be strong for her.”
Addressing criticism and claims that Jay fell into the clutches of an organised crime gang, Rachel added: “The stuff people have been saying about us is just not true. We are not those kinds of people at all.” Debbie and Jay’s brother Zak, 21, flew out to Tenerife the day after he went missing police informed them of his disappearance.
The 55-year-old school finance officer has vowed to not leave the island until her son is found. Jay’s father, Warren Slater, 58, arrived last week and has been staying in the town of Santiago de Tiede, where he was seen putting up missing posters for his son.
They have since withdrawn cash from the fundraiser set up for Jay and thanked supporters for their ‘kind messages, and good wishes’. At the time of Debbie’s withdrawal, the ‘Get Jay Slater Home’ GoFundMe page, which was set up by Jay’s friend Lucy Mae Law, had raised more than £36,000, with more than 3,000 people pitching in amid hopes that the apprentice bricklayer will be brought home safe and well.
However, the fundraising page fell victim to trolls who spread nasty theories about why it had been set up, forcing Jay’s loved ones to call for calm. Explaining what the money would be used for, the mum-of-two said it will be used to support the ‘tireless’ mountain rescue teams, as well as covering the costs of food, accommodation and travel expenses for the ‘loved ones’ of the ‘wonderful people’ who have flown over to Tenerife amid the ongoing search for Jay.
Debbie, of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, wrote: “First, I would like to thank everyone for your support, kind messages, and good wishes. 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.”
She continued: “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. Thank you again for all your donations and support, this means the world to us.”
