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TikTok detectives trying to solve Jay Slater’s disappearance in Tenerife with their amateur investigating may prove to be a ‘double-edged sword’, a criminologist says
Amateur detectives want more than to bring Jay Slater home, a criminologist has warned.
The mysterious case of the missing 19-year-old Brit in Tenerife has got internet sleuths hooked and a slew of wild conspiracy theories about his disappearance have been circling online over the last two weeks. Social media trolls have amplified unhinged theories about Jay and his family, falsely claiming he has been found and even cruelly dubbing his vanishing a huge ‘con’.
Unsubstantiated theories have spread on the internet about possible mafia and ISIS involvement, while Reddit contributors have claimed that Jay fell into the clutches of an organised crime gang. Trolls have even likened Jay’s devastated mum, Debbie Duncan, to Karen Matthews, who infamously plotted to have her nine-year-old daughter kidnapped for ransom.
In her heartbroken response to the comparison, Debbie, 55, said: “I just can’t face it.” And when Jay’s GoFundMe page, set up by friend Lucy Mae Law to help fund the search, was trolled by keyboard warriors, the Lancashire mum had to speak out again. She said: “I really am saddened by all your comments”, adding that she hopes she will not have to bring her son “home in a body bag”.
The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer vanished on June 17, in the remote Rural de Teno area, while holidaying for a three-day music festival. He left his friends to travel to a quiet Airbnb with other partygoers, then began the treacherous 11-hour trek back to his accommodation, located in the south of the island, on foot after missing the first bus. The Civil Guard officially called off their search yesterday after nearly two weeks of searching.
With just a four-hour flight between the UK and the Spanish island, obsessive followers have taken their snooping abroad. Dozens of visitors have travelled to Rural de Teno National Park to try and solve his case and the road outside the Airbnb has reportedly been flooded with jeep ‘safari tours’. While many believe they have good intentions, they are really “only doing it for themselves”, criminologist and crime scene investigator Alex Iszatt warns.
Alex explained that sleuths can take it too far – and may already have as their unqualified visits could hamper the case altogether. She told the Mirror: “Theories surrounding the personal life of Jay Slater have made him both a victim and a villain. A lost teen on holiday with friends, having a good time, disappears – not in a far-off country, but in Brits’ favourite resort Tenerife, and not too long after Michael Mosely went for a walk and never returned.
“It’s not too far away for TikTokers to go and find out for themselves what happened to Jay. But these sleuths aren’t just looking for the teen – they are looking for ‘the truth’ – bringing up his past court case, his supposed behaviour at home, and alleged drug taking. They want the credit for telling the world who Jay really is – and they believe they know more than the police and the media and, by going out to Tenerife, they will get evidence that proves it.”
Alex, who has witnessed first-hand amateur detectives trying to alter criminal investigations, said: “It’s a double-edged sword for the police and any future court case – if anything untoward has happened to him. With so much content easy to find, contempt of court is a real possibility. Whether the content is true or not, once it’s out there and spread around, it’s impossible to take back.”
She continued: “And it’s not just Jay that some of these TikTokers have in their sights – they are questioning why Jay’s mum went over and the GoFundMe money as well, asking for those invested in the case to see it as a huge con.” She said that online sleuths are “offering very little evidence and not giving objective answers” as they risk impacting the future of the case.
Meanwhile, the expert talks of a selfish desire among amateur detectives. Alex added: “Whether these ‘detectives’ are looking to find Jay, to prove he is a victim or a villain, they are really only doing it for themselves – so they can be part of the story, and be seen as heroes in their own way.”
Consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr Pablo Jeczimen also told the Mirror that people’s desire to be part of missing persons cases, by having their say online, has little to do with those who have vanished – and is driven by their need to be the centre of attention. Dr Jeczimen said: “Some people are so interested in all the details of crime cases simply because they are really morbid and just interested in death, it’s quite a perverse thing, flirting with death and the fragility of life.”
He added: “People are narcissists and they are in the centre of their worlds, it’s all about knowing more about the case than the next person. It’s about them being the centre of the story and not to do with the missing person. I don’t think it’s a good thing to be interested in something that’s so far away from everyday life.”
Shannon Shiels, a spa manager who lives in Birmingham and Spain, is one of the individuals who has visited the site. She has just returned from a second trip to the island to entertain her own theories of what happened to Jay. Ms Shiels told The Times: “This is our second time here. I asked to drive this route because I just wanted to see it one more time. I want to get some answers.” Shannon admitted the trip gave her “actual chills” as she investigated the property’s green door along with her partner Matthew.
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A cop has also urged armchair detectives to stay at home and not go along “as an upgraded armchair detective” because it “will not help Jay”. Northumbria Police’s former chief constable Sue Sim, who led the chase for murderer Raoul Moat, told Sky: “If you have any intelligence, phone your local police who will get it out to the Guardia Civil. Don’t just go and trample over potential evidential trails.”
On the wild speculation behind screens, the ex-officer added: “I think social media can be an extremely useful tool but in this instance, it’s very damaging to this inquiry. I would appeal to Jay’s mum and his friends and family to not read this rubbish that is being bandied about, about your son and friend. Let the police do their job. And for people who have nothing better to do than put conspiracy theories onto social media, when a young man is missing, shame on you. It’s absolutely appalling behaviour.”
