Apprentice bricklayer Jay vanished on Tenerife last summer, with an inquest hearing that the teenager had concerned a friend with a six-word text he sent before his disapperance
Tragic teen Jay Slater sent his friend a chilling six-word text the morning he died referencing a sinister “they”, an inquest into his death has heard. The apprentice bricklayer, 19, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, was found dead in a Tenerife ravine last year following a massive month long island manhunt launched after he mysteriously vanished one morning.
The missing persons case sparked massive international interest, and, following a funeral in August 2024, an inquest into the teenager’s death started this week. Preston Coroner’s Court has heard a series of new details regarding the distressing incident, including the last text he ever sent.
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The court heard that, at 2.39am on the morning the teenager vanished, he sent a message that persuaded a concerned friend to ask him to “come home”.
He wrote: “They’ve got a marker on me.” And the friend replied: “You need to get home lad, you’re off your barnet.” Jay was found dead in the Juan Lopez ravine on July 15, more than a month after he was reported missing in mid-June, near the remote village of Masca in Teno.
He had stayed the night there at an Airbnb with two strangers after attending the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas, and opted to start walking back to his accommodation on the opposite side of the island after missing a bus.
A preliminary report delivered by Spanish authorities after he was found ruled his death was “violent”, and provided an immediate cause of “traumatic shock” and severe traumatic brain injury .Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said the teen had sustained a host of injuries, and agreed with the early conclusions.
He said: “There was extensive fractures of the left side of his head. Several extensive fractures extending into the bottom of the skull. Also fractures to the left side of the pelvis and hip joints.
“The pattern of the injuries were entirely consistent with a heavy fall, a fall from a height, landing on his head.” Toxicology expert Dr Stephanie Martin said the body was severely composed, adding that it was difficult to conclude whether there were any drugs in his body at the time of his death.
Analysis did, however, find traces of MDMA and MDA, otherwise known as Ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol. The coroner adjourned the inquest earlier today, concluding it would resume “in a couple of months” due to trouble locating key witnesses.
Dr James Adeley said: “The question in any inquest is that of how somebody comes by their death. The difficulty is in the interpretation. We could simply deal with Jay’s death by the fact that he has walked into the middle of nowhere and fallen off a cliff.” Addressing Jay’s mother Debbie, he continued: “However, you wish to speak to the witnesses, who last saw him.
“You have heard of the difficulties we have had trying to find these two witnesses. In view of your distress and your need for answers we will make an attempt to find them again using whatever means we can. I am not confident of success but I will do what I can.”