Missing Jay Slater’s uncle has branded the almost three-week-long search a “let down” as he says he wants to “burst into police station demanding answers” as police called off search of the island
Jay Slater’s uncle has blasted Spanish police after they called off the search for the missing teen.
Jay, an apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, left a rave in Tenerife by car with two British men and stayed the night at an Airbnb in the middle of a rural village before vanishing. The trip was Jay’s first ever time travelling abroad.
He was last heard from on the morning of Monday, June 17 as he attempted to make his way back to the touristy town of Los Cristianos, where he had been staying with friends Lucy Law and Brad Hargreaves. But despite a huge three-week-long search operation, Jay has not been seen since. Glen Duncan, 41, brother of Jay’s mum Debbie, joined the search for the teenager, who has been missing for almost three weeks. He said the search has been a “let down”, with the family holding out hope Jay is still alive.
When discussing theories and the many online sleuths who have got themselves entangled in the case, he said: “I’m not on social media or anything so I can just block it out. It’s the world we live in. If he’s gone on a trail like a path like this and he’s got lost there or fallen down I think he would have been found by now. I’ve been thinking third party involvement from the start. There’s just some things that have already been out there. Why would two lads hire a villa up here? They’re down on the strip, you know what it’s like down there.
“There’s millions of apartments and hotels down there in Los Cristianos and Las Americas. Straight away, that’s just suspicious in itself. Then apparently one who has been found came out and said he arrived alive and left alive. That line in itself is suspicious. The fact he has come out and said all his mates have left him and he had nowhere to go, he was 10 minutes from his apartment in Los Cristianos. He’s not stupid. If he didn’t have a room key he could have gone to reception for a replacement.
“I don’t know what the police are taking seriously. I don’t know if they’re following up every single lead. I feel like marching down there myself and bursting into the police station. What are they actually doing now, the police, I mean they’re not searching with the helicopter are they? Are they doing door to door inquiries or sitting there looking at CCTV images?” He also questioned why the two Airbnb men were ruled irrelevant by Spanish cops so early on.
“It baffled me from day one. How can you say they have no relevance when they are two of the last people to see him alive? It doesn’t make sense. I can’t get my head around it. It’s like if one of you guys going missing now and letting the rest of you fly home and say we’re not bothered about it. It’s a massive letdown. It’s one of them too – you don’t want to give them a hammering. I can’t step on their toes.”
Earlier this week, the case took a dark turn with the revelation that one of the last individuals to see Jay was found to be a convicted drug dealer. The news that the disappearance has underworld connections was delivered by TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who flew to Tenerife to help find Jay, and said further digging into the investigation has opened up an established criminal network with links to drugs, violent crime and theft.
He said: “As part of this investigation we have sought to speak with all of the people Jay had contact with whilst in Tenerife. The result of this digging has opened up an established criminal network with links to drugs, violent crime and theft. At this stage, I cannot expand any further on what we now know.
“I’m unable to say if this network has anything to do with Jay’s disappearance but remain open-minded as we continue to investigate.”
Mark also revealed on Sunday Ayub Qassim, 31, who was imprisoned nine years ago for orchestrating a scheme to inundate Wales with Class A drugs, is the mystery ‘Jonny Vegas’ who drove the missing teen to the deserted holiday rental. Mark shared a video online updating the public in which he revealed he had spoken with Qassim. He said: “In the last 24 hours I have spoken in detail with Ayub Qassim, who is also known as Jonny Vegas.
“He told me he was on the (Veronicas) Strip in Playa de las Americas and said that Jay wanted to carry on partying and that he hadn’t anywhere to stay, so he (Qassim) invited him back to his rental. In the car they played music all the way, they stopped once to get a can of fizzy drink, and there was three of them in the car, Jay in the back and Qassim’s friend in the front.”
Mark claims that Qassim told him Jay left to get a bus that runs “every 10 minutes” on the morning of Monday, June 17, and hasn’t been seen since as the search looks set to enter its fourth week on the island.
