Debbie Duncan said she found online speculation about her son and his whereabouts ‘extremely distressing’ to her and her family and slammed negative online comments
The mother of missing Jay Slater has issued a brutal response to “vile” conspiracy theories about her son online.
His mum Debbie Duncan said she found online speculation about her son ‘extremely distressing’ to her and her family. She added that the negative comments on social media sites and other websites have been difficult to stomach
She said in a new statement this evening: “We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and can only describe this as vile, the negative comments are extremely distressing to our family”.
The 19-year-old was last heard from in the northwest of Tenerife after staying at an Airbnb in Masca on June 17. He then told a friend Lucy Law he planned to to walk back to the south of the island before his phone battery died.
Speculation about Jay has been rife since he failed to return to his apartment in Tenerife on June 17. Online comments have prompted a lot of speculation and conjecture about what happened to the young man who was in the third year of an apprenticeship.
On the overseas missing persons charity’s site, Debbie said earlier: “My son, Jay Dean Slater, came to the holiday island of Tenerife on the 13th of June with his friend to attend a music festival. On the 17th of June after not returning to his apartment he was reported as a missing person.
“Jay is a normal guy who is in his 3rd year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends,” said Debbie, via the British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global.“
His mum has paid tribute to Spanish police and said their investigation is still ongoing into what has happened. She told the Mirror earlier: “We do not have any information on his whereabouts. The Guardia Civil have worked tirelessly up in the mountains where Jay’s last phone call was traced.
“They conducted a land search for 12 days which involved every resource they had available. Although the land search ended, the Spanish police still continue with their investigations into why Jay had travelled to the location so far away from his accommodation.”
The Mirror reported earlier how a detective assisting the family claimed they have faced “vile threats” and fake ransom demands.
The search for the 19-year-old is at a standstill after the Civil Guard confirmed on Sunday it had brought the ground search for Jay to an end after two weeks. Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, vanished without a trace on Monday, June 17, while staying on the island with friends.
In the early days of the investigation, they were joined in Tenerife by TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas. In a post on X, he revealed the family has faced vile attacks by members of the public.
He wrote: “So much fake content has been created in the Jay Slater case – mocked-up chat, messages, pics. It’s a very different world we live in today with social media and online detectives.
“Overwhelming response from people has been very positive. People just want to help, even though most have no direct info, just what they have read, seen or think.
“Also a number of people making vile threats and ransom demands (all checked out and have no credibility). Being a family and friend at the centre of a massive story like this which has attracted worldwide media/ public attention brings with it many more new challenges.”
