2024 death of a British man in Tenerife, Spain
On the morning of 17 June 2024, 19-year-old Jay Dean Slater, an apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared on the island of Tenerife, Spain, after attempting to walk ten hours back to his accommodation as a result of missing a bus. Slater had attended a music festival in Playa De Las Américas with two friends the day before his disappearance.
Extensive searches headed by the Guardia Civil and aided by volunteers found no body. Less than two weeks after his disappearance, on 30 June, Tenerife police stated that they were discontinuing the search for Slater, although the investigation remained open, for which they were later criticised. In fact the search continued under a court order of secrecy, to avoid "curious onlookers" due to the high level of interest in the case, and on 15 July 2024, the Spanish police reported the discovery of a body in the vicinity of the area of interest, later confirmed by the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands to be that of Jay Slater. It was suspected he suffered an accident or fall. A post-mortem examination concluded Slater died of traumatic head injuries, consistent with a fall from height.
The disappearance and subsequent death of Slater drew substantial media interest. As with the death of Nicola Bulley, a number of conspiracy theories were posted on social media where speculation was rife regarding his disappearance, particularly on TikTok and Facebook. Members of the public who travelled to the area during the search were criticised for being armchair detectives, while social media users were strongly criticised for engaging in trolling.
Background.
Jay Slater was born to Debbie Duncan and Warren Slater; he had an older brother, Zak. Warren had been estranged from Duncan as of Slater's disappearance. Slater was educated at West End Primary School and Rhyddings High School in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, before attending Accrington and Rossendale College, where he was studying as an apprentice bricklayer.
At the time of his disappearance, Slater was described as a 19-year-old young man, weighing 11 stones(70 kg), with a height of , slim build, black hair and blue eyes. He was described by family and friends as a "beautiful boy" and "one of a kind", who was "always the happiest and most smiley person in the room". Others described Slater as a "normal, hardworking young lad from Lancashire" who was loved by all who knew him and had a "zest for life". Slater's family highlighted his passion for football from the age of six, playing for Huncoat United FC until the age of 17. He enjoyed spending time with his friends, attending music festivals and events, socialising and meeting new people.
Disappearance.
Slater attended the three-day NRG Music Festival at Papagayo Beach Club in south Tenerife on the afternoon of 16 June 2024. After the festival, Slater went to the mountain village of Masca with two men he met at the festival, Ayub Qassim and an unnamed man, both of whom police have deemed to be unconnected to the disappearance.
On 17 June, at around 08:00 WEST, Ofelia Medina Hernandez – the last known person to meet with Slater – told him that his bus was due at 10:00. Hernandez recalled driving past Slater as he "walked fast" in the "wrong direction". Hernandez owned the cafe/villa Casa Abuela Tina in Masca.
Fifty minutes later, at 08:50, Slater called his friend Lucy Mae Law to tell her that he was "lost", as he had missed the bus to get south and was attempting to walk from Masca to where he was staying in Los Cristianos on the south coast of Tenerife, a distance of or 10 to 11 hours on foot. Slater said that his phone had 1% battery, he needed water and that he had "cut his leg" on a cactus, before the call cut out. His last known location was the Rural de Teno National Park. Slater had earlier posted an image on his Snapchat account showing him at the doorway of a property, tagged with the location of the park. He also made a video call to his friend Brad Hargreaves who thought he slipped on gravel. At 09:04, Slater was reported missing.
Investigation and search.
After the report of Slater's disappearance, an extensive search headed by the Guardia Civil commenced, involving drones, sniffer dogs and helicopters. The Asociación SOS Desaparecidos classed Slater as "highly vulnerable".
On 19 June, the search was temporarily moved to the Los Cristianos area due to a potential lead, but this was disregarded and the search returned north to his last known location at the Rural de Teno National Park. Local Guardia Civil and rescuers also searched a 2,000-foot-deep ravine in the Teno Nature Reserve.
The search for Slater was initially focused on two British men he had made friends with in Tenerife three days before his disappearance. Slater left Playa de las Américas in a car with the men, who drove him north to an Airbnb in Masca. However, police later confirmed that they were "not relevant" to the search after being questioned briefly by Spanish police and flew back to the UK. On 24 June, a blurry closed-circuit television image taken in Santiago del Teide was shared by Slater's family, who they believed was him around ten hours after he was reported missing.
The next day, police officers looking for Slater stumbled across a Scottish hiker in a ravine. The 51-year-old was reported missing on 21 June after failing to return from a hike near where Slater was last seen. Officers stated that he would not have managed to get out of the ravine "by his own means" due to the "difficulty and lack of communication" in the area, but the hiker stated that he was experienced and did not need rescuing.
Comprehensive searches, involving specialist dogs drafted in from Madrid, found no trace of Slater. On 29 June, the Guardia Civil stepped up their search, urging volunteer associations to take part. Despite the efforts of between 30 and 40 volunteers and rescue workers in the Masca and surrounding areas, nothing of interest was found. The next day, on 30 June, the search for Slater was discontinued by the Guardia Civil. They later revealed it had carried out "discreet" searches to deter "curious onlookers".
The local police declined to state whether it was actively investigating if Slater's disappearance was linked to a parallel investigation. On 2 July, they stated there was no indication Slater had been the victim of a crime. On 14 July, a specialist team of six volunteers and four dogs based in the Netherlands were deployed to the island, mounting a new search for Slater and said "there is more we can do".
Recovery of body.
On 15 July, the Spanish police reported the discovery of human remains in the vicinity of the area of interest, close to the last known location of Slater's mobile phone. This was the Juan López ravine, some 10km from the coast. The body was found with Slater's possessions and clothes. Tenerife newspaper "El Día" reported that a helicopter from the regional government's emergency rescue service was used to help recover the remains due to the inaccessible terrain.
The next day, a preliminary autopsy by the Guardia Civil and the Canary Islands Higher Court of Justice confirmed the body found in the area was that of Slater through DNA fingerprinting (or DNA profiling) The autopsy proposed that he died as a result of injuries from an accidental fall or a "plunge from height due to the broken bones he suffered".
His body remained in Spain before being repatriated to the UK. The coroner ordered a post-mortem examination to be held in the UK, which concluded Slater died of traumatic head injuries, consistent with a fall from height. The report also highlighted that his death would have been instantaneous.
Responses.
The disappearance of Slater sparked national and international attention, which dominated the global media. The attention of Slater's disappearance has been compared to that of Madeleine McCann in 2007.
On 18 June, Slater's mother, Debbie Duncan, and his brother, Zak, flew to Tenerife. Duncan said she believed Slater had been "taken against his will". Slater's father, Warren, stated he was experiencing "a living hell" and that "somebody must know something". Former Met Police officer, Mark Williams-Thomas, who helped in the search for Nicola Bulley, had reached out to Duncan offering his assistance.
On 22 June, the NRG (New Rave Generation) Music Festival, which Slater attended before his disappearance, released a statement describing the situation as "devastating".
Slater's disappearance led to some press reporting of the disappearance of Kevin Ainley twenty years previously. Ainley was from Lancashire, living in Yorkshire and had relocated to south Tenerife a few months before his disappearance in June 2004 which was not widely reported at the time. Another comparable case was that of Steven Cook who went missing in Crete but was found dead with an inquest recording an open verdict. On 20 July, the sustained interest in Slater was contrasted with the Disappearance of Damien Nettles and Jack O'Sullivan.
Tenerife newspaper "El Día" reported that according to missing persons organisation SOS Desaparecidos, Slater was one of 82 missing people in the Canary Islands, dating back to 1981, with 50 on Tenerife alone, including 22 foreigners. Figures from Spain's Interior Ministry revealed that Slater was one of 27 unsolved missing persons cases from 2008 onwards.
During the search, newspaper articles surfaced that reported on a serious attack on a 17-year-old in 2021 by a gang of eight people including Slater, using machetes, an axe and a golf club, in which they split the victim's skull. Slater had been sentenced in August 2023 to an 18-month community order with 25 days of rehabilitation activities and 150 hours of unpaid work.
Then-Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, stated that the British government were doing all they could to support the search for Slater. Following the confirmed death, the local Member of Parliament, Sarah Smith, said that she was assisting the family in getting government support.
A documentary produced by ITN, "The Jay Slater Mystery: Missing or Murdered?", was set to air on Channel 5 in July, but was later removed from its schedules after Slater's body was found.
Social media.
A GoFundMe page entitled 'Get Jay Slater Home' was launched to help raise funds for his family. Following the start of the fundraiser, GoFundMe published a statement, with a spokesperson saying "all campaigns are under review and no money will be transferred unless we can verify it goes straight to his family". This came after widespread online speculation about the intention of how the money would be used. Facebook group administrator Rachel Louise Harg said the funds raised would go to Slater's friends and family staying in Tenerife. At least seven fake GoFundMe pages were set up in Slater's name, which were later deleted.
On 22 June, the family and friends of Slater feared his Instagram account had been hacked after it was accessed multiple times since his disappearance. Slater's mother, Debbie, was later subjected to a series of messages on social media and received "sickening" prank calls from unknown numbers claiming they had taken Slater and were holding him for ransom. She later described being "terrorised" by the internet trolls, stating the abuse had not stopped even after Slater's funeral and denied rumours he had stolen a £12,000 Rolex watch before his disappearance.
As with the death of Nicola Bulley, a number of conspiracy theories were posted on social media regarding Slater's disappearance, often based on unconfirmed rumours and false screenshots of messages online from people connected to the case. On Facebook, a number of groups were set up discussing theories about his whereabouts. On TikTok, over 30 million videos were made under the tag "Jay Slater Opinions", many of which were speculation that Slater was tricking everyone for money. TikTok users had also arrived in Tenerife to help with the search and post updates to their followers. Slater's uncle feared third-party involvement. Some social media users who engaged in trolling were strongly criticised. Ginger Gorman, author of "Troll Hunting" and global cyberhate expert, said it gives trolls targeting Slater's family a feeling of power and was depressing but not surprising in respect of Slater. Another author of a book on social media, Dr. Sara Polak, said it is 'apophenia' and fits in with the cultural trope that 19-year-old boys are not to