The father of missing teenager Jay Slater was overwhelmed with emotion during his poignant visit to the search site last night, tearfully pleading: “I just want the boy back”.
Jay’s dad, Warren Slater, aged 58, found solace in the company of his other son Zak as they stood at the location in Masca, not far from where the young apprentice bricklayer vanished after 8am on Monday.
With the search operation for Jay entering its sixth day, Warren and Zak, accompanied by nine of Jay’s mates, showed a united front amidst the distressing circumstances.
This marked the first instance that Jay’s kin had mustered the courage to approach the search vicinity, with Warren and 24 year old Zak embracing each other for support as they surveyed the ongoing efforts.
Emotions ran high for the family as they visited the holiday rental from which Jay was last reported to be seen, both men visibly moved to tears, reports the Mirror.
While Jay’s mother Debbie, 55, who is separated from Warren, couldn’t bring herself to face the harrowing scene, stating: “I’m just exhausted. I’m still hopeful. I’m not feeling negative just yet. I know it’s five days.”
“It’s not just that they’ve said absolutely not. I don’t know what it’s been like today because I’ve been advised to stay away because I would just break down.”
“My boy might be just up there somewhere. “We’re all devastated. He’s just a normal boy from a little town in Lancashire. These things don’t happen.
“I was in touch with him while he is in Tenerife. He was just holidaying away, he’d saved up and was looking forward to it.”
“I’ve not slept for five days. My brain isn’t functioning well and I’m tired and exhausted.”
Debbie also hit out at online trolls and conspiracy theorists who are targeting her and her family.
She said: “People keep asking on social media ‘why aren’t I up there?’ and calling me the new Karen Matthews. I just can’t face it.”
Speaking from the hotel where the family are staying, Debbie added she had not heard anything from the police on Saturday.
Debbie, 55, also revealed that a person now says that they saw her son walking down a road with two other men last Monday evening. It was that morning that he had last been seen as he enquired about getting a bus back to the south of Tenerife where he was staying with friends.
“Someone has come forward to say they saw someone who they thought was Jay walking back down the road sat on a bench,” she reportedly said. “He was with two men looking a bit worse for wear, and they were by a church, this guy has come forward and told the police about it and they are looking into it. We don’t know if it was Jay for sure, but it’s a start.
“They said it was about 6pm which is ten hours after he was seen by the lady in the village. But if it was him what was he doing there and who are these two men?”
