Navigating through the dense desert vegetation around Masca, along narrow dusty paths, dodging cacti barbs and avoiding falling rocks from sheer cliff faces is a task only for experts. This harsh, unforgiving landscape can become treacherous with just one wrong move.
Locals told reporters that a major development was supposed to make this place safer. A new road was constructed last year, according to Tenerife residents. They said it was “built to make the area safer, easier for people to get in and out of.”
Despite these safety measures, around the remote mountainous town of Masca, Tenerife, 19-year-old Lancashire lad Jay Slater has gone missing. This is the area where his phone was last tracked and he was last seen.
More than a fortnight after his disappearance, the ground search for him has been called off. There’s been no sight of him, and Spanish authorities have no clear leads on his whereabouts, reports the Manchester Evening News.
A local from Masca pointed to the throngs of tourists flocking to the renowned Hilda viewpoint, nestled amidst the breathtaking Spanish volcanic mountains, which has become the focal point for search operations scouring the deep ravines flanking it.
“This whole road was built only around a year ago,” said one Tenerife native. “It was built to make the area safer, to make it easier for people to get in and out of.”
Visitors were spotted mingling with scores of police officers, mountain rescue teams, and volunteers on Saturday, in what was declared the ultimate effort to find any sign of Jay on the terrain. The local remarked: “There are many tourists and many walkers and hikers who come here.”
“The road was supposed to make it safer for them, but here we are.”
The route to Masca and beyond to Hilda, Calle Turon, is treacherous, characterised by blind hairpin turns, steep inclines and declines, with only modest bollards as a barrier against the sheer drops. Despite its relatively new tarmac, ample laybys, bus stops for locals, and being a conduit for villagers and tourist coaches alike heading to the viewpoint, it seemingly wasn’t sufficient to ensure Jay’s safety.
It has now been over two weeks since his family last had contact with him. His mobile phone’s final signal was detected near this very road, and the Airbnb he rented before his disappearance is situated just off this same stretch.
The search for 19-year-old Jay Slater, led by Tenerife’s Civil Guard, was called off on Sunday, June 30. Despite the use of sniffer dogs, a helicopter and mountain rescue experts since June 17, when the apprentice bricklayer was reported missing, the active search has now ceased.
However, officers will continue to act on any new information or tip-offs.
This significant development in the case occurred less than 24 hours after a final push operation. The hopes of hundreds searching for Jay were shattered as the operation, involving around 30 police, firefighters, Civil Protection, and a few volunteers, came to an end.
The parallel investigation continues, with police urging anyone with new information or tips that could aid progress. Currently, investigators do not suspect Jay to be a crime victim, and they have found no evidence linking the two individuals who stayed with Jay at the Airbnb the night before his disappearance to his vanishing.
The search operation has faced backlash from volunteers who have been tirelessly working in hazardous mountain conditions to locate Jay. Paul Arnott, a climber and popular TikTok creator from Bedfordshire, revealed that he immediately responded to the desperate pleas for help issued by Jay’s family after his disappearance.
Paul, aged 29, put a charity fundraiser on hold and spent hundreds of pounds to fly to the island and participate in the search and rescue operations on June 22. On Saturday, he posted a scathing TikTok video, labelling the final major search as a ‘massive PR thing’ before the efforts were abruptly halted the following day.
Despite this, he pledged to continue the search alone, criticising the police search by stating that ‘nobody is doing anything’. He has stayed in Tenerife since then.
Two days after the announcement that the ground search has been suspended, Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan released a poignant and heart-wrenching message. She is imploring the police to persist with their efforts.
While she is “trying to remain positive”, she fears that the search for her youngest son is ‘losing momentum’. She expressed hope that “the world will keep watching”.
