Spanish rescuers find remains thought to be of missing Briton Jay Slater

Slater, 19, went missing on June 17 in Tenerife

A volunteer firefighter searches for the young Briton Jay Slater in the Juan Lopez ravine near Masca, on the island of Tenerife. Top left corner: Jay Slater. | REUTERS/Borja Suarez

ReutersTenerife15/07/2024 14:49

A Spanish mountain rescue team in Tenerife found human remains in the area where British teenager Jay Slater went missing nearly a month ago, local police said on Monday, adding evidence strongly suggested the remains were his. The Guardia Civil police said in a statement that he may have died due to a fall in the difficult-to-access mountainous area, but that an autopsy would confirm whether it was an accident.

A police spokesperson told Reuters by phone that the body was found on Monday morning by a Civil Guard mountain rescue group. The family has been notified and an autopsy will take place shortly, with the case then being transferred to a Tenerife court to determine the cause of death, the spokesperson said.

Slater, 19, went missing on June 17 and his phone was last traced to the Masca ravine in a remote national park on the Canary Islands archipelago. On June 30, Spanish police said they had ended a search for Slater that had involved dozens of officers, rescue workers and volunteers using dogs, drones and a helicopter.

However, on Monday they said Guardia Civil officers had maintained a "continuous and discrete search" in the area for the whole 29 days. Slater's mother, Debbie, said on July 13 the family had arranged for a team of experts with specialist dogs to fly in over the weekend from the Netherlands.

"Jay is just a normal hardworking young lad from Lancashire who is very loved by all who know him," she wrote in a statement, asking people to pray for him and his family. The family could not be immediately reached for comment.