He was on the phone.. I knew he’d gone off road as I could hear the gravel
Friend says Jay fell down rocks .. as cops appeal for search help
POLICE on Tenerife yesterday appealed for volunteers to join a search for Jay Slater today, as his best pal told of their final chat before the teenager vanished.
Brad Hargreaves, 19, revealed he saw the apprentice bricklayer slipping on some rocks as they held a video call on Monday June 17.
But despite the fact Jay has been missing almost a fortnight, his friend has not given up hope he is still alive.
And a local ecology expert said the area in which the Brit went missing has plenty of aqueducts and a waterfall where he could get water.
Brad told how Jay, 19 – who he was on holiday with – had earlier been at a club in Playa de Las Americas and phoned him the next morning.
He said: “He’s rang me walking down the mountain and he just says he’s walking home.
“He was on the phone walking down a road and he’d gone over a little bit. Not a big drop, but a tiny little drop and he was going down.
LAUGHING
“I knew he went off the road because I could hear like when you walk on gravel, stones.
“At the time I didn’t think anything of it. I just thought he was going to get a bus home or a taxi home because that’s what he says he is going to do.
“We were both laughing and he said, ‘Look where I am.’ He didn’t seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was.
“I said [to Jay], ‘Put your location on and he said, ‘A 15-minute drive or a 14-hour walk.’ And I said, ‘If it’s only a 15-minute drive, get a taxi.’
“He said ‘I’ll ring ya back.’ I think someone else was ringing him.
“Every day my mind is going blank. I don’t know what to say any more. I’m praying he comes home every night. I still hope. He’s somewhere.”
British surveyor Brian Harrison, who lives on Tenerife, believes Jay could have taken the Masca Gorge Trail, a hiking route.
The 57-year-old secretary general of the Tenerife Ecological Association said the route can be perilous if walkers diverge from the path. He added:
“Logic suggests if Jay did get lost, maybe he was heading towards the ocean. It’s feasible he has taken the gorge trail, fallen and injured himself.
“There are some sheer drops along the route, there is that danger.
“If he’s fallen it is possible he’s got some water from somewhere, meaning he could still be alive. The area has lots of aqueducts farmers use for their goats and there’s a waterfall.” Tenerife police chief Angel Sanz Coronado made the appeal to the public to help his teams with the search for Jay, of Oswaldtwistle, Lancs.
It is the first time Spanish police have made any official statement about the case.
As the hunt entered its 12th day, Mr Coronado said: “The Civil Guard is prepared to carry out a mass search on Saturday, 29 June.
“Given that it is a steep, rocky area, full of uneven terrain and with many ravines, tracks and trails, we request the collaboration of all volunteer associations in this search”
Former British detective Mark Williams-thomas, who is on Tenerife working for Jay’s family, has welcomed the police decision.
He said: “A strong working hypothesis remains that Jay has come to natural harm in the rugged terrain.
“So for the police chief to ask local residents, who will know the area well, to join a massive co-ordinated search is a very good action to take.”
As part of yesterday’s search, officers scoured caves in the
Los Carrizales area. Brad, of, Accrington, Lancs, has remained in Tenerife to help with the search for Jay. Brad’s mum Rachel, who set up a
Facebook page to help find Jay, has hit out at cruel internet trolls, some of who had a go at the missing lad’s distraught mum Debbie for not helping with the search.
She said: “The posts are hurtful and cause more distress. Debbie doesn’t have the energy to do anything.”
Jay is believed to have made his last call at 8.30am to close friend Lucy Law, 18, who was also on the holiday with him and Brad.
He told her he was in the middle of nowhere, trying to get home with no water and 1% on
his phone battery.
I’m praying he comes home every night. I still hope. He’s somewhere BRAD, JAY’S PAL, ABOVE, ON HIS FRIEND YESTERDAY