The former British police detective working for the family of missing Jay Slater has alleged the teenager was scared when he left the holiday rental where he was last seen.
Mark Williams-Thomas, who has probed a string of high-profile missing persons cases, made the claim about the apprentice bricklayer on Wednesday morning, while giving a public update about his last known movements.
And the TV sleuth also stated that Jay, 19, said he couldn't go back to the property, which two Spanish police officers were seen examining while wearing forensic-style blue slip-ons over their shoes on Tuesday morning. Jay had travelled there with two older British men before his disappearance and was last seen leaving the white-washed home, named Casa Abuela Tina, at around 8am on June 17.
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Mr Williams-Thomas, 54, said: "We have received information that would suggest Jay left the rental property feeling scared and that he would not return to the rental, even though that would have been the most sensible course of action, and also where he could have charged his phone and got water."
He added: "He was told to go back to the rental. He said he could not do that and that he had already been walking 30 minutes and that he was now off the road and walking on a track, where there were loose stones."
Spanish police have said the two Brits, who are both understood to have been spoken to by officers before leaving the island, have no relevance to the missing persons investigation. But shedding new light on Jay's mindset shortly before he went missing, Mr Williams-Thomas also alleged that during his car journey with them to the property, Jay posted a video on social media boasting about the theft of a Rolex watch.
Speaking in a video statement today posted on social media, Mr Williams-Thomas claimed: "On route Jay posted a Snapchat saying that they had taken a £12,000 ($15,000) Rolex from a person. We have been unable to validate this in terms of a reported theft. However, friends of Jay he would not make this up and the watch was the subject of a later conversation between them."
Mr Williams-Thomas was lead investigator on the ITV Exposure documentary, The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, which revealed how the late BBC presenter preyed upon young girls. He joined the hunt for Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancs, after reaching out to Jay’s mom Debbie Duncan, 55, offering his help free-of-charge, which she accepted.
He traveled to the island on June 24, where he was seen carrying out inquiries at the holiday rental, as well as at Papagayo nightclub, where Jay had been seen shortly before he vanished.
The investigator has also been given access to Jay's family and friends, including close pals Brad Hargreaves, 19, and Lucy Mae Law, 18, who were both with Jay on the holiday. He says he remains in close contact with Jay's family and provided them with a preliminary report of his findings last week.
Jay was last seen leaving the holiday rental, which was more than 20 miles and 11 hours’ walk from the Los Cristianos apartment where he was staying with pals Brad and Lucy. He called her at 8.30am, 20 minutes before his phone last 'pinged' close to the La Cruz de Hilda viewpoint in Parque Rural de Teno nature reserve.
Mr Williams-Thomas said: "I have spoken to lots of witnesses and have a clear picture of what happened overnight of Sunday 16th through to the morning of 17th June. We know that shortly before 6am on Monday 16th June Jay left the area of Veronica's Strip, Las Americas, in a Seat Leon hire car with two males casually known to him.
"Jay and a number of his friends had spent time with them on and off over the previous two days. All three males, including Jay, then travelled north via the main motorway, the TF-1, to go to the two males' holiday rental Casa Abuela Tina in Masca, which was about an hour away.
"Not long after arriving at the rental Jay, at around 7am, Jay had contact with various friends via social media – both inside and outside the rental. During these calls various video chats were had and pictures sent, including the one he took on the doorstep, which they are confident is him, wearing a throw or blanket from the apartment and his black and green Air Max trainers that he had gone out in that night.
"We know around 0800 there was a level of communication with the host of the rental property in which she communicated via hand digits to him that the bus would leave at 10am from the bus stop by the apartment. With this, Jay walked off turning left and up the hill.
"Jay had an Apple iPhone. Apple Maps takes you that route if walking back to Los Cristianos, where he was staying. We know then at 8.49am and 8.50am Jay sent his location via both snapchat and WhatsApp to two friends. We can confirm that it was Jay using his phone at this stage.
"The location was fixed by GPS and we have done tests in that area and it is accurate to five to 10 meters. The fixed point is the Barranco Juan Lopez hiking path – which fits the description given by the witnesses that spoke to him stating that he was on a stony path.
"From this point no further contact is had with Jay because his phone battery dies and there have been no confirmed sightings of him." Mr Williams-Thomas says he has ruled out that Jay has been kidnapped, despite his mom Debbie previously saying she believed that was what had happened to him, as he says "no credible ransom demand has been made".
He added: "We have no evidence at this stage to say there was any third-party criminal involvement in Jay’s disappearance. However, there are still a number of outstanding actions and therefore we still remain open-minded to the possibility of this changing.
"The evidence strongly supports that Jay walked off and was walking for at least 30 minutes off the road on a track before he last had contact with friends, with a very accurate location pin drop at 8.50am. I would make an appeal for landowners in the area of Teno Rural Park to check any outbuildings and land that they have and hope that some further searches will continue by volunteers in the area not yet searched."
Mr Williams-Thomas said he remains in regular contact with Jay's family and had advised them about today's announcement. He said: "I have largely remained silent to date with our investigation, not giving any interviews, but have felt the need to make a clear statement of facts, which I have advised the family I would be doing today.
"This has been done as I hope it will enable people to accept the evidential facts and thus reduce the number of inaccurate information that is being published and circulated. You will appreciate that as part of our investigation we have spoken to a significant number of witnesses, including Jay’s friends, who have fully engaged with us and as such we have received a significant amount of both personal and sensitive information – which we will not be releasing."
He added: "It is now into the 16th day since 19-year Jay Slater vanished. In that time his disappearance has attracted worldwide media attention and as such extensive coverage on social media. This has led to massive speculation, with theories at times very misleading and with inaccurate information. Overwhelmingly people are fascinated and as such want to do their bit to help, whether that be doing their own detective work or just providing comment.
"What people often lose sight of, don’t consider, and I am sure for a few, don’t care, is that Jay’s family and close friends read a lot of the media and some comments have been so unfair and unkind to a family who right now are in total shock and despair. Please just think before you post, and if you would not say it about your missing loved one then don’t say or post it now."
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