Mystery as Jay Slater’s ‘body’ found with possessions and clothes near where his phone last pinged four weeks ago

THE BODY of British teenager Jay Slater is believed to have been found in Tenerife, close to where his phone last pinged a month ago.

The apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire was on holiday with two friends when he vanished on the island on June 17.

Tim Stewart

Doug Seeburg

Ian Whittaker

A huge search operation was launched in the area where the Brit teen’s phone was last active – near the village of Masca.

Police axed the hunt after two weeks with Jay’s family continuing to look for him themselves.

A body believed to be Jay’s was found this morning, around 10am in an area close to his last location.

Although formal identification has yet to take place – the body was found alongside Jay’s belongings and clothes.

Cops, firefighters, volunteers, drones, sniffer dogs and mountain rescue had spent weeks scouring for miles around where the body is thought to have been recovered today.

A spokesperson for the Civil Guard said no information was being released on the specific location where it was found .

They revealed that the person appeared to have “suffered an accident” or a “fall” in the same area where the body was found.

Jay’s family now face an agonising days-long wait to find out Jay’s cause of death .

The Civil Guard confirmed specialist mountain search officers had continued to search for Jay even though the “large-scale” operation was axed on June 30.

A force spokesman said: “The human remains were found some two hours before we went public with the information they had been found, so around 10am local time.

“The large-scale operation involving multiple units had been suspended but as we always said, we never stopped looking for Jay.

“The mountain rescue group continued looking for the missing man when they were on duty and have now found the remains of a person they believe is him.”

A spokesman for the Civil Guard earlier said: “After 29 constant days of searching the lifeless body of the young man has been found in the Masca area.

“The discovery has been possible thanks to the tireless and discreet search carried out by the Civil Guard over these 29 days.

“Everything is pointing to the body being that of the young British man who disappeared on June 17, pending full identification.

“Initial inquiries are pointing to him having suffered an accident/fall in the area where he was found.”

British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global later confirmed that the body was found near Jay’s belongings.

An autopsy is expected to take place in the next couple of days in the northern Tenerife city of La Laguna.

Full statement from missing persons charity LBT Global

LBT Global is saddened to announce that a body found in Tenerife does look to be that of Jay Slater. It is understood the body was found close to the site of his mobile phone’s last location.

Although formal identification is yet to be carried out, the body was found with Mr Slater’s possessions and clothes.

A post mortem and forensic enquiries will follow.

LBT Global are supporting the family at this distressing time and ask for everyone to afford them space and privacy to come to terms with the news.

In Spain the results of post-mortems are not normally made public and are instead sent to an investigating magistrate.

Court officials said at the start of the month there was “no current evidence of criminality” in the Jay Slater case.

A judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at the time: “There is no evidence of criminality at this stage in this case.

“That’s not to say things won’t change because the case remains open and investigations are ongoing.

“But right now that’s the situation.”

Former investigator Mark Williams-Thomas – who has been working on the case for weeks – said: “Human remains found and all indications are that it is Jay Slater .

“The first investigations reveal that he could have suffered an accident fall in the inaccessible area.”

Jay’s distraught family have been updated and a formal investigation by police is set to follow.

The 19-year-old travelled to an unforgiving mountainous area in the early hours of June 17 with two men after a night of partying.

He then left in the morning, but after learning he’d missed the bus started trying to do the 11-hour trek back to his own accommodation.

One of the men – convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim – says Jay left the house alive.

Jay made a final frantic call to friend Lucy Law to say he was lost, had one per cent phone battery, and needed water.

In an earlier call to friend Brad, his feet could be heard slipping on the rocks before.