Moments before vanishing, Jay Slater updated his friends on his efforts to get back to their hotel on a walk that proved to be fatal.
Shortly before disappearing, he had called pals Lucy Law and Brad Hargreaves to explain that he was journeying the 11-hour trek to their accommodation in the south of the island of Tenerife , where they had been partying at the three-day NRG festival. The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer had left the popular party strip in Playa de las Américas with two British men and headed in their hire car to the remote village of Masca, north of the island, to their Airbnb.
On the morning of June 17, he reportedly left the holiday rental in a hurry, and with just one per cent phone battery, he warned Lucy that he was thirsty, had no idea where he was, and that his phone was about to die.
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He also discussed his difficult route with Brad, during which he made a promise, however he never made it back.
Following a month-long hunt to find the young lad, from Lancashire, Spanish police confirmed on Tuesday that the body of Jay Slater was found close to where his phone last pinged in the depths of the vast and unforgiving terrain of Parque Rural de Teno nature reserve. Officials, who said the body was "very decomposed", believe Jay had taken a catastrophic fall.
The Civil Guard released images of rescue workers at the bottom of a rocky ravine, where they found the remains. Before they confirmed his identity using fingerprints, officials said Jay's documentation and clothes were found on the 'lifeless body'.
Whilst on a call to his best mate Brad Hargreaves, he is believed to have been heard slipping on the rocks. A Civil Guard spokesperson said on Monday: "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."
Appearing on This Morning on June 28, two days before Spanish police called off the official search, Jay 's friend Brad opened up about their last conversation. Brad, 19, who traveled out to Tenerife with Jay, was emotional as he spoke of his friend's "zest for life" and said that Jay wasn't initially worried about finding his way back to his friends.
"He was on the phone and he goes: 'I've got walk and go all down that road'", Brad said, adding that Jay had promised to video call him back but hung up as "someone else was ringing him." However, he tragically never made that second call.
Brad, also from Lancashire, previously believed Jay would have avoided going down the road he had mentioned during their phone call as he speculated the teen would have taken a safer path. Brad revealed that he could hear Jay's feet slide on the rocks, signalling to him his friend had "went off the road.. That's how I knew he went off the road because, you know when you walk on gravel, or whatever it is, you can... you know what I mean, stones."
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Brad explained: "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, and he said 'I'll ring ya back, I'll ring ya back' because I think someone else was ringing him. If he was thinking like me, he would have gone back up and started walking on the path again… He wouldn't have gone all that way down there."
When probed into whether he was concerned at this point, Brad replied: "Not at the time because we were both laughing and he said, 'Look where I am' and I was like, 'I've just come out of a festival' and he didn't seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was. I said, 'Put your location on and he said 'a 15 minute drive or a 14 hour walk, I don't know if it's accurate or not' and I said, 'If it's only a 15 minute drive, get a taxi'."
Officials have since spoken out about the difficult terrain Jay navigated through. A Civil Guard spokesperson told the Mirror: "We've always said the terrain is a very difficult terrain and the search was complicated." Meanwhile, a former police sergeant also spoke of the treacherous conditions of where the 19-year-old went missing.
Police commentator Graham Wettone told Sky News: "The terrain and the grounds they had to cover and had to search are not easy to search. They're not easy to find somebody, in these sorts of circumstances." He continued: "Clearly the terrain is exceptionally difficult to navigate, but especially to search thoroughly and properly with the resources, the equipment, and tactics they were using."
Following the news of Jay 's death, Brad took to social media to pay tribute. He penned: "No words. Nothing be the same without you Rest easy brother love you always." Brad also posted a public story with another picture of the two of them along with broken heart emojis.
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In a heartbreaking post on social media, Lucy also paid tribute to her friend who she described as "one of a kind". Sharing her grief on Instagram, Lucy said: "Honestly lost for words. Always the happiest and most smiley person in the room, you was one of a kind Jay and you'll be missed more than you know. I'm sure you'll 'have your dancing shoes polished and ready' waiting for us all. We all love you buddy. Fly high."
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