Jay Slater's uncle says being told to 'sit tight' is just 'adding to despair'

Jay Slater’s uncle has said “we have to be doing something” as he vowed his family would continue their “desperate” search for the missing teenager in Tenerife.

Apprentice bricklayer Mr Slater, 19, was last seen on 17 June after leaving an Airbnb in the tiny northern village of Masca to walk back to his accommodation, which would have taken him 11 hours.

Members of his family, along with a small group of volunteers, are now conducting ad-hoc foot searches after the police stopped the official land hunt on 30 June.

Speaking to Sky News in the rural town of Santiago del Teide on Tuesday, Mr Slater’s uncle Glen Duncan, 41, described the family’s situation as “just desperate – despair”.

Mr Duncan said the family feels like they’ve been left on their own and asked if they wanted help from police in the UK, he said: “We would love that, it’s just not as simple as that.”

“So far we’ve just been in touch with the British consulate out here who have been saying it’s still a live investigation, we have just got to sit tight.

“It’s just adding to the despair really.”

Mr Slater’s father Warren Slater, 58, and older brother Zak, 21, have been among the small search teams scouring the deep, rocky gorges in the Rural de Teno Park, near the remote northern village of Masca.

“It’s not just Warren and Zak, there are people who are out there,” said Mr Duncan.

Mr Duncan added the family haven’t given up hope and will continue to search until he’s found.

“We’re going to have to be doing something because otherwise you’re just sitting in the apartment staring at the same four walls,” he said.

Mr Duncan also called for “more communication” from police on the island.

The police search took in a steep rocky area, ravines and trails as helicopters, drones and search dogs were deployed to find Mr Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, but without success.

After halting the operation at the start of July, the Guardia Civil told Sky News his family could bring in their own search and rescue teams to look for the missing teenager.

They have said the investigation is still ongoing but won’t disclose their lines of enquiry.

Mr Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan, who is also on the island, previously thanked local volunteers who are helping with the search in an update on a GoFundMe page set up to help find her son, which has now received more than £52,000 in donations.

“We have been overwhelmed by the kindness and support we have received and would like to thank the local hiking group for all of their help planning the routes to find our Jay,” she said.

Jay Slater’s last known movements

Mr Slater travelled to Tenerife with friends on 13 June to attend a music festival at Papagayo nightclub in the southern resort of Playa de las Americas on 16 June.

After he left the event, he got into a car early the next morning and travelled to a small Airbnb in Masca with two men, who police said were “not relevant” to the case.

At 8.30am on 17 June, he called his friend Lucy Law, telling her he missed his bus and had tried to walk back to his accommodation.

He said he had “cut his leg” on a cactus, had “no idea where he was”, was “lost in the mountains” and his phone battery was on “1%”, Ms Law said.

Shortly afterwards, his battery ran out and he was reported missing at 9.04am.

His last known location was in the Rural de Teno Park, near Masca.

A local cafe owner previously told Sky News Mr Slater tried to catch a bus back to Los Cristianos, where he was staying.

Ofelia Medina Hernandez said she spoke to the teenager at 8am on the day of his disappearance, telling him a bus was due at 10am – but he set off walking.

She said she later drove past him “walking fast”.

This article was originally published by Sky.com. Read the original article here.

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