The ravine where missing Jay Slater may have vanished “has not been searched properly”, a British army veteran leading the search says, who believes one of three things may have happened to the 19-year-old.
Christopher Pennington, who was a British Army reservist, moved to Tenerife in 2006 and has been leading the search after the Civil Guard’s efforts found no sign the Lancashire teen.
Jay has now been missing for nearly a month after he was last seen on June 17 in Masca – an 11-hour walk north from his accommodation in Los Cristianos.
The ex-army reservist has been posting regular updates to his thousands of followers on TikTok as people track his journey to hopefully find Jay.
Chris believes Jay either “had a fall, had an accident or he was dehydrated and passed out.”
In Jay’s last phone call to pal Lucy Law, he mentioned he was lost, his phone was about to die, and he needed water.
The 19-year-old also told his friend he had missed the bus home after staying with two men he met at the club.
In a video taken from the search site, Chris said: “That area has not been searched properly because it is so hard to search.
“To get through that you would literally need 100 people just trying to bulldoze their way through it – and even then it’s just a needle in a haystack.
“He’s had a fall, he’s had an accident or he’s dehydrated and passed out. I feel he’s in this ravine, in this area of Tenerife missing – I honestly believe that.”
Chris has also followed Jay’s exact route at the same time of day, driving the winding roads from near the Papagayo nightclub to the Casa Abuela Tina Airbnb in Masca at 5.30am on Saturday.
He said: “I didn’t go more than 15km an hour. Because of the hairpin turns, you’ve essentially got to crawl up. It’s dark, it’s extremely dangerous. Arriving up here that early, it felt eerie. Let be me frank – it’s scary up here on your own in the darkness.”
Jay’s family is currently in Tenerife assisting in the search, including his mother Debbie, 55, father Warren, 58, and brother Zak, 24, Rachel, 34.