The body found in the search for missing teen Jay Slater was recovered using a helicopter, it emerged today.
The chopper is believed to belong to a regional government emergency and rescue group.
Officials coordinated with Civil Guard mountain rescue experts so they knew exactly where they needed to be.
It is thought that landing specialists on the ground winched the body up to the waiting chopper overhead after securing it.
The helicopter was mobilised because the terrain where the human remains were located was so steep and difficult to access.
After a body was found in a remote area of Tenerife, the missing persons charity LBT Global added: “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 examination 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.”
The Civil Guard today said that officers would continue to act on any tip-offs or other information that came in – but the active work that has been ongoing since June 17 when the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer was reported missing would now cease
Confirmation of the dramatic development came less than 24 hours after a ‘last push’ operation involving around 30 police, firefighters and Civil Protection along with a handful of volunteers, failed to find any trace of the 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire.
A Civil Guard spokeswoman said today: “The search operation has now finished although the case remains open.”
The Lancashire teenager went missing almost a month ago on Monday 17th June, after partying all night at a rave at the Papagayo club, in Playa de las Americas.
He was last heard from at 8.15am last Monday (June 17), when he called his friend Lucy Law to tell her his phone was low on battery and needed water.
Jay left the music festival the night before with two men he had met at the event. He ended up at a property in the Rural de Teno National Park, a 10-hour walk from where he was staying with his friends.
A massive manhunt was launched by local authorities but failed to come up with any clues as to his whereabouts.
Tenerife’s Guardia Civil called off the search for the apprentice bricklayer at the end of June after helicopters, drones and search dogs were deployed to find him. Jay’s family remained in the Canary Islands and refused to give up hope of finding him.
A GoFundMe page has raised more than £53,000, allowing the family to continue their search.
Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan revealed at the weekend that some of the funds were going towards paying for the Dutch search team.
In a statement released via the British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global on Sunday (July 14), Debbie Duncan said the family was “desperate” to find their “beautiful boy”.
She said: “As we approach four weeks of our beautiful Jay’s disappearance, we cannot put into words the heartache we are suffering as a family.
“Jay is a typical young man who loves life, with a bright future ahead of him. This month will mark the end of his three-year apprenticeship with the world at his feet.
“He is loved by everyone and has a close bond with his family and many, many friends.”
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