Search continues for British teenager missing on Spanish island for a week
By Jack Guy, CNN
(CNN) — Authorities on the Spanish island of Tenerife continue to search for British teenager Jay Slater, who has been missing for a week after attending a music festival.
Slater, 19, went missing after attending the NRG festival in the south of the island, and was last heard from between 8 and 9 a.m. local time (3-4 a.m. ET) on June 17, according to a GoFundMe fundraising campaign set up to help find him.
The campaign was organized by a friend of Slater’s named Lucy Mae, who said she had left the festival before Slater on Sunday.
Slater called her around 8.30 a.m. local time the next day and said he was “lost in the mountains” and his phone only had 1% battery, according to the fundraiser.
The page includes a map showing Slater’s last known location, in the Teno Rural Park in northwestern Tenerife, around 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the festival site.
According to the fundraiser, Slater told Lucy Mae he left the festival with two men he met there and traveled with them to a remote location.
Spain’s Guardia Civil, which is leading the search for the teenager, posted a video on X showing officers searching dry, mountainous terrain and flying over rocky ravines in a helicopter.
CNN has contacted the Guardia Civil for comment on the search.
Police from Slater’s home region of Lancashire, northern England, said they had been in contact with the Guardia Civil.
“Whilst this case falls outside the jurisdiction of UK policing, we have made an offer of support to the Guardia Civil to see if they need any additional resources,” the Lancashire Police Force said in a statement published Friday.
“They have confirmed that at this time they are satisfied that they have the resources they need, but that offer remains open and they will contact us should that position change.”
In a statement Monday, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office confirmed to CNN that it is aware of Slater’s case.
“We are supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities,” said a spokesperson.
On Saturday, NRG festival released a statement on Slater’s disappearance.
“That such a devastating situation has arisen has deeply affected us all,” the festival said in a post on Instagram.
“We have been able to give some practical support to the members of Jay’s family who have come to Tenerife in such difficult circumstances, and we are inspired by their resilience and determination.”
Tenerife is part of the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago that sits in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa. It has long been a popular holiday destination for its temperate year-round climate.
Slater’s disappearance comes after a spate of tourists going missing in sweltering temperatures in Greece.
According to CNN meteorologist Monica Garrett, the closest monitoring station to where Slater went missing, which is located at an airport in the south of the island, has seen high temperatures of mid-20s Celsius (upper-70s Fahrenheit), with lows in the upper teens Celsius (mid-60s Fahrenheit).
“Conditions have been sunny with some occasional clouds,” said Garrett, with no reports of rain.
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CNN’s Carroll Alvarado contributed to this report.
