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22nd Jun 2024

Airbnb owner speaks out on moment she last saw missing teen Jay Slater

Ryan Price

The local made a chilling five word remark while speaking to the media.

The owner of the Airbnb where missing teenager Jay Slater spent his final night before going missing on the island of Tenerife has described the moment she last saw the teen.

The youngster from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, had travelled to the popular holiday destination last week with his friend Lucy to attend a music festival.

He was last heard from at around 08:00 BST on Monday when Lucy received a call from him in which he said he was lost, needed a drink of water and had 1 per cent battery on his phone.

His phone then cut off, and his last known location was shown as the mountainous Rural de Teno national park in the north west of the island.

Reports yesterday suggested that Jay had stayed at a remote property in the village of Masca with people he met at the festival during the early hours of Monday morning.

The owner of the rental has now revealed that she saw him on Monday walking alone into a mountainous area on the edge of the sleepy village.

Mum of missing teenager in Tenerife 'beside herself with worry' as she joins search

Ophelia Medina Hernandez, told a reporter from The Times that she saw him walk up the road past her property but did not see him again after that – describing the situation as worrying.

She detailed how she came across a dazed-looking British teenager standing beside the bus stop next to her home in Tenerife.

Jay managed to communicate to her that he wanted to know the time of the next bus to Los Cristianos, about 25 miles away.

Struggling with her broken English, she managed to signal to him that it was not due for two hours, at 10am. Rather than wait, he decided to walk.

“People don’t get lost here,” she said.

“There are paths everywhere,” she added. “People round here don’t get lost. And he was going along the road. But after that I don’t know where he went. He was walking normally but a bit quickly.”

The two-bedroom property called Casa Abuela Tina costs £40 a night and was rented to two British men who have since left the island.

(Image: Booking.com)

Local police have stated that there is no reason to suggest that the property’s owners nor the British men involved have anything to do with the teenager’s disappearance.

Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan flew out to Tenerife earlier this week to assist in the search for her son.

Speaking from the south of the island where her son had initially been staying, Debbie told the Daily Mail: “I’ve only been in Tenerife for about 10 minutes and I’ve just had a quick chat with someone from the British Embassy and am waiting for them to call back so I know a bit more. The consulate has been really good so far.

“I’m obviously beside myself with worry which is why I’ve flown out here with my eldest son to do anything we can to help.”

She said a mountain rescue team and a helicopter are both involved in the search for Jay, adding that the police are “taking this very seriously and doing the best job they can.”