Jay Slater‘s last words to his mum before he went missing in Tenerife were “I love you mother”.
Debbie Duncan, 56, revealed that she spoke to her son just before he went out the night before the 19-year-old vanished after partying at the NRG music festival on June 16.
His disappearance sparked a huge search effort from the emergency services, local volunteers and members of the apprentice bricklayer’s family.
After 29 days Mr Slater’s body was found in a ravine where his mobile phone last pinged.
In her first interview since her son’s remains were discovered on July 15, Ms Duncan told The Sun how she had spoken to Jay before he went out for the night.
She said Jay had been relaxing with pals at their apartment and that he told her he had burnt his shoulder. Ms Duncan told the publication she had packed him off to Tenerife with some aloe vera and advised him to rub some in.
Mr Slater then told her he was off to grab a few drinks. A tearful Debbie then said: “He used to call me mother, and said, ‘I love you mother’.
“I used to say, ‘I love you, my boy’. That was the last thing that we said to each other, thank God. I’m just glad we spoke to each other that night.”
It wasn’t until June 18 that Ms Duncan received a call from Jay’s friend Lucy Mae Law to tell her that Mr Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, had gone missing.
Debbie described her son as a “popular” and “loving” lad who enjoyed football and was “always full of fun and smiling”.
The distraught mum also revealed how she has been sent messages, pictures and videos, including vile mock-ups from online trolls of her son being tortured.
A post-mortem examination found Mr Slater died on June 17 of traumatic head injuries, consistent with a fall from height. His death would have been instantaneous.
Mr Slater was at the music festival with two friends before he disappeared and his last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the Canary Island, which was about an 11-hour walk from his accommodation.
He had travelled to an Airbnb in Masca after a night out, but the two men said to have rented the property were later ruled “not relevant” to the case.
The Spanish Civil Guard said Mr Slater could have fallen in the steep and inaccessible area where he was discovered.
Up to 500 mourners attended his funeral service on August 10, filling the chapel at Accrington Crematorium.
Many others watched from outside as the proceedings were relayed on a specially erected big screen.
At the wishes of his family, most wore the colour blue in his memory, including work colleagues from PH Build Group, who wore T-shirts with ‘Forever 19’ on the front.
Debbie, Jay’s father Warren Slater, and elder brother, Zak, listened on as memories of Jay’s junior footballing exploits at Huncoat United and his days at West End Primary School and Rhyddings High School were shared.
Mourners were handed cards with a photograph of the teenager and the words ‘Remembering with Love, Jay Dean Slater, Always In Our Hearts, #forever 19’.
On the back, it read: “If there was anyone dancing on the way to the other side it was him.”
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