Jay Slater’s mum has spoken out about her “beautiful boy” after Spanish police confirmed his body had been found in a remote ravine in Tenerife.
In a statement, Jay Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan said: “I just can’t believe this could happen to my beautiful boy. Our hearts are broken.”
The mum who flew to Tenerife to look for her son added: ” I just can’t believe it.”
She added: “Now it’s come – the worst news.”
Officials previously said the 19-year-old’s body, which was recovered on Monday close to where he went missing, was “very deteriorated” and said full identification likely wouldn’t be possible until “next week.”
On Tuesday a spokesperson confirmed that fingerprints examined in a post-mortem had confirmed that the remains were those of the missing teen.
Announcing the positive ID, The High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands said in a statement that the death “was caused by trauma consistent with a fall in a rocky area”.
Jay had disappeared after being driven to a remote Airbnb near Masca by two men following a festival afterparty at a nightclub on the island on June 17.
The apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire had phoned friends on the morning of his disappearance, telling them he was “lost in the mountains, thirsty and with one per cent battery”.
Jay said was planning to walk to his holiday accommodation in the south of an island – a journey which would have taken him about 11 hours on foot.
Jay was reported missing shortly after when his phone died, prompting a major search by local law enforcement.
Spanish police launched a major search of the rural area near Masca where his phone was last pinged, but called off the search after it failing to secure any compelling leads.
However, they insisted the investigation into his disappearance would continue, and various volunteers stepped in to assist Slater’s heartbroken family as they continued their own efforts.
The teenager had flown out to Tenerife with friends on June 13, attending a music festival at Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas, on the south of the island three days later.
