The mother of Jay Slater, a 19-year-old from Britain, has described their family as heartbroken following confirmation from a Spanish court about his fatal fall in a rugged terrain. Utilising fingerprint technology, the High Court of Justice in the Canary Islands were able to authenticate the identity of the remains discovered near Masca, a village in Tenerife, on Monday. The court’s representative stated that the postmortem report indicated that the injuries on the body align with an accidental fall.
Through the charity LBT Global, Debbie Duncan, mother of Mr Slater, released a statement saying, “The worst news has finally arrived while we were awaiting an update here with the embassy staff – it’s simply unbelievable.” She emotionally expressed how she couldn’t conceive such an incident happening to her son adding, “Our hearts are broken.”
Previously, the charity had disclosed that the teenager’s belongings and clothing were found near his remains in his most recent known location.
Lancashire-based Mr Slater may have slipped in the tough and unreachable area where he was found, according to the Spanish Civil Guard. Matthew Searle, representing LBT Global, revealed that the charity is assisting the family with arrangements to repatriate Mr Slater’s body and collect his personal items.
Following the tragic discovery, Lucy Law, Mr Slater’s friend and the last person known to have talked to him via phone call on June 17, paid tribute to him on Instagram. She described him as always being the happiest person in the room and said he’ll be greatly missed.
Footage of the difficult search and rescue operations carried out by the Spanish Civil Guard was released, some of which included the winching of the search team members out of the area via helicopter after they found and retrieved the body.
Before he went missing, Mr Slater had been at the NRG music festival with his friends. His last known location was Rural de Teno Park in the North of the Canary Island, which is roughly an 11-hour walk away from where he was staying.
The apprentice bricklayer who visited an Airbnb in Masca following an evening out wasn’t ultimately found by Spanish authorities. Despite employing helicopters, drones and search dogs, the law enforcement abandoned the search by the end of June. The duo presumed to have leased the property were subsequently deemed insignificant to the investigation.