Jay Slater latest: Body found CONFIRMED to be missing teenager following post-mortem examination

• Spanish police have confirmed the body found on Monday morning was Jay Slater
• A preliminary autopsy revealed Jay had broken bones when he plunged to his death from a height
• The body with Jay’s possessions and clothing was found near where his phone last pinged
• Officials also revealed documentation belonging to Jay was discovered with the body
• The death was due to ‘multiple traumas compatible with a fall in the mountainous area’
• Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan said: ‘The worst news. I just can’t believe this could happen to my beautiful boy. Our hearts are broken’
• Matthew Searle, from LBT Global, said the charity was working with the family to sort out the next steps of taking his body home and the recovery of his belongings
• The family update followed Jay’s best friend Lucy Law penning an emotional tribute to the ‘happiest and most smiley person’

LBT Global, the missing persons charity which has been supporting the family, said Jay’s family is working closely with the Spanish authorities following the autopsy.

The chief executive said that as the coroner didn’t find any indication of criminal activity, the body will be released soon and brought back to the UK in the next few days.

Callum Fahim was one of many volunteers to join in the search for Jay during the month he went missing.

Speaking to The Independent, he said he searched the area where the body was found on the Spanish island and feels like he ‘failed him a little bit’.

He said he could have walked past the body ‘five or six times’ and is ‘gutted we couldn’t find him sooner’.

County Cllr Peter Britcliffe said: ‘I think this is devastating news for most people in Oswaldtwistle.

‘Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this time. This is a huge tragedy for them to lose such a young man.’

A Civil Guard spokesperson said Jay’s injuries included several broken bones.

It comes after the body discovered yesterday was identified as Jay’s via his fingerprints.

The spokesperson said: ‘The body of the man located yesterday has been identified of that as Jay Slater through fingerprint comparison and identification.

‘The result of the preliminary autopsy points to the cause of death being a fall or plunge from height due to the broken bones he suffered.’

Jay Slater’s former schools have released a statement after his body was discovered, 29 days after he went missing.

Andrew Williams, headteacher at Rhyddings High School, and James McBride headteacher at West End Primary School, said their ‘thoughts and prayers’ are with the family at this ‘difficult time’.

As a devoted mother, we know Debbie would have never given up looking for Jay, and she and the family are firmly in our thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.

“We hope that this tragic discovery will not only dispel any rumours, but allow the family to return with their son and afford them the dignity of their private grief and mourning.

Rev Matt Smith from West End Methodist Church has said that it would be open for people to say prayers, write messages or light a candle from 7pm tonight.

Our thoughts and our prayers are with them. We’re here and supporting them for when they need us.

Blue ribbons have been tied to trees and lamp posts in Oswaldtwistle to show support for the family in this difficult time.

Debbie Duncan said the confirmation of her son’s death in Tenerife was ‘the worst news’.

In a statement released through the charity LBT Global, she said: ‘I just can’t believe this could happen to my beautiful boy. Our hearts are broken.’

Amid questions over how a body was missed for 29 days, Jay’s family say they can ‘appreciate the remoteness’ of the area and say he ‘would most likely have been killed instantly’.

A family spokesman told MailOnline today: ‘The whole family is absolutely broken. They are devastated. It’s not the outcome they were hoping for. Initially they thought how could he be so close and yet be missed but now having seen the location they appreciate the remoteness of it and there is no criticism of the search.

‘It looks as if he fell from a height so he would most likely have been killed instantly and he wasn’t there for a long time. There will be a PM [post-mortem] in Tenerife and probably one in the UK and repatriation should be within a week or so it’s all time dependent.’

‘All indications indicate that it could be the young British man who has been missing since June 17 in the absence of full identification. The first investigations reveal that he could have suffered an accident fall in the inaccessible area where he was found.’

The body found in Tenerife belongs to missing Briton Jay Slater, an autopsy has confirmed.

It has been reported that his death was caused by ‘trauma consistent with a fall in a rocky area’.

At a court hearing today, a spokesman said: ‘Fingerprinting confirms that the body belongs to Jay Slater and the death was due to multiple traumas compatible with a fall in the mountainous area.’

In a devastating admission, authorities also revealed documentation the dead man was carrying was the teenager’s, and everything is suggesting an ‘accidental fall.’

Full identification is likely now not to be until next week, because the body was so ‘deteriorated’

Officials representing the female investigating judge said: ‘In reference to the British citizen Jay Slater, the autopsy with the full identification of the body and the causes of death will take time, because the body was very deteriorated.’

The area where the body was found in the hunt for Jay Slater is reportedly being searched again.

Rescue teams are today scouring the remote valley in Tenerife, near the village of Masca, where the human remains that are believed to be that of the teenager were discovered.

The search is understood to be being carried out to make sure nothing is missed in the thick undergrowth.

A local resident told Sky News it is ‘exceptionally difficult’ to safely walk down the valley.

Another resident added: ‘It is sad – the spot where they found him shows he had gone a long way into the ravine. It is hard to understand how he got there.’

Officials in Tenerife have revealed that full identification of the ‘very deteriorated’ body discovered near the area where Jay Slater went missing is unlikely to happen until ‘next week’.

They added that documentation the dead body was carrying belonged to the teenager.

A court in the town of Icod de los Vinos which covers the area of Masca where the body was found is in charge of the ongoing investigation.

The female investigating judge said: ‘In reference to the British citizen Jay Slater, the autopsy with full identification of the body and the causes of death will take time, because the body was very deteriorated.

“But there is very little doubt about both the identity and the etiology. The documentation he was carrying corresponds to that of Jay Slater and everything is pointing to an accidental fall, although that is unofficial pending the final reports.”

Although the current information ‘is pointing to an accidental fall’ officials added that it would not be confirmed until the final reports are completed.

They added: ‘The court is saying the official identification will not be known until next week.’

The comment comes after the 29-day search for apprentice bricklayer Jay came to an end yesterday around 10am.

A helicopter was called in to recover his body.

The large-scale police search in the mountains near Masca had been suspended around two weeks after he disappeared on June 17, but mountain rescue police specialists had continued with a smaller search on a daily basis.

• A body was discvered today in ‘inaccessible area’ close to where his mobile phone last pinged 29 days ago
• The body was recovered using a helicopter due to the difficult terrain
• Formal identification has not yet taken place but officers say that ‘everything is pointing to it being’ Jay after his clothes were found next to the body
• Police said in a statement that he may have died after ‘suffering an accident or fall’ but a post-mortem should reveal more details
• Tributes have started flooding in on social media including a heartfelt post by Jay’s friend Brad Hargreaves who was on holiday with the 19-year-old

The Airbnb where Jay Slater stayed before vanishing has been relisted for tourists to rent – and has already been booked up.

The £40-a-night two-bedroom cottage is in the village of Masca around 19 miles from Playa de las Americas, Tenerife.

The property was initially taken off holiday listing websites, but has now reappeared.

However the cottage does not have any availability for the busy summer season, with one online firm saying it is unavailable until at least August 31.

Attempts by MailOnline to reserve it beyond this date were also rejected.

In a video posted on TikTok, Lucy Law has published a montage of photos of her and Jay Slater.

‘LBT Global is saddened to announce that a body found in Tenerife does look to be that of Jay Slater.

‘It is understood the body was found close to the site of his mobile phone’s last location.

‘Although formal identification is yet to be carried out, the body was found with Mr Slater’s possessions and clothes. A post mortem and forensic enquiries will follow.

‘LBT Global are supporting the family at this distressing time and ask for everyone to afford them space and privacy to come to terms with the news.’

Questions have been raised about what will happen to the money given by generous strangers after a body was found following a month of searching.

There has been a flurry of new donations since the tragic news was announced, taking the total now to £56,550.

A GoFundMe spokesperson told The Sun it is in ‘regular contact’ with Jay’s family to work out the next steps for dealing with the money over the next few weeks.

The Telegraph reported that the money will be used towards the funeral and repatriation costs.

The family began to withdraw money two weeks ago to help with the search.

His grief-stricken mother Debbie Duncan, 55, has ‘lots of questions which she hopes will be answered in the coming days,’ a source close to the family said.

‘Debbie is completely devastated,’ the insider told The Sun, adding that the ‘hardest’ part for Duncan is that the remains were ‘found so close to the original search site’.

‘It hasn’t completely sunk in yet. The hardest thing for her is to hear he was found so close to the original search site. It’s hard to take. It means it’s entirely possible they have walked past his body whilst searching for him.’

A family spokesman told MailOnline today: ‘The whole family is absolutely broken. They are devastated. It’s not the outcome they were hoping for. Initially they thought how could he be so close and yet be missed but now having seen the location they appreciate the remoteness of it and there is no criticism of the search.

‘It looks as if he fell from a height so he would most likely have been killed instantly and he wasn’t there for a long time. There will be a PM [post-mortem] in Tenerife and probably one in the UK and repatriation should be within a week or so it’s all time dependent.’

The family’s detective has revealed that Ms Duncan and the teen’s father Warren Slater were targeted by trolls in a sick hostage video that saw them falsely claim ‘We have your son’, The Mirror reported.

Mark Williams-Thomas, a former Scotland Yard cop who has been working with Jay’s family over the last few weeks, suspects the fraudsters were trying to extort the teen’s loved ones for a ‘significant sum of money’.

He claimed the family received ‘two videos posted of separate people, meant to be Jay, having been beaten up’.

One clip allegedly featured the ‘We have your son’, with the detective saying it was ‘created for publication by someone wanting to give the impression they had Jay held hostage’.

He explained that ‘within hours’ they had established that Jay was not the individual depicted in the videos.

Jessica Rogers, the girlfriend of Jay Slater’s brother, took to social media today to pay tribute to the teenager.

She posted a photograph of Jay with a blue love heart, accompanied by the words: ‘Will love you forever’.

An autopsy of the body discovered yesterday is expected to happen this morning.

The Civil Guard has been reporting to a court in the town of Icod de los Vinos, which will receive the results.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard said that the ‘lifeless body of a young man in the Masca area after 29 days of constant search’.

They added: ‘Given the complexity of the case, the discovery has been possible thanks to the incessant and discreet search carried out by the Civil Guard during these 29 days.’

Brad Hargreaves, who was on holiday with the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer in Tenerife before his disappearance, took to social media to post a tribute.

Mr Hargreaves, who had been helping with the search before flying back to Britain last week, posted two snaps of him and his friend alongside a heartfelt message.

‘Nothing be the same without you. Rest easy brother. Love you always,’ he penned with a flurry of broken hearts and a crying emoji.

Spanish police called off the search after 13 days as helicopters, drones and search dogs were deployed to find him.

But in its statement on Monday, the force said teams had not stopped searching for Slater every day.

The search for Slater had been carried out ‘under a secrecy order from the court in charge of the investigation’, LBC reported.

Officials had been ‘carrying on with the search, unbeknownst to anyone’ in a bid to stop internet sleuths from searching themselves.

‘The discovery was possible thanks to the incessant and discreet search carried out by the Civil Guard during these 29 days, in which the natural space was preserved so that it would not be filled with onlookers,’ its statement read.

A body has been found in the hunt for missing British teenager Jay Slater, who vanished on the Spanish island of Tenerife almost a month ago.

Authorities have not yet released the exact location in which they found the body, but it is understood that the remains were discovered in an ‘inaccessible’ and very remote area near the village of Masca.

The Mirror reported that police found Jay’s body a ’20-minute walk’ from where the teenager’s phone last pinged.

The terrain is described as ‘dense’ and is understood to be full of uneven ground and shrubland. There is also no sign of any emergency services in the nearby village.

The force released video footage of rescuers climbing rock faces and battling through scrub as they carried out the search.

Jay Slater’s best friend has posted an emotional message to the ‘happiest and most smiley person’ after a body was found near where his phone last pinged.

The teenager had jetted off to Tenerife for an eight-day holiday with his best mates Lucy Law and Brad Hargreaves before he vanished.

In a heart-wrenching Instagram post published last night Lucy wrote: ‘Honestly lost for words. Always the happiest and most smiley person in the room, you was one of a kind Jay and you’ll be missed more than you know.

‘I’m sure you’ll ‘have your dancing shoes polished and ready’ waiting for us all. We all love you buddy. Fly high.’