- 3 months ago
The Disappearance Of Jay Slater: The Missing Case That Gripped Britain | Channel 4 Documentaries
Within hours of Jay Slater's disappearance in 2024, intense online interest set conspiracy theories flying. This film has exclusive access to the Slaters as they search for answers around Jay's death.
Within hours of Jay Slater's disappearance in 2024, intense online interest set conspiracy theories flying. This film has exclusive access to the Slaters as they search for answers around Jay's death.
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TVTranscript
00:00Hello, how can I help you?
00:21My friend, he's met some people and they've driven him up into the mountains.
00:25I don't know why.
00:26And he's left the house.
00:28I don't know if something happened.
00:30And I was telling him, you need to go back to your friends and tell them to drive you
00:34back down.
00:35And he said, no, I can't, I can't.
00:37But I don't know why that was.
00:41His name?
00:42Jay Slater.
00:45Because he told you at all that he needs to be rescued.
00:49Yeah.
00:51He said he feels like he's going to die up there.
00:53And then the phone cut off.
00:56We start with a desperate search going on on the holiday island of Tenerife.
01:11Spanish police say they're doing everything possible to find a British teenager.
01:1519-year-old Jay Slater, who's from Lancashire, was last seen on Monday morning.
01:21Jay was in Tenerife for a music festival with friends.
01:24First of all, they were like his parents.
01:26He then left this festival with a number of individuals who he'd met on that night.
01:31They drove in a car to a rural area in the north of the island.
01:37The last person to hear from him was his friend Lucy.
01:40He called her with just 1% battery remaining on his phone.
01:49That was the last time his friends heard from him.
01:52At 9.04, Jay was then reported missing.
02:12Jake decided that he was going to this festival in Tenerife.
02:17He'd have been saving from the year before because he knew that, you know, he did want to go abroad.
02:21I said, you'll have a great time, you know.
02:24Well, anxious, obviously.
02:25Just said, have your wits about you.
02:27Just watch what you're doing.
02:30I was going with Lucy and then his other friend Brad.
02:34And then they were meeting some friends of Lucy's out there.
02:37He's growing up now.
02:38He's 19.
02:39He's been to all these parties and other festivals.
02:42So, yeah, just get yourself out there.
02:44Get some fun under your belt.
02:51So, this is Jay's room.
02:57It was very tidy, actually, Jay.
03:01It was his first holiday on his own.
03:03His passport, when it came, the dog ate it.
03:07The dog got up on the table, I don't know how, and then he chewed it to bits.
03:12And it were in his cage.
03:13I said to Jay, flipping out, you've only had this passport two days.
03:17And we had to send it off and get another one.
03:20And we packed his case together the night before we were going.
03:24As I said, you're taking a lot.
03:25And it was like, oh, I probably won't get it in.
03:27I said, yeah, you will.
03:29I'll show you.
03:30So, we were rolling it all.
03:31Instead of folding it, then it didn't crease.
03:38He messaged me when we were at the airport.
03:41He sent me a little video of them just laughing
03:45and just having the best time.
03:47He goes for me on Jay and I, mate, walking home.
03:52He rang me on the Saturday night,
03:55and he said, I've burnt my shoulders, Mum.
03:57I put him some, like, aloe vera gel in his bag.
04:02He says, is that what that green stuff is?
04:04Will it be all right on my shoulders?
04:06I'm like, yeah, just slap that on your shoulders.
04:08It'll ease your sunburner.
04:10On the Sunday, they were just getting ready
04:14to go out for the last bit of the festival.
04:19He FaceTimed me.
04:21I love you, my boy.
04:22That's what I used to say to him.
04:24I love you, my boy.
04:26Like, he said, I love you, mother.
04:30And I said, I'll speak to you tomorrow.
04:32I love you, my boy.
05:02Right, what you're doing and where are you?
05:30I'm coming down to get you now.
05:32You're not there this time.
05:33I'm going to be fucking fuming.
05:34I'm coming down to get you now.
05:35I'm coming down to get you now.
05:36I'm coming down to get you now.
05:37I'm coming down to get you now.
05:38I'm coming down to get you now.
05:39I'm coming down to get you now.
05:41I'm coming down to get you now.
05:42I'm coming down to get you now.
05:43I'm coming down to get you now.
05:44I'm coming down to get you now.
05:45I'm coming down to get you.
05:46I'm coming down to get you now.
05:47I'm coming down to get you now.
05:48I'm coming down to get you now.
05:49I'm coming down to get you now.
05:50I'm coming down to get you now.
05:51I'm coming down to get you now.
05:52I'm coming down to get you now.
05:53I was at work.
06:02I got a call from Lucy.
06:04She said, Jay's missing.
06:07He didn't come back last night.
06:11She just said, I've reported him missing to the police.
06:15my legs were just like jelly i've just gone into panic
06:23it's emergency who is it you're reporting missing what's your son do you know where
06:30he was staying exactly in penerase lost christiano he's been located as miles and
06:38miles away from where he was staying up a blooming mountain and they've been located
06:43is that on his phone location he rang early hours this morning and said his phone were one percent
06:50he was on his own he didn't know where we were and he were in the middle of mountains so they found
06:56this place knocked on the door and there's two english lads there and all they've said is yeah
07:02he's been here but he left this morning oh it's a bit odd that they've not given you any details of
07:08where he's gone isn't it i said what if they've done something to him yeah we all tried to ring
07:15of course but how can you get lost in tenerife
07:20these boys boys boys and the beach you don't look behind you until you have to
07:27see i got a phone call off debbie and i'll never forget it i just said i hear you all right and i
07:42just tell her the voice she just said no jay's gone missing in tenerife and
07:47it's like time stood still sort of thing it was what what do you mean debbie was in a state of
07:55panic and as soon as she'd mentioned that he'd gone up into the mountains and he'd gone missing
08:01i just knew something wasn't wasn't right when it got to midnight and there was just nothing we'd have
08:09no contact so then it would just let's get some flights booked i literally threw a few things in a
08:15bag and that were it i just cried the whole way there i just had my hiding my jacket and i just
08:22cried all the way there thinking what the hell is going on hello i went to the police station this morning
08:37are you a friend of jay's letter madam yeah do you know where he is no he hasn't show up yet
08:45he's been out there all day i just want to know please can you tell me if someone's looking for him now
08:54i need i need to know if someone's looking for him or not the police is looking for him right now
09:02we arrived come outside the airport and my phone went and it were a whatsapp message
09:12and it was a disappearing message you know the ones that only stay as soon as you read them they go
09:18i looked at it and i just said to that take a photograph of this i'll give you one warning
09:23your son won't be coming back he owes us enough g money kiss goodbye to him traumatized as soon as we
09:31walked out of the airport what the hell's going on from an early age we're just full of fun and mischievous
09:51us cute big blue eyes you know he stood out and he had curls he was gorgeous just had a nice little
10:03family unit life and soul of the party ever since he was growing up he was always center of attention
10:10even when he was like little they were always up dancing and stuff
10:14we struggled to conceive so we had ivf to have zach and then five years later ivf to have jay i just felt so
10:29blessed
10:37he just completed our family hello jay are you taking a picture or are you recording why do you have to pull
10:45that funny face there's a little lad hard work compared to zach we were laid back jay were a million
10:56mile an hour it was very uh inquisitive he always wanted to be doing something
11:11british teenager jay slater went missing in tenerife on monday on sunday afternoon jay attended the
11:16nrg festival in south tenerife with a group of friends they've been staying in an apartment in los
11:22christianos after that festival he went to a village called masca in the north
11:32when we first arrived guardia sybil headed the search there was search and rescue a lot of
11:38volunteers there were helicopters up warren zach my brother were up their mountains just frantically
11:45searching the terrain can't really explain it until you get off that path everything once
11:52to cut here this is the club in las americas where jay slater spent the night before he disappeared
12:01now we understand he met two friends that night and went on with them to a remote village up in the
12:07mountains about an hour away from here story surfaced that we'd gone off with people who they'd met
12:15rocky and i hope found out i hope is a convicted drug dealer he had served time in prison jay is very very
12:25sociable and loved meeting new people and probably a bit too trusting there are still so many questions
12:33about what happened why he came here and most importantly where jay is now
12:40lucy jay's friend had set up a go fund me i mean i didn't say let's get a go fund me i didn't think
12:48there were any need because i just thought he's going to turn up although lucy couldn't access the money
12:55she thought it may help with people searching and accommodation costs but the money were going
13:02up and up and it just span out of control conspiracy theories of jay's lost an amount of drugs if he
13:10gets the 30k he's coming home i'm telling you apparently what they do is yeah they get bags of
13:15naughty candy right naughty candy and obviously when there's festivals and stuff going around right they
13:20sell them you see that festival he was at the nrg right apparently he lost his bag full of the naughty
13:25candy and that cost about 30 grand youtubers tiktokers they were all he's been taken up into the mountains
13:32he's been kidnapped we've seen a video it's been verified and it's true the video shows jay slater was
13:39tortured he was tortured so much that he lost his sight lucy put a target amount 30 000 so that's it
13:49once it reaches 30 000 she'll hand this money over to these people who've got jay i were convinced
13:56that that was going to be the case and i were even saying to her is that what you need this money for
14:01is that what you set it up for he was saying no no just wanted to believe anything to think that he
14:08was still alive all the conspiracy theories were out there that had been held somewhere had been
14:15kidnapped i was thinking at least if we got him back i could have mended him
14:26you just think you've got him he's not a bad person he's just got in
14:30some i don't know if he has gotten in trouble just please just let him go just let him go
14:37i was just in an absolute state i was just on my knees just not knowing i was just on my knees
14:45so when he left school he always knew he wanted to go into you know having a trade so he did an
15:05apprenticeship for brick line he really enjoyed it he'd always come over from work and be like i've done
15:12this today i've done that showing pictures that he took could be like stuff he's built on his phone
15:16but everybody's on too quick they knew how to do it it was just one of them and though he were knackered
15:22he always had a smile on his face if he'd had an odd day telling me about where they'd been working and
15:28be up at like oh it's an early one tomorrow mum i'm getting picked up at six so i'd be up at like
15:34half five but i was got up with him and we'd have a brew and he just were enjoying life and spreading his wings
15:50we were told that when jay was up in masca the doorbell went around 7 45 a.m and it was the owner
15:58of the airbnb he needed a day up to move his car and apparently that's when jay decided to leave
16:05this is the house where jay came in the early hours of monday morning we have spoken to an
16:10eyewitness i saw the boy in the morning at around 8 a.m he asked twice what time the bus came i told
16:16him at 10 o'clock she then says about 20 minutes later she was driving up towards the mountains and
16:24hills she said that she saw him walking there and she drove past him he was going in the wrong direction
16:34so ophelia was the the spanish lady who runs the cafe that's attached onto the side of the bnb
16:42she's the last person to see him alive any reason to believe that she's not telling the truth no yes who knows
16:55we've just got to go off the spanish police investigation but then content creators were
17:02saying this isn't real this isn't true there's no proof that jay left the nrg festival alive no
17:08proof whatsoever no cctv of him walking down the roads i mean look we've been here before we've said
17:14this so many times before there's just no proof we're coming up at the similar time that jay was
17:37supposed to have left the bed and breakfast and just for my own curiosity i just like to see how
17:44many people are about this time in the morning it's just so raw because i feel like we're only just
17:52finding out more facts for ourselves scary placing when you look at them
17:57right what time are we on are we on the eight o'clock right so this is more or less the right
18:07time then oh it's open here's the bnb
18:17nice inside
18:19well literally as soon as you come out the door the bus stops there but he's been told that there's not
18:24a buzz until 10 o'clock so i presume he's looked both ways and decided to go to the left instead
18:33of walking down there logic tells you the easiest way you walk down a hill instead of walking up a hill
18:40it's being back here and just thinking what he was thinking and just how the eye deceives when
18:57you stood here and you just look just there and you can see the sea is that what he thought the sea's
19:04there why walk around all these windy roads and i can just get through there
19:22we're very close here to jay slater's last known location it's just down from the main road although
19:29i use that phrase loosely because we are high up in the mountains here in this national park
19:35when we arrived on the wednesday i think we were still at the stage where people have turned up in
19:42circumstances similar to that before and and so you're you're hoping along with everybody else that
19:47there's an explanation for why he's missing debbie was beside herself with worry she was distraught
19:54but she was really keen that as much information about jay and what had happened to him was out
20:02there to be able to help find him and my job in that situation as a reporter is just to ask the
20:08questions that allow her to get her message across it's just a nightmare just an absolute living nightmare
20:14it's like a dream it's like it's not happening it really is it really is
20:21is it me or does it look like she's just kind of putting this on as an act i swear to you i feel
20:27like this is an act i wish this no i feel like at this point she knows what the crack is she's been
20:33told what the crack is and she ain't letting the police know she ain't letting anyone know
20:37but the circle the family they know i wasn't aware to what extent people were picking that interview
20:45apart and zooming in on it and pausing it and going frame by frame to try and work out whether this
20:51mother was really telling the truth and and and was really upset about her son's disappearance again
20:57ladies and gentlemen not one tear this is 48 hours after her son had been allegedly missing
21:05i got really angry a few nights some of the comments and it did cross my mind i thought do i
21:10pursue it do i you know try and get some sort of revenge it's not a computer game it's not a movie
21:16you know it's real life you watched a real tragic event unfold to an innocent family
21:29i've not once seen a helicopter up here i feel like they keep checking the same area obviously he's
21:34not there they've checked that and checked that and checked that i feel like the search needs to
21:37be made much wider we've been missing for about 10 11 days and praying he comes home every night
21:42i've still got still got hope for him i still feel like he's somewhere just hoping that somebody
21:48has helped him off this mountain i used to put my body by that's it so i don't know
21:54i just want to put him back
22:07well authorities have been searching for jay here in tenerife for 12 days now but as we heard this
22:13morning, that search will be escalating from tomorrow.
22:20There was some camera footage of Jay in the club.
22:24It looks like he's having a great time.
22:26And then there is some footage of him on the dance floor
22:31and he does look not in a nice state.
22:35It's not nice to watch because I've never seen him like that.
22:39It was just unreal the theories that came.
22:42Didn't know what to believe, what not to believe.
22:45Is he missing? Has he been took by the Moroccans?
22:47Is he up in a house somewhere? Is people in it? Is he fallying in it?
22:50What's this GoFundMe about? That's a bit strange, you know?
22:57There was a video that got sent into a group chat from Jay's phone.
23:03And it was a little tiny video, like two seconds,
23:07and it was somebody driving a car and there was the caption across
23:11and it said, just stolen a Rolex watch, off to get 10k.
23:17And then there was another screenshot that he apparently sent to somebody else.
23:21I'm like, what is this?
23:23Would you look at us conspiracy theorists have been correct all along, Jay Slater.
23:29But it looks like he got served up some instant karma just a few hours later,
23:33not been seen or heard of since.
23:35I know one of the lads who met Jay, he seemed to think that Jay was scared and had knives.
23:41So I need to know, did he have a knife in his possession?
23:44Every day we're going down a different route because of another theory.
23:50Watch Thief, a drug dealer.
23:54My son hasn't gone to Tenerife, been there three days and turned into Pablo Escobar.
23:58We don't know nothing.
24:00I have, Rocky, asked them.
24:08These people who were big on social media, googled Jay's name.
24:15Three years ago, Jay, he was part of a trial of eight people
24:21where this log had got a gash to the back of his head.
24:24The machete incident, big gang of them, they've all got together in this huge warehouse.
24:29Somebody's been attacked and apparently this whole group of people, they've all had weapons.
24:34He was there, he's admitted he was there.
24:37Jay got convicted of violent disorder and got community service.
24:42Well, there were some horrible things, just about it all.
24:46People's perception changes then.
24:48It's just a normal lad on holiday who's gone missing and then they dig his past up
24:51and they go, oh, hang on a minute, he's a machete-wielding maniac.
25:02Somebody was asked a question, did you see Jay strike the person?
25:07No, he was never that type of lad.
25:10He was just guilty by association because he was just part of a crowd.
25:13The Guardia Savelle prepares to coordinate a large search to find the young British man missing in the village of Masca.
25:25Authorities are also calling on private volunteers who were experts in this sort of terrain to join that rescue effort.
25:33Look at the scale of the cliffs in front.
25:36So he hasn't gone up, there's only one way he could have gone, which is down.
25:42I was shocked at the difficulty of the terrain where Jay had wandered into.
25:48My lungs were burning.
25:50It was a heat trap, I was dehydrated, I was tired, I was frustrated.
25:54So, as you can see on my temperature gauge, it's above 30 degrees now.
25:58As I went through that landscape, it became more and more difficult.
26:05Jay had no communications, he had no experience of the landscape, no idea where he was.
26:12So this is the issue we've got now, I'm right down in the middle of the ravine.
26:17To go back, I've got to go all the way back up there.
26:22Fuck.
26:28For nearly a month now, the family of the missing British teenager Jay Slater had hoped he might be found after he went missing on the island of Tenerife.
26:45Well today, that hope ended after the Spanish Civil Guard confirmed that members of a mountain rescue team had found a body.
26:5210am, I got a message, could you come to the police station at 11 o'clock.
27:10That's when they said, we found some remains that we think could be due.
27:14I was with Debbie and Warren and Zach when we had to identify his belongings, going into the room to see his, you know, his little makeshift coffin.
27:25Never leave me.
27:29Never got to say goodbye.
27:32That's the difficult bit.
27:33The mother of Jay Slater has said she just can't believe her son has died after his body was formally identified in Tenerife.
27:47It brings to an end a desperate search by his family, which was hampered by armchair detectives and became the target of increasingly wild conspiracy theories on social media.
27:57TikTokers and YouTubers, for those thinking that Jay Slater simply fell to his death and was in a ravine for 29 days, you need to wake up.
28:10So even after Jay was found, there were more crazy conspiracy theories, which continued on social media.
28:16I do want to protect him and protect his name and just try and find the truth.
28:33So we've sat down with the judge who's gone through what happens next.
28:37We've been handed Jay's phone so we can go into that.
28:42Timelines, who he messaged, who he rang, who rang him.
28:49I'm just so glad that it's just here, it's intact and we can just go into it ourselves.
28:55Because of the circumstances of Jay Slater's death in Tenerife, his death is being investigated by the Guard of Seville.
29:17That investigation is ongoing, but because his body has been repatriated to the UK, my investigation begins and we will open an inquest into his death.
29:30Jay Slater will have a post-mortem in the UK so that we know what has happened to him and we have the experts on hand to testify at the inquest.
29:40A previous post-mortem had been performed in Spain and it would have been nice to have been able to get the results of that post-mortem examination, but they are notoriously slow at producing reports.
29:58Is there a Spanish identification bracelet anywhere?
30:08We have three things to do. We have got to perform an examination to see whether we can identify any evidence externally of trauma.
30:15Secondly, we need to look at what has been performed in terms of examinations.
30:21And thirdly, we'll try and take something for toxicology.
30:25And that's significantly problematic in a body that's been lying outside, is decomposing and has had a previous post-mortem examinations.
30:34All these things are going to help build this jigsaw to give the best explanation we can to understand how Jay does.
30:42We've done a little bit of cleaning and clearing time now so we can see the best we can.
30:49It's futile to try to convince us in the true crime community that the fingerprints would be viable under Tenerife's environment up to 29 days later, not even after a week.
31:14There are a lot of online conspiracies saying it's not possible to identify Jay by his fingerprints.
31:27In Jay Slater's case, he was exposed in a hot climate for nearly a month before he was found.
31:32And during this time, he will have been dehydrated and he will have undergone decomposition.
31:39And during this process, the muscles contract such that the fingers fold back over the palms of the hand.
31:47What this does is protect this pad of skin here, which is a palm print, which can be used to identify you just as effectively as fingerprints.
31:57Jay Slater was positively identified by two separate methods.
32:03The Guardia of Seville preferred identification of the thumb, whereas Lancashire Constabulary preferred the palm to confirm that this was definitely Jay Slater and not somebody else.
32:13I am uninterested in the speculation of people who may not have all of the facts.
32:27It is what can be proved in a courtroom that is relevant to the decisions that will be made.
32:33Hiya, Alice.
32:48Hiya, Debbie. Are you okay?
32:50Bit of a cry then, sorry.
32:51I have had an email from the Spanish liaison magistrate so they can confirm that the investigation in Spain into the circumstances of Jay had been conducted by an examining judge under the relevant provisions of the Spanish Code of Criminal Procedure.
33:07Have you heard any information from Lancashire Police? Because I know that there were some people who had met Jay on holiday who had been with him that night and they did have information. So they was going to approach Lancashire Police?
33:22Yes, they've confirmed the three names of the people that they've obtained statements from, which was Josh Foreshaw, Lucy Law and Brandon Hodgson.
33:32So apparently Brandon knew the two guys Jay went with.
33:35We know that Jay left the Airbnb at 8 o'clock that morning and on leaving the Airbnb has made a call to Brandon Hodgson, also known as Hodggy.
33:56So this is the location that Jay shared with Brandon. This is around about 8.15.
34:01Brandon hadn't raised any concerns about Jay. It's when Brandon's then contacted Lucy and suggested that she make contact. That's when concerns have been raised.
34:10At some point during those calls to Brandon, Bradley and Lucy, he's taken a side path, a track. Lucy's advised him to turn around and head back up to the main road and that she'd make arrangements to either come pick him up or get a taxi.
34:26And at this moment in time, we believe Lucy's the last person that Jay spoke to.
34:31There is a lot of activity. I think the Guardia Civil, when they did the download, said there were like 70 calls.
34:46This is the last call where he's rung Lucy back at 10 to 9 and it's just for 22 seconds. And then Lucy's messaging him then the morning of the 17th at 8.35.
35:01She'd obviously been speaking to him and then it says, go back to wherever the hell you've just come from.
35:08But then she's saying that when she's spoken to him, on the voice call that he's saying, I can't, I can't.
35:15Grazes all down this right leg. Grazes on the left leg. Significant injuries probably down the left arm with deep grazes going into the muscle and tissue.
35:37Be wary. There are lots of sharp bone edges now. So we can take a bit of liver.
35:46The samples of the liver are going to be really useful for toxicology.
35:51But whether they work or not on liver that is this decomposed in this situation, we will have to wait and see.
35:57OK, let's just wash my hands and we'll do the through the head and see what we can see.
36:08There is a massive, massive skull fracture, indicative of very severe force on the left side of his head.
36:20So we've got some injuries that are clearly, however they're caused, instant unconsciousness and almost certainly instant death.
36:50So we've received some statements from Lancashire Police.
36:53Now what makes this more complex is because we've got various people who've attended a music festival where there's drugs and alcohol that's been consumed.
37:04Now what happens is those people then recall the events differently depending on how much they've taken or how much they've drunk.
37:11And this is what causes confusion for the family and leads them to think that maybe there's something not right, maybe they're lying.
37:20That might not be the case. It's just a case of how they recall their events based on the amount of drink that they had and whether they'd consumed any drugs that night.
37:29So in order to get a full picture of what's happened, I need to obtain all the statements from all the witnesses.
37:35And that's including those that were at the Airbnb with Jay.
37:45Rocky, Ayab, putting videos on TikTok.
37:50Make what you want, but the truth lies with them.
37:55If I did something like that, heinous and mad, why would I be on live, chatting, bed chilled?
38:01I've got videos on my phone where, like, me and him are videoing Rocky in the car where Rocky's sleeping in the front.
38:09We're just laughing at him, see what I'm saying?
38:12It was calm, like, it was a vibe, like.
38:15Two bottles there.
38:18Headshot.
38:20He looks like someone's done a hit.
38:23My problem is, how can you rely on a convicted drug dealer?
38:29Who's took your son, who's just a 19-year-old lad, into the belly of a mountain, to an Airbnb, which is 30 miles away from where you know he was staying?
38:45Why?
38:46I'd love to be able to pump them all with truth drugs.
38:51You know what I mean?
38:52Lie detectors.
38:54I'd love to be able to do things like that.
38:57If you don't have to hide, just come down and do a lie detector.
39:00My reaction at the time was, like, mate.
39:07I fucking told him I'd give him a lift in a couple of hours.
39:11Only if he waited, you know what I mean?
39:12That's you lot's problem.
39:13I'm going to bed now, bro.
39:14I said, look, your mate's sweet.
39:17Like, it's all good.
39:19He come here in one piece, he left in one piece.
39:21I've done my part, you know what I'm saying?
39:23When we signed into Jay's Snapchat, there was an unsent message from Jay to Brad.
39:40So the message, we were obviously just flying around, and then the message sent to Brad.
39:48Which obviously gave Brad a fright, because he messaged me straight away.
39:52He said, are you on Jay's phone?
39:54I said, yeah, we've just signed into his Snapchat.
39:57He said, I've just got a message.
40:02That's just come through from Jay.
40:07The last message he sent.
40:11He said, listen, I'm not going to make it.
40:16It's kind of like, I think, well, you know, they just weren't going to make it.
40:23They just weren't going to make it.
40:24Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while.
40:25Heaven can't wait, we're only watching the skies.
40:26Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
40:27Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?
40:31Let us die young, but let us live forever.
40:32We don't have the power, but we never say never.
40:33Sitting in a sand.
40:34Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while.
40:36Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while.
40:38Heaven can't wait, we're only watching the skies.
40:39Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
40:40Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?
40:41Let us die young, but let us live forever.
40:42We don't have the power, but we never say never.
40:43Sitting in a sand pit, life is a short trip, the music's for the sad men.
41:08Jay was born on the 26th of April in 2005.
41:11He would grow up in the family home along with his parents, mum Debbie, dad Warren, becoming
41:17the younger brother of Zach.
41:19Family meant everything to Jay.
41:25Just a smiley boy, fun-loving, affectionate.
41:32He was just everything you want a son to be.
41:36Just a gorgeous person.
41:40He danced, he laughed.
41:46People just flocked to him.
41:49He just had something to Jay.
41:52I'm just never, ever gonna get over that he's not here anymore.
42:04I'm just never, ever gonna get over that he's not here anymore.
42:13The body was not Jay Slater's in that casket.
42:25Apparently it was someone in Spain.
42:26It's a Spanish body.
42:28Not a single person in the family have witnessed that that's Jay Slater's body.
42:32This casket has been closed from that day onwards.
42:35So that body that's been buried in the ground in the UK isn't Jay Slater's.
42:41Jay Slater's.
42:56Jay Slater's.
42:58That's his t-shirt that he was found in.
43:03There.
43:04There he is.
43:06Trainers.
43:07I did personally want for him to be buried in the outfit.
43:15Cause that's when he were having a good time and that was his party gear for the night.
43:20But no.
43:22There he is.
43:24For the doubters really.
43:26To prove that he did have them trainers on.
43:29And he had that t-shirt on.
43:32We didn't find him.
43:40When I got back from Tenerife.
43:42I took the kids to school the next day.
43:44And I was amazed at the number of people who normally don't really engage with my job.
43:50Coming up to me wanting to talk to me about this case.
43:54Almost as if I was part of the conspiracy.
43:57And I felt like I was having to justify the reports that I'd done by convincing people that I was telling the truth.
44:04Which I don't think I've ever had to do before.
44:07Because of all the endless social media we have actually been in touch with our local MP.
44:20Hello Sarah.
44:21How are you alright?
44:22Nice to see you Debbie.
44:23You alright?
44:24Yeah.
44:25I just don't know what to do.
44:26It's never ending.
44:27The social media thing.
44:28And it's just not got any better.
44:30It's not eased off.
44:32When you contact the social media platforms, does anything happen?
44:36No.
44:37Do they respond?
44:38No.
44:39I mean there's Facebook pages that are still going.
44:40You know, talking rubbish on Facebook.
44:43There's fake profiles of us all.
44:45There's fake profiles of Jay.
44:46You report the fake profiles.
44:48They don't take them down.
44:50This does not go against our community standards.
44:53YouTubers, TikTokers.
44:55I just can't believe the stuff that they come out with.
44:58It's just shocking.
44:59So we will make contact with the different platforms.
45:02And challenge them and ask them what they're doing around some of these content creators.
45:05I'm just desperate now.
45:07I just need it to just stop.
45:10Just stop.
45:11Why is it that it seems the family, Warren, Zach, Debbie, have all the respect?
45:19Unless we respect what the family wants.
45:21And who knows what the family wants?
45:23Because they don't tell us.
45:24They don't say anything.
45:25Who knows what they want?
45:27But why should the family have 100% respect of what's said in this case?
45:37On TikTok, on YouTube, you can effectively say whatever you want.
45:41I do really think in this case that people watching it online and trying to be online sleuths had lost sight of the fact that this was somebody's son who had disappeared.
45:52The
45:59Hiya Alice.
46:01Hi Debbie.
46:02The toxicology report has come back.
46:05There is evidence of the use of MDMA, or ecstasy as it's also known, there's the use of cocaine in the hours prior to death, although it shows that yes, there was evidence of drugs within his system, it doesn't necessarily mean that this will form part of the cause of death.
46:25You know, he's a young adult and that's new when they go to festivals so it's not a shock, it's just upsetting.
46:35Now obviously this information about the results of the toxicology and the post-mortem report have only been disclosed with you, they've not been shared with anybody else, so this information won't go anywhere.
47:05It's just like another kick in the teeth, but how is it even allowed, you know, official court documents, you know, talking about our son, it's just lawless isn't it?
47:30And there's nothing we can do about it, we're just powerless.
47:34From my point of view, ruling out infliction of injuries caused by a third party is clearly a very, very important part of this investigation.
47:56He's not been stabbed, he's not been shot, he's not been strangled.
48:01You know, a major head injury at the end, so how do we explain that?
48:05Well if he's falling down the mountainside, down scree, rough slopes, eventually he comes to a stop and this is exactly what I would expect to see when the head hits something hard.
48:16The one thing I can't rule out is that Jay was pushed at the top of a slope, just as I can't rule out whether someone has fallen downstairs on their own or is pushed down the stairs, because the push will leave no marks.
48:33It's been a year and I still can't bring myself to unpack his case.
48:47I still smell this man.
48:54Must do with Jay's dog, you know, don't you? Eh? You wonder where it is still, don't you, when you come in here?
49:00So this is the bag Jay had with him when he was found and we got handed this from the Gordia Seville and it's got these things in it.
49:14His driving licence and then there's this bottle of aftershave and then his lighters.
49:21So there were no knives in his bag, there was no drugs in his bag, there was no expensive watches in his bag, no AP watch, no Rolex watch, that's it, bag empty.
49:36So obviously we've read all the statements and Ayub's statement, there is a mention of a watch that were taken off some Romanian guy, but Ayub did say that it was a fake watch.
49:48You know, I know my son, he didn't look capable when you see the videos and he wasn't a thief.
49:55We're just left with questions that we want to ask. Ayub, I just want him to come to the inquest.
50:02I just want him to answer the inquest.
50:25Significant efforts had already been made to locate eyewitnesses.
50:28The inquest was adjourned to allow the court more time to locate these witnesses, particularly after the family raised certain questions.
50:35One of the complicating factors in this case has been the social media coverage, because several of the witnesses have expressed fears about giving evidence, not so much because of the court process, but because of the social media commentary that may well follow.
50:53Social media has actually made obtaining answers more difficult in this case.
51:00So online we have Ayub Kassim, who's giving evidence virtually.
51:05We also will have Lucy Law that's giving evidence virtually.
51:09And then we have Bradley Gagan, the friend that's actually here at court, who will give live evidence.
51:17Those are the three out of the five witnesses that we've managed to locate.
51:21If I don't get this picture now, I'll forget.
51:34I'm going to take this and then everybody knows that this is a person that we're talking about, not just this media storm, social media storm.
51:46Yeah.
51:47So they're going to be looking at his face and remember that this is, this is Jay.
51:57I went up to his grave yesterday and I was talking to him saying, God, Jay, you only knew.
52:02Oh, it's pounding. I'm just feeling really nervous about it, facing the witnesses and to see what they've got to say.
52:20I want to know why he climbed that mountain, why he was up there.
52:27I just wanted him to be in this court so I could look him in the eye and ask them a question.
52:32How was I, miss?
52:45Mr. Kassim, how did it happen that Jay ended up in your Airbnb?
52:49He asked if they could come with us.
52:53Why was that?
52:54He must have thought we were going to be up.
52:58Rocky sat in the passenger seat, Jay sat in the back and I was driving.
53:03At any point in this journey, were you making a detour to sell a watch?
53:08No. One thing I'm sure is that Jay did not steal a watch.
53:12So you had gone to bed and Jay was downstairs on the sofa?
53:18Not long after, I woke up again to a buzzing sound.
53:21I opened the door and then they gestured to me to move my car.
53:24And what was Jay doing at this time, please?
53:27He was, yeah, I'm off, like.
53:29Then after I said, chill out, Jay, I'll drop you off.
53:31And he said, no, no, no, I'm going to see the boys, they're waiting for me.
53:35You received a video call from Jay walking down the main road.
53:45Can you describe what he was like at that point in time?
53:49He told us, I'm going to come back down.
53:51He was asking if I had any drinks left at the apartment.
53:54And that was the last time I spoke to Jay.
53:57Did you get the impression that he was in any way threatened or fearful?
54:02No.
54:03Jay Dean Slater died on the 17th of June, 2024, in the Juan Lopez ravine in a remote area of the Tino Natural Park in Tenerife.
54:16Whilst attempting to descend the ravine, Jay Slater fell at a particularly dangerous area of difficult terrain and loose rock.
54:24Jay Slater fell approximately 20 to 25 metres, resulting in skull fractures, brain trauma, and from which he would have died instantly.
54:34There was no third party involvement in Jay Slater's death.
54:38In a coroner's court, we always consider whether or not there has been criminal activity.
54:48All of the police investigations, all of the post-mortems, all of the toxicology, all of the witness statements, the digital timeline show there is no evidence of any form of third party involvement, assault, torture, or anything of that type.
55:03We know that Jay left the road and has walked down ravine, but the terrain is appalling out there.
55:12Jay will also, at this point, have been up for almost 24 hours.
55:15He is probably starting to get dehydrated and drugs are involved.
55:21This is a tragedy for everybody involved.
55:24This is simply a young man who didn't appreciate the circumstances he was getting himself into.
55:30And in the mountains, in those conditions, that can be fatal.
55:34That can be fatal.
55:37I do feel satisfied that I've got a closure.
55:42Now you've got all the facts together, and if he was scared, he would have said to one of his mates that he was scared and it was just an accident.
55:51Now we have the truth. Jay's family and Jay's friends can process it as a tragic accident.
56:01But I will never, ever understand why social media detectives were totally destroying people's lives.
56:10It's been torture, absolute torture.
56:15The YouTubers and the TikTokers that have made this situation a million times worse.
56:22Jay was very loved and our hearts are broken.
56:31Remember that Jay was a real person, a loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and loyal friend to many.
56:41He may have just been a story for the past 13 months, a story full of untruths.
56:47He did touch the hearts of the nation and that overwhelms us.
56:53We now ask you please, Jay rest in eternal peace.
56:58It's not time to make a change.
57:12Just sit down.
57:14Take it slowly.
57:16You're still young.
57:18That's your fault.
57:20There's so much you have to go through.
57:23I say, sit down.
57:25If you want you to bury, look at me.
57:32He used to have something, Jay, that you can't buy. He used to have it.
57:41I don't need to tell anybody how I feel about Jay.
57:43If it's mine, I used to be great, no worries.
57:47This place is where I am, yeah, I agree.
57:51But as them may know, not me.
57:54Now there's a way.
57:56And I know, that I have to go away.
58:01I know, I have to go.
58:05Away.
58:06Away.
58:07Away.
58:08Away.
58:09Away!
58:10Away!
58:11Away!
58:12Away!
58:13Away!
58:14Away!
58:15Away!
58:16Away!
58:17Away!
58:18Away!
58:19Away!
58:20Away!
58:21Away!
58:22Away!
58:23Away!
58:24Away!
58:25Away!
58:27Away!
58:28Away!
58:29Away!
58:30Away!
58:31Away!
58:32Away!
58:33Away!