- 7 weeks ago
The Disappearance Of Jay Slater: The Missing Case That Gripped Britain | Channel 4 Documentaries | Part 1 | 20 Mins
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.
00:46Because he told you, adult, 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.
00:55We 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.
01:22Jay was in Tenerife for a music festival with friends for his first holiday without his
01:25parents.
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.
01:47That was the last time his friends heard from him.
01:52At 9.04, Jay was then reported missing.
01:58Jake decided that he was going to this festival in Tenerife.
02:17He'd been saving from the year before because he knew that, you know, he didn't want to go
02:21abroad.
02:21He said, you'll have a great time, you know.
02:24Well, anxious, obviously.
02:25Just said a few wits about you, just watch what you're doing.
02:30I was going with Lucy and then his other friend Brad, and then they were meeting some friends
02:36of Lucy's out there.
02:37He's growing up now, he's 19, he's been to all these parties and other festivals, so
02:42yeah, just get yourself out there.
02:44Get some fun under your belt.
02:45So 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, and it were
03:12in his cage.
03:13I said to Jay, flipping it, you've only had this passport two days.
03:17We 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's like, oh, Polly won't get it in.
03:27I said, yeah, you will.
03:29I'll show you.
03:29So we were rolling it all.
03:31Instead of folding it, then it didn't crease.
03:38He messaged me when he were at the airport.
03:41Sent me a little video of him just laughing and just having the best time.
03:47He goes, me and Jay and I, mate, walking home.
03:52He rang me on the Saturday night, and 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.
04:12On the Sunday, they were just getting ready to 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.
04:25I only said, I love you, Mother.
04:30I'll speak to you tomorrow.
04:32I love you, Mother.
04:35Oh,
04:38I love you, Mother.
04:55I love you, Mother.
05:25Right, what are you doing and where are you? I'm coming down to get you now.
05:32You're not there this time. I'm going to be fucking fuming.
05:55I was at work. I got a call from Lucy. She just said, Jay's missing. He 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.
06:18It's an emergency. Who is it you're reporting missing?
06:27What, my son?
06:28Your son.
06:29Do you know where he was staying exactly in Tenerese?
06:33Lost Cristiano.
06:35He's been located as miles and miles away from where he was staying, up a blooming mountain.
06:41And you say he's been located. Is that on his phone location?
06:45He rang early hours this morning and said his phone were 1%. He was on his own.
06:51He didn't know where he was and he were in the middle of the mountains.
06:55So they found this place, knocked on the door, and there's two English lads there.
07:01And all they've said is, yeah, he's been here, but he left this morning.
07:04Oh, it's a bit odd that they've not given you any details of where he's gone, isn't it?
07:10I said, well, they've done something to him.
07:13Yeah, we all tried to ring, of course, but how can you get lost in Tenerife?
07:20These boys, boys, boys on the beach, you don't look behind you until you have to.
07:34I got a phone call off Debbie, and I'll never forget it.
07:40I just said, oh, yeah, you're all right.
07:41And I just told her the voice, she just said, no, Jay's gone missing in Tenerife.
07:47And it's like time's stood still sort of thing.
07:53What do you mean?
07:54Debbie was in a state of panic, and as soon as she'd mentioned that he'd gone up into the mountains
07:59and he'd gone missing, I just knew something wasn't right.
08:05When it got to midnight and there was just nothing, we'd have no contact,
08:10so then it would just, let's get some flights booked.
08:13I literally threw a few things in a bag and that were it.
08:17I just cried the whole way there.
08:19I just had my head in my jacket and I just cried all the way there,
08:23thinking, what the hell is going on?
08:29Hello, I went to the police station this morning.
08:38Are you a friend of Jay Slater, madam?
08:40Yeah.
08:41Do you know where he is?
08:42No, no, no.
08:43No, he hasn't show up yet.
08:45He's been out there all day.
08:48I just want to know, please.
08:51Can you tell me if someone's looking for him now?
08:54I need to know if someone's looking for him or not.
08:59The police is looking for him right now.
09:05We arrived, come outside the airport and my phone went
09:09and it was a WhatsApp message.
09:12And it was a disappearing message.
09:14You know, the ones that only stay as soon as you read and they go.
09:18I looked at it and I just said to Zach, take a photograph of this.
09:21I'll give you one warning, your son won't be coming back.
09:24He owes us enough fucking G money.
09:27Kiss goodbye to him.
09:30Traumatised as soon as we walked out of the airport.
09:33What the hell's going on?
09:34From an early age, we were just full of fun and mischievous.
09:52Cute, big blue eyes.
09:54You know, he stood out and he had curls.
09:59He was just gorgeous.
10:01Just had a nice little family unit.
10:05Life and soul had parted.
10:07Ever since he was growing up, he was always centre of attention.
10:10Even when he was little, he was always up dancing and stuff.
10:14Yay, baby!
10:16We struggled to conceive, so we had IVF to have Zach
10:22and then five years later, IVF to have Jay.
10:27I just felt so blessed.
10:37We just completed our family.
10:40Hello, Jay.
10:42Are you taking a picture or are you recording?
10:44Why do you have to pull that funny face?
10:48There's a little lad.
10:50Hard work.
10:52Compared to Zach.
10:54We were laid back.
10:55Jay were a million miles an hour.
10:59He was very inquisitive.
11:01He always wanted to be doing something.
11:11British teenager Jay Slater
11:12who were missing in Tenerife on Monday.
11:15On Sunday afternoon, Jay attended the NRG Festival
11:17in South Tenerife with a group of friends.
11:20They'd been staying in an apartment in Los Cristianos.
11:23After that festival, he went to a village called Masca in the north.
11:26When we first arrived,
11:34Gordie Sybil headed the search.
11:36There was search and rescue, a lot of volunteers.
11:39There were helicopters up.
11:41Warren, Zach, my brother,
11:43were up them mountains,
11:44just frantically searching.
11:46The terrain, you can't really explain it
11:48until you get off that path.
11:51Everything wants to cut you.
11:53This is the club in Las Americas
11:58where Jay Slater spent the night before he disappeared.
12:01Now, we understand he met two friends that night
12:04and went on with them to a remote village up in the mountains
12:08about an hour away from here.
12:10Story surfaced that he'd gone off
12:13with people who they'd met.
12:15Rocky and Ayub
12:16Found out Ayub is a convicted drug dealer.
12:21He had served time in prison.
12:23Jay is very, very sociable
12:25and loved meeting new people
12:28and probably a bit too trusting.
12:31There are still so many questions about what happened,
12:35why he came here
12:36and, most importantly, where Jay is now.
12:40Lucy, Jay's friend, had set up a GoFundMe.
12:44I mean, I didn't say, let's get a GoFundMe.
12:47I didn't think there were any need
12:49because I just thought, he's going to turn up.
12:52Although Lucy couldn't access the money,
12:55she thought it may help with people searching
12:58and accommodation costs,
13:00but the money were going up and up
13:02and it just span out of control.
13:05Conspiracy theories of Jay's lost an amount of drugs.
13:09If he gets the 30k, he's coming home, I'm telling you.
13:12Apparently, what they do is, yeah,
13:14they get bags of naughty candy, right?
13:16Naughty candy.
13:17And obviously, when there's festivals and stuff going around,
13:19right, they sell them.
13:21You see that festival he was at, the NRG, right?
13:23Apparently, he lost his bag full of the naughty candy
13:25and that cost about 30 grand.
13:28YouTubers, TikTokers, they were all,
13:30he's been taken up into the mountains,
13:32he's been kidnapped.
13:33We've seen a video,
13:35it's been verified and it's true.
13:37The video shows Jay Slater was tortured.
13:40He was tortured so much that he lost his sight.
13:45Lucy put a target amount, 30,000,
13:48so that's it, once it reaches 30,000,
13:51she'll hand this money over to these people who've got Jay.
13:55I were convinced that that were going to be the case
13:57and I were even saying to her,
13:59is that what you need this money for?
14:01Is that what you set it up for?
14:03He was saying, no, no.
14:05I just wanted to believe anything,
14:07to think that he was still alive.
14:10All the conspiracy theories were out there
14:12that had been held somewhere, had been kidnapped.
14:16I was thinking, at least if we got him back,
14:19I could have mended him.
14:19Just if you've got him, he's not a bad person.
14:29He's just got in some, I don't know,
14:32if he has got in any trouble,
14:34please just let him go.
14:36Just let him go.
14:38I was just in an absolute mistake.
14:41I was just on my knees,
14:43just not knowing I was just on my knees.
14:45It was awful.
14:46It was awful.
14:50Thank you, Jay.
14:52Happy birthday to you.
14:58Joe, when he left school,
15:00he always knew he wanted to go into,
15:03you know, having a trade.
15:05So he did an apprenticeship for Brick Lane.
15:08He really enjoyed it.
15:10He'd always come home from work and be like,
15:11I've done this today, I've done that.
15:13Showing pictures that he took of stuff he's built on his phone,
15:16but everybody's had to be in your house to do it.
15:19Maybe it was just one of them.
15:21And though he was knackered,
15:22he always had a smile on his face,
15:24if he'd had a hard day,
15:26telling me about where they'd been working
15:27and be up at like,
15:29oh, it's an early one tomorrow, Mum.
15:31I'm getting picked up at six,
15:33so I'd be up at like half five.
15:35But I always got up with him
15:36and we'd have a brew.
15:38And he just were enjoying life
15:41and spreading his wings.
15:50We were told that when Jay was up in Masca,
15:53the doorbell went around 7.45am
15:57and it was the owner of the Airbnb.
15:59He needed I up to move his car.
16:02And apparently that's when Jay decided to leave.
16:05This is the house where Jay came
16:06in the early hours of Monday morning.
16:08We have spoken to an eyewitness.
16:10I saw the boy in the morning at around 8am.
16:13He asked twice what time the bus came.
16:15I told him at 10 o'clock.
16:19She then says about 20 minutes later,
16:21she was driving up towards the mountains and hills.
16:24She said that she saw him walking there
16:26and she drove past him.
16:29He was going in the wrong direction.
16:34So Ophelia was the Spanish lady
16:37who runs the cafe that's attached
16:39onto the side of the B&B.
16:42She's the last person to see him alive.
16:45Any reason to believe that
16:46she's not telling the truth?
16:48No.
16:49Yes.
16:50Who knows?
16:54We've just got to go off
16:57the Spanish police investigation.
17:00But then content creators were saying,
17:03this isn't real.
17:04This isn't true.
17:05There's no proof that Jay
17:06left the NRG festival alive.
17:08No proof whatsoever.
17:09No CCTV of him walking down the roads.
17:12I mean, look, we've been here before.
17:13We've said this so many times before.
17:15There's just no proof.
17:16We're coming up at the similar time that Jay was supposed to have left the bed and breakfast.
17:39And just for my own curiosity,
17:42I'd just like to see how many people are about this time in the morning.
17:48It's just so raw.
17:50Because I feel like we're only just finding out more facts for ourselves.
17:55It's a scary place when you look at them.
17:57Right, what time are we on?
18:03Are we on the...
18:04About 8 o'clock.
18:05Right, so this is more or less the right time then.
18:09Oh, it's open.
18:10Here's the B&B.
18:11Nice inside.
18:19Well, literally, as soon as you come out the door, the bus stops there.
18:22But he's been told that there's not a bus until 10 o'clock.
18:26So I presume he's looked both ways and decided to go to the left.
18:33Instead of walking down there.
18:35Logic tells you the easiest way.
18:38You walk down a hill instead of walking up a hill.
18:51It's being back here and just thinking what he was thinking.
18:54And just how the eye deceives when you're stood here and you just look just there and you can see the sea.
19:02Is that what he thought?
19:03What the sea's there?
19:05Why walk around all these windy roads and I can just get through there?
19:21We're very close here to Jay Slater's last known location.
19:26It's just down from the main road.
19:28Although I 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 circumstances similar to that before.
19:44And so you're hoping along with everybody else that there's an explanation for why he's missing.
19:49Debbie was beside herself with worry.
19:52She was distraught, but she was really keen that as much information about Jay and...
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