Jay Slater's mom has shared how the money raised as a result of a GoFundMe campaign for her family will be spent as the search for her son was ended.
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The 19-year-old - an apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire in the UK - was reported missing over two weeks ago.
He had been visiting the island as part of the NRG Music Festival with friends Lucy Mae Law and Brad Hargreaves, when he disappeared the morning after a rave at the Playa de las Americas resort.
In the early hours of June 17, Jay opted not to head back to his shared accommodation with friends, instead visiting an Airbnb rented by two British men he had met several days prior.
After leaving their Airbnb at around 8:00AM in the morning, Jay made calls to both Lucy Mae and Brad to let them know he was going to attempt the 10+ hour walk back to their apartment.
However, Jay disappeared without a trace while walking through the mountainous region of Rural de Teno Park, where his cell phone was last tracked.
On Sunday (June 30), the Spanish Civil Guard revealed that the search for Jay around the Rural de Teno Park area had come to an end, but that the case remains open and that they will continue to act on new tip-offs.
Despite the disheartening update, Jay's loved ones have vowed to "continue to search" for the teenager.
On Wednesday (June 3), Jay's mom - Debbie Duncan - issues a statement regarding how the remaining money raised via a GoFundMe page will be used.
As of this writing, over £48,000 has been raised for the family, from over 4,000 donations.
In a new update shared to the page, Debbie wrote: "Hi again everyone. Your generosity has been vast, and we are so grateful for all of your support and kindness during this unimaginable time for our family.
As I said in my official statement, the Spanish police conducted a land search for 12 days which involved every resource they had available. Although the land search ended, the Spanish police still continue with their investigations into why Jay had travelled to the location so far away from his accommodation. We offer our sincere thanks to the Spanish authorities, who continue to follow lines of inquiries."
The concerned mom then opened up about how part of the money raised will be used, writing: "In the meantime, we will continue to use part of the funds to support the volunteers working hard in the mountains to find Jay.
We are currently looking after [climber and TikToker] Paul Arnett, putting together a package of any equipment and essentials he needs and going up to do a drop for him. We are also supporting Callum Fahim and his group with accommodation and other essentials.
"The remaining funds will continue to be used to support the rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay as well as our own expenses as we remain in Tenerife looking for our boy.
"We will continue to keep you all updated on the progress on our GoFundMe page, and we thank you for your continued support. Please keep sharing and supporting our fundraiser to help us bring Jay home."
The update on the page comes after the mom issued a separate statement following the search for her son coming to an end.
In that statement, Debbie said: "My son, Jay Dean Slater, came to the holiday island of Tenerife on the 13th of June with his friend to attend a music festival. On the 17th of June after not returning to his apartment he was reported as a missing person. Jay is a normal guy who is in his 3rd year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends.
"We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance. Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing. He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him."
"We do not have any information on his whereabouts. The Guardia Civil have worked tirelessly up in the mountains where Jay's last phone call was traced," the mom continued. "They conducted a land search for 12 days which involved every resource they had available. Although the land search ended, the Spanish police still continue with their investigations into why Jay had travelled to the location so far away from his accommodation.
"We offer our sincere thanks to the Spanish authorities who continue to follow lines of enquiries."
She also asked for the family's privacy to be respected at this time, adding: "We would like to say to the press/news/reporters, that although we do not want to lose the momentum of Jay's disappearance, we really would like to maintain our privacy and crucially let the Spanish police get on with their investigations without hindrance from press.
"We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and can only describe this as vile, the negative comments are extremely distressing to our family. We also embrace the love and support we have received from across the globe. It has not gone unnoticed, especially his home town in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire.
"As a family we would like the world to respect our privacy at this present time."
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