Following the disappearance of UK teenager Jay Slater, social media sleuths have taken it upon themselves to do some digging into his past.
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The 19-year-old - from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire - was reported missing on June 17 while on vacation with his friends in Tenerife. The teenager had been attending the NRG music festival, when he opted to stay out with two men he had met on the evening of Sunday, June 16.
The following morning, Jay's friend - Lucy Mae Law - received a phone call from Jay. He told her that he was lost, thirsty, and that his phone battery was on 1%. Jay also said that he was going to attempt to walk back to their shared accomodation - a trip that would have taken him around 10 hours across mountainous terrain.
Less than an hour after their call, Lucy Mae reported Jay missing to Spanish authorities.
Eight days later, and Jay still hasn't been found.
READ MORE: Everything We Know About Jay Slater's Disappearance
Following a week of public pleas from family and loved ones, Jay's disappearance has become headline news and a huge concern on social media.
A Facebook group set up by loved ones and dedicated to finding Jay has more than 570,000 followers (as of this writing), and a GoFundMe has now raised more than £34,000 for the teen's worried family.
However, amid the concern has been a slew of comments on social media referencing an incident back in 2021.
In August of that year, UK police responded to a call in the area of Rishton, Lancashire.
A then-17-year-old boy named Tom Hilton had been chased by a large group of teenagers to an old paper mill.
Per the Metro, Hilton recalled being chased by the gang, who were behaving "like a bunch of gorillas". The group was carrying weapons like knives, golf clubs, machetes, and an axe as they chased Hilton through a wooded area.
When they finally caught him, Hilton was battered and left with puncture wounds. One injury to his head was so serious that his skull was visible.
The group consisted of eight teenagers - some as young as 14. It also included a then 17-year-old Jay Slater, who - along with the others - was found guilty of violent disorder after a 2023 trial.
The group were handed non-custodial sentences, with Judge Phillip Parry saying at the time: "All of you will be sentenced as a group who attacked Thomas Hilton, without me assigning individual roles to each of you."
Judge Parry referenced "beef" that the group had with Hilton, but no specifics were mentioned. However, he described the behavior of the group as "disgraceful".
"You should, all eight, be thoroughly ashamed of your actions but I am not at all convinced that you are," Judge Parry said. "Many of you have found these proceedings amusing, showing disrespect to the court.
"I hope for the sake of all your families, the public and the people who have offered you jobs and apprenticeships and the sort that you all grow up."
Per the Daily Mail, Judge Parry said that the group deserved to be in a youth detention center, but instead took a rehabilitative approach.
Jay was handed an 18-month community order with 25 days rehabilitation activities and 150 hours unpaid work for violent disorder.
With this information coming to light, some social media users have not only gone as dar as to describe Jay's disappearance as "karma", but others have also voiced conspiracies that the teen going missing is linked to criminal activity.
Regardless of the noise on social media, those closest to Jay insist that he isn't the person others are attempting to paint him out to be.
Per Sky News, Jay's employer - PH Build Group, which employs the 19-year-old as an apprentice bricklayer - has stated that, "Jay is a valued member of our team and we stand by him."
They add that the "picture being painted online is not true".
"The fact is he’s a 19-year-old lad missing in a foreign country," Jay's bosses say. "He needs to be back home where he belongs. Come on Jay we are all praying for you."
Additionally, Jay's mom - Debbie Duncan - has also hit back at trolls, describing her son as a "normal boy".
Speaking from the hotel where the family are staying, the concerned mom said: "My boy might be just up there somewhere. We're all devastated.
"He's just a normal boy from a little town in Lancashire. These things don't happen. I was in touch with him while he is in Tenerife. He was just holidaying away, he'd saved up and was looking forward to it.
"I've not slept for five days. My brain isn't functioning well and I'm tired and exhausted."
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