Jay Slater’s stepfather has opened up about his loved one's disappearance, revealing that he believes the missing teenager would not have walked for eight hours.
On Monday (June 17), the 19-year-old from Lancashire was reported missing by his friend, Lucy Mae Law, whom he was vacationing with in Tenerife.
The night before, the pair attended the New Rave Generation festival. Instead of going back to their shared holiday apartment, Slater chose to stay out with people he had met that evening.
He then called Lucy Mae at 8:15AM to say that he was thirsty and that his phone battery was low. He also revealed that he was going on an 11-hour walk back to the apartment after missing the bus.
Lucy Mae told officials that Slater "cut his leg on a cactus" while he tried to walk along the remote path. He also sent her a picture of his location before the battery on his phone died.
The teen's friend, who reported him missing to local authorities less than an hour after the call, went on to add that Slater is "not a stupid boy" and would've tried to get in contact with his family if he'd been able to.
Slater's stepfather, Andy Watson, has now questioned why the missing teenager would walk 11 hours back to his accommodation.
Speaking to Daily Mail, he said: “He has me run him down to the hairdressers, 200 yards away - why would he walk eight hours?
“Who lives in the mountains? It would be wrong to speculate, but everyone has their own impression in their head," he continued. "I wouldn’t have gone off with two people I didn’t know. But he’s 19, he’s impressionable, isn’t he? If someone said there’s more drink at our house, he’s going to go.”
Friday (June 21) marks the fifth day in the search for the British teenager.
Authorities are investigating the area of Slater's last known whereabouts - Rural de Teno Park near the village of Masca - along with volunteer firefighters, the mountain civil guard, the dogs unit, and the teen's family and friends.
Slater's friend Lucy has launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds to pay for his loved ones to stay on the Spanish island to assist in the search.
More than £23,855 ($30,000) has been raised of the £30,000 ($37,000) target.
Speaking to ITV News, the teen's mom, Debbie, said that she was living in a "nightmare" right now.
"I was loving that he was going and saying you'll love it, you'll come back and you'll want to go again," she said. "Now I just wish I hadn't encouraged him to go."
Debbie noted: "There was a main road, there's bus stops there, there's cafes, it's a hiking route, there's people about, people must have seen him. And if people haven't seen him, someone must have taken him.
"It's over 48 hours now since he last had any contact with anybody. He's out there somewhere or somebody knows where he is," she said before concluding: "We just need to find my baby."
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