A woman who saw Jay Slater on the morning of his disappearance has disclosed details about their brief interaction.
Friday (June 21) marks the fifth day in the search for the 19-year-old, who was reported missing after attending the New Rave Generation festival in Tenerife with his friend, Lucy Mae Law.
It has been reported that instead of going back to his shared holiday apartment with Law, Slater chose to stay out with two men he had met at the festival.
On Monday (June 17), Slater called Law at 8:15AM to say that he was lost and thirsty, sending her a picture of his location before the battery on his phone died. He also revealed that he was going on an 11-hour walk back to the apartment after missing the bus.
According to the Daily Mail, a woman named Ofelia Medina Hernandez said she saw the teen standing by the bus stop outside the Airbnb. She claimed that he had asked about buses back to Los Cristianos.
Hernandez reportedly explained that the next available bus down the mountain in the Parque Rural de Teno wouldn't arrive until two hours later.
"I held up my fingers on my hands to say 10AM as he didn't understand me then I went home briefly before driving up the mountain to Buenavista del Norte, but this time I saw him walking on the road out of the village," she said.
"It was no more than ten or fifteen minutes after I had spoken to him and he was about a kilometre from the house. I drove past him and that's the last I saw him," she added.
Given that there is a main road nearby, questions have been raised as to whether the teenager may have wandered into the wilderness.
“What I don’t understand is if he did walk down then why wasn’t he seen by anyone?" Law questioned, per The Independent. "It’s a busy time of day, the place is full of hikers and holidaymakers, he could have asked them for help or stopped somewhere but no one has seen him at all."
The 19-year-old has been reported to be wearing a grey t-shirt, black bag, shorts, and trainers at the time of his disappearance.
Authorities are investigating the area of 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.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard said yesterday: “The search operation has moved to the south of the island. The search areas are Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas," per The Mirror.
"It’s obviously down to information received as the investigation has progressed. As things stand at the moment the search in the mountainous area near Masca in the north has been halted," they added.
Many of Slater's family and friends have now flown out to the island to assist with the search, including his mother Debbie Duncan, father Warren Slater, and brother Zak.
His mother said: “I think he’s been taken against his will with what’s been said, but it’s in the hands of the police. It’s just traumatic and it doesn’t feel real," as cited by the outlet.
"It’s just awful, it’s horrendous. He’s just a great person who everyone wanted to be with. He’s good looking, he’s a popular boy," she added.
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