A former senior officer with the Metropolitan Police said he believed Jay Slater had either fallen into a ravine, deliberately disappeared or even been kidnapped.
Jay, 19, has been missing from Tenerife since last Monday (June 17). Jay, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, spoke to his friend Lucy Mae Law for the last time at around 8am on Monday morning (June 17) when she went to stay in a rented Airbnb with two people she had met on the island the night before.
But the flat was ‘in the middle of nowhere’ and Jay’s phone battery died when he set off to return the next morning. He has not been seen since.
READ MORE: Jay Slater missing in Tenerife LIVE: Latest updates from search after police give tragic update
Peter Kirkahm, who spent more than 20 years in the country’s largest police force, holding every rank up to Chief Inspector, gave a somber assessment of the situation as the search for him entered its 12th day.
Writing in the Mirror, he said: “In the circumstances first reported, and particularly in the last known phone call he made, the most obvious theory is that Jay Slater got lost while trying to walk back along a remote and difficult path in an area completely unknown to him.”
“He may also have fallen into a cliff or similar and was injured and incapacitated. This possibility leads to searches by the police, but the area in question is so large that even now it is possible that only part of it has been thoroughly searched.”
“Sadly, if this is the explanation, it is unlikely that Jay will be found alive after such a long period missing. However, police will continue to review their actions and move on to the next most likely area.
“The second possibility, which should always be considered, is that Jay disappeared on purpose for a reason. As we learn more about him, it seems he has a bit of a checkered past that may have led to his disappearance. Police are wondering if this is a viable possibility.” To follow avenues of inquiry into its history and local conditions to determine
“This is an aspect of the investigation that the UK police will be much better placed to move forward with. I hope that the Spanish authorities, who have priority in this investigation, have contacted Lancashire Police with a request to assist in this matter.” .
“The third possibility to consider is that Jay was abducted, or worse, abducted by another person. This could be something spontaneous that came about spontaneously, or it could be something premeditated, stemming from a longer-term conflict or disagreement.
“The spontaneous version need not involve anyone with a significant criminal history and so could include anyone. It also does not need to involve any intent to harm him, it could be some kind of accidental illness or injury followed by panic on the part of others present.”
“Reports that Jay left his friends and ran off with two men he met in the club indicate that this is a possibility that requires urgent investigation. The two men who say Jay left them in good health are the key starting point here and Tenerife police are prioritizing the investigation of this line of inquiry.” should give.
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“If, as has been reported, the men are British and have returned to the UK, then again that is an area where UK authorities would be deployed to assist.
“The premeditated version would normally only be something done by people with a serious criminal history and/or would involve someone with a major dispute, such as a debt of thousands of pounds or criminal property such as drugs with Jay. This is another area where the police’s starting point is extensive investigations into Jay’s family, friends and associates, as well as his own past. Although the possibility cannot be ruled out.”
“Taken together, these three basic categories of theories cover almost every possibility. To conduct a thorough and competent investigation, police need to keep an open mind and follow lines of inquiry relevant to all three.
“However, in the real world, where resources are limited, it is inevitable and entirely acceptable that the police will prioritise them. Up until now, the priority has been on the first possibility that Jay has gone missing and succumbed to illness or injury, but as time goes on and no trace of him is found, other options will need to be looked at more carefully.
“The nature of the area where Jay was last seen and the size of the area required to be searched means that police cannot rule out the possibility that he was accidentally injured.
“This situation is further complicated by the fact that the police do not have the technological assistance they currently have access to almost all the time: the area is very remote and there is little CCTV coverage, the mobile phone is said to be running out of battery and there is no known vehicle at the scene, so relatively few people are on the road.” Even if they were found, automatic license plate readers wouldn’t add much to the investigation.
“Again, we have to accept that in these cases the investigation will be slow and will never be definitively resolved. This is not due to any fault of the police but as always things can happen. It could have been done better or quicker but in the real world it is inevitable.”
Sources on the island also express his gloomy pessimism, worrying that the young man will not be found alive if he gets lost in the mountains on Monday, June 17.
In an update on Thursday, police searching for the teenager said it was ‘very unlikely’ Jay would be found alive. A well-placed source in the Civil Guard said: “No one is talking about ending the search at the moment, although it is unlikely that Jay would have survived if he got lost in the mountains as we were told he did.”