Disappearance of Jay Slater

This entry is still currently under construction.

About

The Disappearance of Jay Slater refers to the ongoing disappearance of Jay Slater, a 19-year old English man who was on holiday in Tenerife.

As a result of his disappearance, a Facebook group that was launched to help raise awareness of his disappearance was mocked by users on social media, prominently on Twitter/X due to the absurd suggestions by members of the group on finding a solution to find Jay and spreading conspiracy theories that made little sense.

Background

Jay Slater, a 19-year old from Lancashire in England, who was previously convicted and handed a community service order for his involvement in an attack of a seventeen-year-old boy, went on holiday to Tenerife to attend a music festival on the island. After the festival, Slater decided to explore the mountain village of Masca with two new friends he met at the event.

The following morning, Ofelia Medina Hernandez, the last known person to see Slater, informed him that his bus back was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Hernandez remembers seeing Slater "walking fast" as she drove past him.

Shortly after, Slater called his friend Lucy Law, saying he was lost while walking from Masca to his accommodation in Los Cristianos, located on the south coast of Tenerife.

He mentioned his phone was at 1% battery and he needed water. The last confirmed sighting of Slater was in the Rural de Teno National Park. Later that morning, Slater was officially reported missing.

Developments

Online Reactions

Facebook Group

On 17 June 2024, he was reported missing. Following this, a Facebook group entitled "JAY SLATER MISSING – OFFICIAL GROUP" was created on the social media platform on 18 June 2024 by Rach Louise Harg on the day following his disappearance. In the space of five days, the group had gained over 500,000 members.

Following the creation of the group, members posted suggestions of what they could do to help with the search, and gave suggestions on what they could do to find him.

Some of the posts included a user on the group speculating that Jay may have been stuck in a cactus and that he was trapped, whilst another suggested that someone should leave water, blankets and a mobile phone in the location where he was last seen, in an attempt him to come home. (see below)

Many of the suggestions that were posted onto the group were later shared on Twitter/X, with many users speculating that most users were "Facebook mums" trying to "play Columbo" in solving the mystery of Jay's disappearance. Many of the tweets posted garnered up to 30,000 likes.

A second Facebook group was created on 20 June 2024 by Darren Watts which was entitled "Jay Slater Discussions and Theories" and included suggestions and theories on what happened to Jay. This prompted the first group to rename itself to "ONLY OFFICIAL GROUP".

GoFundMe Page

On 20 June 2024, a GoFundMe page was created by Lucy Mae, a friend of Jay Slater, to raise money to help give his family members money in the search to find him. Members of the Facebook group had shared the fundraiser, with the description edited with the link to the website. In the four days that followed the creation of the GoFundMe page, £25,000 was raised with 2,600 people donating. The page was later renamed which raised speculation that the fundraiser was a scam.