The harrowing 999 call Jay Slater’s frantic mother made to British police after her son vanished in Tenerife can be revealed for the first time.
Jay, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, was found dead in a ravine on July 15 last year after a gruelling 29-day search which sick conspiracy theorists and armchair detectives threatened to derail.
An inquest into the 19-year-old’s death in July concluded that he died by accident after tumbling from more than 60ft into a ravine, near the mountainous village of Masca.
The Daily Mail can today reveal the moment Jay’s mother, Debbie Duncan, found out her son had disappeared on the Spanish island before she called Lancashire Police to officially report him missing.
Speaking about the moment she received the tragic update, she said: ‘I were at work. I got a call from Lucy. She just said “Jay’s missing, he didn’t come back last night”. She just said “I’ve reported him missing to the police”. My legs were just like jelly, I’ve just gone into panic.’
In a 999 call played on Channel 4‘s new documentary, The Disappearance of Jay Slater, Debbie can then be heard telling the police in the UK that her son has gone missing in Tenerife.
‘He’s been located as miles and miles away from where he was staying [Los Cristianos] up a blimming mountain,’ she says.
She adds: ‘He rang early hours of this morning and said his phone were on 1 per cent, he was on his own, he didn’t know where he were and he was in middle of the mountains.
Jay Slater had been to the NRG music festival with friends in Tenerife when he went missing in June last year. He is pictured with his mother Debbie Duncan
This is the final message Jay wrote before falling to his death. It only sent in November 2024 when Jay’s parents got his phone back and logged into his account
‘They found this place, knocked on the door and there’s two English lads there and all they said was, “He’s been here but he left this morning”.’
The operator then replies: ‘Oh. Bit odd that they haven’t given you any details of where he’s gone, isn’t it?’
Overcome with emotion, Debbie can then be heard saying: ‘What if they’ve done something to him?’
Jay’s father, Warren Slater, also features on the documentary and says: ‘We all tried to ring, course, but how can you get lost in Tenerife? It’s boys, boys, boys and a beach. You don’t look behind you… until you have to.’
The documentary also – for the first time – reveals the final message Jay wrote before he fell to his death, his last CCTV sighting at Tramp’s nightclub and the contents of his bag which was found near his body.
When Jay’s iPhone 14 was returned to his family in November 2024 following the police investigation, his mother Debbie Duncan signed into his Snapchat, and in doing so, released an unsent message to his friend Bradley Geoghegan.
‘Listen, I’m not going to make it,’ the chilling message read.
Speaking on the documentary, Debbie said: ‘The message were obviously just flying around and then the message sent to Brad which obviously gave Brad a fright. He messaged me straight away.’
Breaking down in tears, she added: ‘That was the last message he sent… It’s kind of like he knew he just weren’t going to make it.’
Mr Slater had been partying with friends – including Bradley and Lucy Law – at the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas on June 16 last year and was reported missing on June 18.
After the night out, where friends said he took drugs including cocaine and ecstasy, Jay was driven to an Airbnb an hour’s drive away in Masca by convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim and his friend Steven ‘Rocky’ Roccas.
At just after 6am, Mr Slater sent a Snapchat to his friend Bradley showing his location near Masca. Qassim said he gave Jay a blanket and told him to sleep on the sofa, but Jay left at around 8am, saying he was going to walk to a bus stop and head back to Los Cristianos.
Unable to catch a bus, started attempting a 14-hour walk home, calling Bradley once and speaking to Lucy twice. His final call with Lucy came at 8.50am in which he told her he was lost in the mountains, on one per cent and had cut his leg on a cactus.
Ten minutes later, Lucy reported this to the Spanish police, sparking a major manhunt which saw the world’s media descend on Tenerife.
It is believed Jay had attempted a 14-hour walk home the morning after taking drugs and alcohol while partying with friends, the coroner heard. However, at some point on the walk, he plunged to his death into an isolated ravine.
A huge search was launched before his body was found in a steep and inaccessible area by a mountain rescue team near Masca on July 15.
Jay’s mother is seen going through his suitcase which she has not unpacked. She smells one of his tops
She also reveals what was found in his bag which was discovered next to his body. It contained an ID, aftershave and lighters
A coroner ruled his death had been an accident. The teen is believed to have fallen from a height of 65ft to 82ft, and would have ‘died instantly’.
Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, said the evidence showed there was no one else involved in the death and no evidence to suggest Jay had been threatened, assaulted, was under duress or in fear for his safety.
Jay’s final moments before he went to Masca with Roccas and Qassim have been shown on new CCTV footage.
It shows that he was at the Papagayo nightclub at 11.55pm, but left the venue at 1.04am.
Eight minutes later, he is seen being refused re-entry to the club by bouncers. At 2.40am, he sends a message saying: ‘Can’t get in Papagayo they got marker on me.’
At 2.48am, he was then sent a Snapchat from Lucy which said: ‘I’ve just said I’ll come out and get you if you come home.’
But Jay replied a minute later saying: ‘Doesn’t matter it’s ok. I on a mission.’
The last camera to pick him up was at Tramps nightclub at 3.07am, showing him among a big crowd of revellers.
In other harrowing footage shared, Debbie can be seen going through her late son’s suitcase and the bag he was carrying when he fell to his death.
‘It’s been a year and I still can’t bring myself to unpack his suitcase,’ she says before smelling one of his tops.
‘I can still smell his smell,’ she adds.
A series of CCTV clips shows Jay’s final moments on the night out. The final still shows him at Tramps nightclub, having been refused re-entry into Papagayo
Going through the contents of her son’s manbag, she says: ‘So this is the bag Jay had him when he was found. We got handed this from the Guardia Civil and it’s got his things in it.
‘His driving license and his bottle of aftershave. And his lighters.’
After her son’s inquest, Debbie said: ‘He was very loved and our hearts are broken.
‘Our lives will never be the same without Jay in it.’
Delivering a ‘pen portrait’ of her son Jay, Ms Duncan added: ‘Jay had a wonderful life full of fun and was always a joy to be around.
‘He was always a popular boy and had many many friends.
‘From an early age he was always the life and soul wherever he went.’
She said he secured a bricklaying apprenticeship aged 16, adding: ‘He had so many plans and a bright future ahead of him.
‘Not in a million years did we predict what was going to unfold.
‘He loved to go to festivals and made new friends wherever he went.’
The Disappearance of Jay Slater airs Sunday 28 September at 9pm on Channel 4
