I was there when Jay Slater's body was found a year ago today – why case still haunts me & what I really think happened

Scottish Sun

a day ago

"YOU covered Jay Slater, didn't you?"
It's a question I've been asked time and again for the best part of a year now.
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Jay Slater's body was found on July 15, 2024 - 29 days after he went missing
Credit: Ian Whittaker
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The spot where the teenager tragically fell to his death
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Jay Slater's mum Debbie Duncan with The Sun's Katie Davis
Credit: Louis Wood
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Grief-stricken Debbie wept as she opened up about her beloved son's disappearance and death
Credit: Louis Wood
And every time it makes my stomach churn as their eyes light up, hoping I will lift the lid on the ridiculous conspiracy theories they've lapped up.
Jay's story is one I have followed from the moment he went missing in Tenerife on June 17 last year - and it is one of those cases that will never leave me.
I was never convinced by the relentless armchair detectives - nor the outlets that regurgitated baseless theories.
Outrageous claims include that Jay skipped the island on a yacht, fell foul of a drug cartel, and had been tied up hostage with chains.
Jay's grieving mum wept as she opened up to me following his untimely death - and as I looked her in the eyes, I could feel the unspeakable toll of pain she was suffering.
I was the only reporter in the mountains of Masca when police confirmed Jay's body had been found, and I can still feel the shock pulsing through me after a long 29-day search.
But my overriding feeling was one of hope - praying it would bring the closure Jay's courageous family so badly needed.
As reporters, we get a lot of stick - and trust me, I have had my fair share.
But what is often forgotten is that the overriding purpose of our jobs is to fight for the truth - and filter out misinformation that is all too easily spread in this social media age.
It feels like every single person I encounter has their theory on what happened to Jay - largely and sadly, informed by keyboard warriors.
JAY SLATER KATIE DAVIS PTC
I shut them down before they unleashed a rant at me, spewing idle comments they've picked up from going down a rabbit hole on Facebook or TikTok.
Naturally, I am asked for my opinion.
I'm cautious to give my judgement on stories I cover - not least to give naive minds anything to latch onto.
But deep down, my gut is - and has always been - that this is a very tragic story of a British tourist falling to their death on holiday.
This was a 19-year-old lad away from home for the first time with pals who, yes, drank, took drugs and probably had a bit too much fun.
I feel logic is the main component missing from most trolls' arguments.
Jay had been drinking and had taken drugs, and when he left the Airbnb on the morning of June 17, he had probably not slept for a fair while.
Add on top of having alcohol and drugs in your system, being dehydrated, and in an unfamiliar, remote area, it's not the prettiest picture.
To make matters worse, the mountainous setting of the Airbnb is hugely unforgiving.
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Debbie with childhood photos of Jay
Credit: Louis Wood
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Jay pictured beaming in his school uniform
Credit: Louis Wood
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The remote Airbnb that Jay went to after partying
Credit: Steve Reigate
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It's violently hot and windy - enough to make even the most intrepid hiker feel uneasy.
Treacherous, stony, winding paths while battling those conditions are not for the faint-hearted, and even I almost lost my footing a few times while walking through the area.
Sober and rested, you will probably be fine if you're careful. But for Jay, that wasn't the case - and it ultimately cost him his life.
Yet the judgement coming from pathetic wannabe detectives is almost laughable.
I can guarantee almost every single crank who mindlessly taps out their thoughts has found themselves in questionable situations after drinking or taking drugs in their youth.
And still, a year on, obsessive trolls continue to attempt to make out that something that happened in those final hours was linked to his death.
But I am certain Jay fell accidentally.
'Cruel trolls didn't know my Jay'
JAY Slater's brave mum Debbie last year hit back at critics and trolls.
Just days after Jay's funeral last August, heartbroken Debbie paid tribute to him as a 'loving and popular' 19-year-old who 'had the world at his feet'.
She told how Jay was devoted to his family and friends, would always dance at events and had taken her to see Bob Marley film One Love before his tragic disappearance.
Debbie told The Sun: "Jay was just a lovely boy with a massive personality.
'Everybody just loved Jay being in his company - family, friends and work.
'He was loving and popular, always full of fun and smiling – and the main guy in the group.
"The people saying stuff about him didn't know Jay and they don't know us.
'He hasn't been here to defend himself against all these horrible stories that were going on around the world about him.
'He worked hard, and then at weekends, he loved spending time with his friends.
'But he loved being at home as well.
'He liked cooking and was always in the kitchen with me every night."
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His decisions beforehand may have led him to that, but it doesn't change the fact that he fell.
So I wish these idiotic flame-baiters would just leave his family alone and stop causing them further heartache by blindly attempting to connect what he did on his final night out to his death.
Yes, Jay's family still desperately deserve answers to those questions hanging over about what actually happened in his last hours.
But frankly, armchair detectives have never and will never help - and to be honest, I never bought into the ones claiming that's all they were trying to do.
My heart bleeds for his mum Debbie, brother Zak and dad Warren, who are still battling for answers after spineless witnesses failed to show up for his inquest earlier this year.
It has now been a year since Jay's body was found in a ravine in Rural de Teno National Park - and if the case still haunts me, I can't imagine how his poor family must be suffering every single day.
So please, let them find answers on their own terms and without fear of seeing yet more painful lies plastered across social media.
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Search crews scoured for Jay for days before he was found
Credit: Ian Whittaker
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Jay was an avid footballer as a child
Credit: Louis Wood
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Jay, right, with older brother Zak and mum Debbie
Credit: Solarpix