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

The Irish Sun

15-07-2025

"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.
I was never convinced by the
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
I was the only reporter in the mountains of Masca when
police
confirmed
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
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.
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."
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
What happened to Jay Slater?
JAY Slater flew to the Spanish island last June to attend the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas with two friends, Lucy Law and Brad Hargreaves.
The teen travelled to an Airbnb apartment in Masca with two men - including convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim - in the early hours of June 17.
Jay posted a final Snapchat picture of himself smoking on the doorstep of the apartment at 7.30am on June 17 before leaving at around 8am.
Jay, of Oswaldtwistle, Lancs, made a heartbreaking final call to friend Lucy saying he had cut his leg, was lost, dehydrated and had just one per cent battery on his phone after he left the Airbnb.
He was attempting the treacherous 10-hour walk back to his apartment in Los Cristianos when he called Lucy to say he was lost.
DCI Rachel Higson, head of digital media investigations at Lancashire Police, told an inquest in May that Jay's phone recorded "a lot of steps and inclines" between 7.59am and 8.49am.
His mobile last pinged in the mountainous Rural de Teno Park after Jay walked the wrong way from the Airbnb, and DCI Higson said there was "no data recorded" after 8.49:51am.
After a month-long search, Jay's body was found in a ravine on July 15 last year - near to where his phone last pinged.
A post-mortem examination concluded he died of traumatic head injuries, consistent with a fall from height.
Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd told the inquest Jay suffered a "heavy fall from height" and the "devastating" effects would have been "immediate".