Jay Slater’s mum reveals how family will use £48,000 GoFundMe donations including supporting sleuths helping with search
THE FAMILY of missing teen Jay Slater have revealed they will use the funds to continue their search - including funding volunteers helping with the hunt.
The family is set to remain in Tenerife after police called off the land search after 14 days of looking for the 19-year-old.
A GoFundMe donation page created by Jay's friend Lucy has raised more than £48,000 for the family of Jay to continue their search.
In a statement on a crowdfunding page set up to help find the missing teenager - which has neared £50,000 of donations - his mother shared an update on how the funds would be used.
She said: "Your generosity has been vast, and we are so grateful for all of your support and kindness during this unimaginable time for our family.
"We will continue to use part of the funds to support the volunteers working hard in the mountains to find Jay.
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"We are currently looking after Paul Arnett, putting together a package of any equipment and essentials he needs and going up to do a drop for him.
"We are also supporting Callum Fahim and his group with accommodation and other essentials.
"The remaining funds will continue to be used to support the rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay as well as our own expenses as we remain in Tenerife looking for our boy."
The teenager, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, disappeared on the Spanish island the morning after attending a music festival with two friends on 17 June.
His disappearance sparked a massive two week manhunt, as pals of the missing 19-year-old say all they have is hope and prayers after the search was called off.
Spanish authorities say "there is no current evidence of criminality" in the case, with his family saying they will not give up hope of finding him.
Friends and family of Jay have recently slammed trolls, calling their comments "distressing".
The mother of one of Jay's friends Brad, Rachael Hargreaves posted in a Facebook group asking strangers to be kind.
She said: "Please be kind, this is real. It's torture.
"Our hearts are completely shattered.
"All we have is hope and prayers."
It comes as a private investigator revealed Jay "stole a Rolex" before he vanished and the first picture of the man who rented the Airbnb where he spent his last night was revealed.
Rachael went on: "Watching his mum break down every single second is torture. It’s absolutely soul destroying that we can’t find him.
"His mum is absolutely broken, it’s cruel.
"I can’t believe some people are hacking my accounts and Jay's family’s making up pure lies and pretending we are all in on it.
His friend Lucy who was on holidays with Jay, set up a GoFundMe for the family.
She said: "We are all so worried and we just want him home."
In a heartbreaking statement, his mum Debbie Duncan said she was aware of the speculation and conspiracy theories, calling them "vile".
She said: "The negative comments are extremely distressing to our family.
"We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance.
"Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing."
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Jay's devastated mum said "words cannot describe the pain and agony" after the search for her son was called off.
Debbie Duncan said in a heartbreaking statement "we just want to find him" after the family vowed to keep looking as cops called off the hunt after 14 days.
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