Jay Slater fled Airbnb feeling SCARED claims ex-Maddie investigator as he gives bombshell search update

JAY Slater left the Airbnb he went to with two men feeling "scared" after admitting to stealing a £12,000 Rolex, an investigator claims.

Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas said the 19-year-old did not want to return to the remote holiday let despite having little phone battery.

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Apprentice bricklayer Jay, who had been at a rave all night in Playa de las Americas, travelled north to the Airbnb in Masca village in the early hours of June 17.

During the hour-long drive, Mark claims Jay posted a Snapchat claiming to have taken a Rolex worth £12,000 from an unknown person.

Mark said: "Friends of Jay said he would not make this up and the watch was subject of later conversation between the friends."

Mark - who worked on the Madeleine McCann case - said while at the Airbnb, Jay had contact with pals via social media.

It included a Snapchat picture he sent to pals from the cottage holding a cigarette at 7.30am.

Jay then tried to make his way back to his holiday accommodation, but after missing the bus was faced with an 11-hour walk.

At around 8.50am he made a final frantic call to friend Lucy, telling her he was lost in the "middle of nowhere" with no water and had just one per cent battery on his phone.

The two men Jay was with in the last hours before he disappeared spoke to police on the island before jetting back to the UK.

They have been deemed "not relevant" to the investigation by Spanish police.

But Mark - who worked on the Madeleine McCann case - has now claimed Jay fled the holiday let and was "scared".

He said: "We have received information that would suggest that Jay left the rental property feeling scared and he would not return to the rental, even though that would have been the most sensible course of action, and also where he could have charged his phone, got some water and made contact with friends.

"We continue to investigate this aspect."

Mark, who helped expose Jimmy Savile, flew to Tenerife a week after Jay vanished as he wanted to help his devastated family get answers.

While not part of the official probe, Mark has been conducting his own probe.

In an update today, Mark said he and his team third party involvement.

He said: "We have, however, ruled out hostage or kidnapping situation because no credible ransom demand has been made.

"We've no evidence at this stage to say there was a third party criminal involvement in Jay's disappearance."

Mark said he still had a number of lines of inquiries to look into, so was still "keeping an open mind", however.