A body found in the hunt for missing British teenager Jay Slater was airlifted by helicopter from an ‘inaccessible area’ close to where his mobile phone last pinged 29 days ago. 

The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, vanished on the morning of June 17 on the island of Tenerife, prompting a huge search to try and find him. 

Spanish police called off the official search after 13 days, but today announced they had discovered a body. While a formal identification has not yet taken place, officers say that ‘everything is pointing to it being’ Jay. 

Police said in a statement that he may have died after ‘suffering an accident or fall in the inaccessible area where he was found’, but that an autopsy would provide further details. 

A helicopter – believed to belong to a regional government emergency and rescue group – was used to recover the body using a winch because the ground was so steep, with officials coordinating with Civil Guard mountain rescue experts.

It is thought specialists on the ground winched the body up to the waiting helicopter overhead after securing it. They also found possessions and clothes belonging to the teenager.

Missing persons charity LBT Global revealed said the remains were found close to to the last known location where Jay’s mobile pinged near the remote village of Masca in the north west of Tenerife amid an arid landscape of rocky ravines lined with cacti. 

Jay’s friend Brad Hargreaves – who went on holiday with him and flew back last week – paid a poignant tribute on Instagram today. Uploading a picture of the two of them with a string of red broken hearts and a crying emoji, he wrote: ‘No words. Nothing will be the same without you. Rest easy brother. Love you always.’

Jay was partying with friends on the last night of the three-day NRG music festival in the Playa de Las Americas resort before going back to a £40-a-night Airbnb in Masca – around an hour’s drive away – with two older British men he met out there. 

After leaving the Airbnb at around 8am, Jay started trying to walk back to his accommodation in the southern part of the island, which would have taken around 11 hours on foot.

The teenager then called a friend to say he was lost, severely dehydrated and only had one per cent battery on his phone.

His disappearance, which has sparked wild conspiracy theories online from cruel trolls, led to a huge search and rescue mission, with Spanish police scouring the mountainous landscape around the Rural de Teno national park in Masca.

The tragic development comes after:

• Jay Slater’s mother used GoFundMe donations to fly in specialist search team 
• Jay’s mother said she was aware of ‘vile’ conspiracy theories about her son 
• Private investigator Mark Williams-Thomas claimed he has given ‘significant new information’ to police investigating the disappearance
• The Airbnb where Jay stayed before vanishing has been relisted for tourists to rent – and has already been booked up;
•  The mother of a friend who partied with Jay before he went missing in Tenerife revealed her son has received death threats from vicious trolls;
• Jay’s family vowed to continue their ‘desperate’ search for missing British teenager in Tenerife – and called for more help from police

Today, a spokesman for the Civil Guard said: ‘After 29 constant days of searching the body of the young man has been found in the Masca area.

‘The discovery has been possible thanks to the tireless and discreet search carried out by the Civil Guard over these 29 days.

‘Everything is pointing to the body being that of the young British man who disappeared on June 17, pending full identification.

‘Initial inquiries are pointing to him having suffered an accident/fall in the area where he was found.’

In a fuller statement the force added: ‘Officers of the Civil Guard belonging to the Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (GREIM) have located this morning the dead body of a young man in the area of Masca, belonging to the municipality of Buenavista del Norte.

‘All indications suggest that it could be the young British man who had been missing for 29 days, who may have died due to an accidental fall in the rough and inaccessible area where he was found.

‘Thanks to the unceasing and constant search carried out by the different units of the Civil Guard, in which it has not stopped to look for the young man every day in the area of Masca, where he allegedly had disappeared the GREIM officers have found the dead body of the young person in a very inaccessible area.

‘The results of the autopsy are awaiting confirmation that it is an accident.’

GREIM officers led the search after Jay disappeared on June 17 after he left an Airbnb in Masca.

Visible searches involving helicopter and sniffer dogs continued for nearly two weeks before police announced it was being halted.

Police said on June 30 after calling in volunteers for a ‘last push search’ a day earlier: ‘The search operation has now finished although the case remains open.’

A well-placed source added at the time: ‘The daily operation which has been going on in and around Masca close to where Jay was last seen has been brought to an end.

‘If any information comes in that merits a new search though it will be acted upon.

‘My understanding is Jay’s parents have been informed of what obviously is a major development.

‘Nothing of any relevance was found during yesterday’s large-scale search.’

In a statement, missing persons charity LBT Global said: ‘LBT Global is saddened to announce that a body found in Tenerife does look to be that of Jay Slater. It is understood the body was found close to the site of his mobile phone’s last location.

‘Although formal identification is yet to be carried out, the body was found with Mr Slater’s possessions and clothes.

‘A post-mortem examination and forensic enquiries will follow.

‘LBT Global are supporting the family at this distressing time and ask for everyone to afford them space and privacy to come to terms with the news.’

Jay was last seen by a local resident in Masca in north-west Tenerife just after 8am on June 17 walking northwards along the road out of the village after stopping to ask her for directions as he tried to get back to his accommodation in southern Tenerife.

His phone last pinged near to a look-out point where search teams gathered on June 29 to begin the last day of the operation.

The investigation has been subjected to wild speculation online, through platforms such as TikTok – while a number of internet sleuths also flew to Tenerife to help the search.

Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan had yesterday criticised the ‘awful comments and conspiracy theories’ posted on social media, which she branded ‘vile’ and said were ‘hindering’ the investigation.

Ms Duncan yesterday posted an update on the GoFundMe page set up for her son’s search, which has raised more than £53,000. 

She revealed how the family had called in rescue experts from the Netherlands to help find the teenager after Spanish police ceased their land search.

In a statement posted on the GoFundMe page, Ms Duncan thanked the 4,300 people who had donated for their ‘kindness’ and said the family were ‘only able to fund this with the generosity of all those who donated’.

She said: ‘As you all know the Guardia Civil gave up the land search after 12 days. We have been actively working with search and rescue teams and we can now confirm that we have a team of experts flying in over the weekend from the Netherlands, who will carry on the search with their specialist dogs.

‘We are only able to fund this with the generosity of all those who donated. The team are the Signi Zoekhondon and this has taken lots of planning to get them over so thank you so much for your kindness.’

Turning to comments from trolls, Ms Duncan said: ‘He is a loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend to so many.

‘We have been inundated with requests for interviews, documentaries and even as far as a movie. In reality, we are just a normal family from Lancashire desperate to find our beautiful boy.’

Lancashire Police said in a statement: ‘We have today (Monday 15 July) been notified by the Guardia Civil [Civil Guard] that they have found the body of a man and that the indications are that this is Jay Slater,” the statement says.

‘While at this stage no formal identification has been carried out our thoughts are very much with Jay’s family at this time, and we continue to offer them our support.’