NEWS
Jay Slater officials issue autopsy update with grim new details about recovered body.
The body recovered near the spot where Jay Slater went missing was “very deteriorated” and it is unlikely full identification will happen until “next week”, Tenerife officials have said.
In a devastating admission, authorities also revealed documentation the dead man was carrying was the teenager’s, and everything is pointing to an accidental fall.
A court in the town of Icod de los Vinos which covers the area of Masca where the body was found is in charge of the ongoing investigation.
In their first comments so far since the grim police discovery yesterday officials representing the female investigating judge said: “In reference to the British citizen Jay Slater, the autopsy with the full identification of the body and the causes of death will take time, because the body was very deteriorated.
“But there is very little doubt about both the identity and the etiology. The documentation he was carrying corresponds to that of Jay Slater and everything is pointing to an accidental fall, although that is unofficial pending the final reports.”
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity as is normal in Spain, said: “The court is saying the official identification will not be known until next week.”
The 29-day search for apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, came to an end yesterday around 10am. A helicopter was called in to recover a body. The large-scale police search in the mountains near Masca had been suspended around two weeks after he disappeared on June 17, but mountain rescue police specialists had continued with a smaller search on a daily basis.
Jay had been missing on the Spanish island since June 17 after separating from his two friends Lucy and Brad, and leaving a rave by car with two British men he had befriended on a bar strip. The teenager then stayed with the men at an Airbnb in Masca, a remote and notoriously treacherous village.
He was last heard from by his friend Lucy Mae as he attempted to make his way back to the touristy town of Los Christianos, where he was originally staying. But Jay had never made it back. In a heartfelt tribute Jay’s pal Lucy said the teenager was “the happiest and most smiley person in the room”.
Writing on Instagram last night, Lucy said: “Honestly lost for words. Always the happiest and most smiley person in the room, you was one of a kind Jay and you’ll be missed more than you know. I’m sure you’ll ‘have your dancing shoes polished and ready’ waiting for us all. We all love you buddy. Fly high.”
Meanwhile Jay’s other friend Brad Hargreaves with whom he partied in Tenerife paid an emotional tribute to the teenager, writing: “No words. Nothing be the same without you Rest easy brother love you always”, and posted a public story with a photo of himself and Jay, along with broken heart emojis.