A possible new lead has emerged in the search for missing British teenager Jay Slater, according to reports. Police in Tenerife are reportedly investigating a scuffle outside Papagayo Beach Club in Playa de las Americas on Monday, June 17.
An Eastern European man is alleged to have had a Rolex watch stolen, MailOnline reports, with one of Mr Slater’s pals telling detectives the incident led to his going missing.
Officers are now scouring CCTV from the venue’s security cameras, according to a police source.
A theory reportedly being looked into is that the Rolex ended up at a remote cottage in the village of Masca where Mr Slater travelled to with two men after partying at the NRG music festival.
MailOnline reports Mr Slater may have fled into the wilderness after the alleged incident.
Mr Slater’s family has suggested there may be criminal involvement in his disappearance, with his mum, Debbie Duncan, reportedly receiving a Snapchat message hours after her son vanished, which read: “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money”.
Jay’s desperate mum told the media she believed he was taken against his will, according to reports.
Meanwhile, police renewed their efforts to locate Mr Slater today (June 29) after Guardia Civil issued an appeal for expert search volunteers to join the search effort.
It has been reported that Mr Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared trying to walk back from the village of Masca to his accommodation in Los Cristianos on June 17.
Mr Slater had been at the NRG music festival on the island with two friends before his disappearance. His last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the island – about an 11-hour walk from where he was staying.
On Friday, Mr Slater’s friend Brad Hargreaves told ITV’s This Morning he had been on a video call with him before his disappearance when he heard him go off the road.
Mr Hargreaves said: “He was on the phone walking down a road and he’d gone over a little bit – not a big drop – but a tiny little drop and he was going down, and he said, ‘I’ll ring ya back, I’ll ring ya back’, because I think someone else was ringing him.”
He confirmed he could see his friend’s feet “sliding” down the hill and could hear he was walking on gravel. But, Mr Hargreaves said he and his friend were both laughing at that point.
Jay’s friend added: “He didn’t seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he was.”
He told the programme he still had hope for Mr Slater and was “praying” for him to come home.
Ms Duncan, who travelled to the island after his disappearance, said earlier this week that money raised online would be used to support mountain rescue teams and to cover her own accommodation and food costs.
Donations flooded in after GoFundMe appeal “Get Jay Slater home” was set up by Lucy Law, his friend and the last known person to speak to him. By Friday more than £40,000 had been raised.
In an update on Thursday, Ms Duncan said: “We are currently working with GoFundMe to withdraw part of the funds, which are being safely held.
“I wanted to share that these funds will be used to support the mountain rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay.
“Additionally, since our stay in Tenerife needs to be extended, we will also use the funds to cover accommodation and food expenses.”
Ms Law said Mr Slater told her in a frantic phone call before he went missing that he was “lost in the mountains, he wasn’t aware of his surroundings, he desperately needed a drink and his phone was on one percent”.
Search teams, co-ordinated by the Guardia Civil, have since mounted a huge manhunt using helicopters, drones and search dogs to scour mountainous areas of the island.