The heartbroken mother of Jay Slater, who was tragically found dead in Tenerife last month, has spoken of her struggle to understand the circumstances surrounding his death, admitting she “can’t get her head around” his final actions. The 19-year-old bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle disappeared on June 17 after trying to make a 10-hour trek back to his accommodation following a party on the island with two individuals he had just met. It is believed that during his attempt to walk back, Jay misjudged the distance and tragically fell to his death. A post-mortem examination confirmed that the teenager suffered traumatic head injuries consistent with a high fall.
Despite the official conclusions, his mum, Debbie Duncan, remains perplexed by certain aspects leading up to Jay’s death, finding it difficult to understand her son’s choices. In an emotional interview with The Sun, Debbie expressed her bewilderment at why Jay would enter a car with two older men after a music festival and go to their secluded Airbnb. She also questioned his decision to leave the next morning without charging his phone and hinted that he might have felt in danger when he left, reports the Mirror.
Reflecting on whether Jay may have been scared when he left the flat, Debbie added: “That thought crossed my mind. Jay would not let his phone run down. If he had access to a phone charger, that would be the first thing that he would do.” Ayub Quassim, one of the individuals Jay was last seen with, and who had booked the Airbnb under a pseudonym, told the media: “Jay came to the house alive and he left the house alive.”
Spanish authorities have questioned both men in connection with Jay’s vanishing, but have ruled them out as being significant to the inquiry. Nevertheless, Debbie wants to speak to them to piece together her son’s last-known actions, hoping to find some answers and closure. While she says that it won’t alter the past, Debbie added she remains determined to pursue any questions that remain in the ongoing investigation. “I can’t change anything and there are so many ifs and buts and I can just drive myself insane thinking about everything,” she said.