Festival attended by missing teen Jay Slater releases statement

The 19-year-old has not been seen since early Monday morning.

New Rave Generation (NRG) festival is an electronic dance music event which takes place annually in Tenerife and features a host of DJ's from around the world.

Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, had travelled to the popular holiday destination last week to attend the event with his friend Lucy.

At some point throughout Sunday night, Jay befriended another group of festival-goers from the UK and went to a rental property in the remote village of Masca with them after the music had ended.

At this point, he was separated from his friend Lucy, who had returned to their own accommodation in the town of Los Cristianos.

He was last heard from at around 08:00 BST on Monday when Lucy received a call from him in which he said he was lost, needed a drink of water and had 1 per cent battery on his phone.

His phone then cut off, and his last known location was shown as the mountainous Rural de Teno national park in the north west of the island.

Yesterday, Masca local Ophelia Medina Hernandez, told a reporter from The Times that she saw Jay in the early hours of Monday morning, and that he seemed lost and in search of directions.

She described how she came across a dazed-looking British teenager standing beside the bus stop next to her home.

Jay managed to communicate to her that he wanted to know the time of the next bus to Los Cristianos, about 25 miles away.

Struggling with her broken English, she managed to signal to him that it was not due for two hours, at 10am. Rather than wait, he decided to walk.

“People don’t get lost here,” she said.

“There are paths everywhere,” she added. “People round here don’t get lost. And he was going along the road. But after that I don’t know where he went. He was walking normally but a bit quickly.”

Now, NRG festival have released a statement on their social media, describing how they have been "affected" by Jay's disappearance.

They wrote: "As you'll be aware, among the attendees was 19-year-old Jay Slater who, after leaving the event, was reported missing in the north of the island on Monday.

"We are grateful for the many thousands who have engaged with and shared the appeals from our own and many other channels over the days since," the statement continued.

"Despite the widespread coverage and hard work of the local authorities and volunteers involved in the search, at the time of posting Jay has not yet been found.

"That such a devastating situation has arisen has deeply affected us all.

"We have been able to give some practical support to the members of Jay's family who have come to Tenerife in such difficult circumstances, and we are inspired by their resilience and determination.

"Like them, and you, we continue to hope for Jay's safe return.

"The authorities in Tenerife can be contacted with any information which may be of help on local numbers 062 or 112.

"Thanks for your support."

The search for Jay has now entered it's sixth day, and members of family are assisting local authorities in Tenerife.