What was Jay Slater’s cause of death? New information revealed in Tenerife

On Monday, the Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group of the Guardia Civil found a body in the Masca area, in the municipality of Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife. This is precisely where they had been searching for Jay Slater, the young British man who had been missing for nearly a month. After the relevant analysis, it has been confirmed that the body is indeed his.

Slater fingerprints confirm body in Tenerife

Due to the severely deteriorated state of the body, the autopsy will take longer than usual, but initial evidence already indicated his identity: the documentation found with the body belonged to the 19-year-old. “There are few doubts,” stated the Canary Islands High Court early on Tuesday morning. And any doubts have now been removed as fingerprint analysis has confirmed his identity, which the authorities confirmed in the early afternoon. Judicial authorities have confirmed that his death was due to multiple trauma consistent with a fall in a rocky area.

The exact time of his death remains unknown, as he had been missing for nearly a month. One of the main hypotheses already suggested that he might have suffered an accidental fall, but this will not be confirmed until the forensic results are completed. The authorities believe that the final identification will not be made until next week.

What happened to Jay Slater?

Jay Dean Slater, 19, disappeared on the evening of June 17. According to one of his friends, he had met two people during his stay and went with them to the Masca area. After questioning, these individuals were released, and an intense search operation was launched to find Slater.

On the day of his disappearance, his friend received a call from him, in which he said he was lost, thirsty, and had only 1% battery left on his phone. It was a race against time, with no way to communicate and the added risk of the summer heat.

Since his disappearance, Spanish authorities are said to have been tirelessly searching for him. The Guardia Civil even preserved the natural area where he was last seen to prevent it from being overrun by tourists and onlookers. After two weeks, the Guardia Civil announced the end of the official search operation, though all lines of investigation remained open.

The day before concluding the operation, the Guardia Civil had organised a large deployment with agents, helicopters, drones, and dogs, but they did not find him. From the start of the search, agents from the Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (Greim) had not ceased their efforts to find him alive. However, as it has now been confirmed, they eventually did find his body in a difficult-to-access area of Masca this past Monday morning.