The mother of Jay Slater has paid tribute to her “beautiful boy” after his body was found in Tenerife.
The British teenager went missing on the Spanish island on 17 June, sparking a near-month long search that resulted in a body being found on Monday.
A court spokesperson in Tenerife said fingerprints examined in a post-mortem had confirmed the remains were that of Mr Slater.
The multiple injuries suffered were compatible with a fall from a cliff in a rocky area, the spokesperson added.
In a statement, Mr Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan – who flew to Tenerife to search for him – said: “I just can’t believe this could happen to my beautiful boy. Our hearts are broken.”
Matthew Searle, from LBT Global – a British overseas missing persons charity working with the Slater family – said he was talking to Ms Duncan at the time she received the news and that she and her family were “devastated”.
“I just can’t believe it – We’re here with the Embassy staff waiting for an update and now it’s come – the worst news,” Ms Duncan said.
Mr Slater was last heard from on the morning of 17 June after setting off to walk from a northern area of Tenerife back to his holiday accommodation in the south – a journey of about 11 hours.
At 8.30am that day, the 19-year-old called his friend Lucy Law, telling her he had missed a bus, his phone battery was on 1%, and he had cut his leg on a cactus.
Mr Slater had flown out to the Spanish island with friends four days before to attend a music festival at Papagayo nightclub in the southern resort of Playa de las Americas.
Jay Slater’s father Warren (L) and brother Zack (R)
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Police on the island announced a body had been found close to where his phone was last located yesterday, and today confirmation came the remains belonged to Mr Slater.
Mr Searle said: “The announcement does seem to confirm that Jay died of injuries consistent with an accidental fall from a considerable height.
“There will of course be many more hurdles for the family to face in the coming days and we will work with them to make this horrific time as easy as possible.
“We are working with the family now to sort out the next steps of taking Jay home, recovery of his belongings and laying him to rest back.
“We will not be releasing details of travel timings or funeral arrangements at this time and ask again for privacy for the family. I ask now that this is the end of all the hurtful comments on social media and elsewhere”.
