- Funds support family in Tenerife, search teams
- Over £36,400 raised on GoFundMe page
- Donations pay housing, food, fly out relatives
Debbie Duncan, who posted on the crowdsourcing platform’s “Get Jay Slater Home” page, stated that “part of the funds” will be used to send other family members to Tenerife as the search continues.
Jay Slater’s mother has stated that the family is working with GoFundMe to remove some of the £36,000 donated since the boy disappeared.
Debbie Duncan posted on the crowdfunding platform’s “Get Jay Slater Home” page that the funds would “support the mountain rescue teams who are tirelessly searching for Jay.
She also stated that the funds would be used to pay the family’s housing and food expenses while they are in Tenerife, assisting in the hunt for the 19-year-old.
Ms Duncan, who is on the Spanish island with Mr Slater’s father and brother, stated that “part of these funds” will be used to fly out additional family members to assist each other during these difficult times.
The charity set up to help Mr Slater’s family had raised more than £36,400 by this morning.
Ms Duncan updated the GoFundMe website as the search for her son approached its eleventh day.
‘Not losing hope.’
She stated, “It’s difficult to wrap our heads around what’s going on right now, but we don’t give up hope that we’ll find Jay and come home together.
“We are currently working with GoFundMe to remove a portion of the funds, which are being carefully stored.
“I wanted to let you know that this money would go to support the mountain rescue personnel who are working frantically to find Jay.
“Also, because our time in Tenerife needs to be extended, we will utilise the funds to pay our hotel and food costs.
I’m surrounded by beautiful people who are by my side but separated from their loved ones. Therefore, we’ll be utilising some of these monies to fly them to Tenerife to support each other during these difficult times.
She praised individuals who had sent “kind messages” and donations, saying, “This means the world to us.
Ms Duncan and her son’s friends have been the subject of social media conspiracy theories since the boy went missing.
The construction company that employs Mr Slater posted on Facebook earlier today, encouraging people to stop sending “cruel” letters and publishing speculations online.
Online messages from ‘Cruel’
PH Build Group wrote: “These guys are attempting to destroy people’s lives and businesses (while) sitting behind a screen seeking attention.
“Everyone has their own beliefs and feelings, but openly posting them knowing you’re going to hurt people is simply cruel.
Jay’s family should not have to go through this.
Mr Slater, an apprentice bricklayer, had been on holiday with friends in southern Tenerife before heading to the northwestern mountain village of Masca with two people he met at the NRG music festival on Sunday, June 16.
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The boy, from Oswaldtwistle near Blackburn in Lancashire, told a friend on the phone at 8.30 a.m. the next day that he was going back to his vacation accommodation after missing a bus, a journey that would take 11 hours by foot.
He also stated that he was stranded, needed water, and had just a 1% charge on his phone.
The last person to see Mr Slater was Masca resident Ofelia Medina Hernandez, who chatted with him on Monday, June 17.
Ms Hernandez stated that she informed him that a bus was due at 10 a.m. since he appeared hoping to return to his lodgings.
However, he began walking, and she said she drove past him while he was “walking fast.”
