Jay Slater’s heartbroken mum says she’ll ‘fall apart’ if she doesn’t keep busy with funeral plans after body found
JAY SLATER’S heartbroken mum has said she will “fall apart” if she doesn’t occupy herself with tasks like arranging her son’s funeral.
Boss of British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global, Matt Searle, has been supporting Debbie since Jay vanished on June 17.
He told the BBC: “Debbie has told me if she is not doing something she will just fall apart.”
Searle said they are all keeping busy arranging the funeral and the flight to take Jay’s body home.
The Lancashire teen’s loved ones – who have been out in Tenerife searching for him – are set to fly back to the UK with his body.
Jay was finally found after four weeks on Monday morning – with cops believing he suffered a steep fall into a ravine.
Spanish police revealed on Tuesday that the teen suffered “broken bones” following a horror “fall from height”.
It comes as…
- Jay Slater was confirmed dead on Tuesday as body was found in gruelling search on Monday after 4 weeks
- Jay’s mum said ‘our hearts are broken‘ after ‘beautiful’ son’s body is found
- Jay Slater cops revealed his cause of death details after teen suffered ‘broken bones’ from ‘horror fall’
- The body was discovered just yards away from where Jay’s phone last pinged
- Locals said it’s ‘hard to understand’ how Jay’s body got so far into ravine
- Jay’s best pal Lucy Mae Law paid tribute to the ‘happiest person in the room’
- Moment Jay Slater cops scoured ‘inaccessible mountain’ for clues after his body found
Footage released on Tuesday showed searchers hacking at bushes and climbing up the sides of the huge mountains as part of their hunt.
It captured the moment a helicopter crewman was winched into the chasm with his arms aloft in the delicate recovery operation.
Searle, who has been in touch with Jay’s parents Debbie and Warren since he vanished in June, hit out against online trolls who hampered the investigation.
He said “armchair detectives” and “so-called experts” had been “making a name for themselves” since the teen’s disappearance.
Searle explained: “If someone is missing, what parents will do is sit there and try to find every bit of information online, and there’s been all this stuff that’s been so hurtful for them.
“But as well as the parents, all this has a huge impact on the investigation.
“It’s been unprecedented, and I think it has to stop. This behaviour is just not fair for the authorities or practitioners like ourselves, but most of all it’s not fair for the families who are going through the worst time ever.”
Friends and family of Jay gathered in his home town of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashjre, on Wednesday to pay tribute to him.
The loved ones gathered outside the West End Methodist Church, close to his family home, to say goodbye.
Blue ribbons lined the streets near the church and across the town not far from where the masses came together.
Mourners tied heartwrenching messages like “you’ll be missed” and “fly high Jay” to the balloons, before letting them go.
Jay’s mum Debbie, 55, wept after being told of her son’s death, describing it as the “worst news”.
She added: “I just can’t believe this could happen to my beautiful boy. Our hearts are broken.”
Debbie also said she wants to see Jay one last time and personally ID his remains.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay vanished in Tenerife a month ago – sparking a huge effort to find the Lancashire teen.
He had gone with two men to their Airbnb in the north of the Canary Island after leaving a music festival at a nightclub.
As he attempted the 11-hour walk back to his own accommodation through the rough and rocky terrain, it is feared accidentally fell.
Debbie and dad Warren Slater, 58, jetted to the island and have been battling for answers.
Warren, along with Jay’s brother Zak and a host of volunteers, spent weeks searching for him after Spanish cops called off their main search.