Jay Slater‘s grieving family is taking “very small comfort” in knowing the 19-year-old likely died instantly after falling from a significant height, it has been reported.
Matthew Searle, the CEO of the missing persons charity LBT Global which has been assisting the Slater family since the disappearance on June 17 of the apprentice bricklayer, told the Independent: “Chances are if he did fall from a height where we saw the recovery teams searching, then it’s very unlikely he would have known much about it.
“That takes away the horrible nightmare idea that he fell and was waiting for help that never came. It’s very small comfort, but it is some.”
Jay’s body was found on July 15 in the steep Juan Lopez ravine, just a short distance from where his phone last pinged.
A preliminary autopsy suggested the cause of death may be due to “a fall or plunge from height”.
A Civil Guard spokesman stated that Jay’s grave injuries included several broken bones, saying: “The body of the man located yesterday has been identified of that as Jay Slater through fingerprint comparison and identification.
“The result of the preliminary autopsy points to the cause of death being a fall or plunge from height due to the broken bones he suffered.”
Jay reached the treacherous area of the ravine after leaving an Airbnb where he had spent some time with the two British men who were renting it.
Jay and two friends had travelled to Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, to attend a music festival.
One of these friends, Lucy Law, is believed to have been the last person the teenager talked to over the phone, as he called her at around 8.15am on June 17 to tell her he was trying to walk back to their accommodation in Los Cristianos, southwestern Tenerife, from the Masca area in the north, some 11 hours away by foot. He also told his friend he was without water, had cut himself with a cactus and had only 1 percent battery left on his phone.
Being able to exactly pinpoint where Jay was found was reportedly important to his family, as it allowed them to pay tribute to their loved one by leaving flowers and cards in the area.