Spanish police are remaining tight-lipped over what happened to a £12,000-valued watch allegedly stolen by Jay Slater in Tenerife.
The 19-year-old, who was confirmed to have died after an autopsy yesterday, had messaged friends in the early hours of the day he vanished to admit to the theft, according to former detective Mark Williams-Thomas.
The watch became the centre of a mystery as the search for Slater rumbled on after it emerged that police were looking into a late-night fracas at a nightclub which reportedly erupted after a man said his five-figure-valued Rolex had been stolen.
Williams-Thomas claimed that after leaving a club, Slater had shared an image to social media site Snapchat saying he had taken a Rolex worth £12,000 from an unknown person.
But with the Canary Islands’ High Court of Justice confirming a body found near the village of Masca in Tenerife on Monday was Slater’s, authorities in the island are refusing to speak out on the watch.
When quizzed on the Rolex, the Civil Guard in Tenerife said: “All the information we’re prepared to release at this stage has been put in the public domain.
“Any updates, should we decide to publish any more information, will be made available through the normal channels.”
Matthew Searle from missing persons charity LBT Global – which had been supporting the Slater family throughout the search – said the group’s priority was to repatriate the 19-year-old from Lancashire, alongside his belongings.
MORE IN THE AFTERMATH OF JAY SLATER’S DISCOVERY:
Debbie Duncan said “I just can’t believe this could happen to my beautiful boy”
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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.
“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.”
Lucy Law paid tribute to Slater on social media
In a statement also released through LBT Global, Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, said: “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.
“I just can’t believe this could happen to my beautiful boy. Our hearts are broken.”
While a friend of the teenager, Lucy Law – the last known person to speak to him during a phone call on June 17 – paid tribute to Slater on social media.
Law said: “Honestly lost for words. Always the happiest and most smiley person in the room, you was one of a kind Jay and you’ll be missed more than you know.
“I’m sure you’ll ‘have your dancing shoes polished and ready’ waiting for us all. We all love you buddy. Fly high.”
