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Jay Slater cops hunting for missing Tenerife teen call in reinforcements with specialist sniffer dog teams from Madrid
The dogs have special training for finding people lost in large areas
COPS desperately searching for missing Jay Slater in Tenerife have drafted in reinforcements with specialist sniffer dog teams.
Search dog units trained specially to comb large areas are being flown in from Madrid some 1,300 miles away.
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Officers had already been using dogs to comb the "immense" search area around where Jay was last seen.
But search cops say the new dogs are much better trained to handle the vast landscape.
Police also released new footage of today’s search operation which included the dogs brought in at work on the mountainous terrain.
After going to a rave on June 16, Jay, 19, headed to Masca, on the north of the island, with two British men he had met that evening.
More on Jay Slater
Apprentice bricklayer Jay stayed at their rented Airbnb for a couple of hours before trying to make his way back to his holiday accommodation last Monday morning.
The Sun today revealed Brit cops still have not quizzed the two mystery pals Jay went home with before he vanished.
Before disappearing, he made a final frantic call to friend Lucy Law, telling her he was lost in the "middle of nowhere" with no water and had just one per cent battery on his phone.
Much of the hunt has been focussed on the unforgiving 2,000ft "badlands" Masca ravine.
Most read in The Sun
It is where his phone last pinged a nearby cell tower at 8.50am on June 17.
Footage today appeared to show one of the officers calling his dog by the name Sasha and three handlers walking behind it through the undergrowth as it sniffed the ground in front of it.
Missing Jay Slater spotted staggering back to his feet in front of worried clubbers in shock new video at Tenerife rave
At one point they walked past the remains of a ruined building before reaching a rugged mountain top.
A spokesman for the force said: “Today several dog trainers and their expert dogs who have transferred from Madrid have joined the search.
“These dogs are specifically trained in searching for people over large swathes of land.”
It comes as...
- Brit cops have not questioned Jay's mystery pals
- Vile trolls share fake death posts on social media
- Cops hunting for Jay rescue a lost Brit hiker in the area the teen vanished
- Jay's mum slams trolls questioning what £33k GoFundMe will be used for
- Teen's family share a CCTV image they believe could be Jay
- Footage obtained by The Sun shows Jay appearing to stagger back to his feet at a club
- The owner of an Airbnb where Jay stayed saw him "walking fast" up a dangerous ravine
- Brit cops offered to fly out and help but Spanish officials said no
- Jay’s mum slammed the Tenerife police investigation
- The missing teen's dad and brother visited the search site
He added: “The difference is that specialisation in large expanses of land.
“The dogs that were already taking part in the operation were trained for searches in smaller areas.”
The number of reinforcements that have been brought in has not been revealed.
Drones, helicopters and dozens of emergency crews have been searching the Rural de Teno National Park and its surroundings in northern Tenerife since Jay vanished more than a week ago.
Today, former British cop Mark Williams-Thomas landed in Tenerife to join the search.
Mark - who probed Madeleine McCann's disappearance - claims he can get answers for Jay's family "in three days".
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He also vowed to "track down" the two men Jay was last known to be with.
The holidaymakers were quizzed by local cops at the small cottage before they travelled back to Luton Airport.
Both men are said to hail from Luton, Bedfordshire. One has the nickname ‘Johnny Vegas’.
Cops in the UK revealed they have no intention of speaking with the men, despite growing concerns over Jay.
Lancashire Constabulary, whose offer of assistance was refused by local cops, said it will not pursue the tourists.
Bedfordshire Police, which looks after Luton Airport, will not seek to speak with the men, alongside London's Met.
Meanwhile, Jay's machete attack victim today defended the search for the missing teen and urged sleuths to stop tormenting his family.
Tom Hilton was left with his skull split open when an eight-strong gang - including Jay - ambushed him with a machete, golf clubs and an axe.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Tom, then 17, was left fighting for his life after the assault in Rishton, Lancashire, in 2021.
But despite his ordeal, brave Tom has slammed online trolls and told them to instead "help find" 19-year-old Jay, who vanished in Tenerife more than a week ago.
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Timeline of Jay Slater’s disappearance
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
SUNDAY JUNE 16 - MONDAY 17
Jay goes to a rave at the 2024 NRG music festival in Tenerife, around Arona on the south of the island
8.35pm - Jay posts a smiling Snapchat video of him laughing with friends
He leaves the rave with two men he met that day and is driven back to their accommodation across the island
MONDAY 17
7.30am - Jay posts a Snapchat of a hand holding a cigarette in the area where the accommodation was - near the rural de Teno Park on the north of the island
8.30am - Jay calls his friend Lucy Law and tells her he missed a bus, had one per cent of battery left on his phone and was stuck in the “middle of nowhere”
9am - A missing persons report is filed and the search for Jay begins
TUESDAY 18
2am - Police knock on the door of Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan’s home and tell her to catch the first flight out to Tenerife
7am - She flies out from Manchester Airport alongside her son Zak to help with the search
Debbie is sent a Snapchat message saying “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money."
WEDNESDAY 19
12.30pm - Police move the search to the south of the island briefly after a false sighting
Cops search his hotel room for clues as his mum says there was “nothing untoward there”
Debbie gives a heart-wrenching interview where she shares fears he has been “taken” and says “I just want my baby back”
THURSDAY 20
Cops begin day four of the massive search for Jay
FRIDAY 21
Lancashire cops offer to help with the search but Tenerife authorities say they are "satisfied that they have the resources they need"
Search turns to 22,000ft ravine in Masca - part of an area dubbed "the badlands" by locals
SATURDAY 22
The sixth day of the search begins with sniffer dogs, cops, mountain rescue and firefighters again taking to the hills in northern Tenerife
Possible new sighting of Jay places him near a church with two men at 6pm on Monday - although unconfirmed by police
Jay's dad Warren and brother Zak visit the search site in Tenerife
SUNDAY 23
Cops focus their search around small outbuildings in de Teno park near where Jay's phone last pinged
Jay's mum Debbie says trolls are comparing her to Karen Matthews
The GoFundMe set up by Jay's friend Lucy surpasses £30,000 after just three days
Exclusive Sun footage shows Jay appearing to fall and stumble back up at a rave before he vanished
MONDAY 24
Search for Jay enters eighth day
Police expand search area north to parts of Buenavista del Norte
Jay's dad says his family are in 'a living hell'
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