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When British teenager Jay Slater disappeared in northern Tenerife just under a month ago, the case captured the nation’s attention.
Tens of thousands of pounds have been donated by the public to fund the search, with some even volunteering to travel to the popular holiday island to help.
Helicopters, sniffer dogs and, in the final days of the search, private experts were called in, in the hope of finding the Lancashire teenager.
The search followed Mr Slater’s last known steps through dangerous valleys and treacherous ravines until the 19-year-old’s remains were found after four gruelling weeks.
The Canary Islands High Court confirmed the identity of the body using fingerprint technology after the remains were found near the village of Masca in Tenerife on Monday.
A court spokesman said the autopsy report determined the injuries sustained were consistent with an accidental fall.
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Mr Slater had travelled to the island to attend a music festival with friends – his first holiday without his family.
On Sunday, June 16, he had spent the day at the NRG music festival, where his friends had left him to return early to their accommodation after a tiring weekend.
He then went to a nightclub on Veronicas Street in Playa de Las Americas, near his holiday home, until the early hours of the morning. At around 5am, Mr Slater went to an Airbnb where two men he had met were staying, about 27 miles (43 kilometres) further north in the remote village of Masca.
One of the men has been identified as Ayub Qassim, who told the MailOnline he let Mr Slater stay at his accommodation because he “had nowhere else to go” and insisted he was safe when he left the property at 7.30am.
Mr Slater was last seen by a cafe owner, who said the teenager had asked him for bus times before deciding not to wait two hours for a service.
The cafe owner said she saw Mr Slater “rapidly walking away” from the village, and his phone was last detected nearby in Teno Rural National Park.
On Monday, around 8:15 a.m., he called his friend Lucy Law to tell her he was lost, needed a drink of water and had 1% battery left on his phone.
“He ended up in the middle of nowhere. Jay obviously thought he could get home from there,” Ms Law told the US television station. Manchester Evening News“But then in the morning he went for a walk, using his maps on his phone, and found himself in the middle of the mountains with nothing around.”
Mr Slater also phoned his friend Brad Hargreaves, who heard him “sliding” on gravel, indicating he had left the main road in the national park.
Police were alerted just after 9am, and Jay’s mother and father, Debbie Duncan and Warren Slater, and brother Zak flew to the island the following day and launched a public appeal.
A large search operation has been launched in the northwest of the island, with helicopters, sniffer dogs and a number of officials combing the Masca Valley.
The search has focused on the Teno Rural Park, particularly around the path from where Jay’s phone last rang. During the first weeks of the search, authorities were seen searching for outbuildings on farmland and around ravines.
False leads may have disrupted the search along the way. One report said Jay was seen watching a Euro football match in another mountain village after his disappearance, while another report said the search had been temporarily shifted to the Los Cristianos area in the south of the island.
In light of this information, Mr Slater’s mother said she feared her son had been “taken against his will”.
Both reports were dismissed, but were picked up by a chorus of online investigators who offered their own theories on social media.
Almost two weeks after his disappearance, the Guardia Civil has launched an appeal for volunteers to take part in a “busqueda masiva” – a mass search – which will take place on Saturday, June 29.
However, the number of participants was described as “disappointing” by Mr Slater’s father, with only himself, his brother and a few isolated volunteers present in the park.
The following day, Spanish authorities ended the official search but insisted they would continue to investigate the leads.
Mr Slater’s family have expressed disappointment at the decision but have pledged to continue to navigate the difficult terrain, using some of the £50,000 donated to a fundraiser set up for them to cover their stay and source supplies.
His father, brother and uncle were regularly seen alongside a small number of locals continuing to search a gorge near where his phone was last located.
On Saturday, July 13, Ms. Duncan posted an update on the fundraising page, saying that a team of experts from the Netherlands were on their way to continue the search using specialized dogs.
But two days later, members of a Spanish Civil Guard mountain rescue team discovered a body near the village of Masca on Monday. An autopsy later confirmed it was Mr Slater’s.
“The discovery was possible thanks to the incessant and discreet searches carried out by the Civil Guard during these 29 days, during which the natural space was preserved so that it would not be filled with curious people,” the statement said.
Police said Mr Slater may have fallen into the steep, inaccessible area where he was found, and released video footage of rescuers scaling rock faces and battling brush as they carried out the search.
In a statement released through the charity LBT Global, Mr Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan said: “I can’t believe it. We are here with the embassy staff waiting for an update and now it has arrived – the worst news ever.”
She added: “I can’t believe this could happen to my beautiful boy. Our hearts are broken.”
The association had previously said the remains were found along with the 19-year-old’s clothes and personal belongings, near his last known location.
