Jay Slater’s friend in tribute to ‘happiest person in the room’ after body find

A friend of missing British teenager Jay Slater has paid tribute to “the happiest and most smiley person in the room” after a body was found during the search for him in Tenerife.

Charity LBT Global said remains were found with the 19-year-old’s clothes and possessions near his last known location on Monday.

Members of a mountain rescue team from the Spanish Civil Guard discovered the body near the village of Masca.

Following the discovery, Mr Slater’s friend Lucy Law, who was the last known person to speak to him during a phone call on June 17, issued a tribute on her Instagram page.

She said: “Honestly lost for words.

“Always the happiest and most smiley person in the room, you was (sic) 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.”

The Spanish Civil Guard said Mr Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, could have fallen in the steep and inaccessible area where he was discovered.

It released video footage of rescuers climbing rock faces and battling through scrub as they carried out the search.

Part of the clip shows two members of the search team being winched out of the area by helicopter after the body had been found and recovered.

Mr Slater had attended the NRG music festival with two friends before his disappearance, and his last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the Canary Island, which was about an 11-hour walk from his accommodation.

He had travelled to an Airbnb in Masca after a night out, but the two men said to have rented the property were later ruled “not relevant” to the case.

Spanish police called off the search for the apprentice bricklayer at the end of June after helicopters, drones and search dogs were deployed to find him.