Death of Jay Slater

On the morning of 17 June 2024, 19-year-old Jay Dean Slater, an apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared on the island of Tenerife, Spain, after attempting to walk 14 hours back to his accommodation as there was no local taxi service and no bus due for 90 minutes. Slater had attended a music festival in Playa de las Américas with two friends the day before his disappearance.

Extensive searches headed by the Guardia Civil and aided by volunteers found no body. Less than two weeks after his disappearance, on 30 June, Tenerife police stated that they were discontinuing the search for Slater, although the investigation remained open, for which they were later criticised. In fact the search continued under a court order of secrecy, to avoid "curious onlookers" due to the high level of interest in the case, and on 15 July 2024, the Spanish police reported the discovery of a body in the vicinity of the area of interest, later confirmed by the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands to be that of Jay Slater. It was suspected he suffered an accident or fall. A post-mortem examination concluded Slater died of traumatic head injuries, consistent with a fall from height.

The disappearance and subsequent death of Slater drew substantial media interest. As with the death of Nicola Bulley, a number of conspiracy theories were posted on social media where speculation was rife regarding his disappearance, particularly on TikTok and Facebook. Members of the public who travelled to the area during the search were criticised for being armchair detectives, while social media users were strongly criticised for engaging in trolling.