Body found in Tenerife confirmed as Jay Slater

His cause of death has also been confirmed

A body found in Tenerife in the search for Jay Slater has been identified as the missing British teenager.

On Monday, Spanish police found a body in the area where the 19-year-old had gone missing on June 17.

The Canary Islands Higher Court of Justice has since confirmed on Tuesday afternoon (July 16) that a formal identification of the body has taken place, and it is that of Slater.

His death was caused “by trauma consistent with a fall in a rocky area”, it added.

A statement from the Spanish court said the body had been identified using fingerprint tests, the BBC reports.

Spanish police had announced on Monday that the Civil Guard’s mountain rescue group had located the “lifeless body of a young man in the Masca area after 29 days of constant search”.

Missing persons organisation LBT Global said that Slater’s possessions were discovered next to the body, which was found was close to his last known location.

A court statement earlier on Tuesday confirmed documents on the body belonged to Slater.

It added that “everything suggests that it was an accidental fall” but the results of the official investigation into his death would take more time.

Rescue teams are continuing to search the area where the body was found to ensure that nothing is missed, Sky News reports.

Slater had been missing since June 17, when he disappeared after attending a music festival on the island.

He had attended the NRG music festival at Playa da las Americas before traveling 30km to the north of the island to rented accommodation with some people he had befriended on a night out.

He was last heard from on June 17 at around 08:00 GMT when he phoned his friend Lucy Law, telling her he had missed a bus back to his own accommodation and had tried to walk the 10-hour journey but was lost in Rural de Teno Park.

He said he needed water and only had one per cent battery left on his phone.

His phone then cut off, and his last known location was shown as the Rural de Teno Park.

Rescue efforts centred on the national park, situated on the other side of Tenerife to where Slater and his friends were staying.

For two weeks, the Guardia Civil conducted an extensive search of the remote, mountainous area north-west of the island where Slater’s was last seen.

Local police ended up calling off their search effort on June 30, but their investigation remained open.

On Sunday, his mum Debbie Duncan said her family “cannot put into words” the heartache they have experienced since her son’s disappearance.

More to follow.