Missing Jay Slater's mum issues plea over 'vile' and 'extremely distressing' comments

The mum of a British teenager who is missing in Tenerife has described speculation and 'conspiracy theories' about her son's disappearance as 'vile'.

As the search for her son Jay Slater entered its third week yesterday (July 2), Debbie Duncan pleaded with people not to speculate on social media. She said that 'negative comments' were 'extremely distressing' for her and her family as they desperately search for Jay.

In a statement issued through the British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global, Debbie said: "We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and can only describe this as vile, the negative comments are extremely distressing to our family."

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The mum added: "We would like to say to the press/news/reporters, that although we do not want to lose the momentum of Jay’s disappearance, we really would like to maintain our privacy and crucially let the Spanish police get on with their investigations without hindrance from press."

Debbie said 'words could not describe the pain and agony' that the family were family as Jay remained missing. "We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance", she added in her statement.

"Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing. He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him."

The 19-year-old's mum described him as a 'normal, very popular guy'. She said: "Jay is a normal guy who is in his third year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends.

"We do not have any information on his whereabouts. The