Why did it take 29 days to find a body in search for missing teenager Jay Slater?

Exactly four weeks to the day Jay Slater vanished in Tenerife, a body was tragically uncovered. It marked a devastating end to almost a month of a desperate search for answers as to what happened to the 19-year-old after he disappeared on June 17.

A body, believed to be that of the Lancashire teenager, was found close to the spot where his mobile phone last 'pinged'. The Civil Guard said 'everything is pointing to the body being that' of Jay and that they believe he 'may have suffered an accident or fall in the area'.

But, despite major searches and resources being deployed, it took 29 days for a body to be recovered. Although formal identification has not yet taken place, evidence points to it being that of Jay.

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Over the past four weeks, search and rescue officers, volunteers, and even Jay's own family bravely joined the hunt to find him in the vast terrain of Parque Rural de Teno nature reserve.

The huge area was the subject of intense searches for almost a fortnight; particularly an area close to a palm tree and abandoned hut, nearby to the area where Jay sent his final messages and his phone determined his location.

Search teams spoke directly to the Manchester Evening News in the days that followed Jay's disappearance. They opened up about the 'treacherous' and unforgiving landscape that made the area so challenging to tackle.

Police helicopters were deployed and specialist sniffer dogs from Madrid were drafted in. And, all along, a body was lifeless close by.

The Manchester Evening News has been reporting on the ground in Tenerife since Jay disappeared - and it's clear why any