GoFundMe have revealed what will happen to the £54,000 donated to Jay Slater’s fundraiser as new donations pour in after a body is found in the search.
Questions have been raised about what will happen to the money given by generous strangers after a body was found following a month of searching.
Although not yet formally identified as the 19-year-old, it is believed to be the apprentice bricklayer, who may have died due to an ‘accidental fall in the steep and inaccessible area’.
There has been a flurry of new donations today, with over £1,000 raised in the seven hours since the tragic news was announced.
This brings the total to over £54,500 of the £30,000 target – which was reached within three weeks of the teenager disappearing.
A GoFundMe spokesperson told The Sun it is in ‘regular contact’ with Jay’s family to work out the next steps for dealing with the money over the next few weeks.
GoFundMe have revealed what will happen to the £54,000 donated to Jay Slater’s fundraiser as new donations pour in after a body is found in the search
Questions have been raised about what will happen to the money given by generous strangers after a body was found following a month of searching
A helicopter arriving at the search site where a body, believed to be Jay’s, was found
Jay Slater with his mother Debbie Duncan, 55, pictured before he went missing
Jay’s father Warren Slater and brother Zak on the mountain track where Jay’s phone was last located, two weeks after he went missing
The Masca forest area where Spanish Civil Guard has located the body of a young man which could be missing teenager Jay
The Telegraph reported that the money will be used towards the funeral and repatriation costs.
The family began to withdraw money two weeks ago to help with the search.
Jay’s mother Debbie previously said the money was also being used to support mountain rescue teams, her own accommodation and food costs.
The cash was used to fly in a team of specialist rescue volunteers yesterday as five people and four dogs were deployed, with a sixth person joining today.
The group were sent by the non-profit organisation Signi Zoekhonden, based in the Netherlands, who have about 20 years experience in searching for missing people.
Signi Zoekhonden contacted Mr Slater’s family after reading about the case and told the BBC would use drones as part of their search, subject to flight permission being granted by local authorities.
It came after Tenerife’s Guardia Civil called off the search for the apprentice bricklayer at the end of June after helicopters, drones and search dogs were deployed to find him.
Volunteers search for Jay in Masca before the discovery today
A 13-day search by police using drones, dogs and a helicopter failed to find any trace of Jay
Former British army reservist Chris Pennington walks the Masca mountains with Daily Mail’s Fred Kelly in search of the teenager
In a statement posted onto the GoFundMe page previously, Ms Duncan thanked the 4,300 people who had donated for their ‘kindness’ and said the family were ‘only able to fund this with the generosity of all those who donated’.
She said: ‘As you all know the Guardia Civil gave up the land search after 12 days. We have been actively working with search and rescue teams and we can now confirm that we have a team of experts flying in over the weekend from the Netherlands, who will carry on the search with their specialist dogs.
‘We are only able to fund this with the generosity of all those who donated. The team are the Signi Zoekhondon and this has taken lots of planning to get them over so thank you so much for your kindness.’
Marieke Krans, one of the specialist volunteers, told the BBC: ‘We are very committed to come and we are confident in the dogs and in ourselves. Our dogs are trained to find people, both alive or dead, and have more skills.
‘They can search underwater, and up mountains, whatever it may be.’
Jaym of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared after setting off to walk back to his accommodation on the Spanish holiday island on June 17.
Brandon Hodgkin, Jay Slater and Lucy Mae Law by the pool at the Hard Rock Cafe hotel, Tenerife, before Jay’s disappearance
A local man and his dog Caperucita came to the mountain to help with the search
Search and rescue teams are pictured during the search for Jay
The money raised by the GoFundMe appeal was used to deploy five people and four dogs to the area, with a sixth person due to join them today
Yesterday, Ms Duncan said she was aware of the ‘vile’ conspiracy theories about her son and claimed they were ‘hindering’ rescue efforts to find him.
In a statement released through British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global, Ms Duncan said the family was ‘desperate to find our beautiful boy’.
She said: ‘As we approach four weeks of our beautiful Jay’s disappearance, we cannot put into words the heartache we are suffering as a family.
‘Jay is a typical young man who loves life, with a bright future ahead of him. This month will mark the end of his three-year apprenticeship with the world at his feet.
‘He is loved by everyone and has a close bond with his family and many, many friends.’
Jay’s friend Brad Hargreaves – who went on holiday with him and flew back last week – paid a poignant tribute on Instagram today. He wrote: ‘No words. Nothing be the same without you. Rest easy brother. Love you always’
The post included a string of red broken hearts on the image
Police today released footage showing the final moments of the agonising 29-day search for missing Jay Slater in mountains near the Tenerife village of Masca
Ms Duncan criticised the ‘awful comments and conspiracy theories’ posted on social media, which she branded ‘vile’ and said were ‘hindering’ people trying to help locate the teenager.
LBT Global chief executive Matt Searle said ‘horrific things are being posted online, and even sent directly to family and friends’ as he called for an end to ‘the constant barrage of conspiracy theories and wild speculation’.
The search in the village of Masca, near Mr Slater’s last-known location, took place in a steep rocky area, including ravines, trails and paths.
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 and the two men said to have rented the property were later ruled ‘not relevant’ to the case, according to reports.
Masca is an hour from the Papagayo nightclub in the heady resort of Playa de las Americas where Jay was last seen with the two British men following the end of the New Rave Generation three-day festival.
