'I retraced Jay Slater's haunting final steps in Tenerife - he made one big mistake'

Tragic new details about Jay Slater's final movements have been revealed - and one man says he made a crucial error before falling to his death.

The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was enjoying his first holidaywithout his parents in Tenerife when he vanished after a night out in July last year.

The teen had been partying before heading to an Airbnb in the remote village of Masca on the Spanish island with two men he had met during his holiday.

He later called his friend Lucy Law to say he was lost and then told another friend, Bradley Geoghegan, that he had missed a bus and was walking home - a 14km trek back to his accommodation in Los Cristianos. Heartbreakingly, he never made it back.

READ MORE: Jay Slater's harrowing final words before death revealed by friend Lucy Law

READ MORE: Jay Slater's mum Debbie recalls harrowing moment she called 999 to report him missing

At his inquest in July, Coroner Dr James Adeley ruled that Jay "died an accidental death" after tragically falling into a remote ravine in the Rural de Teno national park. His body was discovered by a mountain rescue team on July 15 2024, 29 days after he went missing.

Toxicology reports also showed that Jay had ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and alcohol in his system at the time of his death.

The teen's disappearance captivated the nation, with wild conspiracy theories reaching a fever pitch before Jay's body was found. The online speculation proved painful for Jay's heartbroken mother Debbie Duncan, who claims they hindered the investigation.

And now, as a new documentary is set to shed fresh light on Jay's final movements, a journalist who retracted the tragic teen's steps in Tenerife has revealed one sad twsit of fate that led to Jay's death.

Writing in the Sunday Times, journalist David Collins said: "I walked the same route Jay walked, from the door of the Airbnb, turning left up a snaking mountain road into treacherous terrain. This was Jay's biggest mistake.

"If he had turned right and walked down the hill, it would have left him back to civilisation, via a mountain village with cafes, buses and taxis. At some point he walked off-road and down into a ravine."

Jay's heartbroken mum Debbie Duncan has expressed her concerns that conspiracy theories surrounding his death hampered the police investigation while misleading footage kept surfacing online. She said: "My son was completely dehumanised. All of it was completely wrong.

"He was just a young lad loving life, who went to Tenerife with his friends to have a good time. Somewhere along the line people lost sight of that."

The Disappearance of Jay Slater on Channel 4 will broadcast on Sunday, 28 September at 9pm. Together with Jay's father, Warren, 59, and elder brother Zak, 25, she allowed TV producers unprecedented access to Jay's story and the family.

The programme will feature personal home footage plus material from Jay's funeral, while cameras were also allowed into his post-mortem. Debbie told the Mirror: "I wanted this documentary to be made because I want to show Jay is a real person and not just the face of a story.

"I want to show everyone we are a normal family. Jay was a popular guy with a lot of friends and it's been hard to watch it. I cried all the way through, but I hope it will finally shut down the armchair detectives. It’s been very well put together."