Brad Hargreaves is one of the friends who went on holiday to Tenerife with Jay Slater, and described the 19-year-old bricklaying apprentice as his “best mate”.
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The pair flew out to the island along with Lucy Law to go to a three-day NRG music festival.
But, Brad has since been the target of swathes of abuse by vile social media trolls.
He has now slammed baseless conspiracy theories, and penned a scathing post on Instagram.
“Thinkin I’m involved in it all is beyond me,” he wrote.
“We’ve been mates for years, came on our first holiday together and unfortunately this has happened.
“We ain’t drug mules or whatever…. people need to know the facts before talking sh** on the internet…”
Lucy Mae Law, 18, the last person to speak to Jay before he went missing on June 17, also shared an image of the pair this week with a crying emoji.
Meanwhile, Jay’s heartbroken mum Debbie Duncan has issued a fresh update in her son’s case.
She thanked a local hiking group who have been helping in the search, which was abruptly called off after two weeks.
A message on an official Facebook group reads: “Debbie and family would like to thank the local hiking group who have worked tirelessly planning routes and searching for Jay they are extremely overwhelmed with the kindness of them all.
“Thank you.”
It comes as cops have been urged to probe claims that missing Jay was involved in a £12,000 Rolex theft.
Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who is unofficially looking into the disappearance of the 19-year-old, said Jay had admitted it to pals.
But UK police have refused to investigate and cops in Tenerife — where Jay vanished last month — have declined to discuss it.
The Sun has been given the name of a Brit gangster said to be involved in the watch trade there, who has mutual friends with Jay and his group.
A source said: “The Spanish police have failed to pick up all the threads and it’s time British detectives stepped in.
“Jay might have gone missing on Tenerife but many of the people he crossed paths with are British.”
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It has also emerged Jay stayed at an Airbnb rented by convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim.
Qassim previously told reporters: “I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go.
“His friends had all left him.
“I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them.
“I’m doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It’s a bit mental. I haven’t even done anything.”
Qassim added: “The only comment I have to make is that Jay came to the house alive, and he left the house alive.”
SEARCH CALLED OFF
It comes after Jay’s heartbroken family vowed to remain in Tenerife after police called off the land search.
The teen’s devastated mum said “Words cannot describe the pain and agony” after the being blindsided by the news.
Debbie said in a heartbreaking statement “we just want to find him”.
The hunt was ended after 14 days of looking for the 19-year-old.
The young Brit vanished after a night out at the NRG festival at Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas on June 17.
Jay was last seen travelling with the two mystery men in the north of the island in the Rural de Teno park.
What has Brad Hargreaves said about Jay Slater’s disappearance?
Brad took to Facebook to share a statement defending himself after he has been accused of being involved in Jay’s disappearance.
He wrote: “Don’t know why l’ve to jump on here to explain myself to the Facebook world but if any of yous believe me his best mate has anything to do with him going missing you’re honestly not all there.
“I’ve known Jay most of my life go to all these raves and what not together and this was our first lads holiday with him.
“Nobody actually knows the true story not even me because there isn’t a factual story that has come out just a load of s*** that has been said by different people.
“Anyway won’t be saying much more on here but just thought l’d get that out.”
Brad’s mum has since said that he is finding it hard to cope with the situation.
Ms Hargreaves told BBC: “We’re living the worst nightmare you can live and this does not help.
Brad appeared on ITV’s This Morning where he was interviewed by Isla Traquair.
He explained that he was on the phone to Jay the day he went missing but wasn’t concerned at the time.
He said he could hear Jay’s feet slide on the rocks inferring that he’d gone off the road.
Brad said: “That’s how I knew he went off the road because, you know when you walk on gravel, or whatever it is, you can… you know what I mean, stones.”
Jay told Brad at the time that he was fine but Brad told him to switch his location on.
Brad said: “We were both, like, laughing about it. He said: ‘look where I am’.”
Brad and his mum have said they will stay in Tenerife for as long as they need to.
The morning after, he made a final frantic phone call to pal Lucy to tell her he was stranded in the “middle of nowhere”.
Panicked Jay, facing an 11-hour walk back to their hotel, told her he needed water and only had one per cent of battery left on his phone.
Spanish authorities say “there is no current evidence of criminality” in the case, with his family saying they will not give up hope of finding him.
GOFUNDME TROLLS
The family have felt forced to hit back at criticism over the use of £50,000 donated via GoFundMe.
Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan insisted they were funding their own stay in Tenerife.
She said: “My beautiful son is still missing and believe me this is no holiday. We are a normal working family going through hell.”
But she admitted: “The mystery surrounding his disappearance may never surface.”
They even slammed a TikTok star who quit his search for the missing teen after he said he’s ‘never had any money’ from GoFundMe.
Callum Fahim, who voluntarily travelled to Tenerife to help cops, claimed he’s left after being slammed with death threats and seeing no cash.
The Slater family said the devastated mum gave Callum £740 of her own money for his accommodation.
She claimed the TikToker turned “bitter” after they refused to give him more money.
They said: “We appreciate every single person who’s come out.
“He’s a hiker. We don’t need hikers, we need experts.”
Five questions still unanswered in Jay Slater’s disappearance
By James Halpin
Missing Rolex after ‘scuffle’
Police launched a new probe on Saturday morning over the theft of a Rolex watch just hours before Jay disappeared.
It is unclear exactly how Jay’s disappearance might be linked but one of Jay’s pals told detectives the alleged theft may have led to Jay wandering off on his own to try and find the watch.
The Rolex disappeared when a fight broke out at the club Jay was partying at with investigators questioning taxi drivers and bar staff present on the strip.
Police clear duo
Two mystery Brits who partied with Jay Slater on the night of his disappearance were labelled “not relevant” by investigators.
Investigator Mark Williams-Thomas said the men stayed with Jay at an Airbnb cottage in Tenerife before he vanished.
They are said to both be in their late 30s or early 40s and from Luton, Bedfordshire, with one going by the nickname “Johnny Vegas”.
The men were only briefly asked to speak with cops before being allowed to fly home to the UK.
Just six volunteers for ‘massive’ search
Yesterday, Tenerife cops launched what they called a “massive” new search with the help of specialist volunteers to find the 19-year-old Brit.
However, just six volunteers reportedly turned up, claimed Tiktoker Paul Arnott, 29, who flew in to help with the search.
Jay’s father Warren and older brother Zak were seen at the search site.
The area being searched is a 2000ft ravine that has a steep hiking trail traversing it down to the sea.
Mystery final phone calls
Jay’s last phone call to his pal Lucy Law has been shrouded in mystery with it springing up several questions.
The 18-year-old woman told reporters Jay had called her in a panic at around 8.30am on Monday June 17.
She recalled him saying he wasn’t able to catch a bus and was going to start walking back to his flat.
Jay told her his phone was almost out of power, that he had cut his leg on a prickly cactus and he badly needed a drink.
Pinging phone
Search teams narrowed their efforts to a small group of buildings close to where Jay’s phone last pinged, but found nothing last week.
Jay took a 45 minutes car journey with two men to an Airbnb near Masco in the Rural de Teno, a national park in the island’s north.
He posted a Snapchat picture at the £40-a-night digs at around 7.30am appearing to show him holding a cigarette and walking down some stone steps.
After deciding to leave the cottage, Jay rang Lucy before his mobile went dead at 8.50am near a hiking trail in the park.
The family accused Callum of coming “over of his own accord” for a “free holiday” and wanting accommodation paid for.
But, TikToker Callum told Sky News: “I haven’t had anything from the GoFundMe.
“We have not had a bit of essentials paid for.
“I’ve never had any money from them whatsoever or even offers to go and pick anything up.
“If they had offered it, personally I would’ve said maybe a bit of a treat at the end of the week, but don’t worry about it.”
It comes as Debbie previously hit back over rumours swirling around the GoFundMe.
In a message, posted by her friend, she wrote: “For those of you who are more concerned around the Gofundme page I can assure you that up to now it has not been used and our stay up to now has been financed by ourselves.
“I do have proof of transactions and transfers to other persons but I should not have to justify this.
“So you can make up your own minds. If any of you in this group have donated I am thankful.”
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