Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire – The family and friends of Jay Slater, who went missing on Monday, fear his Instagram account has been hacked. The teenager’s account has been accessed multiple times since his disappearance, raising concerns about the integrity of the information being shared.
Jay Slater, 19, was last seen on Monday morning as he attempted to walk back to his accommodation in Tenerife. With the search now entering its sixth day, efforts by the Spanish police have intensified. The Civil Guard, mountain rescue teams, and various other emergency services, including helicopters, rescue dogs, and drones, are involved in the search.
An official Facebook page providing updates on the search has issued a warning about the Instagram account activity. A family friend posted: “Jay’s mum asked I post this. For everyone asking who has logged into his Instagram account, it’s not him or her; somebody else has logged into it.” The update suggests that hackers or bots have been targeting the account since Monday.
Jay Slater attended a music festival in Tenerife on Sunday night but was reported missing the following day. As the search continues, his mother, Debbie Duncan, and others close to him have been subjected to a series of horrific messages on social media. Earlier this week, Duncan received a vile message on Snapchat stating, “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money.” Her eldest son Zac managed to screenshot the message before it disappeared, and she quickly alerted the police.
Debbie Duncan has expressed frustration with the impact of social media “noise” on the investigation. She explained that the police have told her that the influx of information on social media is affecting their efforts. “We’ve been there [the police station] all day today, and I think it’s been stepped up,” she said. It’s difficult with all the Spanish police and British police; they have to let the Spanish police do the investigation. They have actually said that there’s too much noise – that’s affecting it. They’ve got all the plans, their locations. They have got this map they were showing us, all shaded in different colours.”
Authorities are urging anyone with information that could help locate Jay Slater to come forward and assist with the investigation.
