Jay Slater 's mum has received the most horrendous news that no parent should ever have to hear.
Human remains found by Spanish police on Monday have now been confirmed to be that of the missing British teenager. In a statement issued through charity LBT Global, Mr Slater's mother Debbie Duncan said: "I just can't believe this could happen to my beautiful boy. Our hearts are broken."
The mum-of-two, 55, described it as "the worst news" as she was with British Embassy staff waiting for the latest update. She added: "I just can't believe it".
The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was having the time of his life on his first holiday abroad with friends, where he partied at the three-day NRG festival in Tenerife before going missing. When the festival came to a close, he decided to extend his night out with two British friends he had met on the trip, while his other pals from home returned to their accommodation.
He was last located in the northern mountainous region around Rural de Teno Park, where he was said to be attempting the daunting 11-hour walk back to the hotel. He tragically never made it, and is believed to have taken a catastrophic fall on his route home across the treacherous terrain.
Throughout the major search operation to find the young lad, his family was plagued by cruel trolls who spread conspiracy theories surrounding his puzzling disappearance. At the centre of the wrath was poor mum Debbie, who was tormented with hoax calls and vile messages about her 'beautiful boy'.
When friend Lucy Law alerted the police about Jay's disappearance, UK police informed his family back in the northwest, with his mum Debbie then flying out to the Canary Island the following morning. She joined officers in the desperate search, but immediately feared the worst had befallen her son.
Distraught mum Debbie revealed she had feared "something bad" had happened as he tried to make his way home, and initially believed he might have been held "against his will." Speaking to ITV News just days after the news came to light, she described the 'absolute nightmare' she is living through.
"I wouldn't wish this on anybody. I want my baby back," she said as she broke down in tears. "It's a nightmare, an absolute living nightmare. He'd been saving up, looking so forward to this event, absolutely buzzing about it. [It was the] third day of the NRG Festival and this has happened.
"I was loving that he was going and saying 'you'll love it'. Now I just wish I hadn't encouraged him to go. I wish I'd have said 'don't go to Tenerife'." In the aftermath of his disappearance, seven fake GoFundMe pages were set up for donations in the family's name.
His relatives were quick to take to social media to alert concerned strangers and tell them not to fall for it - but for some, it was too late. Debbie also had to deal with some criticism over the legitimate GoFundMe page, with some cruel internet users questioning what the money would be used for.
The desperate mother even had to contend with being compared to the notorious Karen Matthews, who orchestrated the fake kidnapping of her young daughter Shannon, 16 years ago. Expressing her dismay in a Facebook post, Debbie wrote: "I really am saddened by all your comments. You seem to be so bothered about this GoFundMe page.
"I really hope I am not taking my son home in a body bag. The funds are not released and won't be if not needed. I really cannot believe the British public are not supporting me in trying to find Jay. This may happen to any of you one day. Very let down by you all."
Debbie previously opened up about the several prank calls she received from hidden numbers claiming they had taken Jay and held him for ransom, describing the pranksters' jokes as "sickening". She said twisted Brits with "northern accents" had been phoning her with hidden numbers and said: "Some of the phone calls I've been getting have been horrible. I just don't know why people would want to do things like this."
The mum-of-two also revealed that just moments after stepping off the plane, she was sent a terrifying Snapchat message that read 'kiss goodbye to your boy' - claiming that Jay owed the sender 'lots of money'. "I got a Snapchat about 10 minutes after I got off the plane saying 'Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money,' which I passed on to police with the number it came from because I had my wits about me at the time and got my eldest son Zac to take a screen grab before it disappeared," she said.
Just before his body was found, Debbie issued a statement on Sunday via the British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global. The 55-year-old slammed the "awful comments and conspiracy theories" on social media as "vile" and warned they were hindering efforts to find him.
Ms Duncan wrote: "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. We would also like to say that we are aware of the awful comments and conspiracy theories that are filling social media. These theories are hindering the people trying to help us in their investigations here in Tenerife and are vile to see as a family.
"He is a loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend to so many. He is such a popular boy this and is very distressing for us all to read." After Jay's body was found on Monday, investigative journalist and former cop Mark Williams-Thomas, who had been helping Jay's family in the search for their son, echoed the mum's comments.
He revealed chilling details of hoax videos, with multiple people pretending they were holding Jay hostage - presumably in order to extort his family for a significant sum of money. Mr Williams-Thomas told the Mirror that he and Jay's family confirmed the videos did not show Jay "within hours" and explained that this work consumed precious time, because each possible new piece of evidence, "needed to be investigated".
"We have had two videos posted of separate people, meant to be Jay, having been beaten up, one having the words, 'We have your son', created for publication by someone wanting to give the impression they had Jay held hostage," Mr Williams-Thomas said. "Within hours we had established these videos were not Jay. And we have had people who have contacted the family to say they have Jay and will give information in exchange for a sum of money."
Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas also claimed that pranksters and conspiracy theorists sadly took up most of their time during the investigation. He said: "What has taken up the most time has been investigating the many theories and the false information that gathered traction on social media and then subsequently in the media.
"You will understand that the family lived in hope of every new piece of information that Jay was alive, so they all needed to be investigated. We had to investigate the theory that Jay had walked all the way to the coastline to get on a boat, this was thoroughly investigated and ruled out with evidence that proved it could not be true."
Jay's last location registered near a hiking trail, several hundred feet above the small village of Masca. Friend Lucy Mae Law, who he was on the trip with, said that he complained of being thirsty and that he was lost when he managed to phone her at around 8am on the fateful Monday, just before his phone ran out of battery.
After a month-long manhunt to find the missing teen, Spanish police confirmed on Monday that a body had been found in the depths of the vast and unforgiving terrain of Parque Rural de Teno nature reserve. Following an autopsy on Tuesday, police confirmed the remains to be his.
Before confirming the formal identification, in their first comments since the grim police discovery yesterday, officials representing the investigating judge said: "In reference to the British citizen Jay Slater, the autopsy with the full identification of the body and the causes of death will take time, because the body was very deteriorated.
"But there is very little doubt about both the identity and the aetiology. The documentation he was carrying corresponds to that of Jay Slater and everything is pointing to an accidental fall, although that is unofficial pending the final reports." In another update on Tuesday afternoon, a court spokesperson confirmed that fingerprints confirmed the body was missing Jay. The injuries suggested he had fallen from a cliff, they added.