Jay Slater's mother says retracing son's final steps brought 'more closure' as documentary examines Tenerife death

The mother of Jay Slater, the British teenager who died after going missing on Tenerife in 2024, has spoken of the mixed emotions she felt while retracing the final movements of her son's life, describing the experience as deeply painful but ultimately helpful in coming to terms with his death.

Debbie Duncan, who lives in Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, told BBC Radio Lancashire that walking the route her 19-year-old son is believed to have taken before he died was "very tough and emotional" but had provided the family with a greater sense of resolution. She explained that revisiting the terrain allowed her to examine the landscape in close detail and to better understand the timeline of events that unfolded after Jay left a music festival on the Spanish island.

Jay disappeared on 17 June 2024 after attending a festival in Playa de las Americas, a resort town in the south of Tenerife. His disappearance triggered a large-scale search operation that lasted 29 days before his body was eventually found. The case drew enormous attention, particularly on social media, where a range of unverified theories about what had happened to him circulated widely.

An inquest into Jay's death concluded that he had died as the result of a "tragic accident" and that no third party had been involved. The hearing was told that he had fallen in what was described as a particularly dangerous area, sustaining skull fractures and brain trauma that would have killed him instantly. The coroner's findings brought a formal legal conclusion to a case that had been the subject of intense speculation.

Ms Duncan said that following the timeline of her son's last hours had been important to her personally. She described tracing the period from the location where he was last confirmed to have been to the point at which he sent a message saying he did not know where he was and believed he was lost. Being able to measure that sequence of events in time, she said, mattered a great deal to her as she sought to understand his final movements.

The retracing of Jay's steps features in a forthcoming documentary series titled "Cause of Death," which is due to be broadcast on Channel Five. The first episode, scheduled to air at 21:00 BST on Wednesday, examines both the search for Jay and the extensive social media interest that surrounded the case. The programme follows his route alongside forensic pathologist Richard Shepherd, who carried out Jay's postmortem examination after his body was returned to the United Kingdom.

Ms Duncan said she found it valuable to have Dr Shepherd present during the filming, particularly because he was able to discuss her son's injuries in terms she could more easily understand. She said his explanations helped her process the medical details of what had happened, adding that the experience of returning to Tenerife was difficult but worthwhile.

She reiterated that she had never doubted for a moment that Jay's death was an accident, saying the documentary may help viewers accept the established facts of the case. Her comments come amid continuing online speculation about the circumstances of her son's death, which has persisted despite the coroner's clear ruling.

Last year, Ms Duncan called for a new measure known as Jay's Law, which would be aimed at preventing the online trolling and harassment of grieving families. She said the proposed legislation would target technology companies directly, obliging them to remove misinformation published on their platforms. She argued that the wave of conspiracy theories that followed her son's disappearance had been extreme and deeply harmful to those close to him.

Addressing criticism that such a law could restrict free expression, Ms Duncan rejected the suggestion that her campaign was about limiting freedom of speech. She characterised the behaviour she had endured as outright bullying, saying that those spreading false claims were aware of the facts but chose to disregard them in favour of their own narratives. She added that she believed the right people were now paying attention to her campaign.

Reflecting on life since Jay's death, Ms Duncan said the family had each found different ways of coping with their loss. She said she tries to keep herself occupied and remains in contact with other bereaved families, explaining that speaking to parents who have also lost children helps her feel less isolated, even if it does not ease the pain itself.

She also said time had not made the loss easier to bear, describing the experience of living without her son as becoming harder rather than simpler as the months pass. Her comments underline the lasting impact of the case on the family, even after the conclusion of the inquest and the formal end of the search operation.

The documentary is expected to revisit the scale of the manhunt and the huge public interest that developed while Jay was missing, as well as the aftermath of the discovery of his body. It also considers how the case became a focal point for online discussion, much of which complicated the family's ability to grieve privately.

Jay's death and the search that followed remain a subject of significant public attention, both in Lancashire and further afield. His family's decision to take part in the documentary reflects their desire to place the established facts on record and to counter what they see as damaging falsehoods that continue to circulate online.