Jay Slater’s mother has revealed that online trolls accused her of killing her own son during the height of a social media storm following his disappearance while on holiday in Tenerife last summer.
Watch The Disappearance of Jay Slater on Channel 4 for Free Outside the UK
Debbie Duncan, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, said the wave of misinformation spread during the search for her 19 year old son deeply affected her family. She is now calling for a new law to curb speculation during missing person investigations and has the support of her local MP, Sarah Smith.
Mr Slater’s body was eventually found on 15 July in a ravine on the island after a 29 day search that captured global attention. The teenager had been out at a nightclub in Playa de las Americas before going to an Airbnb in the north of Tenerife with two men he had met.
On the morning of 17 June, he left the property in the Masca area and phoned friends to say his phone battery was running low and that he had no water. A massive search operation began after he was reported missing, and a month later his body was discovered.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mrs Duncan said: “there was a different story every day” after Jay vanished, and “we didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t real.”
When the facts were out there people didn’t want to believe the truth and still, to this day, they are just talking rubbish really.
She added
Read More: Jay Slater’s Mother Slams ‘Armchair Detectives’ As She Sets Record Straight On Son’s Final Hours
Hyndburn Labour MP Sarah Smith said:
It is entirely wrong that people can continue to speculate, with no end date, about what’s happened in these incredibly tragic circumstances, with no consideration of how that is impacting on those that have lost a loved one.
these people are moving from family to family causing them an absolute living hell.
She continued:
Mrs Duncan said social media initially helped raise awareness but her family quickly experienced its “dark side”.
At an inquest in July, Lancashire coroner Dr James Adeley concluded that Jay Slater died accidentally and that no third party was involved. Mrs Duncan will appear in a Channel 4 documentary about her son, The Disappearance of Jay Slater, airing on Sunday.
Social media companies told the BBC they would take action against harmful misinformation. YouTube said certain misleading and deceptive content that posed serious risk of harm was not permitted, while TikTok confirmed it does not allow misinformation on its platform.
Source: BBC