What's really going on with the GoFundMe pages for missing teen Jay Slater? (2024)

The disappearance of Jay Slateris the latest in a series of high profile missing person’s cases to attract scammers looking to profit from a family’s misery.

Jay, 19, vanished last month after attending a music festival inTenerifehaving told friends he was lost in the mountains, needed a drink of water and only had 1% battery on hisphone.

Friends and family, including his mum Debbie, flew out to the island to help with the mammoth search efforts. They were soon joined by a TV investigator and TikTok sleuths.

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She initially described the hunt for her missing son as a ‘living nightmare’ and later detailed her ‘pain and agony’ when searches were called off.

A GoFundMe crowdfunding page set up to help ‘get Jay Slater home’ has now raised nearly £50,000.

Is Jay Slater’s family able to access the GoFundMe money?

After confusion over where the money would be going, Debbie revealed last week it would start to be withdrawn to support mountain rescue teams who are ‘tirelessly searching for Jay’.

She also said some donations would be used to cover travel and accommodation expenses for family and friends who flew out to Tenerife to help the search.

In her statement, she said: ‘Since our stay in Tenerife needs to be extended, we will also use the funds to cover accommodation and food expenses.

‘I’m surrounded by wonderful people who are by my side, but far from their loved ones, so we’ll also be using part of these funds to fly them to Tenerife so we can support each other during these dark times.’

What has she said about the GoFundMe money in her latest statement?

In a statement on the GoFundMe appeal Get Jay Slater Home, Debbie thanked the ‘vast’ generosity of donors, saying her family are ‘grateful for all of your support and kindness during this unimaginable time’.

Ms Duncan wrote that part of the funds will be used to support volunteers hunting for Mr Slater in the mountains near to where his last phone call was traced.

She went on: ‘We are currently looking after Paul Arnott, putting together a package of any equipment and essentials he needs and going up to do a drop for him.

‘We are also supporting Callum Fahim and his group with accommodation and other essentials.’

Paul Arnott, 29, a self-described ‘explorer’, has posted dozens of videos from the island on his account ‘Down the Rapids’.

The remaining money will be used to support rescue teams, Ms Duncan said, as well as her family’s ‘own expenses as we remain in Tenerife looking for our boy’.

She added: ‘We will continue to keep you all updated on the progress on our GoFundMe page, and we thank you for your continued support. Please keep sharing and supporting our fundraiser to help us bring Jay home.’

GoFundMe initially suspends fundraising for Jay Slater

Early on in the search aFacebookgroup created by Jay’s family insisted his mum did not want any GoFundMe pages created and urged followers not to donate to any.

Several quickly pointed out that there were already ‘nine fake go fund me pages out there so far’.

The crowdfunding platform removed a number of fundraisers, saying efforts were ongoing to verify the identity of the organisers and confirm donations would go to Jay’s family.

What did GoFundMe said about the fake fundraisers?

In a statement, a spokesperson said: ‘Our hearts go out to Jay Slater, his family and everyone else concerned about his disappearance. All campaigns are under review and no money will be transferred unless we can verify it goes straight to his family.

‘At moments like this, we often see people set up campaigns to benefit strangers when they are moved to help. That is why we work with organisers to ensure any money donated goes to the right place.

‘GoFundMe has a dedicated Trust & Safety team reviewing all relevant fundraisers. In addition to the team of experts, we deploy proprietary technical tools and have multiple processes in place to verify the identity of organizers and the recipient of the fundraiser.

‘Before money is transferred, an individual or organization’s information, including their banking information, must be verified.’

Trolls target Jay’s family

The sixth day of searches began today after the administrator of an official Facebook page set up to help find Jaysaid somebody had logged into his Instagram account who was not him.

Rachel Louise Hargreaves said people who had been ‘hacking’ the social media accounts of hisfamily were ‘sick in the head’.

Shortly after landing inTenerife, Debbie revealed she had already received vile calls from pranksters claiming to have kidnapped her son.

She 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.’

Even the genuine fundraiser has not escaped the trolling, with social media users joking about donations from ‘Madeleine McCann’, ‘Ian Huntley’, ‘Pablo Escobar’, ‘Anne Frank’ and ‘Jay Slater’.

Conspiracy theorists and armchair detectives

Like previous high profile cases, speculation about what could have happened to Jay has been rife online.

Some have suggested the teenager may have been kidnapped. Others have said he might simply be in hiding.

Pleading for an end to the ‘cruel’ commentary, Ms Hargreaves posted in the Facebook group: ‘Jay is five days missing and we don’t know if he’s alone or dead.

‘Honestly, if anyone thinks we are all in on it then I will remove you myself.’

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