Jay Slater 'admitted to pals he stole £12,000 Rolex watch and was trying to sell it' just hours before teenager went missing as he left remote Airbnb cottage

Jay Slater admitted to friends that he stole a £12,000 Rolex watch and was trying to sell it just hours before the British teenager went missing, a former detective has claimed.

Mark Williams-Thomas, who is probing the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer's disappearance from a remote mountainous area of Tenerife, posted an update on X on Wednesday morning.

The TV detective, who also probed Nicola Bulley's disappearance, claimed Jay's friends revealed the missing raver had sent them a Snapchat in the early hours of June 17 in which he admitted to stealing the luxury timepiece.

Mr Williams-Thomas said that Jay was headed in a Seat Leon hire car to the rented Casa Abuela Tina Airbnb, near the village of Masca, with two older British men when he made the shocking Rolex claim.

Although the TV detective has not been able to verify that an alleged theft took place, he said friends of Jay have assured him that the missing teenager would not have made it up.

Mr Williams-Thomas said he was making the new information public to 'provide some clarity and clear up the total inaccuracies' fuelled by conspiracy theories. 

Apprentice bricklayer Jay, who had been partying on the final night of the three-day NRG festival in Tenerife's Playa de las Americas resort, travelled north to the Casa Abuela Tina Airbnb with the two men in the early hours of June 17.

It comes as MailOnline today revealed one of those men, who used the name Ayub Abdul to book the £40-a-night holiday rental online. 

During the hour-long journey, Mr Williams-Thomas claims Jay posted a Snapchat saying he had taken a Rolex worth £12,000 from an unknown person. MailOnline has approached Jay's family about the claims.

Police previously said they were investigating a scuffle outside Papagayo Beach Club, where Jay was seen partying the night he went missing.

It is believed a fight - involving an Eastern European man who reportedly had his valuable Rolex stolen - broke out after the venue had closed.

One of Jay's friends, who had travelled to Tenerife to help in the search told detectives the alleged incident could have led to his disappearance.

Mr Williams-Thomas said he was 'unable to validate' Jay's claim on Snapchat 'in terms of reported theft'.

 He added: 'However friends of Jay said he would not make this up and the watch was subject of later conversation between the friends.'

The TV detective, who also exposed Jimmy Savile's evil crimes, said Jay had contact with pals on social media while at the Casa Abuela Tina property.

This included a Snapchat picture he sent to friends on the steps of the cottage at 7.30am, in which he was holding a cigarette.  

Jay was last seen at around 8am when he tried to make his way back to his holiday accommodation. He asked the owner of the Airbnb when the next bus to Los Cristianos was, but when she said 10am he set off on foot for what would have been an 11-hour walk.

The Airbnb owner said she saw Jay walking uphill - the wrong way back to his accommodation - in the vast mountainous area, where his phone last pinged.

Mr Williams-Thomas said Jay spoke to at least three friends via message and on the phone while walking back, telling them he was lost.

 Friend Lucy Law said Jay had called her shortly after he was last seen to say he was thirsty and had no water and just one per cent battery on his phone. Another friend, Brad Hargreaves, said he also spoke to Jay that morning and thought he had veered off the main road and may have slid down rocks.

Mark said in a video update today: 'He was told to go back by two people to the rental.

'He said he could not do that and that he'd already been walking for 30 minutes and that he was now off road and was walking on a track where there were loose stones.'

Jay sent his location at both 8.49am and 8.50am to friends, which showed him on a hiking trail in the rugged Rural de Teno park. He has not been seen or heard from since. 

Mr Williams-Thomas claimed Jay left the holiday home because he was spooked.

He said: 'We have received information that would suggest that Jay left the rental property feeling scared and he would not return to the rental, even though that would have been the most sensible course of action, and also where he could have charged his phone, got some water and made contact with friends.

'We continue to investigate this aspect.'

The two men Jay was with spoke to police on the island before flying back to the UK. Spanish police have said they are not 'relevant' to the investigation.

Mr Williams-Thomas, who flew out to Tenerife last week to help, has been conducting his own investigation after Spanish cops called off the search on Sunday. He said his team believe there is no third-party involvement.

He said: 'We have, however, ruled out hostage or kidnapping situation because no credible ransom demand has been made.

'We've no evidence at this stage to say there was a third party criminal involvement in Jay's disappearance.'

He said he still had a number of lines of inquiry to look into, so was still 'keeping an open mind'.

It comes after a Spanish judge revealed on Monday that there is 'no current evidence of criminality'.

Many, including Jay's mother Debbie Duncan, believed he had been taken against his will.

Cops on Tenerife called off the massive search on Sunday in a huge blow to Jay's family. However, on Tuesday, two plain-clothed police officers returned to the Airbnb.

They spent around two hours searching the Airbnb.

Last night, Jay's mother Debbie issued an update, saying: 'Jay is a normal guy who is in his third year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends.

'We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance. Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing.

'He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him.

'We do not have any information on his whereabouts.' 

Debbie and Jay's father, Warren, as well as brother Zak, have stayed on Tenerife as they desperately search for answers.