Jay Slater missed the bus to Tenerife, where he was gone for five days

Last connection: Aloe vera cut – needs water

With 1% mobile phone battery remaining, Briton Jay Slater, 19, showed the last sign of his life.

Five days later, he's still missing in holiday paradise.

“I hope this ends now, this living nightmare,” says his mother, who went down to Tenerife to search for her son.

Jay Slater had taken time off from his job as a construction apprentice in Oswaldtwistle, UK, near Blackburn. He and his friends visited the NRG Music Festival in the southern part of Tenerife, British media reported.

After accompanying two new friends to an after-party, he misses the bus to his vacation home.

He must then have decided to return home on foot, a walk that would have taken eleven hours.

At eight o'clock on Monday morning, he called a friend. He told his friend he was lost, had cut himself on a cactus, needed water, and that his phone had 1 percent battery. Then the call was cut off.

Last sign – in the wrong direction

The cellphone gave the last indication of Slater's location a half-mile uphill from the cabin, in the mountainous Rural de Teno National Park, a popular destination for hiking tourists. The location was in the opposite direction from the seaside resort where he lived with his friends.

When his friends searched for him in vain, the Spanish police, the Guardia Civil, were called. On Tuesday, Slater's mother and brother flew to Tenerife to join the search efforts.

-It's just a shock and it doesn't seem real. It's terrible, it's terrible. Jay Slater's mother, Debbie Duncan, says he's just a great person that everyone wanted to be with Watchman.

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“Until the last moment”

On Wednesday, police continued to search the area using helicopters, drones and dogs. Since then, the manhunt has continued without any success.

On Friday, search operations focused on one of the valleys in the area and the trails adjacent to it. About 25 volunteers participated on Friday, in addition to police, emergency services and mountain rescue workers.

-We still have hope that he is alive, until the last moment when all hope is lost. The truth is, we get a little frustrated because we can't find it. They are so large here that it is very difficult to search for them in such a steep area. But we are doing everything we can, one rescue worker told The Guardian on Friday.

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“wonderful person”

The research sparks such interest in Slater's native country that a group has been started to “bring Slater home.”

On Friday, it raised just over 300,000 Swedish krona. A Facebook group dedicated to finding the 19-year-old gained 468,000 members over the week, but was derailed when conspiracy theories about his disappearance began circulating.

“It has gone too far,” wrote Slater Rush Louise Harge, who founded the group before it closed.

On Thursday, more of the 19-year-old's friends and family were flown to Tenerife to join the search. In a previous post, Harge wrote and thanked the support relatives received:

“It's hard to find the words now but all I can say is that we are still searching and everyone is doing everything they can. I hope this ends now, this living nightmare.”