A new Channel 5 documentary about Jay Slater has followed his mum as she continues to seek closure from his passing. The 19-year-old from Lancashire went missing in June 2024 while on holiday in Tenerife. His disappearance prompted a huge manhunt on the island that gained mass media attention.
Tragically, Jay was found dead in a remote area near the village of Masca almost a month later, on July 15. Since then, a coroner's inquest has ruled the teenager died by accident after falling down a ravine.
However, two years on from his death, Jay's mum Debbie Duncan still has unanswered questions. On Wednesday (September 30), the latest episode of Cause of Death on Channel 5 saw Debbie going back to Tenerife for answers.
Debbie saw images of Jay's body
Early on in the documentary, Debbie was asked by Dr Shepherd if she had ever seen images of her son's body after he died. It was here that she began crying and shared that she saw images unexpectedly.
"I did think about it and thought 'I don't think I can because he's been there for all that time. When we had to go back to Tenerife to get some paperwork from the courts when we collected his form. To my horror there were images of Jay.
"I thought my heart was going to stop, it was awful. When people say that there's another conspiracy saying 'how did you know it was Jay'. It was Jay. A beautiful boy," she said, fighting tears.
People still call Jay's phone
Showing the room Jay grew up in, Debbie went through Jay's phone, with her revealing that it still receives messages and contains pictures of videos from him from the months leading up to his death.
"It's strange really that even after two years people still try his phone. I don't look for that reason, I'm looking because it has a lot of memories there.
"That's one [video] he took at work, a dusty old job, filthy. He was doing it for over three years, his bricklaying apprenticeship. I was really proud of him and he was proud of himself.
"When we got his phone back, it was just seeing it for yourself. There's videos on there from the festival on the Friday night, the pool party on the Saturday," she stated.
Dr Richard Shepherd on Jay's injuries
Debbie is seen for the first time being taken through her son's postmortem by the man who carried it out, Dr Richard Shepherd. He talked her through the details of his examination explaining the medical evidence behind Jay's death.
"We've got a video of the skull. When we look at it, we see there is a very big fracture here and a severe fracture on the other side. These fractures are so severe that you can say with certainty that it's immediately unconscious from that blow. No more pain or sensation," he said.
Showing a picture of a pelvis fracture sustained by Jay, he continued: "That's important that it sort of fits with this pattern, a big bump on the left hand side. We're not talking about 'bump, bump, bump'. We're talking about a big bump that's consistent with a fall from a height."
Speaking in a talking head, Dr Shepherd noted: "The images are disturbing and I really don't want to make Debbie's experience and memories worse by showing her the images of Jay's body…
"The reality can be very hard, the degree of fracture is so severe there's no doubt he would have been instantly unconscious and I think it's quite likely that he was instantly dead too."
Why Debbie wanted to return to Tenerife
After having Jay's fatal injuries explained by Dr Shepherd, Debbie noted: "After speaking to Dr Shephard I'm clear on how Jay actually died. I think now the next thing is why."
It turned out that the next step was for her to go back to what proved to be Jay's final holiday destination. Explaining why she had to go back to Tenerife, Debbie said: "I think I'll always be drawn to Tenerife now. Like a magnet you want to come back because you know it was the last place he was having fun."
Seeing the trail Jay walked later in the episode, she said: "He's making bad decisions, but he didn't realise they were bad decisions at the time'. The invincibility of a 19-year-old."
Jay's uncle's closure
One person who plays a big part in the documentary is Jay's uncle Glen, who wanted to go to Tenerife with Debbie for a 'better understanding'. To do this he retraced Jay's final steps in Masca, where Jay was last seen alive.
Recreating the walk, he noted that his nephew was 'completely unprepared for the walk'. While taking the trail, Glen got to the path's dead end and missed a connected turn for hiking path 'without ever realising it'. He noted: "As best as you can, you want to put yourself in the position of Jay.
"If you're heading for the coast, to make a decision to turn around and go back up is a huge decision. I think that's possibly one of the reasons he went on the path he did."
Later Glen said that retracing Jay's steps was hard as it was too hot and the terrain was 'bad'. Coming just 430m away from where Jay's body was found, Glen decided it was 'the point of no return' and that he wouldn't be 'going any further'.
Returning to Debbie, he told his sister: "We didn't get near to where he was found, but we got as far as we could without putting ourselves in danger. I just think 'that's a bit of closure for me. I don't think there's any way of knowing which direction he went."
Debbie reflection on son's death
The documentary concluded with Debbie and Glen going to where Jay would have ended up had he made his presumed destination. She said through tears: "He didn't know he was heading for this, he didn't know what he had in front of him. It just makes me sad."
Reflecting on the trip, Debbie said just before the credits began to roll: "He must have been so scared thinking 'what have I done, I can't turn back'. When you look at it, he doesn't know why. I think the closure I got is the walk.
"Knowing where he's set off from, that he's seen the ocean, gone down, where he got to when his phone died. That was important to me. Seeing all that now, I understand it better.
"That's what closure it's given me. I know that he'd be so sorry for the mistakes he made. He'd be saying 'I'm so sorry mum'."
