Debbie Duncan, the mother of Jay Slater, has said she finds it hard not to feel "guilty" following her son's death. Jay, 19, went missing in Tenerife in June 2024 after leaving a remote Airbnb following a night out. He tried to walk through steep, unfamiliar terrain, told a friend he was lost and frightened, and his phone then died.
Body found after 29-day search
After a 29-day search, his body was found in a deep ravine. Post-mortem examinations concluded that he died from injuries sustained in a fall and found no evidence that someone had harmed him.
Speaking on the Channel 5 documentary Cause Of Death, Debbie admitted that she finds it tricky not to think how she could have done things differently in the build up to his death.
Mother's regrets and guilt
She admitted to wondering "Why did you not ring me?", but adds that she also thinks about why she didn't respond to a Snapchat he posted that morning.
Despite these anxieties, Debbie says that nobody should be blamed for her son's tragic death, although she doesn't always feel that way. She explained: "Nobody knew what was going to happen. I need to stop feeling guilty about that. It’s really hard."
Retracing the final route
The 57-year-old mum also discussed the moments leading up to her son's tragic passing, saying that "he must have been so scared".
She said: "We thought, how was it possible to get to a place where he said to Lucy, ‘I’m lost, all I can see is mountains’? He must have been so scared, thinking, I can’t turn back."
Debbie does say she has a degree of closure, especially after retracing the same route that her son took in his final moments. She said: "The closure I’ve got is from the walk, knowing where he set off from, how he has seen the ocean and gone down, and where he got to before he died. Seeing all that now, I understand it better. That’s what closure has given me."
He would be sorry, says mum
Debbie also says she knows that, if her son were still here, he would be "sorry" for what had transpired. She explained: "I know he’d be so sorry for the mistakes he made. He’d be saying, ‘I’m so sorry, Mum.’"
Cause of Death airs on Channel 5 on Wednesday (September 30).
