Jay Slater police search slammed as 'madness' by TikTok star helping hunt for missing teen
TikTok sensation Paul Arnott has hit out at Tenerife police, calling their efforts in searching for missing teen Jay Slater "ridiculous". The 29-year-old amateur mountaineer, who travelled from the UK to the Spanish island after paying £400 for a flight, joined the massive hunt for the missing 19 year old who was last heard from on the morning of June 17.
He voiced his exasperation over the delay in search operations on the 13th day of the mission. Taking matters into his own hands, Paul said he decided to start an independent search after becoming fed up with waiting. Speaking of his frustration, he said: "Take my name off. I want to go search. This is ridiculous."
In a heated monologue, Paul expressed his annoyance at wasting precious time while police seemed to dally. He shared with his followers: "Guys, I've literally been waiting for ages now. This is a massive PR thing I'm telling you now. I'm gonna ask them in a second to take my name off the list and do my own thing. This is ridiculous. Everyone's in their cars, it's all chat, chat, chat. My morning's been wasted. I've been so quiet about this, I'm not doing it anymore. I'm sick of this crap."
Disappointed by the lack of progress in what he hoped would be a "productive" morning, Paul blasted the Tenerife police for turning the search into what he termed "absolute madness". He claimed: "I'm so blooming stressed and annoyed about what's actually happened. I thought today was going to be so productive. I thought so many people were going to show up.", reports the Mirror.
He added: "I thought it was going to be really organised and I thought it was going to get out, not start the search when the hottest point of the day is. I just thought it was going to be massive and its not. It's absolute madness guys. I wish we could start a GoFundMe or something and just send a load of search and rescue guys from Scotland out.
"Maybe Monday I can contact Scottish Mountain Rescue and see if we can have a chat about things, but at the moment this is ridiculous. This is mad." The mountaineer previously told the Mirror he had been in touch with Jay's family, who say his search efforts were "making them proud."
"I wouldn't want them to come out here, it's the worst terrain ever," he said. "I wouldn't want my family coming out here, no chance. They're broken. I admire them so much for their strength. It's the worst situation any family could be in."
"I wouldn't want them to come out here. It's the worst terrain ever. I wouldn't want my family coming out here, no chance. They're broken. I admire them so much for their strength. It's the worst situation any family could be in."
