Jay Slater: GoFundMe to determine ‘next steps’ with family | World | News
GoFundMe has said it will work with Jay Slater‘s family to determine what will happen to the thousands of pounds people have donated to them, after a body was found in search for the Brit earlier today in a heartbreaking update in the search,.
Lucy Law, one of the friends who was on holiday with Jay in Tenerife, set up the fundraising page after the 19-year-old went missing on the morning of June 17.
During the past four weeks, the page has raised more than £54,000 through some 4,400 donations. On July 13, Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan provided an update on the page, saying some of the donations would be used to pay for a team of experts from the Netherlands to support the family’s search after Spanish police called off their own mission on June 30.
Following the discovery of a body in the area where Jay’s phone last pinged, however, it is not clear what will happen to the funds.
A GoFundMe spokesperson said the organisation was in “regular contact” with Jay’s family – and would determine with them the “next steps” when it comes to the donations soon.
They told The Sun: “We are in regular contact with Jay’s family and will work together with them in the coming weeks on the next steps around the funds donated.”
Donations kept coming in after the Spanish police announced the finding of a body, not yet identified.
Some of the donors offered their condolences to the family, with one writing: “I am so sorry to hear the news of your poor son my deepest condolences to your family”.
A spokesman for the Guardia Civil said today: “After 29 constant days of searching the lifeless body of the young man has been found in the Masca area. The discovery has been possible thanks to the tireless and discreet search carried out by the Civil Guard over these 29 days.
“Everything is pointing to the body being that of the young British man who disappeared on June 17, pending full identification. Initial inquiries are pointing to him having suffered an accident/fall in the area where he was found.”
British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global also shared a statement, in which they announced they were supporting Jay’s loved ones, adding: “Although formal identification is yet to be carried out, the body was found with Mr Slater’s possessions and clothes.”
