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A donation page set up to fund the search of missing teenager Jay Slater is still receiving donations almost two weeks after his funeral.
Created by the 19-year-old’s “best friend” Lucy Mae, the last person to have contact with Jay before his disappearance on 17 June, the GoFundMe page was established to ignite a rescue mission for the apprentice bricklayer.
Slater, from Accrington, Lancashire, went missing in Tenerife following a music festival. After leaving with strangers he befriended at an afterparty, Jay attempted a 10-hour walk back to his accommodation after missing his bus.
Following the discovery of Jay’s body after a 29-day search, his mother, Debbie Duncan, 55, encouraged members of the public to keep donating to the GoFundMe to cover the costs of the repatriation of his body to the UK.
She also intended to use the already significant sum raised to give the teen, who died on his first ever holiday without his parents, “the send-off he deserves”.
The fundraiser has now raised £72,686 with the latest donation being received just 12 hours ago.
It has been a source of controversy online after questions were raised about how the significant sum would be spent.
Jay’s autopsy revealed that the teenager died after “a fall or plunge from height”, which left him with several broken bones.
Jay’s mother, Debbie, recently told The Sun that she has been relentlessly trolled as a result of the fundraiser, which she claims she was initially unaware of.
“I did not know anything about GoFundMe and did not know what it was,” she told the outlet.
“We were only told about it by Lucy when we were at the police station. We have had all these people slagging me off about a GoFundMe that I didn’t ask for.
“I said, so I don’t want to use it and didn’t want to touch it.
“The only things it’s been used for are some accommodation costs, the dog team that came over – and some repatriation costs which are still ongoing.”
The charity LBT Global said repatriation costs to the UK can exceed £20,000, leaving the Slater family with over £50,000 for other costs incurred by the search mission and funeral.
Footage of the teenager’s funeral has gone viral online after his family decided to honour his memory with a live DJ set and rave in a marquee tent.
Debbie claims to have been in regular contact with GoFundMe and said the fundraising platform knows “the money has not been misused”.
“I have been speaking to GoFundMe me virtually every day and they have been amazing and so supportive,” she added to The Sun.
“They know the money has not been misused – and have been telling me I don’t have to explain what every last penny has been used for.”
The Independent has reached out to GoFundMe and Lancashire Police for comment.
