Missing teenager Jay Slater may have “suffered an accident or fall” in Tenerife, the Spanish Civil Guard said, as a body was recovered on Monday near where he disappeared.
The man’s body is believed to be Mr Slater’s but formal identification is yet to take place.
The 19-year-old, an apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, disappeared after leaving an Airbnb and attempting to walk back to his own accommodation on the Spanish holiday island on June 17.
The Spanish Civil Guard released video footage of rescuers climbing rock faces and battling through scrub as they carried out Monday’s search.
Part of the clip shows two members of the search team being winched out of the area by helicopter after the body had been found and recovered.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard said on Monday: “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.”
Friends of Mr Slater have shared emotional tributes online.
Brad Hargreaves, who went on holiday with Mr Slater and reportedly flew back to the UK last week, posted a photo of the pair to Instagram.
He wrote: “No words. Nothing will be the same without you. Rest easy brother. Love you always.”
A church in Mr Slater's hometown will open on Tuesday to remember the teenager. West End Methodist Church in Oswaldtwistle will be offering support to the local community, Sky News reported.
Reverend Matt Smith said: “With this news breaking, we hold Jay's family and friends in our thoughts and prayers at this horrible time.”
Mr Slater’s family has been informed of the discovery of the body, according to reports.
GoFundMe will work with the family “in the coming weeks” to determine what will happen to more than £50,000 worth of donations, the Sun reported.
A spokesperson told The Sun said: “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.”
Possessions and clothes belonging to Mr Slater were found alongside the body discovered by Spanish authorities, missing persons organisation LBT Global said.
It is understood the body was also found close to the site of the last location of the 19-year-old's mobile phone.
In a statement LBT Global said: “LBT Global is saddened to announce that a body found in Tenerife does look to be that of Jay Slater. It is understood the body was found close to the site of his mobile phone’s last location.
“Although formal identification is yet to be carried out, the body was found with Mr Slater’s possessions and clothes.
“A post-mortem examination and forensic enquiries will follow.
“LBT Global are supporting the family at this distressing time and ask for everyone to afford them space and privacy to come to terms with the news.”
Mr Slater had attended the NRG music festival with two friends before his disappearance, and his last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the Canary Island – which was about an 11-hour walk from his accommodation.
He had travelled to an Airbnb in Masca and two men said to have rented the property were later ruled “not relevant” to the case, according to reports.
At 8.30am on June 17 he called his friend Lucy Law, telling her he had missed a bus, his phone battery was on 1 per cent, and he had cut his leg on a cactus.
The search in the village of Masca, near Mr Slater’s last-known location, took place in a steep rocky area, including ravines, trails and paths.
Tenerife’s Guardia Civil called off the search for the apprentice bricklayer at the end of June after helicopters, drones and search dogs were deployed to find him.
But the Civil Guard confirmed on Monday that officers working mainly for the Greim specialist mountain team had continued to search for Mr Slater even though the “large-scale” operation was halted.
A force spokesman said: “The human remains were found some two hours before we went public with the information they had been found, so around 10am local time.
“The large-scale operation involving multiple units had been suspended but as we always said, we never stopped looking for Jay.
“The mountain rescue group continued looking for the missing man when they were on duty and have now found the remains of a person they believe is him.”
The spokesman was not able to say initially if any sniffer dogs had continued to be called upon.
Asked whether the force was in a position to say exactly where the human remains had been found, he said: “In the area near Masca is all I can say at the moment.”
He added: “We’ve always said the terrain is a very difficult terrain and the search was complicated.”
Mr Slater’s family continued to search for him on Tenerife.
In a statement on Sunday, his mother Debbie Duncan said the family were “desperate to find our beautiful boy”.
“As we approach four weeks of our beautiful Jay’s disappearance, we cannot put into words the heartache we are suffering as a family,” she said, in the statement released through LBT Global.
“Jay is a typical young man who loves life, with a bright future ahead of him. This month will mark the end of his three-year apprenticeship with the world at his feet.
“He is loved by everyone and has a close bond with his family and many, many friends.“He is a loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and friend to so many.”
More than £50,000 was raised by well-wishers to assist in the search for the missing 19-year-old. His mother said on Monday, shortly before the human remains were found, that the family had decided to use the funds to hire a specialist search team to help find Mr Slater.
Lancashire Police said in a statement that it had been notified by the Guardia Civil that they have found the body of a man “and that the indications are that this is Jay Slater".
The statement, carried by the BBC, added: "While at this stage no formal identification has been carried out our thoughts are very much with Jay’s family at this time, and we continue to offer them our support."
The autopsy is expected to take place in the next couple of days in the northern Tenerife city of La Laguna.
In Spain the results of post-mortems are not normally made public and are instead sent to an investigating magistrate.
In this case the Civil Guard has been reporting to a court in the town of Icod de los Vinos which will receive the results.
Court officials said at the start of the month there was “no current evidence of criminality” in the Jay Slater case.
