Jay Slater’s Mum Reveals Unsent Snapchat Message He Wrote Before His Death

Jay Slater had written a chilling Snapchat message saying, “Listen, I’m not going to make it,” shortly before his death, according to his mother Debbie Duncan.

The 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared in Tenerife in June 2024. His body was discovered at the bottom of a ravine in July, following a month-long search.

Speaking in the Channel 4 documentary The Disappearance of Jay Slater, Debbie explained that the message was found on Jay’s Snapchat account after his phone was returned to the family. Although it had initially remained unsent, it was later delivered to his friend Bradley Geoghan when the family accessed the account.

“That was the last message he sent… it’s kind of like he knew he just wasn’t going to make it,” Debbie said.

The message that frightened Jay’s friend

Debbie recalled discovering the unfinished message when she logged into Jay’s Snapchat.

“When we signed into Jay’s Snapchat there was an unsent message from Jay to Brad,” she explained. “So the message was obviously just flying around and then the message sent to Brad, which obviously gave Brad a fright.”

Bradley immediately contacted Debbie to ask whether she was using Jay’s phone.

“He said, ‘I’ve just got a message that’s just come through from Jay’,” Debbie recalled.

The discovery added another emotional detail to the final hours of Jay’s life.

Jay’s final hours in Tenerife

Before he disappeared, Jay had been at a nightclub with friends in Playa de las Americas before travelling to an Airbnb in the north of Tenerife with two men he had met.

The following morning, June 17, he left the property in the Masca area and spoke to friends by phone. During those conversations, Jay said his phone was running out of battery and that he had no water.

A major search operation was launched after he was reported missing.

Almost a month later, Jay’s body was found in a ravine. An inquest subsequently established that he died instantly from injuries sustained in the fall.

Debbie wants tougher rules on online misinformation

Jay’s disappearance was accompanied by an intense wave of online speculation, something Debbie says has motivated her to campaign for stronger regulations governing misinformation about missing people.

Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, she said she wanted to see changes to the law, whether through amendments to existing legislation or the introduction of new rules.

“I feel really passionate about getting a change in the law, if it is a change in an existing law or a new law,” she said.

Debbie has previously spoken about the abuse and speculation directed at her family during the social media frenzy surrounding Jay’s disappearance, including accusations from online trolls that she had murdered her own son.

She said she had discussed her campaign with Kanishka Narayan, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and that her local MP, Sarah Smith, had also supported her efforts.

The wider impact of social media speculation

Debbie also pointed to the disappearance of fellow Lancashire woman Nicola Bulley as another example of how intense online speculation can develop around a missing-person case.

Bulley disappeared in January 2023, and her body was found in the River Wyre on February 19, after around three weeks of searches and widespread public and online attention.

An inquest held in June of the following year concluded that she had died from accidental drowning.

Bulley’s partner, Paul Ansell, later described the intense social media focus and online obsession surrounding her disappearance as a “monster” that had become out of control.

For Debbie, the experiences surrounding both cases have reinforced her belief that stronger safeguards are needed to prevent misinformation from spreading while families are still searching for answers about missing loved ones.