EXCLUSIVEIdentity of Jay Slater search's 'Johnny Vegas' man is revealed by TV sleuth while hunt continues - as new unidentified mystery woman is now placed at the last sighting of the missing bricklayer
- The 19-year-old went missing on the Canary Island weeks ago on June 17
A convicted drug dealer who drove missing raver Jay Slater to a remote Tenerife AirBnB just before he vanished last month is the mystery 'Johnny Vegas', MailOnline can reveal.
Ayub Qassim, 31, was tracked down last week and said apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, 'arrived alive and left alive' at the apartment following an end of festival after party.
But now TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas has told MailOnline he has also interviewed Qassim and coaxed out more details from him to flesh out the mystery which include him confirm the nickname Johnny Vegas is his.
Jay has not been seen since June 17 when he left the AirBnB in the village of Masca, an hour from the heady party resort of Playa de las Americas in the south of Tenerife.
He was driven away by Qassim and another man – who have been deemed 'irrelevant' by Spanish police investigating the disappearance - and which has left Jay's family 'baffled'.
Jay Slater, 19, went missing in Tenerife since June 17 after he left the AirBnB in the village of Masca
Ayub Qassim, 31, (pictured far left with British rapper Potter Payper) was tracked down last week and said apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, 'arrived alive and left alive'
TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas (pictured in Tenerife) told MailOnline he has also interviewed Qassim and coaxed out more details from him
An extensive search of the mountainside near Masca in the Parque Rural Teno close to where his mobile phone last pinged using drones, dogs and helicopters has failed to find any trace of him.
A major breakthrough came last week when MailOnline found Qassim at his flat in East London after a comprehensive investigation and now he has spoken again in depth and revealed new details.
Former Met Police officer Mr Williams-Thomas, who exposed Jimmy Savile, told MailOnline: 'In the last 24 hours I have spoken in detail with Ayub Qassim, who is also known as Jonny Vegas.
'He told me he was on the (Veronicas) Strip in Playa de las Americas and said that Jay wanted to carry on partying and that he hadn't anywhere to stay, so he (Qassim) invited him back to his rental.
'In the car they played music all the way, they stopped once to get a can of fizzy drink, and there was three of them in the car, Jay in the back and Qassim's friend in the front.
'Once at the property, his friend opened the door, and went to the left and went straight to sleep.
'Jay walked in, and Qassim walked in behind him, went upstairs, and got him a red blanket.'
Jay, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, travelled to the Canary Islands for a musical festival with his friend Lucy and another friend
Qassim booked the Airbnb, which Jay went back to with him and another man, under the name Ayub Abdul
The £40-a-night Casa Abuela Tina holiday rental near the remote village of Masca where Jay spent his final hours before going missing
Jay's father Warren and brother Zak pictured on Wednesday hiking through the mountain track where Jay's phone was last located. They have returned to a Tenerife gorge with a search team
Mr Williams-Thomas added: 'Qassim said 'Yo bro, the sofa's for you there' and he gave him a towel if he needed a shower.
'Jay also asked for a cigarette and Qassim gave him a Camel cigarette and left it on the side.
'Jay then asked for a charger and then went into Qassim's friend room, while he was sleeping and got the charger.'
Mr Williams-Thomas said that Qassim told him he then went to sleep and woke up to the sound of the door buzzing.
He added: 'Qassim opened the door and spoke to a woman and man and they told, him to move his car, which he did and he said he could see Jay chatting to a woman.
'He said that after moving the car, he came back and saw Jay had his trainers on and he told Qassim that the woman had said he could get a bus 'every ten minutes'.
'Qassim said to him "Chill, mate, I'll drop you off later, when I wake up' but he said Jay said 'nah, I need some scran, I'm hungry"
'Jay said he had been told by the woman the bus to Los Cristianos was every ten minutes and Qassim said there was no bus and added "Do what you like' before going to sleep."
Qassim invited Jay back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife and says: 'He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive'
Qassim, 31, was jailed nine years ago for being the mastermind behind a sophisticated operation to flood Wales with Class A drugs
Jay (right) pictured alongside his mother Debbie and brother Zak (left) who flew out to Tenerife after his disappearance
A map showing Jay Slater's last known movements before he disappeared
Jay Slater's best friend Lucy Law previously posted this picture on social media of the missing teenager nearly three weeks after he vanished in Tenerife
Mr Williams-Thomas added: 'Qassim says the next think he remembers is getting a call from one of Jay's friends to say he is lying in a ditch somewhere and that he's been 'bitten by a cactus'.
Qassim would not tell Mr Williams-Thomas the identity of the second man who was with him and refused to discuss an alleged theft of a Rolex which might have contributed to Jay's disappearance.
Last week the TV detective, who has probed a string of missing persons cases, also said Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had been 'anxious and scared' when he left the property.
Qassim – who has spoken to Spanish police – was jailed in 2015 for nine years for being the ring leader of a London-based gang dealing heroin and crack cocaine in Cardiff.
He is also closely connected to a legal cannabis café in Tenerife owned by his childhood pal , drill rapper Potter Payper.
Initially it was thought Johnny Vegas was the nickname of the second man who was at the AirBnB but this has been ruled out by Mr Williams-Thomas new interview.
However Qassim's story is still far from clear as Jay's apartment was just ten minutes from Papagayo's nightclub where the after party was being held.
On Saturday Jay's uncle Glen Duncan, 41, searched the area for several hours with Jay's dad Warren, 58, and his brother Zak, 24.
Lucy (pictured) was one of the last people to hear from Jay and had gone to a festival with him the night before he disappeared
After more than six hours under a blazing sun, he told waiting media he was 'baffled' by the decision to rule the two men out.
He added:' I've been thinking third party involvement from the start. Why would these two lads hire a villa up here ?
'They're down on the strip, you know what it's like down there. There's millions of apartments and hotels down there in Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas.
'Straight away, that's just suspicious in itself. Then apparently one who has been found came out and said he arrived alive and left alone.
'That line in itself is suspicious. The fact he has come out and said all his mates have left him and he had nowhere to go, he was ten minutes from his apartment in Los Cristianos.
'He's not stupid. If he didn't have a room key he could have gone to reception for a replacement.'
Spanish police told MailOnline that although the search was over ' the investigation was continuing and there were many open avenues being looked into'.
