JAY Slater left the Airbnb he went to with two men feeling "scared" after admitting to stealing a £12,000 Rolex, an investigator claims.
Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas said the 19-year-old did not want to return to the remote holiday let in northwest Tenerife despite having little phone battery.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay, who had been at a rave all night in Playa de las Americas, travelled north to the Airbnb in Masca village in the early hours of June 17.
During the hour-long drive, Mark claims Jay posted a Snapchat saying he had taken a Rolex worth £12,000 from an unknown person.
Police had been examining security cameras at a beach club and speaking to witnesses about an alleged Rolex theft hours before Jay vanished.
It was reported a brawl broke out at the Papagayo Beach Club in the early hours of June 17 after a "burly" Eastern European man allegedly had his pricey watch stolen.
Mark said he and his team had been "unable to validate" Jay's claim on Snapchat "in terms of reported theft".
He added: "However friends of Jay said he would not make this up and the watch was subject of later conversation between the friends."
Do you know Ayub Abdul or the man whose Rolex was stolen? Contact The Sun at [email protected] or on Whatsapp at 07423 720 250.
Former police officer Mark - who worked on the Madeleine McCann case - said while at the Airbnb, called Casa Abuela Tina, Jay had contact with pals via social media.
It included a Snapchat picture he sent to pals from the cottage holding a cigarette at 7.30am.
Today, a picture emerged of the man who rented the Airbnb for £40 a night.
Ayub Abdul paid £120 for the remote holiday let in Rural de Teno park for three days.
According to Mark, the host of the Airbnb told Jay at around 8am there would be a bus two hours later.
Jay then tried to make his way back to his holiday accommodation, faced with an 11-hour walk.
The owner of Casa Abuela Tina last week told how she saw Jay walking off on his own uphill in the vast mountainous area near Masca on the morning he vanished.
Mark - who worked on the Madeleine McCann case - said Jay talked to at least three friends via message and the phone while trekking back, telling them he was lost.
At around 8.50am he made a final frantic call to friend Lucy, saying he was in the "middle of nowhere" with no water and had just one per cent battery on his phone.
Mark said in a video update today: "He was told to go back by two people to the rental.
"He said he could not do that and that he'd already been walking for 30 minutes and that he was now off road and was walking on a track where there were loose stones."
Jay did, however, send his location at both 8.49am and 8.50am to friends, showing him on a hiking trail in the desolate Rural de Teno park.
The teen's phone battery then died, and he has not been seen or heard from since.
Mark has claimed Jay fled the holiday let and was "scared".
He said: "We have received information that would suggest that Jay left the rental property feeling scared and he would not return to the rental, even though that would have been the most sensible course of action, and also where he could have charged his phone, got some water and made contact with friends.
"We continue to investigate this aspect."
The two men Jay was with in the last hours before he disappeared spoke to police on the island before jetting back to the UK.
They have been deemed "not relevant" to the investigation by Spanish police.
Mark, who helped expose Jimmy Savile, flew to Tenerife a week after Jay vanished as he wanted to help his devastated family get answers.
While not part of the official probe, Mark has been conducting his own investigation and today said he and his team believe there is no third-party involvement in Jay's disappearance.
He said: "We have, however, ruled out hostage or kidnapping situation because no credible ransom demand has been made.
"We've no evidence at this stage to say there was a third party criminal involvement in Jay's disappearance."
Mark said he still had a number of lines of inquiry to look into, so was still "keeping an open mind", however.
It comes after a Spanish judge on Monday revealed there is “no current evidence of criminality” in the case.
Many believed Jay could have been kidnapped or murdered by a criminal gang in the mountains.
But investigating judge Maria Goya, who is being kept informed of developments by police, was told by the Civil Guard that nothing points to Jay being the victim of a crime.
Cops on the island called off the mammoth search operation for Jay on Sunday in a huge blow to his devastated family.
On Tuesday, however, two plain-clothed police officers searched the Airbnb apartment again.
Detectives spent two hours combing the let on the island's northwest.
Jay's heartbroken family said "words cannot describe the agony" after the search was abruptly called off less than two weeks into the hunt.
Mum Debbie Duncan said in a heartbreaking statement "we just want to find him" after the family vowed to keep looking.
Her emotional message said: "Jay is a normal guy who is in his third year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends.
"We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance. Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing.
"He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him.
"We do not have any information on his whereabouts."
Parents Debbie and Warren, as well as brother Zak, are all in Tenerife still looking for answers on what happened to Jay.
