Jay Slater was ‘most smiley person in the room’

Jay Slater’s friends have paid tribute to “the happiest, smileiest man in the room” after his body was discovered during a search in Tenerife.

Lucy Law, the last person known to have spoken to Slater by phone on June 17, paid tribute to him on her Instagram page.

She said: “I’m honestly at a loss for words. You were always the happiest person in the room and had the biggest smile on your face. Jay, you were one of a kind and we will miss you more than you know.”

Spanish police said “all evidence” indicated the body was Mr Slater’s.

Rescue workers released video footage showing them scaling rock faces and battling shrubs during the search.

Part of the footage showed two searchers being hoisted from the scene by helicopter after the body was found.

They said Mr Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, may have fallen in the steep, inaccessible area where he was found.

Ms Law’s eulogy continued: “I’m sure you have us all ‘shining up our dancing shoes and getting ready’.”

“We all love you. Fly high.”

Sarah Smith, MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, said she would ensure Mr Slater’s family received support from the government “and particularly work to ensure his repatriation as quickly as possible”.

Slater had attended the NRG music festival with two friends before his disappearance and was last seen in Rural de Teno Park in the northern Canary Islands, around an 11-hour walk from where he was staying.

He headed to an Airbnb in Masca after a night out, but two men who reportedly rented the property were later determined to have “no connection” to the incident.

The search for Mr Slater involved family, friends, police, specialist mountain rescue teams and volunteers from several countries. Dutch mountain rescue team.

LBT Global, a charity that supports the families of British people missing abroad, said that while a formal identification had not yet been made, “the body was found among Mr Slater’s belongings and clothing”.

“Post-mortem and forensic examinations will follow,” it added.

Apprentice Bricklayer’s Quest Stopped by Spanish police Police called off the search at the end of June but said in a statement on Monday that teams were continuing to search daily.

“This discovery was made possible thanks to the constant and careful search carried out by security forces over the last 29 days, during which natural spaces were protected from being filled with bystanders,” it added.

Residents of Slater’s hometown have offered their support and prayers to his family.

“Our thoughts are with them and our prayers are with them and we are here to support them in their time of need,” said Matt Smith, pastor of West End Methodist Church.

Blue ribbons were tied on trees, lampposts and fences outside churches across Oswaldtwisle to show support for the family.

Mr Smith said the church would be open from 7pm to 9pm BST and would “provide an opportunity for people to come together and share feelings, thoughts and prayers with one another”.

He said the church will be open for people to pray, write messages and light candles “for people to just come here and we serve the community for them.”

One member of the Oswaldtwistle community said: BBC Radio Lancashire“I think it’s been a big blow to the community around here because he’s obviously a local lad and well known.

“My heart goes out to the family going through this situation.”