JAY Slater’s distraught family have been sent vile fake ransom demands, an investigator has revealed.
Mark Williams-Thomas, who is in Tenerife, said the teenager’s loved ones have been grappling with a deluge of cruel threats.
Ian WhittakerJay Slater has been missing since June 17[/caption]
It comes after police of the island drastically called on the search for Jay, 19, yesterday – almost two weeks after he vanished on June 17.
Mark today blasted vicious trolls targeting Jay’s family, who have vowed to keep up the hunt.
He said Jay’s loved ones had received warped ransom demands that have so far proved to be malicious hoaxes.
Mark said: “So much fake content has been created in the Jay Slater case – mocked up chat , messages , pics .
“It’s a very different world we live in today with social media and online detectives .
“Overwhelming response from people has been very positive people just wanting to help , even though most have no direct info , just what they have read ,seen or think .
“Also a number of people making vile threats and ransom demands (all checked out and have no credibility.”
Jay’s family have had to endure an onslaught of nasty messages and bogus theories from trolls online after the teen vanished.
Thousands of keyboard bashers have joined pathetic Facebook groups, including one called Jay Slater Discussions and Theories.
Within the publicly visible groups are dozens of cruel, senseless posts spewing completely unfounded claims and vile comments.
Most are posted anonymously or by trolls using spurious names.
Warped memes about Jay’s disappearance have also been shared within the groups.
Far-fetched theories suggest Jay could have been kidnapped after crossing “Moroccan drugs gangs” or that the mafia is behind his disappearance.
Vicious trolls have compared Debbie to Karen Mattews – a woman dubbed “Britain’s worst mum”.
Matthews made headlines in 2008 when she cooked up a sickening plot with relative Michael Donovan to make money off her daughter’s fake kidnapping.
Debbie says she has been bombarded with sham calls from idiotic pranksters claiming her son has been kidnapped.
The worried mum also received a warped Snapchat message telling her to “kiss goodbye to your son”.
Jay’s heartbroken family have also had to contend with depraved fake death posts being shared on social media.
And Debbie’s partner Andy Watson said a sick person claiming to be a medium had been in touch with her, claiming to know Jay’s location.
They tried to demand the family by a plane ticket for them to fly to Tenerife in exchange for the knowledge.