June 22nd 2024.
Jay's family and friends, including his mother Debbie, had flown to the island earlier this week to help with the search efforts for the 19-year-old who had gone missing at a music festival in Tenerife. His disappearance had sparked wild conspiracy theories and attracted scammers who sought to take advantage of the family's pain and suffering.
According to Jay's friends, he had told them he was lost in the mountains and needed a drink of water. He also mentioned that his phone battery was critically low at only 1%. The family had been frantically searching for him since Monday and had asked for updates through The Agency's live blog. His mother, Debbie, had described the search for her son as a "living nightmare."
In an effort to bring Jay home, a GoFundMe page was set up and has raised over £26,500. However, this was after almost a dozen other similar pages were shut down due to suspicions of being scams. Initially, the family had requested that no GoFundMe pages be created and urged people not to donate to any. However, a verified GoFundMe was eventually set up to help with the search efforts.
The crowdfunding platform had to remove several fundraisers as there were concerns about the identity of the organizers and the destination of the donations. In a statement, a spokesperson for GoFundMe assured that all campaigns were under review and no money would be transferred unless they could verify that it would go to Jay's family. They also mentioned that they have a dedicated team to verify the identity of organizers and recipients before transferring any funds.
The sixth day of search efforts had begun with a concerning development. The administrator of the official Facebook page set up to help find Jay had reported that someone had logged into his Instagram account. This added to the stress and worry of the family, who had also been dealing with trolls and prank calls. Debbie had revealed that she had received disturbing calls from people claiming to have kidnapped her son. The family had also been victims of hacking on their social media accounts, which was described as "sick in the head" by Rachel Louise Harg, the administrator of the Facebook page.
Even the genuine fundraiser was not spared from trolling, with some social media users making insensitive jokes about donations from "Madeleine McCann" and "Ian Huntley." The family had pleaded for an end to the cruel commentary, with Ms. Harg stating that they were not involved in any conspiracy and that all they wanted was to find Jay.
The funds raised through GoFundMe will go towards supporting the family and friends who have traveled to Tenerife to aid in the search efforts. Ms. Harg clarified that the money would go towards accommodation and food expenses. She also urged people to stop the trolling, as it was causing more pain to Jay's mother. The family just wants to find their missing loved one and put an end to this nightmare.
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