Tragic teen boys ‘lay dead for two days’ in overturned car after it plunged into ditch in North Wales crash
FOUR teenage boys who vanished on a camping trip may have lay dead for two days before their overturned car was found, cops fear. Pals Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett, and Hugo Morris[1] disappeared during a trip to Snowdonia[2] over the weekend.
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Four bodies were found in an overturned, partially submerged car yesterdayCredit: ITV/UNPIXS
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Hugo Morris and his friends were reportedly not experienced campers
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Wilf Fitchett was among the four teens who diedCredit: WNS
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Harvey Owen disappeared with the pals on SundayCredit: WNS
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Jevon Hirst had travelled from the Welsh coastal areas of Harlech and PorthmadogCredit: WNS
6 Yesterday a frantic hunt was launched for the lads and their silver Ford Fiesta after they failed to return home.[3][4]
Cops then tragically found the car partially submerged[5] in water and on its roof while searching in the Porthmadog area – and it was confirmed four bodies were found. Now as police investigate further, fears are growing that the young lads may have been lying dead for more than two days. Officers fear the horrific accident took place not long after the boys left one of their grandad’s homes – just eight miles away – on Sunday.
It wasn’t until 3.10pm on Monday – more than 24 hours later – that cops were told the boys were missing. Tragically, on Tuesday a passerby spotted the car and the bodies were found – meaning they may have been trapped upside down in the vehicle for 48 hours. Although formal identification is yet to take place, the families of all four boys have been informed.
North Wales[6] Police said the car appeared to have “left the road” with investigations surrounding the tragedy ongoing.
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A source told The Mail: “The plan seems to have been for them to camp in Snowdonia on Sunday evening, but it looks like they never made it to a campsite.
“The car has left the road on a bend, it seems the driver lost control and ended up in water in a ditch. “The accident may have happened as early as midday on Sunday but police were not informed until more than 24 hours later that they were missing.
Timeline of events
Saturday night Harvey Owen’s mum says he left home on Saturday night, telling her he was staying at a friend’s grandfather’s house. He met his friends in Harlech at 11pm before the group traveled to Snowdonia the next morning.
Sunday morning Harvey’s mum said he last used his mobile phone at around lunchtime. Monday
The pals were reported missing at 3.10pm when they failed to return home. Cops launched an appeal for information – asking anyone who had seen their silver Ford Fiesta to get in touch. Tuesday
12.00pm Police revealed that following information from a member of the public, they had found the car the teenagers were travelling in.
4.30pm Cops confirmed four bodies were recovered from the car after what they described as a ‘tragic accident’.
“It is a very remote area and the weather was terrible so the car simply may not have been seen from the road.” It is understood the four friends, who travelled from the Welsh coastal areas of Harlech and Porthmadog, were heading to Eryri National Park in Snowdonia. The group, aged between 16 and 18, were due to return on Monday morning but none of them have made any contact with relatives and their phones are all switched off.
The teens were not experienced campers and only had basic equipment including a tent and sleeping bags with them. Dozens of mourners flocked to the crash site on Wednesday morning for a memorial service for the boys. Some fought back tears during a minute’s silence by the war memorial in Garreg.
Roland Barnes, Reverend of the Penrhyndeudraeth parish, who led the service, told The Sun: “We’ve come to show that we care. “I’m sure in time that the family will want to come down here so we wanted to show that we do care and we do feel for them. “Can you imagine if they came down here and nobody had bothered to do anything?
You’ve got to do something. “One of the feelings I had hearing the story that four young people, full of a sense of adventure, wanted to come for a trip to Wales. It’s fantastic.
“We want to encourage young people to do that – it’s so sad that it ended so tragically. “The weather can be awful. The roads can be windy and narrow.
We need people to be careful but that’s all about the sense of adventure. “You don’t come to anywhere boring, you want a bit of adventure. Supt Owain Llewelyn said: “At present, this appears to have been a tragic accident, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the four young men at this very difficult time.
“This has been an extensive search involving a number of different agencies and volunteers, and this is sadly not the outcome that any of us would have wanted.
“We would ask that the family be afforded the appropriate privacy and respect.”
A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called on Tuesday at approximately 10.08am to reports of an incident near the A4085 between Nantmor and Tan-Lan.
“We sent an operations manager, two emergency ambulances and two Cymru high acuity response units to the scene where we were supported by the emergency medical retrieval and transfer service in two Wales Air Ambulance charity helicopters.”
References
- ^ Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett, and Hugo Morris (www.thesun.ie)
- ^ disappeared during a trip to Snowdonia (www.thesun.ie)
- ^ frantic hunt was launched (www.thesun.ie)
- ^ silver Ford Fiesta after they failed to return home. (www.thesun.ie)
- ^ tragically found the car partially submerged (www.thesun.ie)
- ^ Wales (www.thesun.ie)