Tragedy of four teen friends who went on a camping trip and never returned home
Four teenage friends went on a camping trip to Snowdonia before their car was found overturned and partially submerged in water - with their bodies inside.
Tributes have been paid to sixth form students Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett and Hugo Morris, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who were last seen travelling in a silver Ford Fiesta in the Harlech and Porthmadog areas of Gwynedd on Sunday morning. They were due home on Monday morning but none of them had made contact with friends and family or been active on WhatsApp for some time.
An urgent search was launched, with the boys' parents driving to the area to help. Helicopters were seen circling the Tremadog area, near Cnicht mountain, while a coastguard chopper scoured the area around the Glaslyn Nature Reserve. Mountain rescue teams also searched car parks in the area. Harvey’s mum Crystal, who travelled to North Wales to help with the search, spoke for the first time about the tragedy today. In a heartbreaking post on her business Facebook she wrote: "I feel like I’m in a nightmare I wish I could wake up from but I’m not. I just wanted to say I do appreciate people’s kindness but no amount of messages is going to help me overcome this. Nothing will make this nightmare go away."
However, North Wales Police confirmed yesterday afternoon their bodies were recovered from the car which had left the A4085 at Garreg, near Tremadog. Following widespread media coverage, a member of the public spotted the vehicle at around 10am, according to reports. Inquiries into why the car left the road are underway, the force said.
Camping trip
Jevon Hirst (WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Harvey Owen (WALES NEWS SERVICE)The friends had set out from Shrewsbury on Saturday evening. Harvey's mum Crystal Owen said her son did not tell her he was going camping but rather they were staying at a friend's grandfather's house. She said if she'd known she would have warned them against it due to the weather leaving likely treacherous road conditions.
Nicola Bulley's children 'cried their eyes out' after being told 'mummy's lost'
Speaking to the BBC, Crystal said: "If I'd have known [where he was going] I wouldn't have let him due to the winter weather conditions. They are all sensitive, intelligent lads and we are just hoping they parked up, got lost and are OK." It is understood the boys arrived in Harlech at 11pm and stayed the night.
Wilf Fitchett (WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Hugo Morris (North Wales Police)Lisa Corfield, whose daughter Maddi is Wilf's girlfriend, told MailOnline: "They are not experienced campers. They have never been there before. [They] were just going for the night so have a tent and sleeping bags but only the basics." The group then travelled to Snowdonia the next morning. Crystal said Harvey last used his mobile phone around lunchtime. The boys then failed to return home on Monday.
Locals reported that it had rained at the weekend, leading to rising river levels and "poor visibility" in the mountainous area. One resident, Emyr Owen, told the BBC there had been "atrocious weather" on Sunday, the day the boys went missing.
Police launch search
(Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)Police had first said they had “concerns” for the four young men on Monday, and put out an urgent appeal for anyone who had seen the teenagers or their car to get in contact. Officers were assisted in the major search response by local mountain rescue teams, who scoured mountain car parks looking for the car, as well as other members of the emergency services, including the Coastguard helicopter.
Helicopters were seen circling the Tremadog area, near Cnicht mountain in Snowdonia, on Tuesday morning. A coastguard helicopter from Caernarfon searched the area around the Glaslyn Nature Reserve at 4.30am, but returned to base with "nothing found".
Some of the boys’ parents travelled from Shrewsbury to North Wales amid the search operation, according to neighbours. Snowdonia, Wales’s largest national park, covers an area of 823 square miles of mountains and has 15 mountains over 3,000 feet.
A police road block at Garreg, Llanfrothen on the approach to Aberglaslyn and Nantmor in Eryri (Daily Post Wales)The teenagers' worried parents reposted a police appeal for information on social media. One wrote: "Please keep sharing ... if anyone knows anything or can think of anything that may help find the boys please contact the police. We are desperate for any news."
Another wrote: "I am frantic with worry, one of these boys is my son Harvey, please please please share and tag anyone in Wales or get in touch with any information you may have." In a now-deleted post on X, North Wales Police said on Monday it had "concerns" for the teenagers.
Car is found
A recovery vehicle arrives at the village of Garreg (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)At about 10am this morning, after widespread news coverage, a member of the public spotted the car and reported it to police. The road between Garreg and Pont Aberglaslyn, just over five miles outside of Porthmadog, was closed off. The road was described as "windy, narrow and steep" by a BBC reporter at the scene.
North Wales Police confirmed around midday on Tuesday that the car had been found. A spokesperson said: "Following information from a member of the public, officers searching for four missing teenagers in the Porthmadog area have located the vehicle they were travelling in. Police officers and colleagues from other emergency services are currently at the location and the families of those involved have been kept updated."
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
A large crane arrives at the scene where the car was found (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)The Welsh Ambulance Service also 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.”
Four bodies recovered
In a statement to the press on Tuesday afternoon, North Wales Police said the bodies were recovered from a silver Ford Fiesta which appears to have left the road on the A4085 at Garreg, near Tremadog. 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."
Map shows where the boys crashed (Press Association Images)Supt Llewelyn later told the press at a briefing outside police HQ: "Police officers attended and located a Ford Fiesta vehicle on its roof, partially submerged in water. Tragically, the bodies of four young males were recovered from within the vehicle. The families of the missing boys have been informed. "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." Inquiries into why the car left the road are underway, the force said. DVLA records show that the car had a new tax and MOT in the last month, and a new logbook had been issued for the vehicle in August.
Tributes to the teenagers
Jevon Hirst (WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Harvey Owen (WALES NEWS SERVICE)Wilf's girlfriend Maddi wrote on Instagram: "I love you so much baby. I'm going to miss you forever." She went on to say that her boyfriend was the "sweetest and most loving boy I've ever known", adding: "I hope you know how much I love you gorgeous."
Maddi's mother Lisa Corfield said she was "absolutely heartbroken" for her daughter and "all of the boys family involved". She continued in a Facebook post, including a picture of the couple: "Wilf was such a lovely kind lad and treated Maddi in a way only a mother could hope her daughter b treated." Lisa added: "We will all miss u dearly Wilf. thank u 4 bringing so much love and happiness in2 Maddi's life and I promise to look after her 4 u."
Beth Head, a friend of Hugo Morris, described him as "a lovely and funny young lad" saying he would be missed deeply. "I will forever cherish all the memories and laughs we had a work together [sic], my thoughts go to his family at this time," she said. Local MP Liz Saville Roberts and local Senedd member Mabon ap Gwynfor said in a joint statement: "This news is truly heartbreaking and foremost as parents ourselves our thoughts go out to the families and friends of the four young men whose lives have been lost in this tragic accident.
Wilf Fitchett (WALES NEWS SERVICE)"We would like to pay tribute to the emergency services and local mountain rescue teams involved in the search operation and to members of the public for their assistance in helping to locate the vehicle. No words can sufficiently reflect the sorrow that this news brings to our whole community."
First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford said the boys' deaths were "devastating news". "My thoughts are with their family and friends during this incredibly difficult time as they deal with the unimaginable," he added in a post on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. June Jones, who represents the Llanfrothen area on Gwynedd's council - Cyngor Gwynedd, told Sky News: "I was hoping that they'd gone out camping wild and had no mobile signal.
"I was hoping very much that that is the reason why they haven't been in contact - there's not much mobile signal in this area and perhaps that is why." She said the "whole area is in complete shock" and "everybody's feelings are very much with the families at this time".
"It has been extremely wet and the rivers have been extremely high over the last few days. Obviously, it is November, the weather is bad. It is bad weather to be travelling in, especially with somebody who doesn't know the roads very well," she said.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
