The bodies of four missing teenagers who went missing during a camping trip in Snowdonia were found in an overturned silver Ford Fiesta that was partially submerged in water on a country road
Police tragically confirmed today that four teenagers missing on a camping trip in North Wales were found dead in an overturned and partially submerged car on a country road.
Sixth-year students Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris left Porthmadog near Snowdonia National Park on Sunday morning.
The Shrewsbury teenagers were due to return home on Monday, but none of them had made contact with friends and family or were active on WhatsApp.
North Wales Police said four bodies were recovered from a silver Ford Fiesta on the A4085 at Garreg, near Tremadog.
Police said the car went off the road, flipped onto its roof and was partially covered in water in what appeared to be a “tragic accident.”
The road was described as “windy, narrow and steep”. The boys were around 17 – the age at which you could legally start driving in the UK.
Maddi, 17-year-old Wilf’s girlfriend, posted a tribute on Instagram today that read: “I love you so much, I will miss you forever. The sweetest and most loving boy I have ever known. I hope you know how much I love you, beautiful.
The teenagers’ friends Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris were last seen getting into a silver Ford Fiesta on Sunday morning. They were found dead
Police cordoned off the A8045 motorway near the village of Garreg
Maddi, 17-year-old Wilf’s girlfriend, posted a tribute to him on Instagram
Locals said the helicopter searched the Penrhyndeudraeth area before heading towards Nantmor and Beddgelert. The car was found in Garreg
Owain Llewelyn, Chief Superintendent of North Wales Police, said in a statement this afternoon: “Officers found a Ford Fiesta on its roof, partially submerged in water.
“Unfortunately, the bodies of four young men were found in the vehicle. The families of the missing boys have been notified. Our thoughts are with them at this desperate time.
“Although the search has ended, efforts are continuing to formally identify the occupants of the vehicle and understand what led to this tragic incident.”
Supt Llewelyn continued: “At this time it 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 was an extensive search involving many different agencies and volunteers, and unfortunately this is not the result any of us would have expected. We ask that the family be afforded appropriate privacy and respect.”
Activities to establish the circumstances are ongoing, the police said.
Police cordoned off a four-mile stretch of the A4085 between the villages of Garreg and Port Aberglaslyn, near Porthmadog in north Wales.
Fiesta is understood to have been spotted this morning, shortly after 10am, about three miles north of Garreg, near the start of the popular waterfall walking route known as the Croesor Waterfalls Hike.
The road is steep and very windy in places, and there is almost no mobile phone reception in the area.
A source told the Mail that the parent of one of the boys reported them missing when they did not return home at around 3.10pm yesterday.
It is understood they left their homes in Shrewsbury on Saturday evening and arrived in Harlech at around 11pm. Before heading to Snowdonia on Sunday morning, they stopped at an address in a seaside town.
A source said: “It appears the plan was to set up camp in Snowdonia on Sunday evening but it appears they have not made it to the campsite.
“It appears the car went off the road on a curve, it appears the driver lost control of the vehicle and ended up in a ditch.”
The alarm was raised only when they did not return home on Monday afternoon.
Emyr Owen, who lives near the crash site, said the weather was “terrible” on the day the boys disappeared. He told the BBC that police began combing the area at 5am and closed roads. At around 1:00 p.m., ambulances entered the cordon, followed by a police forensic team.
Manasa Boma, manager of The Royal Goat hotel in Beddgelert, near the scene, said: “Our handyman sent me a message that a terrible accident had happened. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.”
A police spokesman said the car was found “based on information from a citizen.”
Officers and other emergency services are currently at the scene and providing all information to the teenagers’ families, he added.
Local councilor June Jones told Sky News: “I was hoping they went wild camping and had no cell signal. I really hoped that was the reason they weren’t keeping in touch – there isn’t much of a cell signal in this area and maybe that’s why.
She said that “the whole area is in complete shock” and “everyone is very close to their families at the moment.”
“It has been exceptionally wet over the last few days and river levels have been unusually high. We know it’s November and the weather isn’t good. Traveling in this weather is bad, especially with someone who doesn’t know the roads very well,” she said.
Shrewsbury College confirmed that all four boys were students there and were working towards achieving A-level grades.
“The university’s immediate thoughts are with the family and friends of the missing teenagers. This is a very worrying time and we all want them to be found safe and sound.”
It turned out that all four of them were not experienced campers and only had a tent and sleeping bags with them.
The young men, believed to be from the Shrewsbury area, were due to return home from their trip on Monday morning, but none of them have made contact with friends and family. Pictured: Wilf Henderson
North Wales Police have launched an urgent search for the missing youngsters and their worried parents have traveled to the area to help with the search after they were “mad with worry”. In the photo: Jevon Hirst
Police cordoned off the A8045 motorway near the village of Garreg, where the car was found
Lisa Corfield, whose daughter Maddi is 17-year-old Wilf’s girlfriend, told MailOnline: ‘These are not experienced campers. They’ve never been there before. [They] we were only going for the night, so bring a tent and sleeping bags, but only the basics.
Crystal Owen, the mother of Harvey, a 17-year-old sixth-form student at Shrewsbury College, said she did not know her son had gone camping and thought he was staying overnight at a friend’s grandfather’s house.
She said: “If I had known (where he was going), I wouldn’t have let him go because of the winter weather conditions.
“They are all sensitive, intelligent boys and we hope they parked and got lost and were okay.”
A spokesman for the Welsh Ambulance Service said: ‘We were called at around 10.08am on Tuesday following reports of an incident near the A4085 between Nantmor and Tan-Lan.
“We dispatched an operations manager, two ambulances and two Cymru rapid response units to the scene where we were supported by emergency services and transport in two Wales Air Ambulance charity helicopters.”
On Tuesday afternoon, North Wales Police released an update on the car in which the boys were traveling
The lack of contact was deemed inappropriate and friends said their families were “worried about the disease”. Pictured: family members posting on Facebook
Helicopters were seen circling the Tremadog area, near Mount Cnicht.
A coastguard helicopter from Caernarfon searched the area around Glaslyn Nature Reserve at 4.30am.
It turned out that all four of them had only a tent and sleeping bags.
Harvey’s mother reposted an appeal post shared by North Wales Police on Facebook and wrote: ‘I am overcome with worry, one of these boys is my son Harvey. Please share and tag anyone in Wales or pass on any information you may have.
Another family member, Mel Hirst, said he was “desperately waiting for any news” and urged users to keep sharing the post.
