Days after the news emerged that four young men in the UK died in a tragic car accident, the details of their final moments have been shared with the world as their families grieve for them.
Jevon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen, 17, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Hugo Morris, 18, all set out on a camping trip last week Saturday, anticipating a fun weekend filled with laughs and happiness.
However, the fate that befell the four friends on their trip was far more sinister than any of the boys had planned. The boys, who all attended the same school, had planned to spend a weekend away from home.
A police search has been launched for four teens who have been missing since Sunday morning
Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris are thought to have been travelling in the Harlech and Porthmadog areas of Gwynedd
They were last seen in a silver Ford Fiesta, registration HY14 GVO
North Wales Police is appealing for sightings of the teens
After they slept out on Saturday night, they were last heard from by their families on Sunday morning. By Monday evening, the boys had been declared missing, and by Tuesday, their families got the news that the boys had died in a tragic car accident. Now, their final moments have been shared.
What Happened to the Boys?
The four friends began their camping trip in Snowdonia on Saturday night and were due to return to their homes soon after. However, when they didn’t arrive home, their families became worried and alerted authorities.
A search for the boys ensued, in which helicopters, the Coast Guard, and the police were heavily involved. Later, a binman saw the car the boys had been traveling in, which led to the gruesome discovery that they had all died in an accident. The camping site farm owner, Mr. Williams, shared his thoughts on the boys’ travel plans.
Williams said the conditions the boys were traveling in were treacherous. The car is assumed to have driven off the winding road before overturning in a flooded ditch. Williams shared:
“It was brutal on Sunday. There’s always a foot or two of water in the ditch, but it can come up to six feet, the level of the car. It was bad on Friday and Saturday; the river had gone high quickly. But by Tuesday morning, the level had come down. They were so unlucky. They could have hit a tree or a fence and gone in another way.”
As their families and friends grieve the boys, Williams said nobody would have been able to see them in the ditch but that many people would have driven past. Another person who interacted with the boys shared what they were like in their final moments.
What Were the Boys’ Final Moments?
Witnesses who saw the boys just hours before their fatal accident have shared the impression the boys left on them and what their attitude was like during their final moments as four lively young boys.
The boys stopped at Premier Foods in Harlech to stock up on supplies for their trip. They were buying coal and pasta as the shopkeeper, Lucy Jones, watched them. She shared:
“They were happy, laughing and joking around. They were arguing, saying, ‘I can’t afford this, I can’t afford that. But they all seemed to be in a really good mood.”
A single candle has been left on the wall where a crash claimed the lives of four friends
Wilf Fitchett, Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen and Hugo Morris, from Shrewsbury, were found in an overturned car that was partially submerged in Gwynedd
Minutes later, the boys entered the mountains, where their phones lost signal, and they could not send or receive messages. Authorities fear that it was only shortly after that when the boys got into the fatal accident.
While these four boys lost their lives, another one of their friends, who was meant to be on the trip with them, is now mourning their loss along with all their other family and friends. Hugo Morris’ 19-year-old best friend pulled out of the trip at the last minute.
Some truly wonderful tributes have been shared in the Abbey today.
Your Abbey will be open to anyone wishing to come and light a candle, pray and or spend some time in quiet reflection following the loss of four young lives Wilf Fitchett, Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen and Hugo Morris . The Abbey will be open from 10am until 7pm Thursday and Friday.
Pastoral support will be on hand to anyone needing to support.
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
Morris’ best friend was meant to have joined in on the camping trip, but a woman who came to pay her respects to the boys who died said that the older boy had decided to go on a different camping trip instead.
The woman who shared the news said that Morris’ friend couldn’t believe something so terrible had happened to his friend and that he was devastated that Morris had died so suddenly and tragically.
If you would like to read more about the four friends and their families, you can find it here.