The tragic last moments of the four teenagers who were found dead in a horror car crash have been revealed.
College students Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett, and Hugo Morris traveled to Harlech, Gwynedd, on Saturday (November 18) evening and had planned to camp in Snowdonia National Park, North Wales on Sunday (November 19).
The group was last seen on Sunday morning in a silver Ford Fiesta and failed to return home to Shrewsbury, UK, on Monday (November 20) - which is when their families feared that they were missing.
According to The Guardian, authorities discovered a car overturned and partly submerged in water on Tuesday morning (November 21) - about five miles from where the teens were last witnessed in Porthmadog two days earlier - after a tip from a member of the public.
North Wales Police Supt Owain Llewelyn issued a statement about the devastating incident that left the four boys - one 16-year-old, two boys aged 17, and one 18-year-old - dead.
"Police officers attended and located a Ford Fiesta on its roof partially submerged in water. Tragically the bodies of four young males were recovered from within the vehicle," they said, per The Independent.
"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," Llewelyn continued.
Police said that it’s not yet clear what the cause of the fatal crash was. North Wales Police said that inquiries into why the car left the road are underway.
The young boys' final moments before the crash have been disclosed as a witness claimed to The Sun that they were buying supplies of coal and pasta for their camping trip at a shop in Harlech.
Per the outlet, it has been alleged that the group stopped at Premier Foods around midday on Sunday as they began their fateful journey into the mountains minutes before their phones stopped sending and receiving messages.
A shopkeeper named Lucy Jones said: "They were happy, laughing and joking around," adding: "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."
As tributes continue to pour in from across the community in Shropshire, where the boys lived, Harvey's mom Crystal Owen shared an emotional statement on Facebook.
The grieving mom - who runs a cupcake shop with her partner - wrote: "I feel like I’m in a nightmare I wish I could wake up from but I’m not," adding, "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."
She shared that due to her loss, she will be unable to look after her shop and will leave it "in the good hands of my partner and team for the time being".
Meanwhile, Shrewsbury Colleges Group, where the boys were A-level students, offered "deepest condolences" to their family and friends and said it had put in place a range of support measures to help those affected.
"We would like to thank the emergency services and local mountain rescue teams, as well as members of the public for their assistance in helping with the search and helping to locate the vehicle," they said, per the Guardian. "We will be working directly with students and staff who are affected by this terrible accident and have put in place a range of support measures for all of our community."
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of all four teenagers.