The mother of one of four teenagers found dead in a car crash has spoken out about the heartbreaking tragedy.
Last weekend college students Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett, and Hugo Morris traveled to Snowdonia National Park, North Wales for a camping trip, as reported by The Guardian.
The group was last seen on Sunday (November 19) morning in a silver Ford Fiesta, and failed to return home to Shrewsbury on Monday (November 20) - which is when their families feared that they were missing.
After a tip from a member of the public, authorities discovered a car overturned and partly submerged in water on Tuesday (November 21) morning, about 5 miles from where the teens were last witnessed in Porthmadog two days earlier.
According to The Independent, North Wales Police Supt Owain Llewelyn issued a statement about the devastating incident, stating: "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."
"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.
As tributes poured in from across their 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".
Crystal interviewed with the BBC and said that she believed the last time the group had used their phones was about midday on Sunday, adding that her son had told her he was staying with a friend’s grandfather.
"If I’d have known [where he was going] I wouldn’t have let him due to the winter weather conditions," she shared.
In light of the tragic lives lost, the Trinity Churches parish revealed that it would offer "time and space to pray" at the Trinity Centre in Meole Brace, from 9AM on Wednesday.
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."
Furthermore, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his condolences during a speech at the Commons, stating: "I know the thoughts of the whole House will be with the family and friends of the four teenagers who died in a car accident in North Wales," per ITV.
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of all four teenagers.
