Haunting final CCTV image of missing friends who vanished after night out in Wales before three found dead in car crash
6 March 2023, 09:16 | Updated: 6 March 2023, 09:19
Haunting CCTV thought to be among the final moments of three youngsters from a group of five missing people in Wales has emerged.
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Police launched a search for the five after they vanished following a night out in Wales but found three dead and two seriously injured after a car crash.
The group, including three 20-year-old women, was last seen at a nightclub in Newport on Friday.
Sophie Russon, Eve Smith and Darcy Ross went out clubbing at Muffler to mark the start of the weekend and they had not been seen or heard from since 2am on Saturday morning.
Shane Loughlin and a fifth man, Refel Jeanne-Actie, were also thought to be missing.
Officers said on Monday morning they had found a VW Tiguan they were last seen in in Cardiff was involved in a collision and came of the A48. CCTV of the white car was shared by friends of the group.
The two survivors have been taken to hospital in a serious condition. The victims' families are being helped by specialist officers.
However, Sophie's mother Anna Certowicz hit out at police for doing what she claimed amounted to "sod all", and said she believed they assumed she was "hungover somewhere".
The 42-year-old said she drove around Gwent and Cardiff to look for her daughter.
"They didn't seem to care. I had to drive to Cardiff to knock on doors myself because they were doing sod all. They just didn't seem to think it was worth investigating. It was so frustrating," she told the Mail.
"I think they assumed that Sophie was hungover somewhere, but she's a sensible girl who works in a bank and hasn't taken a day off for three years... She wouldn't just vanish like this unless something was wrong."
A spokesperson for Gwent Police said: "We understand how distressing it is when a loved one goes missing, we have seen the media reports about this and we will be liaising closely with the families involved to find out more information and address any concerns of this nature."
Gwent Police asked anyone with information about what happened to call 101 or message the force over social media using reference 2300071791.
Over the weekend, Refel's family confirmed via social media that he is among those missing.
Eve's car was still at the venue and her family was 'worried sick and thinking the worst', her sister said.
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Lauren Smith wrote on social media this evening: "It is known that they went to the Muffler in Maesglas and then went to Trecco Bay on Friday night but left there to an unknown location during the night.
"They were last seen at approximately 2am.
"None of them have made contact with friends or family, which is very unusual. We are all worried sick and thinking the worst."
A relative of Shane's also confirmed that he was missing and said the family is working with police.
