Fifth teen ‘pulled out of camping trip last minute’ as it’s revealed they were ‘laughing’ together before fatal crash

23 November 2023, 11:26 | Updated: 23 November 2023, 11:56

A fifth teen is understood to have pulled out of the Snowdonia camping trip that saw four boys killed in a car crash.

Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris were found after they went missing following a camping trip in North Wales on Sunday.

Their Ford Fiesta left the A4085 in an area between Beddgelert and Llanfrothen, near Garreg, Gwynedd in north-west Wales. The boys' bodies were found inside the car.

A friend of Hugo's has since revealed that another friend had planned on going on the trip but changed his mind at the last minute.

Mimi Ropotka, 35, who worked with Hugo in Shrewsbury, told the Telegraph: “He can’t believe he has lost his friend so suddenly and tragically.”

Read more: 'They were so unlucky': Owner of Welsh farm where four teens died in car crash describes 'brutal' weather group faced

Read more: Teens may have been lying dead in overturned car for two days after north Wales crash

The group had stopped off at Premier Foods in Harlech on Sunday, where they stayed with a friend's grandfather the night before.

A shopkeeper said the boys were "happy and laughing" as they shopped for coal and pasta before heading off.

Lucy Jones said they all appeared to be "in a really good mood".

"They were happy, laughing and joking around," she told the Sun.

"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.'"

Their phones are believed to have lost signal and stopped sending and receiving messages shortly after their trip to the shop.

It comes after the owner of the Welsh farm where the boys crashed said they were "so unlucky" due to the "brutal" weather conditions.

Farmer Rhys Williams, who lives at the nearby Garreg Hyll Drem Farm, said the river had "gone high quickly" over the weekend.

"They were so unlucky, the way the car went in. It has gone into the ditch, low into the ditch," Mr Williams told the Mirror.

He continued: "On Sunday the water was high. It is 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."

The farmer added: "They must have been going from Harlech north towards Snowdonia. This is one of two roads they could have taken.

"There are no tracks on the road, nothing to be seen. It's a sharp bend, it narrows. There were lots of leaves on that corner."

Police looking for four missing teenagers in north Wales find four bodies

The boys all studied at a Shropshire school that had already lost two other pupils in recent weeks.

Alfie McCormick, 18, and Ben Worrall, 17, died just days apart and a local priest said the community was still grieving.