Fifth teenager who pulled out of Snowdonia camping trip that left four friends dead in crash 'still in shock'
24 November 2023, 19:29 | Updated: 24 November 2023, 19:32
The fifth teenager who pulled out of a Snowdonia camping trip that left four friends dead after a car crash is still in shock, his father has said.
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Jevon Hirst and Harvey Owen, both 16, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Hugo Morris, 18, were found dead in an upside down car after they went missing during a camping trip in North Wales on Sunday.
Their Ford Fiesta came off a road between Beddgelert and Llanfrothen, near Garreg, Gwynedd in north-west Wales.
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.
His father, who has not been named, has now revealed his son is "still in shock" and "we feel we have lost a member of our family".
He told The Sun it would take "a long time" for him to come to terms with what happened.
Read more: Teens may have been lying dead in overturned car for two days after north Wales crash
This evening, Harvey's mother said: "I know it sounds like a cliche, but Harvey was a unique and special person who touched so many people along the way.
"Laid back, charismatic, cheeky, a boy not of his time, he always thought outside the box, he was creative and funny.
"The fact that Harvey will always be 17 is unbearable to think of and even harder to accept.
"I've lost my boy, the boy I absolutely adored, and I can't accept that I won’t be able to hold him again or tell him I love him again."
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.
Farmer Rhys Williams, who lives at the nearby Garreg Hyll Drem Farm, said previously: "They were so unlucky, the way the car went in. It has gone into the ditch, low into the ditch.
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.
