Vigil for four teens tragically found dead after search for missing group in North Wales is held in Shrewsbury

• A vigil will be held at throughout the day at The Trinity Centre in Shrewsbury
• There will also be a candlelit vigil held tonight in the town 
• The christmas lights turn on has been cancelled out of respect

A vigil for the four teenagers found dead their car in North Wales will be held today in their home town of Shrewsbury.

Sixth form students from at Meolo Brace school, Jevon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen, 17, Wilf Fitchett, 17 and Hugo Morris, 18, were all tragically found dead in their upturned and partially submerged silver Ford Fiesta on Tuesday. 

The Trinity Centre in Shrewsbury will be hosting a vigil for the four friends today from 9am to give time for people to pay their respects. 

In a post of Facebook they wrote: ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends, and the wider community at such a sad time.

‘There will be some time and space to pray in The Trinity Centre on Wednesday 22nd November from 9am, and other times to be arranged.’

A vigil for Devon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen, 17, Wilf Fitchett, 17 and Hugo Morris, 18 will be held throughout today at The Trinity Centre in Shrewsbury (pictured)

The Trinity Centre in Shrewsbury (pictured) will be hosting a vigil for the four friends today from 9am to give time for people to pay their respects

The Trinity Centre in Shrewsbury (pictured). A candlelit vigil will also be held tonight in memory of the four friends

Teenager friends Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett and Hugo Morris were last seen getting into a silver Ford Fiesta car on Sunday morning. They have been found dead

A candle is left by locals at the scene of the crash near Beddgelert, North Wales

Crystal Owen (second from right), Harvey’s mother, said ‘nothing will make this nightmare go away,’ after her son never came home from his camping trip. Pictured: Harvey left

 

Police block the road near Beddgellert, North Wales where four sixth form students were found dead in an overturned car

The car is understood to have left a ‘windy, narrow and steep’ road, flipped onto its roof and was partially covered in water following what appeared to be a ‘tragic accident’. Pictured is the scene near where the car crashed

A candlelit vigil will also be held for the boys in Shropshire on this evening.

Reverend Charlotte Gompertz of Oxon Parish Church in Shrewsbury spoke on BBC Radio 4 this morning and said: ‘It’s the worst news, it is not what we prayed for when we heard they were missing. This is just utterly devastating for us.’

She added that their deaths are ‘impacting everyone’ as they come from a very ‘tight-knit’ community where people have known each other since they were ‘four years old’.

Rev. Gompertz says she knows some of the families of those who have died and said that some of them are ‘high-profile folks within the community’.

‘It’s going to take a long time for us to get our heads even vaguely heads round this tragedy.’

This comes as Shrewsbury cancels its Christmas light switch-on due to take place in the town centre today out of respect for the loss. 

The council said in a statement: ‘Following the tragic news yesterday we have taken the respectful decision to cancel the lights switch-on, scheduled for this evening.

‘Our thoughts go out to all who are caught up in this terrible tragedy’.

Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham said today: ‘

‘My thoughts go out to all those affected by this tragic news.

‘On behalf of all constituents in Shrewsbury and surrounding villages, I would like to extend my deepest condolences and sympathy to the families and friends of those who have been tragically affected by this terrible loss of life.’

He continued: ‘Yesterday evening I received messages of condolences from friends across the political spectrum in the House of Commons.

‘The whole country were desperately hoping the boys would be found safe and well and this news is devastating.’

Harvey Owen in a photo taken during a family holiday 

North Wales Police launched an urgent hunt for the missing youngsters, with their worried parents driving to the area to help with the search after being left ‘frantic with worry’. Pictured: Jevon Hirst

The young men, believed to be from the Shrewsbury area, were due home from their trip on Monday morning but none of them have made contact with friends and family. Pictured: Wilf Fitchett 

Crystal Owen, Harvey’s mother, says she is in a ‘nightmare’ 

‘I love you so much baby,’ Wilf’s girlfriend Maddi Corfield said in a two-part tribute on Instagram on Tuesday. ‘I’m going to miss you forever’

The boys were reported missing on Monday morning after failing to return home from a camping trip near Snowdonia National Park.

Tributes to the boys have poured into social media, Harvey’s mother, Crystal Owen issued a heartbreaking statement, saying ‘nothing will make this nightmare go away,’ after learning of her son’s death. 

She said: ‘I feel like I’m in a nightmare I wish I could wake up from but I’m not. 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.’ 

Timeline of the four missing teenagers

A timeline of what we know so far about the missing teenagers:

Saturday November 18 

Harvey Owen left home on Saturday night. 

He told his mother he was staying at a friend’s grandfather’s house but he went on a camping trip. 

It is understood the boys arrived in Harlech at 11pm before travelling to Snowdonia the next morning. 

Sunday November 19

 Harvey last used his mobile phone at around lunchtime, according to his mother.

Monday November 20

3.10pm 

The boys are reported missing at after they fail to arrive home to Shropshire. 

Worried parents say they have not had contact with their sons since the previous day. 

In a now-deleted post on X, North Wales Police said it had ‘concerns’ for the teenagers and appealed for anyone who had seen their silver Ford Fiesta to get in touch.

3.35pm

A witness reports seeing someone dragging a tent in the Felinheli area, almost 25 miles away from Porthmadog.

Tuesday November 21

4.30am 

A coastguard helicopter from Caernarfon searches the area around the Glaslyn Nature Reserve, but returned to base with ‘nothing found’.

5am

Neighbours in nearby Nantmor are woken to the pulsing sound of the helicopter circling overhead.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said the road the teens were travelling on was ‘very bendy’.

6am

Police release statement in the evening saying they have ‘concerns’ about the missing teenagers.

10am

A member of the public spots a silver Ford Fiesta upside down in the river next to the A4085 in Garreg, north Wales, and calls police.

11am

Harvey’s mother drives to Snowdonia to help with the search. 

12.00pm 

Police say that following information from a member of the public, they had found the vehicle the teenagers were travelling in. 

4.30pm 

Police confirm four bodies had been recovered from the car after what they described as a ‘tragic accident’. 

5pm

Police hold press conference outside St Asaph headquarters.

Supt Llewelyn tells reporters the Ford Fiesta was found on its roof ‘partially submerged in water’.

Wilf’s girlfriend Maddi Corfield said: ‘Thank you for all the time you have spent with me… thank you for loving me endlessly. I promise I’ll do the same for you, my sweet, sweet angel. I cannot imagine my world without you’.

Maddi mother Lisa, 37, also said how she was ‘absolutely heartbroken’ for her daughter and ‘all of the boys family involved’ (sic).

‘Wilf was such a lovely kind lad and treated Maddi in a way only a mother could hope her daughter b treated.

‘We will all miss u dearly Wilf. thank u 4 bringing so much love and happiness in2 Maddi’s life and I promise to look after her 4 u.’

It comes as concerns deepen that the the group of teenagers could have laid undiscovered in their upturned car for up to 48 hours, as many questions over how the accident happened still remain unanswered.

‘The plan seems to have been for them to camp in Snowdonia on Sunday evening, but it looks like they never made it to a campsite,’ said a source close to the investigation.

‘The car has left the road on a bend, it seems the driver lost control and ended up in water in a ditch.

‘The accident may have happened as early as midday on Sunday but police were not informed until more than 24 hours later that they were missing.

‘It is a very remote area and the weather was terrible so the car simply may not have been seen from the road.’

The teenagers arrived in Harlech, around 75 miles west of Shrewsbury, on Saturday and stayed at the home of one of their grandfathers.

At around 11am on Sunday, the quartet left the area with the aim of camping in Snowdonia National Park; this was the last time they were seen alive.

The mother of one of the boys said her last contact with her son had been at around midday on Sunday in Porthmadog, less than 10 miles from Harlech. 

Police believe that the car came off the road a short time later after it appeared to career off the ‘narrow and windy’ A4085 close to a bend. 

DVLA records showed that a new logbook had been issued for the car at the end of August. Drivers can legally take to the road from the age of 17.

Liz Saville Roberts, the local MP and Welsh Seredd Member Mabon ap Gwynfor said: ‘This news is truly heartbreaking and foremost as parents ourselves, our thoughts go out to the families and friends of the four young men whose lives have been lost in this tragic accident.’

‘We would like to pay tribute to the emergency services and local mountain rescue teams involved in the search operation, and to members of the public for their assistance in helping to locate the vehicle.’

‘No words can sufficiently reflect the sorrow that this news brings to our whole community.’

Superintendent Owain Llewellyn of North Wales Police said on Tuesday afternoon: ‘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.

‘This has been an extensive search involving a number of different agencies and volunteers, and this is sadly not the outcome that any of us would have wanted. We would ask that the family be afforded the appropriate privacy and respect.’

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