Four teenagers who are missing in North Wales are ‘are not experienced campers’ and only had basic equipment with them, the mother of one of the boy’s girlfriends has revealed.
Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson, 17, and Hugo Morris, thought to be in their late teens, were last seen in the Harlech and Porthmadog areas of Gwynedd on Sunday morning.
A coastguard helicopter from Caernarfon searched the area around the Glaslyn Nature Reserve at 4.30am this morning, but has since returned to its base.
Mountain rescue teams searched car parks in the area yesterday to search for the missing vehicle, however it has not yet been found.
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 and their phones are thought to be off.
North Wales Police have launched an urgent hunt for the four missing men, as their ‘desperate’ families say the lack of contact is out of character and leaving them ‘frantic with worry’.
However, it has emerged that the four – who were thought to be travelling into Snowdonia national park in a silver Ford Fiesta, registration HY14 GVO – were not experienced campers and only had a tent and sleeping bags with them.
Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris, who were said to be in their late teens, were last seen getting into a silver Ford Fiesta car on Sunday morning and haven’t been seen since
Locals reported that a helicopter had been searching the Penrhyndeudraeth area before heading toward Nantmor and Beddgelert
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 Henderson
Lisa Corfield, whose daughter Maddi is Wilf’s girlfriend, told : ‘They are not experienced campers. They have never been there before ‘[They] were just going for the night so have a tent and sleeping bags but only the basics.’
She added the families still had ‘no word as [of] yet’ to their whereabouts.
Crystal Owen, the mother of Harvey, told the BBC that she was travelling to north Wales in order to be closer to the search operation.
Ms Owen said she did not know that her son was going on a camping trip and thought he was staying at a friend’s grandfather’s house for the night.
She said that she was ‘frantically worried’ and desperate for information, adding that she has not slept.
‘If I’d have known [where he was going] I wouldn’t have let him due to the winter weather conditions,’ she told the outlet.
‘They are all sensitive, intelligent lads and we are just hoping they parked up, got lost and are OK.’
Chris Lloyd, chairman of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team said they were called out by North Wales Police yesterday afternoon.
Mr Lloyd said: ‘Our first job was to look for any indication they were on the mountain. We deployed two or three teams to drive around all the carparks. We cannot find the car.
‘We are still actively looking for it and are continuing to search. We don’t have specific area where to search.’
Harvey’s mother reposted the appeal post shared by North Wales Police on Facebook and wrote: ‘I am frantic with worry, one of these boys is my son Harvey, please please please share and tag anyone in Wales or get in touch with any information you may have.’
Another family member, Mel Hirst, said they were ‘desperate for any news’ and pleaded users to keep sharing the post.
Ms Corfield said the boys have not been seen or heard from and she begged people to share the post with as many people as possible so that they could ‘try and get them home safely’.
Ms Corfield told the Shropshire Star that the group set out to go camping on Saturday and were expected back on Sunday morning, but they ‘never returned’.
She said: ‘Everybody is sick with worry and have not heard anything from them, which is very unusual for them. They have been trying their phones which must be either off or with no battery.’
Locals reported that a helicopter had been searching the Penrhyndeudraeth area before heading toward Nantmor and Beddgelert.
The small town of Penrhyndeudraeth is close to the River Dwyryd and is split into two parts. The older area is made up of rocky terrain, whereas the newer part is close to the main road.
Nantmor is hilly, remote area made up of several rocky streams and it is surrounded by open fields.
The missing group are believed to have been planning to travel through Snowdonia, heading east from the Welsh coastal areas of Porthmadog and Harlech towards Shrewsbury, Shrops
The lack of contact was said to be out of character and friends said their families are ‘worried sick’. Pictured: Family members post on Facebook
Whereas Beddgelert is more built up and has a train station, holiday cottages and a campsite nearby.
The roads that link those three areas together – the A4085 and the A498 – are long, narrow and windy, with a handful of houses in between.
Glaslyn Nature Reserve spans across more than 568 acres and cattle and sheep are often walking around nearby.
Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust says the paths tend to get wet and muddy and are ‘uneven’ in places. It also says that there is ‘limited parking’ in the area.
The nature reserve neighbours the Cambrian Mountains and has a large expanse of heather moorland which surround an exposed upland lake.
Police and mountain rescue teams are searching the area for the group and have urged anyone who may have seen them to contact them immediately.
North Wales Police said in a statement: ‘Police have concerns for four young males missing from the Harlech/Porthmadog area since the morning of the 19/11/23.
‘The four males’ names are Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris.
‘They were travelling in a Silver Ford Fiesta registration HY14 GVO.
‘Any sightings please contact North Wales Police and quote ref num A184194.’