THE four tragic teens killed in a horror North Wales crash were "laughing and joking" moments earlier, witnesses claim.
Pals Jevon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen, 16, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Hugo Morris, 18, went missing during a trip to Snowdonia.
Yesterday a frantic hunt was launched for the lads and their silver Ford Fiesta after they failed to return home.
Cops then tragically found the car partially submerged in water and on its roof while searching in the Porthmadog area – and it was confirmed four bodies were found.
Now witnesses have told how the lads were happy and laughing as they bought supplies of coal and pasta for their camping trip at a shop in Harlech.
The group stopped at a Premier Foods around midday on Sunday as they began their fateful journey into the mountains minutes before their phones stopped sending and receiving messages.
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Shopkeeper Lucy Jones told The Sun: “They were happy, laughing and joking around.
“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.”
Police fear the horrific accident took place not long after the boys left one of their grandad's homes – just eight miles away – on Saturday night.
It wasn't until 3.10pm on Monday – more than 24 hours later – that cops were told the boys were missing.
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Tragically, on Tuesday a passerby spotted the car and the bodies were found – meaning they may have been trapped upside down in the vehicle for 48 hours.
This morning North Wales Police said its officers are continuing to carry out a detailed search of the area where the car was found.
Supt Owain Llewellyn said: "As a result the A4058 will remain closed until we are satisfied all related property has been recovered.
"Our thoughts remain with the families at this extremely difficult time and I would like to thank the public for their continued patience and understanding."
Harvey’s mum Crystal today told of her pain after she lost her son who was due to celebrate his 17th birthday later this month.
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.”
The Prime Minister also sent his condolences to the families this afternoon.
Rishi Sunak told the Commons: "I know the thoughts of the whole House will be with the family and friends of the four teenagers who died in a car accident in North Wales."
Dozens of mourners flocked to the crash site on Wednesday morning for a memorial service for the boys.
Some fought back tears during a minute’s silence by the war memorial in Garreg.
Inside the desperate hunt for the boys
Saturday night
Harvey Owen's mum says he left home on Saturday night, telling her he was staying at a friend's grandfather's house.
He met his friends in Harlech at 11pm before the group traveled to Snowdonia the next morning.
Sunday morning
Harvey's mum said he last used his mobile phone at around lunchtime.
Monday
The pals were reported missing at 3.10pm when they failed to return home.
Cops launched an appeal for information – asking anyone who had seen their silver Ford Fiesta to get in touch.
Tuesday
12.00pm
Police revealed that following information from a member of the public, they had found the car the teenagers were travelling in.
4.30pm
Cops confirmed four bodies were recovered from the car after what they described as a 'tragic accident'.
Roland Barnes, Reverend of the Penrhyndeudraeth parish, who led the service, told The Sun: “We’ve come to show that we care.
“I’m sure in time that the family will want to come down here so we wanted to show that we do care and we do feel for them.
“Can you imagine if they came down here and nobody had bothered to do anything? You’ve got to do something.
“One of the feelings I had hearing the story that four young people, full of a sense of adventure, wanted to come for a trip to Wales. It’s fantastic.
“We want to encourage young people to do that – it’s so sad that it ended so tragically.
“The weather can be awful. The roads can be windy and narrow. We need people to be careful but that’s all about the sense of adventure.
“You don’t come to anywhere boring, you want a bit of adventure."
A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We were called on Tuesday at approximately 10.08am to reports of an incident near the A4085 between Nantmor and Tan-Lan.
"We sent an operations manager, two emergency ambulances and two Cymru high acuity response units to the scene where we were supported by the emergency medical retrieval and transfer service in two Wales Air Ambulance charity helicopters."
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