Four “sensitive, intelligent lads” aged between 16 and 18 left their in Shrewsbury, in England, on a normal Saturday.

Jevon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen, 17, Wilf Fitchett and Hugo Morris, 18, were heading to Snowdonia or Eryri National Park in North Wales for an overnight camping trip.

Back at home, Harvey’s mother, Crystal Owen, had no idea her son and his friends were going camping.

She thought they were off to stay at a friend’s grandfather’s house, which they did – but only for one night – after making it safely to Harlech on Saturday.

A shopkeeper in the Premier Foods shop saw the boys shortly before they headed to the national park on Sunday, the Telegraph reported.

She said they were “happy, laughing and joking around.”

But she said the group weren’t dressed to go walking, wearing just jeans, shirts and trainers.

It was reported the teens were not experienced campers and were believed to have taken just a basic tent, sleeping bag and provisions for one night.

The boys were seen driving towards the mountains on Sunday morning and shortly after, around lunchtime, they logged onto their phones for the last time.

At 3.10pm on Monday, their parents, growing more frantic, contacted police and an “extensive” search and rescue operation began.

The Telegraph reported that coastguard teams scoured the beaches while mountain rescue teams began searching remote car parks hoping to find the boy’s Ford Fiesta.

On Tuesday morning, desperate and frantic with worry, the parents of the four teenage boys, sped across Wales to help with the search.

They hung onto the hope their children would be found in a tent on the mountain, but feared the worst after a long and sleepless night.

“We haven’t slept a wink,” Crystal Owen told the BBC.

“They are all sensitive, intelligent lads and we are just hoping they parked up, got lost and are OK.

“If I’d have known [where he was going] I wouldn’t have let him due to the winter weather conditions.”

Jevon Hirst’s mum posted a message on Facebook pleading with friends to share a missing person’s appeal put out by North Wales Police.

“If anyone knows anything or can think of anything that may help find the boys please contact the police. We are desperate for any news.”

It was then at 10am on Tuesday morning when the Welsh Ambulance Service was called to an incident near the A4085 between Nantmor and Tan-Lan in Gwynedd.

North Wales Police announced they had discovered the boys’ car near Garreg and set up a cordon.

“Updates will follow”, a police spokesman said.

Just as the sun was setting around 4pm, it was reported that a large haulage truck was allowed into the cordon.

A van with “collision forensics” on the side was earlier spotted in the area, as well as another haulage vehicle that left the cordon empty.

Rhys Williams, the farmer who owns the land where the boys were found, said it was the passenger of a recycling lorry that spotted the car.

“They were higher up. That’s why they could see them,” Williams said, according to The Guardian.

“You have to be in a high vehicle to see anything. And you’ve got to be looking, a passenger. The driver would have been looking at the road. The binman who saw it said something caught his eye.”

At 4:30pm, North Wales Police confirmed they had found the Ford Fiesta on its roof, near the village of Garreg, partially submerged in a ditch off a remote road.

Superintendent Owain Llewelyn said the bodies of the four boys were found inside the vehicle.

He said it appeared to have been a tragic accident.

The direction they were heading suggested they crashed while driving north and away from Harlech and towards the national park’s mountains, The Telegraph reported.

That would mean the boys never made it to their proposed campsite.

Police divers arrived at the crash scene on Wednesday afternoon and “detailed searches” continued.

Writing on Facebook after the news broke of the teenagers’ deaths, Crystal Owen said: “I feel like I’m in a nightmare I wish I could wake up from but I’m not.”

Wilf’s girlfriend Maddi Corfield wrote: “I’m going to miss you forever.”

“Thank you for all the time you’ve spent with me… thank you for loving me endlessly. I promise I’ll do the same for you, my sweet, sweet angel,” she wrote in a tribute online.

“I can’t imagine my world without you. I’m missing you so much already, but I am going to enjoy life the way you would’ve wanted, the way that you made me feel.”

Her mother, Lisa Corfield, 37, said on Facebook: “I am absolutely heartbroken for Maddi and all of the families involved. Wilf was such a lovely, kind lad and treated Maddi in a way only a mother could hope her daughter be treated.”

On Wednesday, several churches in Shrewsbury, including the town’s 14th Century abbey, welcomed those who knew the boys to their doors.

The stage had been set in The Square for the Christmas lights switch-on, an event that drew thousands for music, merriment and a night of festive shopping.

Instead, the only crowds gathering in Shrewsbury were for the boys.

The switch-on was cancelled, the start of late-night shopping was delayed for a week. Celebrating Christmas was the last thing on anyone’s mind in Shrewsbury, the Telegraph said.

The following day, it was reported the police force had re-opened the site, with a sign warning of a slippery road ahead.

The warning sign, along with approximately 30 traffic cones, appeared on the bend where the boys’ car was thought to have come off the road.