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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Susie Beever

Man who found Cardiff crash car wreck slams police search for 'best friend'

The father and son who found the car wreck in which three Brits were killed has slammed police for not searching for them sooner.

Matthew Pace and son Lewis discovered the crash scene in St Mellons, near Cardiff, after the three women and two men were reported missing over the weekend.

Darcy Ross, 21, Eve Smith, 21, Rafel Jeanne, 24, died in the crash, while Shane Loughlin, 32, and Sophie Russon, 20, are fighting for their lives in a critical condition in hospital.

The five friends had been on a night out on Friday evening travelling to Cardiff from the town of Porthcrawl before they were reported missing.

Matthew, 45, said he discovered the Volkswagen Tiguan in woodland near the A48 around 24 hours later in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Flowers left near to the scene where the car carrying Sophie, Darcy, Rafel, Eve and Shane was found (John Myers)

The dad, who was with son Lewis - who said he was "best friends" with Rafel Jeanne - at the time, has criticised Gwent Police for not searching sooner.

"It's just devastating," the dad told Sky News.

"The minute they were reported missing, surely they should have been looking, searching.

"Especially when witnesses saw five people in the car and there's no contact off any of them, I thought they'd have been looking all day Saturday."

Darcy Ross died in the crash (Media Wales)
Eve Smith was also killed (Media Wales)

Matthew and Lewis found the crash scene after spotting tyre skid marks on the road.

"I pulled up, I was in the field, in the woods and then she [a police officer] pulled up behind me," said Mr Pace.

"She was asking why I was there, and I said: 'There's all tyre marks here' and then her colleague came out, looked at the tyre marks and they got the helicopter to search in this bush and that's when it was confirmed it was there."

The case has been referred by both Gwent and South Wales Police to the Independent Office of Police Conduct.

Sophie Russon remains in a critical condition (WALES NEWS SERVICE)

Lewis said: "I'm devastated. I can't cope, I can't eat. It's just devastating."

Lewis, who knows Rafel "through football", said he last spoke to his friend on Thursday evening, just 24 hours before he went out with friends and disappeared.

"Obviously I didn't think anything of it until I saw he was reported missing," he said.

He described Rafel, who is the son of former Cardiff footballer Leon Jeanne, as a "very good kid".

"We were very very close, we did most things together," said Lewis.

"He's just hilarious, honestly best way to describe him is just funny, like he's always up for a laugh…I just miss him already."

Shane Loughlin is also fighting for his life in hospital (Media Wales)

"I saw comments on Facebook that the police were not taking it seriously, obviously they deffo should have been," he added.

Speaking of the moment he and his father discovered the crash scene, he said: "When I saw them skid marks, obviously I was praying that it was nothing to do with it and it turns out it was, but the police were searching literally next to where we found it and anyway the helicopter was in the sky, so I don't know how it wasn't found quicker."

"As soon as they were reported missing, [police] should have been out there looking for them, at the end of the day they were missing so there should have been a search there and then."

A spokesman for the IOPC said: "We can confirm that Gwent Police have advised us that they are making a referral in connection with this tragic incident and we will carry out an assessment in due course to determine what further action may be required from us."

A vigil for the victims of the Cardiff crash is to be held on Tuesday evening at 6pm at the scene.

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