Missing Clubbers Found In Crashed Car

[naomi24]

A group of five people, two men and three women, who failed to show up after a night out and were reported missing on Saturday have been found in a crashed car. Three are dead and two have serious injuries. Family members made repeated pleas on social media over the weekend and the police, who said officers are trying to piece together what happened, posted an appeal shortly before the car was found by family members on Monday. The families are now saying that the police didn't do enough but bearing in mind that these were all adults, is that fair?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64867187

[youngmafbog]

All the Polices fault nothing to do with bad driving or a faulty car then.

//In 2010 the new Conservative Government cut 20,000 police//

Ah, your favourite hobby horse. But just how would even another 100,000 police help in these sort of matter? Divide the number up by the number of Towns and its peeing in the ocean.

//But the police force with all its resources failed to find them. And a family member did.//

As I understand it a dog walker found them. One of the family members drove past a number of times and missed them.

//A bobby on the beat, if there is such a thing any more, would have spotted the car in minutes.//

Sorry, that is sheer fantasy.

And lest remember that is looks like an area of around 50 sq miles would have to searched. All you armchair coppers, do you have any comprehension of the scale of that?

[barry1010]

Group of adults go out clubbing. Realistically when should the police take action?

[lankeela]

Gromit only you could manage to turn this into a goverment knocking post. Fifty beat bobbies would not have found them where they were off the road in woods, where even relatives driving past couldn't see anything.

[choux]

Realistically, how many calls do you think the police receive daily?

[drmorgans]

Wouldn't ANPR (on main roads) or their mobiles have given some information about their route / whereabouts?

[ABerrant]

"it sounds as if the police just drove along the road without getting out of their vehicle, which is barely a search at all."

It is 40 miles between Maesglas, Newport and Trecco Bay, Porthcawl with multiple routes and thousands of miles of roadway, so which 'road' is Gwent Police and South Wales Police meant to prioritise?

"If the graphic in the link is correct, the car was barely 20 feet off the road."

More like 60 feet, in a thicket.

"A bobby on the beat, if there is such a thing any more, would have spotted the car in minutes."

The 'road' is a dual carriageway; bobbies tend not walk along such roads. Daytime traffic and the occupants of at least two houses 200 feet away directly facing the thicket failed to spot the car.

[maggiebee]

We could argue this till the cows come home but the outcome would be the same. Three dead and two seriously injured. Apportioning blame does not change this.

[Gromit]

Sorry, not a family member, a 20 year old friend of the girls found them before the Police.

// Speaking at the scene, a friend of the three women said she believed the police "could have done a lot more".
Tamzin Samuels, 20, said: "They only posted the appeal an hour before the girls were found. We found them before the police found them - we rang the police." //

[jno]

that depends, maggiebee. Do we know that the three died instantly, or could their lives have been saved by quicker action?

[Gromit]

// Tamzin Samuels, 20, a carer who took part in the search, said: “We found them before the police found them.

Gwent police have said a police helicopter spotted the car but the force declined to speak about the search in more detail. They said: “The case was referred to the IOPC in line with normal procedures. While they are assessing the case, we are unable to comment.” //

That seems to be a bit of an anomaly. Did the Gwent police helicopter spot them after the the car was already found and reported? Or did they spot them and no ground forces sent to investigate?

[ToraToraTora]

It's not the job of the rozzers to find missing adults as a priority. They are all over 18. The police have nothing to answer for.

[Ellipsis]

I don't know all the details, but it would appear that five people disappeared simultaneously late one Saturday night. I would imagine that, on Sunday afternoon, at least some mobile phones would still be working. By Monday morning, maybe not. So the police may have had an opportunity on the Sunday to find those people, that was lost by Monday.

A lot of things are tragic about this. For example, did some of the deaths be preventable had they been found sooner? And how awful must it have been for the two who did not die.

It definitely needs investigating.

With several of my family members, I can track their locations through Google (other providers are available). However, I can understand why young people would not want older people to do that, which is why only the police could really have helped here.

[bhg481]

It's always somebody else's fault - idiot drives car like a plonker, has a crash and kills 3 and it's the fault of the police for not finding the wreck sooner.

[kuiperbelt]

naomi24 \The point is the police didn't find them\

Is it fair to say, seldom do the police find the location of a crime or the place where an incident has occured?? I would say in the vast majority of cases the police are very much dependant on the general public alerting them to a particular spot when something happens.

Even poor Nicola Bulley was found by a member of the public. This was after hundreds of hours spent by the police looking for her.

[naomi24]

kuiperbelt, that wasn’t a criticism of the police. Just a statement of fact.

[choux]

If nothing else, I am gratified to see so many on this post do seem to support the police.

Everyone should take some responsibility for their own actions and decisions. RIP to those who died.

[Ellipsis]

I think the point is that, on Sunday, the police and only the police might have been able to find these five people by targeting their mobile phones.

By Monday, they might have all lost their charges.

[naomi24]

I thought I read somewhere that none of the phones were working.

[Ellipsis]

Not working by the time the police looked on a Monday, maybe. It would be unusual for five young people to not have their phone working at late on a Saturday night.