https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11828185/Questions-grow-took-officers-48-hours-five-young-revellers-involved-crash.html'Our search party found the girls before the police that speaks volumes': Questions grow over why it took cops almost 48 hours to find five young revellers involved in Cardiff car crash which left three dead
Volunteers have criticised police for not finding wrecked car sooner
Mother of injured woman says she passed within 20 yards of daughter on search
By John James For Mailonline
Published: 22:59, 6 March 2023 | Updated: 12:01, 7 March 2023
Questions are being asked over why it took police nearly two days to find five young people who were involved in a car crash after a night out that left three of them dead. The bodies of Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, and Rafel Jeanne, 24, were pulled from the wreckage of a vehicle in St Mellons, Cardiff on Monday morning 46 hours after they were last seen. Sophie Russon, 20, and Shane Loughlin, 32, were found alive, having spent two days critically injured next to their dead friends. As they fought for their lives in hospital last night, Ms Russon's mother told how she had spent that time driving around South Wales frantically searching for her daughter after, she claimed, police told her to 'stop calling'.
Anna Certowicz, 41, said she drove past the site where the white VW Tiguan was found three times in her desperate hunt, passing within 20 yards of the SUV which was hidden by trees. Meanwhile, other volunteers who had joined the search have said the fact a dogwalker found the wreckage before police 'speaks volumes.' South Wales Police and Gwent Police have since referred the matter to the Independent Office For Police conduct. Mother-of-three Ms Certowicz was one of 200 people out searching for the five adults. She told the Daily Mail: 'I feel terrible for the families of Eve and Darcy, they were all best friends and had known each other since they were small'. She added the only people who knew what happened were her daughter and the other survivor Mr Loughlin, who only met the girls for the first time on Friday night. Ms Russon is critical but stable in hospital and undergoing surgery for a bleed on the brain and fractures to her neck, spine and face. Ms Certowicz said: 'It's too awful to imagine what she went through trapped in the car in the dark until it got light and then dark again over two days. Sophie was lying there for all that time, they could all have been found much quicker if the police had started searching straight away.'
Ms Certowicz said she made her first call to Gwent Police at noon on Saturday. She made ten calls that day but police kept telling her not to worry, and that Ms Russon was 'probably out partying', she said. It was not until more than a day later, just after 11pm on Sunday, that Gwent Police finally put out their own public appeal. Bank worker Ms Russon was eventually found and cut out of the VW Tiguan where she had spent two days alongside her dead friends. Ms Smith and Mr Jeane died in the crash in the early hours of Saturday morning. Anna said the only people who knew what happened were her daughter and the other survivor Mr Loughlin. All five victims who had been out together in Cardiff and Newport were found shortly after midnight yesterday. Speaking at the scene, a friend of the three women claimed it was members of the public searching who found them and not the police. Tamzin Samuels, 20, said: 'I do think the police could have done a lot more in putting the helicopters out earlier.
'They only posted the appeal an hour before the girls were found. We found them before the police found them we rang the police. The search party found the girls before the police found the girls. I think that speaks volumes really, they had all that equipment, and we had cars when we were looking. They were really popular girls, the life of the party, and it was really out of character for them to do what they did, which is why we knew something was wrong.'
MailOnline has approached Gwent Police for more clarity on the search effort. Assistant Chief Constable Jason Davies, of South Wales Police, said: 'Our thoughts are with the families of all those affected by this tragic incident. Specialist officers are carrying out an investigation to piece together what has happened. Family liaison officers are supporting the families involved at what must be a hugely difficult time for them. 'To ensure independent oversight, South Wales Police has referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, as is usual in these circumstances.'
Ms Certowicz also hit out at Gwent Police for not responding urgently when the five were reported missing. She said: 'They didn't take it seriously, they kept saying she's 20 and they are all probably out partying. I told them my daughter doesn't go out on three-day benders she and her friends are good girls. It was out of character for all of them. I was ringing the police all through Saturday and Sunday but they didn't seem bothered. Then all of a sudden, I don't know what happened, but the police started ringing me asking for a photograph and a description.'
A police helicopter was launched to search for the missing five but the car was found by a young woman out looking for the group. Ms Certowicz said: 'We all knew it was something serious, all their phones went off line at the same time. But the police didn't listen, they didn't want to know, it's disgraceful'.
Ms Certowicz said she and other parents were kept waiting for two hours at the scene where they could hear firemen cutting up the car to reach the victims inside.
She said: 'No one came over to tell us what was going on, it's a parents worst nightmare but we didn't get any support. It wasn't even the helicopter who found them even though it flew over a few times. It was one of the volunteer searchers with a dog, if she hadn't gone into the trees they would still be there now.'
Ms Certowicz said the car landed on its front and was tilted up in the air with her daughter Ms Russon, a trainee manager with Lloyds Bank, trapped by her seat belt which caused her burn injuries. She said: 'I have seen her in hospital, she's all tubed up and we still don't know if she's going to survive. The next 48 hours are critical.'
Ms Certowicz said she has been told three of those inside the car died on impact but added that the only people who knew what happened were her daughter and the other survivor Mr Loughlin. Mr Loughlin, a father who runs a bouncy castle hire company in Cardiff, is also on the critical list the University Hospital of Wales in the city. Mr Jeanne is believed to be the son of former Queens Park Rangers footballer Leon Jeanne, 42, a convicted drug dealer. In 2019 Leon Jeanne was convicted of dangerous driving after being chased by police at 100mph on the same road where the 24-year-old was found. In 2015 he was jailed for 30 months for his part in a plot to supply cocaine. Police have sealed off the accident scene next to a roundabout at the top of a slip road coming off the A48M. The relatives and friends of 'bubbly and beautiful' Ms Smith yesterday confirmed she has died in a double tragedy for the family. Her older sibling Lauren Doyle wrote on Facebook: 'I will not comment on anyone other than Eve Smith to confirm that she has been confirmed as deceased'.
Her sister Xana was killed in a car crash in January 2015 caused by a male driver who was drunk while high on cocaine and cannabis, MailOnline has learned. Ms Smith and her family appeared in a Sky documentary This is Our Family calling for tougher sentences for dangerous drivers. They were followed by a camera crew for three years. Police are today probing how the car lay undiscovered for 48 hours off one of South Wales' busiest roads, with two people alive and three dead among them. Firefighters were seen carrying stretchers and cutting equipment towards the car this morning. The car was removed on a flatbed truck at lunchtime after a private ambulance arrived to carry away the dead. Mike Holmes, 52, a driver at the scene on the outskirts of Cardiff yesterday, said: 'It's incredible that thousands of cars must have gone past without knowing. My heart goes out to the families, it's awful to think they were in the car and so close to people going by.'
One of Ms Smith's loved ones said on Facebook: 'Gutted and shocked to wake up to the news that Eve Smith and 2 others have passed away. Such a kind hearted strong women, it don't seem real, such a young age. So, so, so sad. Taken way too soon. RIP Eve.'
Another said: 'One of the kindest girls with a heart of gold. rest in peace girl and I'm so annoyed that you got taken away from us so soon. It should have never happened, but one thing for sure you will never be forgotten.'
Her family dealt with a similar tragedy in 2015, when sister Xana died. Sakhawat Ali, then 23, who was high on cocaine and cannabis and twice the drink-drive limit, had given Xana a lift home from a party. She was a passenger when the car flipped over at 60mph in January 2015. After Xana was killed, her sister paid an emotional tribute to her saying she had 'tragically lost my beautiful big sister'.
Ms Smith, who was 13 at the time, wrote on Facebook: 'I never ever thought I'd have to say that or even think about it but it's all I do. No-one will understand the agony and heartache I feel when I hear her name or see her picture. It's so hard to understand or accept that she's gone and I'm never going to be able to see her again. A million times I've needed her and a million times I've cried. If my love alone could have saved her she never would have died.'
Their father is Tony Borg, a former boxer who trained Welsh Olympic medal winning fighters and world champion Lee Selby. The family called for tougher sentences for drivers who killed people in car crashes and appeared in a Sky documentary about their lives with a crew that followed them around for three years. After Sakhawat Ali, 23, was jailed for eight years for causing the teenager's death, mum Emma revealed her grief in a personal statement which was read out in court. She said: 'Watching her brother, Zaine, and sisters, Lauren and Eve, trying to continue with life in so much pain is heartbreaking. They not only lost their beloved sister that day but they also lost their mother, as I am not and can never be the same person again. Truthfully, if I didn't have my other children to care for I would not be here today as this pain is unbearable. She is not here and she never will be again. This nightmare is real and is never going to end.'
Emma added: 'I can not accept that this is real, I am in a permanent daze, trying to carry on with the mundane tasks of life in an attempt to provide my children with some normality. I will never see Xana get married, have children, and be successful in her chosen field of work. There will always be an empty place at our table, a hole in our hearts that cannot be filled, and there won't be one day that we don't mourn her. Each family celebration will be bitter sweet, knowing that she is not there to share the joy and be the life and soul of the party that she was.'
The missing group had all been partying at the Muffler bar and club in Maesglas, Newport, on Friday evening, before they are thought to have headed to Trecco Bay in Porthcawl. They were last seen at 2am on Saturday. CCTV from a petrol station captured them at around then – the last sighting. It came shortly after Ms Ross and Mr Jeanne shared a Snapchat post of themselves together on Friday night. She revealed that her daughter was 'conscious some of the time' in the car after it ran off the A48 in Cardiff and had 'called out but no one was close enough to hear her.'
