My brother died in Newport tragedy with 2 pals – hardest part is knowing they were dead for days… cops didn’t do enough
THE ‘heartbroken’ sister of a man killed in the Newport car crash says the hardest part of his death is knowing he lay undiscovered for days.
Ffion Actie’s brother Rafel Jeane-Actie, 24, and pals Eve Smith and Darcy Ross, both 21, died when their car left the road near Cardiff in the early hours of Saturday.
Sophie Russon, 20, and Shane Loughlin, 32, were discovered alive inside the Wales wreck 48 hours later – they remain in a critical condition in hospital.
Speaking to Sky News, Ffion paid tribute to “big character” Rafel who was “loving and very, very popular”.
But she revealed: “That is probably the worst part about it – thinking that they were sat there injured.”
The broken sister – who admits Rafel’s death “doesn’t feel real” – said she was “disappointed that maybe things weren’t done sooner”.
And she says the police “should have acted straightaway” when the five vanished.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched a formal investigation into how missing persons reports submitted over the weekend were dealt with.
Rafel was the son of former Cardiff and QPR footballer Leon Jeanne.
One tribute to Rafel on Facebook read: “I can’t get over it. I am gutted for your family. You will always be remembered.”
Friends Sophie, Eve, and Darcy had been on a night out at the Muffler bar and club in Maeglas, Newport, on Friday evening.
Having arrived by car at around 11pm, it was here the trio met Shane and Rafel, whom the girls had never met before.
They are then thought to have headed to Shane’s family caravan in Trecco Bay, Porthcawl – around 36 miles from Newport.
Darcy had posted photos of her and Rafel partying that night to Snapchat.
But haunting CCTV shows the car the group had been travelling in at around 2am in the Llanedeyrn area of Cardiff where they reportedly dropped off an unnamed man.
Later that night the White VW Tiguan the five were travelling in came off the roundabout on the A48 near St Mellons and ploughed into woods.
The group may have travelled around 85 miles in total that night.
The wreckage of the deadly crash was discovered by Matthew Pace, 45, and his son Lewis – who was close friends with Rafel – just after midnight on Monday.
Alongside the dead, they discovered bank worker Sophie hanging suspended in wreckage.
Her mum said she is “unrecognisable” from injuries – a bleed on the brain and fractured skull – and is under sedation after panic attacks in hospital.
Following the tragic discovery, Eve Smith’s grieving dad Everton paid tribute on Facebook, saying he was overcome with “numbness”.
It comes as…
- Three pals were found dead in a crashed car after five people vanished while on a night out in Newport
- Eve Smith, 21, was confirmed dead by her family, who had tragically lost her sister in a crash eight years ago
- Two pals were pictured beaming on the night out before the tragedy
- The mum of Sophie Russon claimed cops told her to stop calling
- She has now revealed her agony at desperately searching for her daughter while she lay critically injured
- Haunting CCTV was shared by friends of the car before it vanished in the early hours of Saturday
- Police are now probing just what happened in the hours before the crash
He added: “It’s taken a couple of days and I just can’t believe what has happened, the pain and numbness constantly reminding me that I will never see my beautiful daughter Eve again.
“I would give anything to hear her sing a song again, fly high my queen , I loved you more than words can say and will cherish the 21 years I had with you bossing my life!
“My family & I would appreciate time to grieve and morn.”
“Beautiful and bubbly” Eve starred in TV documentary after her sister was killed in car smash eight years ago.
Specialist officers are supporting the families of those involved and enquiries are ongoing.
Anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101, or send a direct message on social media, quoting 2300071791.