A man who discovered the vehicle involved in a fatal collision in Cardiff asserted that police should have begun their search earlier.
Early on Saturday morning, Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, and Rafel Jeanne, 24, perished in an accident.
According to authorities, Sophie Russon, 20, and Shane Loughlin, 32, both survived but are still in critical condition.
The VW Tiguan carrying the five people left the A48 in Cardiff and slammed into some trees in the Saint Mellons neighborhood.
Lewis Pace, 26, and Matthew Pace, 45, had joined a search team set up by friends who were worried about the group’s whereabouts.
After just 15 minutes of searching, the pair found the car shortly before officers arrived on the scene.
The father and son had spotted tyre marks leading off the road and into a wooded area.
Matthew said police arrived ‘about a minute’ after they did.
The wreckage of the VW Tiguan was found in a copse of trees and hidden from the view of the busy road, residential houses and the nearby garden centre.
Matthew told Sky News: ‘I pulled up, I was in the field, in the woods and then she [a police officer] pulled up behind me.
‘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.’
Lewis, who was close friends with Rafel Jeanne, added: ‘I’m devastated. I can’t cope, I can’t eat. It’s just devastating.’
Officers believe the car was involved in a collision and came off the A48(M) some time later, but further investigations using CCTV and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) inquiries are needed to establish an exact time.
The friend group in the vehicle had been to a social club in Maesglas, Newport, on Friday night and were thought to then have travelled 40 miles to the Trecco Bay area of Porthcawl.
Police have now confirmed they were last seen at about 2am on Saturday in Pentwyn, Cardiff.
Having failed to return home, they were reported missing by their families, the first call coming into the police at 7.34pm on Saturday while further reports were made up until 5.37pm on Sunday.
Hundreds of people took part in searches but Gwent Police did not issue a public appeal for help until 11pm on Sunday.
In a joint statement, Gwent and South Wales Police said a police helicopter was requested to search an area of Cardiff at 11.50pm on Sunday, which the forces said resulted in the vehicle being found at 12.15am on Monday.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched an investigation into the police response.
Tamzin Samuels, 20, a friend of the young women and who helped in the search effort, told the PA news agency: ‘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.’
Hundreds gathered in Cardiff tonight in a vigil for the friends who lost their lives in the crash.
A crowd of at least a few hundred people arrived on the roundabout on the A48, which has been closed to traffic.
Flowers and candles have been laid out near the scene in a tribute to the victims, who were from Newport.
People also let out heart-shaped balloon bouquets in the air in their memory.