Words cannot describe the tragedy that will stay with us
On a Tuesday afternoon in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, a two-week search along the River Nene reached its sorrowful conclusion when divers recovered a body believed to be that of eighteen-year-old Declan Berry, who had vanished when a car carrying five teenagers plunged into the water on the evening of March 17. He joins sixteen-year-old Eden Bunn, who perished in the same crash, in a loss that has left two families and a wider community confronting the sudden, irreversible weight of young lives cut short. The river, indifferent to urgency, had held its secret for a fortnight while investigators, divers, and those who loved him waited. What remains now is the slow work of understanding how it happened, and the longer, harder work of living with the fact that it did.
- Five teenagers set out on an ordinary March evening and a blue Volkswagen Polo entered the River Nene, transforming a community overnight into one defined by vigil and dread.
- Three survivors were pulled from the water; sixteen-year-old Eden Bunn was recovered the following day, while eighteen-year-old Declan Berry remained missing for two agonising weeks.
- Divers battled poor visibility and difficult currents in a prolonged search that stretched across fourteen days before a body was recovered from Crab Marsh on March 31.
- A family Facebook page broke the news before any official confirmation — 'Declan has been found' — a sentence that closed the uncertainty and opened the grief fully.
- The investigation into what caused the car to leave the road remains active, with police appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage from the critical window between seven and eight-twenty that evening.
Two weeks after a blue Volkswagen Polo sank into the River Nene in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, police divers recovered a body from Crab Marsh on the afternoon of March 31. Formal identification was still pending, but a family Facebook page dedicated to finding eighteen-year-old Declan Berry carried the news first, thanking all those who had searched and hoped alongside them.
The crash had occurred just after eight on the evening of March 17, when the Polo entered the river at North Brink in Wisbech St Mary with five teenagers inside. Three managed to escape the sinking vehicle and were hospitalised. Sixteen-year-old Eden Bunn, a passenger from Sutton Bridge, did not survive and was recovered the following day. Declan remained missing, lost in the river's murk, while rescue teams worked against poor visibility and difficult currents.
Eden's family — her parents Lisa and Dean, her brother Jay, sister Shelby, and nephew Axl — described her as 'the kindest, most loving girl we could ever wish for,' and spoke of the horses, Daisy and Dolly, that had been her world. Declan's family asked only for privacy, saying they were 'absolutely devastated beyond words.'
Detective Inspector Craig Wheeler of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit appealed for witnesses and dashcam footage from the area between seven and eight-twenty that evening, acknowledging the river's challenging nature had made the search both prolonged and difficult. For those who had gathered around the search page and held onto hope, the recovery brought not relief but the finality that grief requires to begin.
Two weeks of searching the River Nene ended on a Tuesday afternoon when police divers recovered a body from Crab Marsh in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. The discovery came fourteen days after an eighteen-year-old named Declan Berry vanished into the dark water, his blue Volkswagen Polo sinking beneath the surface on the evening of March 17. A family Facebook page dedicated to finding him carried the news first: "Declan has been found and we thank you all so much for all your support." Formal identification had not yet been completed, but those closest to him already knew what the recovery meant.
The crash itself happened just after eight in the evening when the Polo entered the river at North Brink in Wisbech St Mary. Five teenagers were packed inside the vehicle. Three managed to claw their way out of the sinking car and were taken to hospital. One did not survive the initial impact—sixteen-year-old Eden Bunn from Sutton Bridge, a passenger who police found and recovered on March 18. That left Declan, missing in the murk, while rescue teams worked against the river's difficult currents and poor visibility.
Eden's family released a statement that carried the weight of permanent loss. Her parents, Lisa and Dean, along with her brother Jay, sister Shelby, and nephew Axl, described her as "the kindest, most loving girl we could ever wish for." They mentioned her horses, Daisy and Dolly, which had been her world. "Words cannot describe the tragedy that will stay with us until we are able to meet her again," they wrote. Declan's family, meanwhile, asked only for privacy, saying they were "absolutely devastated beyond words."
The investigation into what caused the car to leave the road and enter the water remained in its early stages. Detective Inspector Craig Wheeler from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit appealed for anyone who had witnessed the collision or seen the blue Polo in the area between seven and eight-twenty that evening to come forward. He acknowledged the river's challenging nature—the very thing that had made the search so difficult and so long. Police cordoned off Osborne Road and Nene Parade as they continued their work, and an increased presence along the riverbank signaled that the investigation would take time.
For those who had been searching, the recovery of Declan's body brought an end to the uncertainty but no relief. Three other teenagers remained hospitalized. A community that had rallied around the "Search for Declan Berry" Facebook page now faced the finality of what had always seemed likely but could not be confirmed until a body lay on a riverbank and a family's worst fear became documented fact. Police asked anyone with dashcam footage or additional information to contact them through the force website, referencing incident 515 of March 17, or to call 101.
Notable Quotes
Eden was the kindest, most loving girl we could ever wish for. Her horses were her world, and she was ours.— Eden Bunn's family
This is a truly devastating collision, for all involved. My thoughts are with the friends and family of Eden and Declan during this truly horrific time.— Detective Inspector Craig Wheeler, Serious Collision Investigation Unit
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What was it like for the families during those two weeks when Declan was still missing but Eden was already confirmed dead?
Unbearable, I imagine. You know one child is gone. You're grieving. But somewhere in that same river is another child, and you don't know if he's still there or if the current took him somewhere else. The not-knowing is its own kind of torture.
Why did it take so long to find him?
The River Nene isn't cooperative. Poor visibility, strong currents, the body could have moved. Divers can only work so fast in those conditions. Two weeks is actually not unusual for a river recovery, as grim as that sounds.
Five teenagers in one car. How does that happen?
You don't know yet. That's what the investigation is trying to figure out. Was someone speeding? Was the road wet? Was there a mechanical failure? Right now it's just a question mark.
The family's statement about Eden's horses—why include that detail?
Because that's who she was to them. Not a statistic. A girl who loved her animals, who had a full life ahead. That detail is how you say: she mattered. She was real.
What happens now?
The investigation continues. Police are still asking for witnesses, for dashcam footage, for anyone who saw that car before it went into the water. And two families are learning to live in a world where their children aren't in it anymore.