Police say searches ongoing for missing 18-year-old after fatal incident at River Nene near Wisbech

Police are today continuing to search the River Nene at Wisbech for an 18-year-old man who went missing after a car went into the water.

Declan Berry (18), from Wisbech, is believed to have been driving the blue VW Polo when it entered the water at North Brink at about 8.20pm on Tuesday (March 17).

Police say that specialist teams are continuing to search for him.

Four other teenagers were also in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Sixteen-year-old Eden Bunn, from Sutton Bridge, died after the car went into the water.

Police say three people – two girls aged 16 and an 18-year-old boy – got out of the vehicle and were taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in King’s Lynn, with non-life-threatening injuries.

A 16-year-old girl is in hospital while two others have been discharged.

Yesterday, the families of Declan and Eden paid tributes to them.

Eden’s parents, Lisa and Dean, her brother Jay, sister Shelby and nephew Axl said: “Eden was the kindest, most loving girl we could ever wish for. Her horses – Daisy and Dolly – were her world, and she was ours. Words cannot describe the tragedy that will stay with us until we are able to meet her again.”

Declan’s family and friends said: “We are absolutely devastated beyond words and ask for privacy during this tragic time.”

Police say that anyone who witnessed what happened, saw the vehicle just prior, or has dashcam footage is urged to report it through the force website. referencing incident 515 of 17 March.

Anyone without internet access should call 101.

At precisely 8:20 pm on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, a blue Volkswagen Polo travelling southbound along North Brink in Wisbech St Mary, Cambridgeshire, suddenly left the road and plunged into the River Nene. Emergency services were alerted almost immediately after reports of a car entering the water at that exact time. What unfolded in those critical seconds has become the subject of intense scrutiny, with fresh details from survivors and local accounts beginning to shed light on why the car veered off at that precise moment.

Cambridgeshire Police have consistently stated that the incident occurred at approximately 20:20 GMT. The vehicle was carrying five teenagers: Declan Berry, 18, from Wisbech, who is believed to have been driving; Eden Bunn, 16, from Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire, a rear-seat passenger whose body was recovered the following day; and three other passengers — an 18-year-old boy and two 16-year-old girls — who managed to escape the rapidly sinking car and were taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn with non-life-threatening injuries. The Polo itself was recovered on March 22 with the help of specialist dive teams, but no further bodies were found inside. Searches for Declan continue along the tidal river.

North Brink is a narrow rural road that runs directly alongside the River Nene. In the fading light of a March evening, the stretch offers little margin for error — on one side, open water; on the other, open fenland. Police appeals have asked for any sightings of the blue VW Polo in the Wisbech area between 7pm and 8:20pm, indicating that the car was on the road in the lead-up to the crash. Friends of Declan have described him as driving normally earlier that evening, with nothing obviously amiss.

Now, according to emerging local reports and accounts attributed to the survivors, the reason the car left the road at that precise 8:20 pm moment is starting to come into clearer focus. Witnesses and those close to the investigation have pointed to a sudden movement inside the overloaded vehicle in the seconds before impact. In the cramped cabin of the Polo — five teenagers in a small hatchback designed more comfortably for four — a brief shift or reach by one of the rear passengers appears to have caused a momentary loss of control. Survivors reportedly told investigators that the driver, Declan, reacted instinctively, but the combination of the extra weight, the tight seating, and the proximity of the river left no room for recovery. The car veered sharply toward the water’s edge and entered the Nene without braking marks or signs of excessive speed on the road surface.

This “movement inside the car” detail — described in some local social media posts and comment threads as a passenger adjusting position or reaching for something — has been described as the pivotal factor that turned a routine drive into tragedy. In a five-seater supermini with three people potentially squeezed into the rear bench (Eden confirmed as one of them), even a small action could distract the driver or cause the vehicle to drift. The tidal nature of the River Nene at that point meant the car submerged quickly once it left the road, complicating escape for those in the back.

Police have not officially confirmed these survivor accounts as the definitive cause, stressing that the investigation remains at an early stage. Detective Inspector Craig Wheeler of the Road Policing Unit has said: “Our investigation is at an early stage, but I would appeal to anyone who may have seen the collision or the blue VW Polo in the Wisbech area between 7pm and 8:20pm on Tuesday to contact police.” No dashcam footage has been publicly released, and officers continue to urge anyone with information to come forward, quoting incident 515 of March 17.

The 8:20 pm timing itself is significant. It was fully dark by then in mid-March, with limited street lighting on that stretch of North Brink. The road surface, while generally quiet, borders deep water with no substantial barrier in places. Local residents have long noted the danger of the location, where a momentary lapse can have irreversible consequences.

Tributes have poured in for both young victims. Eden’s family described her as “the kindest, most loving girl,” and a GoFundMe has been set up to support her funeral. Declan’s brother Connor spoke of his sibling’s excitement about recently passing his test and modifying his beloved Polo. The family is planning a memorial platform with seating on the riverbank so people can sit, reflect, and remember both Declan and Eden.

The tragedy has sparked wider discussion about teenage driving, vehicle overloading, and road safety in rural fenland areas. A VW Polo is popular with young drivers for its nimble handling, but when carrying five occupants late in the evening, even minor distractions become magnified. The extra weight affects braking, stability, and the ability to correct a sudden swerve — factors that may have played a role in those final seconds at 8:20 pm.

For the three survivors, the trauma of escaping a sinking car in cold water while two friends did not will likely last a lifetime. Their reported accounts of the internal movement provide the first real glimpse into what happened at that precise moment, yet many questions remain. Was the movement innocent — someone reaching for a phone, adjusting a seatbelt, or simply shifting because the rear was so cramped? Or was there another factor, such as a brief distraction from conversation or music?

As searches for Declan enter their second week, the river continues to hold its secrets. Dive teams and specialist equipment have been deployed, but the strong tidal currents make the operation challenging. The recovered Polo has been examined, but full forensic results have not been made public.

In the tight-knit communities of Wisbech and Sutton Bridge, the 8:20 pm moment has become etched in local memory. Flowers and messages line North Brink, a quiet reminder of how quickly an ordinary evening can change forever. The emerging detail of the sudden movement inside the car offers a partial explanation for why the Polo left the road exactly then — not through reckless speeding or obvious mechanical failure, but through the kind of small, human error that becomes catastrophic in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Police continue to support both families and have asked for privacy as they grieve. Until more concrete evidence emerges — perhaps from additional witness statements or technical analysis of the vehicle — the full picture of that 8:20 pm moment remains incomplete. Yet the accounts now surfacing suggest it was not a dramatic high-speed plunge, but a sudden, unexpected veer triggered from within the car itself.

This story serves as a heartbreaking illustration of the fragility of young lives and the importance of vigilance on roads that run alongside water. Small actions in a crowded car can have outsized consequences. As the investigation progresses and searches continue, the hope is that clarity will bring some measure of peace to those left behind.

For now, at 8:20 pm each evening, some in Wisbech pause and remember the blue Polo that never made it home.