Police said the blue Peugeot was hidden in thick undergrowth near a Lancashire road.
NEWTON-WITH-CLIFTON, England — Two men reported missing from Preston were found dead inside a car Saturday after officers located the vehicle hidden in thick undergrowth near a main road in Lancashire, police said.
William Hutchinson, 31, and Stuart Tallis, 27, had last been seen in the early hours of June 24. Lancashire Police said formal identification had not yet taken place, but officers believe the two deceased men found inside Hutchinson’s blue Peugeot 106 were Hutchinson and Tallis. Their families have been told and are being supported by specially trained officers as collision investigators work to establish what happened.
Hutchinson was last seen at an address on Hull Street in Preston and was believed to have left the area in the blue Peugeot. Tallis was last seen around 1:30 a.m. the same day in the Fishwick View area of Preston and was reported missing on June 27. Police said later inquiries led officers to believe the men may have been together. Specialist search officers found the Peugeot shortly after noon July 4 off the westbound carriageway of the A584 Preston New Road, close to its junction with the A583 Blackpool Road.
The vehicle was hidden from view in thick undergrowth at Newton-with-Clifton, police said. Investigators believe the Peugeot left the carriageway in the minutes before 5:30 a.m. on June 24. Sgt. Martin Wilcock of Lancashire Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit said two men had died in “extremely tragic circumstances” and said his thoughts were with their loved ones. He said officers who searched for the men had hoped for a different outcome.
Police have not announced a cause of death. They have described the case as a double fatal collision investigation and are trying to build a clearer timeline from the early morning hours of June 24. Officers are seeking accounts from anyone who saw the blue Peugeot 106 on the A584 Preston New Road shortly before 5:30 a.m. Investigators also are reviewing whether CCTV or dashcam footage from motorists in the area can help show how the vehicle left the road.
The discovery ended a search that began after the men were reported missing separately from Preston. The road where the car was found runs west of the city toward the Fylde coast, and the junction near Newton-with-Clifton carries traffic between Preston New Road and Blackpool Road. Police said the car’s position in the undergrowth made it difficult to see from the carriageway, delaying its discovery until search officers found it during inquiries into the men’s whereabouts.
Wilcock said his task now is to establish the full circumstances that led to the collision. Police said the investigation remains open, and no further finding on the cause or manner of the crash has been released. Officers are using log 613 of July 4, 2026, for information connected to the case.
As of Monday, formal identification was still pending, and police had not announced any arrests or charges. The next step is the collision investigation and any findings from vehicle, scene and witness evidence.