Quoted above comment: “Regards the aircraft…the group flew to one place for brunch…so the only thing that could have changed was fuel loading…”
Lotsa factors likely changed!! The changes were likely temperature (density Altitude), wind direction (headwind vs tailwind components (potentially a big deal!), field condition (grass - dry or wet/short or tall/dense or sparse/or smooth vs rough/paved vs grass), field elevation (higher vs lower), runway slope (level vs up hill or down hill), runway length (obstacles vs open fields) surrounding terrain, and etc. All were potentially big deals that could individually and collectively have a profound impact on performance compared to the airport the four departed from… Very sad event.