Appeal to raise money for Conley’s send-off

Conley Thompson vanished on Sunday but was found on Monday morning in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

A post-mortem examination showed that Conley died after entering a vertical pipe near his home in Worsbrough.

Now June Bacon has started the campaign “to give this little boy a good send-off”.

She says on the FundRazr fundraising website: “All I’m asking for is for people to dig deep into their pockets and spare some change to to give this little boy a good send of and to make life easier for his family at this tough time.

“We all know how much it costs for a funeral so please share this page and let’s get everyone in the community involved.”

This evening the FundRazr appeal stood at £1,961.

Ms Bacon, from Barnsley, said she was “heartbroken” when she heard about Conley’s death and has been overwhelmed at the public’s response to the appeal.

“It’s absolutely amazing the amount of people who have contributed and dug into their pockets, spare change or whatever,” she said.

Police say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

South Yorkshire Police said there was “no suggestion of any third party involvement” but they are investigating the cause of the boy’s death and working with the Health and Safety Executive.

Conley vanished after playing with friends in Locke Park, a mile away from the site and about two miles away from his home in Barnsley, police said.

He had gone to play at about 6pm on Sunday and was due to return home around two hours later, but never turned up.

South Yorkshire Police said officers had checked the building site in the hours of darkness after Conley was reported missing on Sunday night, but they found it to be securely locked with a large perimeter fence.

Conley’s grandmother, Deborah Fraser, said she was “shell-shocked” by the death of the boy whose “smile could light up a room.”