The family of 7-year-old Conley Thompson have been left distraught after he was found dead at a construction site yesterday morning.
Search teams scoured the area around Conley’s home and the park he was last seen in for hours before making the grim discovery.
Though the body found has not yet been formally identified as the youngster, South Yorkshire Police believe it to be the remains of little Conley.
His grandmother Deborah Fraser has opened up about the ‘shock’ of losing her grandson.
She told reporters: "I'm going to miss him. It is really hard, I can't understand why and what's happened."
She revealed that Conley was killed after slipping into a vertical plastic pipe after venturing into the construction site.
"He must have died trying to get out,” she said.
Conley’s family came under criticism when it was revealed the 7-year-old was out playing at 8pm. Many parents claimed it was too late a time for a child so young to be out without parental supervision.
Ms Fraser defended Conley’s mum, saying: "She were an ace mum. She really tried her best with him.
"She's going to find it really, really hard without him. She is going to be devastated. We all are."
It was not the first time Conley had entered the construction site in Worsbrough, a mile away from his home.
"He's been known to go in there (the construction site) before and we've told him not to go in. It was raining and we just expected him to come home. (His mother) is devastated, we all are. We will all miss him, he was a lovely little lad.”