When asked if he would miss Conley, Evan nodded.
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He described Conley as “a bit naughty” and used to play football with him.
Formal identification of the body found at the building site has still to take place.
There has since been “heavy police activity” around a building site on Bank End Road in Barnsley, which is located between Conley’s home and the park where he was last seen.
He vanished after playing with friends in a park and had set off on a forty minute walk home.
South Yorkshire police said that they checked the site the night before his body was found. Officers are treating the death as a “tragic accident”, the Press Association said.
Relatives said they believed the youngster had slipped into a plastic pipe in a trench and become trapped.
Grandmother Deborah Fraser went to the site to pay tribute to Conley and said she was “shellshocked” by his death.
Neighbours said that Conley, an only child, was “really popular and had lots of friends”.
“His family have been informed and they are being supported by specialist officers”.
As neighbours and friends laid flowers at the spot one police officer appeared to be overcome with emotion.
Conley, of Underwood Avenue in Worsbrough near Barnsley, was last seen in Locke Park, about 40 minutes from his home, at around 20:00 BST on Sunday.
‘He is believed to have left the park at around 8pm and was due to return home in Worsbrough, however he never turned up and was reported missing shortly after.
A police van and a number of police vehicles and officers are at the construction site, including forensic experts in white suits.
South Yorkshire Police believe the body to be that of Conley Thompson, from Barnsley, who was last seen on Sunday evening playing with friends a mile away from the construction site on Bank End Road in Worsbrough.
He added: “I will say this about the spot where Conley Thompson was found, it is a unsafe place to play but kids do”. He was a lovely lad just like any other his age.
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Writing on Twitter, a user called Brett said he used to live near the area and added he “can’t imagine what the family are going through”. They had little scraps and fights and things just like kids do.
