Investigators are being very tight lipped about the death of 10-year-old Conner Conley, only saying a 17-year-old is in custody, facing preliminary charges of battery causing serious bodily injury.
Sunday night at 8:15 p.m., the Ohio County Sheriff's Department received a call that a body was in a wooded area near the Rising Sun City Park. Investigators identified the person as 10-year-old Conner Conley of Rising Sun, Indiana.
To call Conley's death a "shock" is an understatment in this small community of some 2,300 people. There are only 5,500 people in Ohio County, which is located about 25 miles southwest of Cincinnati.
Conley attended Ohio County Elementary School as a fifth grader.
"Conner was a good student. He was well-liked at school and had a lot of friends. This is obviously a tragedy, but in a small community like this where everyone knows everyone, it is even more so," said Superintendent of Ohio County Community Schools Stephen Patz.
"This is highly unusual. I've been here since 1957, since I was a baby, and you don't hear about stuff like this. It's highly unusual for this area," said Rising Sun resident Steve Pratt. "I have a 5 year old daughter and my wife and I are very concerned about what might have happened here."
"It's a small town, everybody knows everybody, people grow up here, and their parents grow up here, and their parents before them," said Ohio County High School student Rachel Neel. "I think it's crazy..."
"I honestly couldn't believe it. It was really upsetting. I honestly couldn't talk," said Ohio County High School student Parker Kelly about Conley's death.
A 17-year-old is in custody at the Dearborn County Juvenile Detention Center and is facing a preliminary charge of battery causing serious bodily injury. Police won't comment on whether the 17-year-old is related to Conley or whether the two knew each other, however, Conley was not reported missing or as a runaway.
