Frankie Morris: Teen's mother to launch charity in his memory

A charity which supports young artists is being set up in memory of a teenager who was found dead after being missing for almost a month.

Frantisek "Frankie" Morris, from Llandegfan, Anglesey, disappeared on 2 May after going to a rave in Gwynedd.

Despite an intensive search, the 18-year-old's body was not found until 3 June in dense woodland near Bangor.

His mother Alice Morris has spoken of how she "feared the worst" from the moment her son disappeared.

She now wants to set up a charitable foundation to support young people like Frankie, who was a keen graffiti artist.

'Overwhelming response'

Alice Morris spoke about the pain of losing her teenage son

Ms Morris, who now lives in the Czech Republic, travelled to Wales when she heard Frankie was missing.

She said even before she set off, the support from Frankie's friends and the wider community helped her to stay strong at a "horrendous" time.

"The response was overwhelming. There were so many people messaging me and other members of the family," she said.

"I just would like to express my sincere and heartfelt thanks because it was just really nice to have such a big response and many people really trying hard to find him.

"I feared the worst from the very beginning. Knowing Frankie, this was totally out of character that he would just disappear and wouldn't tell anybody where he was going.

Frankie disappeared after going to a rave in Waunfawr

"I was glad that his body was found because there are cases when bodies have never been found and it's big trauma for the relatives.

"So in this way I was glad that Frankie's body was found, but obviously it wasn't good news."

Frankie was well known in the community around Bangor and Caernarfon for his graffiti tags, often based on the word "crazy".

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A petition has been set up to keep one of these on the old post office in Bangor as a permanent memorial to him.

'Happy memories'

Ms Morris said: "The main thing about him was that he was very authentic. There were never any pretentions about him.

"He was always very much into things that were outdoors, so he loved being in the countryside.

"He loved things like things like snowboarding and skateboarding, anything to do with physical activity.

"He was interested in drawing, the arts, he loved to draw, he did graffiti.

"His graffiti brings back very happy memories because it's like seeing Frankie himself.

"The graffiti he did that is sprayed on the post office in Bangor - it would be really nice if it's going to be preserved.

"There is a petition that many people have signed, and I guess - for me and for many people as well - it would be nice if it just stayed there."

Flowers were left in tribute under some of Frankie's graffiti artwork

North Wales Police says there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding Frankie Morris's death.

A post mortem examination found he died as a result of hanging, and an inquest is due to take place in September.

Ms Morris says she hopes the inquest will give her some answers as to the circumstances surrounding why her son died.

For now, she is focusing on setting up a long-term memorial to him.

"Frankie wanted to travel the world in a van, and had some money saved for this dream," she said.

"I thought that a good way of using this money would be to start a foundation which I am going to call the Frankie Morris Foundation.

"We are just thinking about what is going to be its exact purpose.

'Inspire people'

"But so far, I can say that it's going to be a charity, it is going to be based on Anglesey and the purpose of it will be to support young artists who want to be creative and do art.

"It would be nice if there was a place on Anglesey where artists could meet, do their art and share inspiration with each other.

"My favourite Welsh painter, Kyffin Williams, comes from Anglesey and there is a big legacy left by his work and his connection to the island.

"It would be nice if Frankie could be remembered by something positive and creative - something that would inspire people."