THE family of a daredevil Southampton university lecturer who died in a wingsuit accident have raised more than £1,000 after money from his funeral "went missing".

Family members of jet pack pilot Angelo Grubisic, who died in Saudi Arabia in August, have launched a Crowdfunder page hoping to recoup some of the money, believed to have been lost in a mix-up with another funeral.

The page has already raised £1,500 of its £8,000 target.

The money is planned to be used to set up a foundation in honour of Dr Grubisic to help fund the education of young people from underprivileged backgrounds towards careers in engineering.

It comes after grieving family members spoke at their “anger” following the disappearance of the money, raised at Dr Grubisic’s funeral in Walsall in September.

Family members believe the money was stolen, while detectives are investigating a mix-up by the funeral directors – which meant the donation box was accidentally used at another funeral.

Daily Echo:

Dr Grubisic’s mother, Anita, said: “I’m not only upset but angry.

“It’s not just the donations made in good faith by those who loved my son but also the cards and messages which would have been in the donation box too. These are irreplaceable.

“All we want to do is carry on Angelo’s legacy; to build a foundation that will help fund the education of young people from underprivileged backgrounds, like Angelo, towards careers in engineering.”

The family also thanked the directors of Mr Grubisic’s funeral for their continued support.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Police said its detectives were “investigating a mix up of donations” between Mr Grubisic’s funeral and another the following day.

A force spokesperson said: “The intention was for the money to go to a specific charity, but this same full box was accidentally used at a funeral the next day.

“The donations then became mixed up and the attendees at the second funeral are believed to have donated the whole amount to their chosen places.

“The family of the first funeral are keen to hear from anyone who attended and donated money to thank them and also to identify whether they gave any open cheques.”

As previously reported in the Echo, Dr Grubisic was a lecturer in astronautics at the University of Southampton and a jet suit pilot for Gravity Industries.

Daily Echo:

He performed at last year’s Bournemouth Air Festival where he took off from the pier in a jet pack and flew across the seafront.

The fundraising age is available here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/dr-angelo.