Found Deceased OH - Harley Dilly, 14, walking to Port Clinton High School, 20 Dec 2019 #4

[Mandrew]

Looking at the roof it doesn't seem possible to access windows, but I was thinking this:

The homeowner said he was last in the house in November. Supposing Harley had climbed up the antenna before and there was an unsecured window. So when his mother told him to go to school, he left and just went straight to the house and climbed up, expecting the window to still be unsecured.

Then let's suppose last November when the homeowner was there, he noticed it was unsecured and didn't think much of it, thinking he forgot so he secures it. So when Harley climbed up he found himself on the roof with an now secured window. What does he do?

He doesn't want to break the window, and as others have said in this thread, climbing up an antenna is easier than going down, so maybe he looks at the chimney and jokes, "if Santa can do it, so can I."

So he sizes it up, throws his jacket down and he sees or hears it hit bottom and he knows it's clear (but as the linked video shows it really isn't.) So he makes a small attempt and quickly gets in over his head and the glasses fall off.

Or perhaps he was on the roof anyway and he thought, "I might be getting new camcorder for Christmas, maybe I could film me doing the Santa routine for YouTube." And again, just intending to test the fit, quickly finds himself over his head and unable to get out.

 

[unitsix]

I usually am a lurker but admit that I was so confused about the items being outside the chimney. Here I was assuming due to the age of the home and the chimney located in the center of the house that there were fireplaces on the 2nd and 1st floors. After reading prior posts that the owners said there were no fireplaces in the house, I realized this chimney is similar to the one in my 60's era home. Think of a brick shaft from the roof to basement with a small porthole like opening on that second floor. Probably with the shaft varying in width once inside.
My chimney drops into my basement furnace.
I haven't figure out what actions he made that resulted in his coat and glasses getting pushed through the flue opening. Possibly he had his coat in hand and struggled in that area and they fell out as his slipped further down the shaft.
I realized after looking at it that way, there was no other way to enter the chimney except from the roof and it would likely not be anyone climbing up there to hide or to dispose of him with so many other more convenient or secluded areas to hide a body.
The large bodies of water would be much easier, imo.
I will try to attach the pic of the creepy little door at the bottom of my chimney.
I had been wondering what that little creepy door was for years!
I can't imagine someone trying to shimmy down a 13x9 inch opening but it's been a long time since I was 14 and I am a girl who hates tight spaces.
ETA. I wonder if Harley assumed there was a fireplace at the bottom as well. If so, probably assuming he would duck out of a fireplace and explore the house.

 

[princessmonokuma]

I am just not fully convinced that this is an accident at all, it all just seems too off for me

 

[MichelleBlue]

This helps shed some light

Expert explains chimney design to surmise how Harley Dilly's coat, glasses were on 2nd floor of house

Expert explains chimney design to surmise how Harley Dilly's coat, glasses were on 2nd floor of house

This video was very helpful.

 

[Vail]

Considering the reported dimensions of this shaft, I am at a loss how he fit in it at all, much less why he would have gone in head first. If it was large enough for him to crawl in feet-first, the coat and glasses couldn't have been pushed below him.

ETA: Just watched this and it helped clarify a littl. Still perplexing. Humans truly think some incredible thoughts sometimes.

This helps shed some light

Expert explains chimney design to surmise how Harley Dilly's coat, glasses were on 2nd floor of house

Expert explains chimney design to surmise how Harley Dilly's coat, glasses were on 2nd floor of house

 

[Onemumsvoice]

I agree with a previous comment about the glasses possibly falling in the chimney.

I think he didn't want to get into trouble for breaking in so thought he could go through the chimney get his glasses back and come out of the house easily and mum/police would be none the wiser.

I just wish we knew the extra bits to perhaps understand things a little better.

Did he ever stay off school?
Why Pick that time to stay off school?
The time he left in the morning - why? maybe he had an argument with mum and stormed off?
What details should have been released but weren't?

The thing is, we will probably never truly know why, I just hope that fingerprints etc are all being checked ( whatever may be there after weather etc) and not overlooked just in case somebody else was with him. Highly unlikely I know but it was also highly unlikely that he would be found weeks down the line in a chimney.

I won't ever forget this case. Harley seemed like a sweet young man, and I see a lot of similarities between him and my son.

 

[JustEve]

Rest in peace, sweet Harley.

He was two days younger than my son.

I am beyond heartbroken, I have never heard of such a sad, terribly sad end of a child´s life in my entire life.

I am so sorry for him and for his family.

 

[princessmonokuma]

I agree with a previous comment about the glasses possibly falling in the chimney.

I think he didn't want to get into trouble for breaking in so thought he could go through the chimney get his glasses back and come out of the house easily and mum/police would be none the wiser.

I just wish we knew the extra bits to perhaps understand things a little better.

Did he ever stay off school?
Why Pick that time to stay off school?
The time he left in the morning - why? maybe he had an argument with mum and stormed off?
What details should have been released but weren't?

The thing is, we will probably never truly know why, I just hope that fingerprints etc are all being checked ( whatever may be there after weather etc) and not overlooked just in case somebody else was with him. Highly unlikely I know but it was also highly unlikely that he would be found weeks down the line in a chimney.

I won't ever forget this case. Harley seemed like a sweet young man, and I see a lot of similarities between him and my son.

The thing I found from watching a lot of his youtube videos is that he hated taking time off and school was something important to him. Granted he was a child who indeed caused a lot of trouble but toward the end he was saying that he wanted to focus on school massively and he does not want to get into any more trouble. This further makes me worry about the fact that he did not go. There were vlogs of him walking to school regardless of if he was really sick or not and he said that school is something that has to be done in the week so it is important to go.

He was also said to be meeting with an unidentified person around the time of his disappearance.

I am just so troubled by this, he is a kid who was scared to be locked out the house on his own it just seems....off.

 

[holtzmann]

Expert explains chimney design to surmise how Harley Dilly's coat, glasses were on 2nd floor of house

Local talk from an expert explaining the possible structure and fall through a chimney.

Edit: Oops, looks like someone beat me to it.

 

[Countem]

The thing I found from watching a lot of his youtube videos is that he hated taking time off and school was something important to him. Granted he was a child who indeed caused a lot of trouble but toward the end he was saying that he wanted to focus on school massively and he does not want to get into any more trouble. This further makes me worry about the fact that he did not go. There were vlogs of him walking to school regardless of if he was really sick or not and he said that school is something that has to be done in the week so it is important to go.

He was also said to be meeting with an unidentified person around the time of his disappearance.

I am just so troubled by this, he is a kid who was scared to be locked out the house on his own it just seems....off.

Sadly, we truly will never know the operations of his mind that day. Often, how people portray themselves on social media is not the full reality of their situation, and, based on the facts so far, it does seem that this was a tragic accident.

That being said, if he was supposed to meet someone, there is a remote possibility that another kid was involved in the incident. Perhaps another kid dared HD to break into the house or even joined him on the roof but got scared when HD no longer responded after going down the chimney. I think this is highly unlikely, since you would hope that kid would have come forward (at least anonymously) earlier on in the investigation.

MOO

 

[jaejae]

As with most on this board a very sad and unfortunate end to this story.

Here is a Sky News report:

Harley Dilly: Body of boy missing for four weeks found in chimney of empty house

 

[Kiranerys]

I imagine Harley will have a very large and lovely service.

I really hope so

 

[x_files]

Hmmm??
Reportedly, the homeowner talked to a news station (19News) and said there was no fireplace in the home. Don't know if WTOL/11 chimney expert aware of this...

What??!! Just left the chimney in place and sealed off the fireplace?

 

[Presley78]

What??!! Just left the chimney in place and sealed off the fireplace?

Our home was built in 1820 and we have a similar situation. Except both 2nd and 1st level openings have been sealed off. I guess they keep the chimney in place for ventilation? I always think it’s a waste of heat when I see what appears to be smoke (just heat) escaping from it on the cold days.

There is absolutely zero opening to our fireplace. You can tell where it was based off of how the wall juts out. I’m thankful this wasn’t the case here or this poor boy may have not been found until the owners opened the wall (if they ever did).

I’m just heartbroken over this. The thought that Harley must’ve had when he realized he was stuck is just so sad.

 

[InsightfulSage]

Forgive me if I somehow missed this discussion.

Authorities still believe it was Harley on the surveillance video, correct? I don’t fully understand where that camera was in relation to his house & the home he was found in, but I’m wondering if there shouldn’t be video of him passing by the camera heading back towards his house.

 

[x_files]

Port Clinton homeowner speaks about layout of chimney where body of Harley Dilly was discovered

According to the homeowner, the home was winterized. Water wasn’t running, but the heat was on low.

There’s no fireplace in the home and he said the chimney where Dilly climbed into wasn’t in use.




**A thought I had. With as much emphasis as was placed on the number of times HD bathed during the day, would that tend to insinuate a type of OCD and an individual that didn't like to be dirty/smell?? Why and HOW would he be able to climb into something the size of a cake pan for 1 and for 2 wouldn't he have a fear of getting dirty with as many times as he bathed during the day?** (just a thought that crossed my mind when I found this story and also MOO)

Something doesn't add up to me. No evidence just my gut feeling.
Unless he has a history of scaling antennas, squeezing down chimneys I'm not buying it esp. with OCD issues.

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

What??!! Just left the chimney in place and sealed off the fireplace?

This old house from 1850 never had a fireplace. It was heated by a coal burning furnace in the basement which also heated the first floor through grates in the floor. It would have had a coal stove on the second floor. Both of these must vent up a chimney. The coal stove would have been attached to the chimney through the flue hole.

See the hole on the side of this chimney. That's a flue vent hole.


This is part of an old coal stove. It attaches to a flue vent which goes up a chimney.

 

[Valiant]

So sad. A tragic accident.
I can't really see someone climbing up there with him and shoving him down the chimney.

 

[x_files]

Well I can't sleep so I am back. As a mother to 6 with 3 boys, 2 Harleys's age or there abouts this has been a tough one.
If you rolled my two teens together you would get a kid a lot like Harley. Although having spoken to them both today they looked at me like a crazy woman when I made them promise never to try and climb down a chimney. At which point they both said "why would we do that... We would get stuck."
Still they promised me anyway.

I have thought a lot about this, and whilst I was never convinced this would end well, I don't think I dreamt it could have ended so heartbreakingly.

I really hope some lessons are learned from this about assumptions. Christ we are forever told most accidents, or incidents happen within 100 yards of our front door. It boggles my mind, that so many things seemed to conspire against Harley that day right from the get go.
@userunnamed I have raised 6 kids 3 boys, two of them are now at that age, the other is in his 20's, none of them need4/5 baths a day 'alone time' otherwise we would never get in the bathroom and we would have been condemned to cold showers thru lack of hot water.. There are other statements that confirm he had very fixed habits. And I don't think they would have broadcast that fact as a need to know if they thought he was just getting to know himself. JMO

Bathing 5x times a day is excessive, using the bathroom 5x a day, ok sure but not taking full baths or showers. It sounds like OCD behavior or was using it as an excuse to hide out in the bathroom.
Do teens often try to scale down chimneys headfirst at 6 am by themselves without friends?
This seems more like a stunt that would involve being dared, or drunk/high with friends not alone. Was he on any psych meds like Elisa Lam? Anyone know? I'm late to this case.

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

So sad. A tragic accident.
I can't really see someone climbing up there with him and shoving him down the chimney.

The roof pitch on that old house would have prevented anyone from carrying a dead body and shoving it down the chimney. It's really steep. It's amazing that Harley made it across that roof without falling to get in that chimney which is in the center of the roof.