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

[Bravo]

12pm

Thank you so much

 

[NuttMegg]

I can buy into a 14 year old climbing down a chimney (I guess) to gain access to a locked, vacant home, but he had to have made it once to leave his jacket there, so why didn't he just unlock a back door or window instead of using the chimney (presumably) a second, fatal time? Using the chimney would seem like it would be far more likely to be seen...it's just so strange. Hoping the press conference gives some answers.

I know hindsight is 20/20, but I am still just flummoxed that a nearby, long-vacant home wasn't searched more thoroughly. Seems like one of the first things to do would be look in sheds, barns, parked RVs, vacant homes, etc. that are close by and would be known to him. I guess maybe it's just so hard to think of him right there and not found sooner.

I'll be very surprised, actually astonished, if it turns out he gained access to the house through the top of the chimney. He was a smart kid, probably figured out how to open a window, and probably the police already know which one. Maybe there was a cellar window he figured out how to open.

 

[JaneEyre]

Don't chimneys have some type of grate to keep stuff out?

Most unused chimneys are capped. Others have exhaust pipes in them. My neighbors’ cap came off and critters got in.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I am waaay behind here. This is crazy??? Do we have a presser coming? TIA

Noon

 

[Cortne]

Too bad he didnt have his phone. Rawr jmo

 

[SuziQ]

The below is quoted from a post by member lmr:
"Police searching home reportedly connected with missing Port Clinton teen
Reporter states that house was searched because Police Cgief saw a lock box on the home, realized it was empty and decided to search. The home is diagonally visible from HD's home. Reporter also states that he "thinks" most activity was happening on 2nd floor of home.
I wonder if he climbed in somehow and fell. Accidental death."

If the empty lockbox tipped off LE to the fact that someone had entered this supposed-to-be-unoccupied house, and we assume that HD may have been the one to open the lockbox, there'd have been no need for him to enter the house through the chimney. Although I do think it's possible they thought another individual (or individuals), i.e. transients, squatters, etc., had broken into the house for reasons entirely unrelated to the HD case, and only after they investigated did they realize HD was (or had been) in there....

Here's my (admittedly farfetched) thought on how HD might've accessed this house: if I owned a property across from a home where I regularly saw a young teenage boy, small of stature, locked out of the house by his family regardless of the weather/hour, AND I was not currently living full-time in the house--maybe it was getting fixed up to go on the market and mostly empty--I might consider telling the kid my lockbox code so he'd have a nearby place to find shelter if he got locked out in frigid temps or very late at night. I might even casually "hire" him to go in there occasionally to check on the property (pick up fallen leaves, collect any mail still being sent to that address, make sure the pipes hadn't frozen/leaked, etc.) if I wasn't regularly able to do so myself, thus giving him a legitimate reason for being in there if LE or his parents ever caught him.

What is heartbreaking is that not every door was knocked on and an attempt wasn't made to contact each and every tenant or homeowner. Although it probably would not change the outcome, it is basic investigation 101.

 

[NuttMegg]

Too bad he didnt have his phone. Rawr jmo

Do we know why he didn't have his phone? He left for school normally I was thinking although a little early?

 

[alyssa5597]

I'll be very surprised, actually astonished, if it turns out he gained access to the house through the top of the chimney. He was a smart kid, probably figured out how to open a window, and probably the police already know which one. Maybe there was a cellar window he figured out how to open.

Agreed. If he was actually found in the chimney, which I have no reason to actually believe at this point, I think foul play not an accident. JMO.

 

[Hatfield]

This is a short video that shows how Lock Boxes work. There are different kinds but most are similar to this one.

 

[Bellecent]

If he was found inside the chimney, here's what is puzzling me. His coat was already inside, so if this is an accidental death, he must have been there before, maybe the day previous, and left his coat behind. This could make sense, since the grainy video image looks like he is not wearing that coat. My question is, if he went down the chimney previously, how did he get out? Climbing back out the chimney seems impossible to me. If it was through a door or window, why wouldn't he go back in that way? Very confusing at the moment, but maybe things will be clarified. MOO

What if he was murdered and they were trying to conceal him and thought chimney?

Remember the family said Harley would leave for the night sometimes when there were disagreements in the household? I can't help but to speculate that he went to that house over night since he knew the people weren't living there. However, instead of just sitting in the living room because the homeowners could come home or people would see lights on, he found a place in a crawlspace or attic to hideout. That might explain the walls being removed. How he passed away is anyone's guess at this point. This is just a theory.

I still wonder what tipped the police off to look in the walls to begin with though?

 

[sabrecmc]

If the vacant home had zero signs of forced entry & it was locked up & ...I would cross it off.

This case would suggest that would not be a good assumption for investigators. Many vacant homes have unlocked windows/doors that wouldn't show a sign of being forced (actually, many homes in general have things stolen without signs of forced entry, so I don't think the lack thereof would rule out someone entering who shouldn't be there). Again, I understand hindsight, but it still seems like something the police should review as far as their procedures go. Not blaming them, of course, but clearly, something important was missed. Would it have made a difference? We don't know.

 

[Linda7NJ]

Maybe they only found him because of decomposition odor after a hunch to investigate that house further

 

[Linda7NJ]

Do we know why he didn't have his phone? He left for school normally I was thinking although a little early?

No phone - it was broken

 

[alyssa5597]

Scott Noll on Twitter

Police tape and a single police car outside the home searched by investigators Monday night in the disappearance of #HarleyDilly. Additional details expected at noon news conference.
@WEWS
#WEWS

 

[Cortne]

Do we know why he didn't have his phone? He left for school normally I was thinking although a little early?

Was broken or taken by parents or both? I dont recall
RIP HARLEY

 

[Presley78]

I still wonder what tipped the police off to look in the walls to begin with though?

If he was stuck in the wall, my guess would be the smell. An old unoccupied home can smell musty, but the decomposing smell of a body is undeniable.
Personally, I don’t think he climbed in from the chimney, but if he did, he may have broken his neck or was squeezed tightly which prevented him from screaming. Would he even been heard? The house seems so set back from the road and if someone was screaming from inside a chimney inside a home, with the colder weather and less windows open, how could anyone hear him?

 

[Cortne]

No phone - it was broken

Thank you ma'am.

 

[Heaven Leigh]

I doubt we will learn much from the Presser this soon into it.
I would be shocked if he was in chimney..but it happens.
I would think it this is a place he knew he could escape too when he needed I think he would have left a window open at a previous visit.
Could he have harmed himself ?

 

[Davia18]

If the green house is the home, that chimney looks tiny IMO

 

[Ondeckc]

I believe access to the home by the chimney could been achieved depending on the size. Perhaps he took his coat off and threw it down the chimney before he tried to enter it. Maybe it looked like a tight fit and he took his jacket off. This would not explain the coat hanging on the door, if it was indeed found there. Jmho.