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

[Betty P]

Locks can be easily picked, even by amateurs. Cheap lock pick tool kits are sold online. There are also lessons online that teach how to pick locks. I have no idea about the position of Harley's remains found in the chimney. Feet down or up? Nor do I know what was on the second floor. A completely sealed wallboard wall in relation to the chimney? An open elbow vent (flue)? If open, birds and squirrels could gain access into the home. IMO, LE is not releasing some relevant information. It is very possible that Harley was a murder victim. I still think about Damian Henning from Norwalk, Ohio who vanished from Kalahari, south of Sandusky, Ohio. His body was found two days later under a high level bridge in Toledo, Ohio. LE and the coroner ruled his death a suicide. I do not believe it due to LE sloppy investigation, ignoring surveillance videos, clues and forensic evidence. Damian's mother has a Facebook page that is public and she details her issues with LE. Her last name is Jackson.

Wow, I hadn't heard of Damian's case. That does sound suspicious.

Henning's mother struggles with answers

Pt. Clinton & Sandusky areas are hot tourist spots in the summer. Public officials may not want to cause problems.

ETA: MOO I don't think Harley's death was suspicious at this point in time, but Damian's does look unusual.

 

[CSIDreamer]

You must not have any teenagers. My oldest ( now 28) climbed one of those big electric power towers, all the way to the top with his equally crazy friend. I about had heart attack when I found out. It was well after the fact. I thank God they both lived to tell about it.

I must be one of a small percentage with a daredevil daughter. When questioned how exactly she got on the roof of a certain building. "The bricks stick out a bit. You can spiderman it".

I can see exactly how this happened to HD.

 

[Spellbound]

I can’t stop the questions in my head, but I think if Harley truly got stuck in the chimney of his own escapade, it was probably before daybreak and he would not likely be seen. I did not see street lights in their neighborhood. They may have been there and I overlooked them, or they are spread out too far for me to see. However, on Dec. 20 daylight was at 7:22 am per Port Clinton Sunrise / Sunset Times, OH 43452 - WillyWeather

If he was so concerned with baths I can’t see him going into a dirty chimney, but perhaps he did. I would think he would not want to ruin his coat or further break his glasses to avoid getting in more trouble from his parents. Did he put his glasses in a pocket to protect them? He did often seem concerned about being in trouble.

So much just makes no sense. We may never know the answers to our questions and I will forever be playing this in my head.

 

[demetra]

I am 50 and i know how dumb it sounds but i honestly thought a chimney would be easy to go down if your thin, i never thought about it having anything blocking the opening once you reached the bottom. We had wood burning stoves in the house with a pipe that went straight up to the ceiling. This makes me feel really stupid for thinking if a chimney did not have a screen or cap on it you could actually go down there and come out in the house. moo

 

[Spellbound]

I was looking at videos and stuff about chimneys and found this story of a young man that survived being in a chimney and his adventure that got him in that situation

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/19/experience-i-fell-down-a-chimney

That’s a very good article to read. It would make more sense to me if Harley was sitting on the edge with his feet dangling inside, perhaps so he could watch his own house from there and know when everyone might be gone. Maybe he had done that before. But this time he slipped when he tried to get back up to move/come down. I can imagine the glasses getting knocked off in such a case, it still not sure about how the coat got off and away from him without staying stuck inside. It is so horrendous to visualize.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I am 50 and i know how dumb it sounds but i honestly thought a chimney would be easy to go down if your thin, i never thought about it having anything blocking the opening once you reached the bottom. We had wood burning stoves in the house with a pipe that went straight up to the ceiling. This makes me feel really stupid for thinking if a chimney did not have a screen or cap on it you could actually go down there and come out in the house. moo

The only reason I knew it was almost impossible is because I wasn’t buying the whole Santa clause thing - I was about 5, got inside our fireplace, opened the flue, we called it a “damper” and looked up.

 

[Linda7NJ]

That’s a very good article to read. It would make more sense to me if Harley was sitting on the edge with his feet dangling inside, perhaps so he could watch his own house from there and know when everyone might be gone. Maybe he had done that before. But this time he slipped when he tried to get back up to move/come down. I can imagine the glasses getting knocked off in such a case, it still not sure about how the coat got off and away from him without staying stuck inside. It is so horrendous to visualize.

I think he took the coat & glasses off to “fit” and sent them
Down first

 

[Sillybilly]

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

Just something that stood out to me from the above article: "The homeowner also said family members were the only ones who had access to the keys."

So no mention of the lockbox.

 

[JaneEyre]

Just something that stood out to me from the above article: "The homeowner also said family members were the only ones who had access to the keys."

So no mention of the lockbox.

I took that to mean that only family members had the code to the lock box.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

I am still Gobsmacked by how many LEO personal,and other entities were on this. Not just Hickman, but The freaking FBI,among others.
Not a single one of them thought to check that house, inside and out. Not a single one thought in spite of there being no sign of breaking,and entering, that maybe there was. Not a single one has ever heard of a cat burglar, or the fact there have been many cases of just such a thing where there was Zero sign of a break in.Not a single one really listened to all the people saying check empty,unoccupied,rental,vacation, homes etc. I know he was likely dead by the time the search was on, but he could at least been found much sooner. Hopefully all LEO,and other agencies take note. Leave no stone unturned, question everything. Get permission from homeowners to check it out, or Search Warrant. Listen when people say. Check vacant,homes......... I'm sorry but Border Protection, and he was stuck in that Chimney a cross the street the whole time.
MOO

 

[Tutter]

So, the police think his jacket and glasses were pushed from the chimney AFTER he was in there. That's very interesting

they would have to be, really there is no other explanation for how they got out the flue. In my opinion, he pushed them out so he could be found.

so this also must mean he had not been in the house before, because otherwise he would know there were no fireplaces, and would not try to intentionally go down the chimney.

so why this day?

 

[JaePim]

First time poster. I've lurked for awhile, but never felt compelled to post. This case has really broken my heart.

While I understand how some people are doubting that he did this, I think sometimes we are conditioned by fictitious crime shows and books, where even after we think we have the answer--there's a sudden plot twist. So, no, I personally do not believe this to be anything other than a tragic accident. Death by misadventure.

In fact, I can totally relate, as it was something I would've done as a kid, and I'm female. Though I never went down a chimney, I climbed an elevator shaft for kicks, climbed countless roofs, explored abandoned buildings, played on railroad tracks, even once crawled though some creepy underground labyrinth of tunnels. I cringe when I think of all this now, but it's what kids did in the '80s. We were fearless, impulsive, independent and pretty much given free reign, as long as we were home by dark. It's kind of a rite of passage to be rebellious and risk-taking at that age--at least it was back then. I think we see less of this now, with so many kids over-scheduled with extracurricular activities, or hooked to electronic devices, for better or worse.

I think this has been mentioned, but I want to point out again that in some videos, he mentions doing "stunts" and exploring abandoned places. In one hauntingly prophetic clip, he mentions almost "getting suffocated-slash-strangled by a chain" at an abandoned playground (39:30 mark on video on post 12 of first page of this thread). So in my opinion, it seems pretty clear that trying to go down a chimney was totally his type of caper.

As for not wanting to go to school that day, who knows? Even kids who basically like school, sometimes just don't want to go. We've all been there, right? Maybe there's a social situation we want to avoid. Maybe we didn't do our homework. Maybe we woke up in a crummy mood and just can't face it.

I also want to say how much I appreciate WS's victim friendly policy. My heart goes out to Harley's family. It must be a nightmare to not only lose your child, but also have your personal family life exposed to the world, and be bashed and blamed. (It did rub me wrong that someone on here criticized the mother for having her nails done; perhaps a friend gave her a manicure as a nice gesture or something, maybe cut the poor woman some slack.)

As a final thought: you know the videos where he's trying to get to 100 subscribers? It took my breath away to see that his 2 YouTube channels now have 2k/3k subscribers. RIP precious Harley. You captured so many hearts.

MOO

 

[KCmetwo]

First time poster. I've lurked for awhile, but never felt compelled to post. This case has really broken my heart.

While I understand how some people are doubting that he did this, I think sometimes we are conditioned by fictitious crime shows and books, where even after we think we have the answer--there's a sudden plot twist. So, no, I personally do not believe this to be anything other than a tragic accident. Death by misadventure.

In fact, I can totally relate, as it was something I would've done as a kid, and I'm female. Though I never went down a chimney, I climbed an elevator shaft for kicks, climbed countless roofs, explored abandoned buildings, played on railroad tracks, even once crawled though some creepy underground labyrinth of tunnels. I cringe when I think of all this now, but it's what kids did in the '80s. We were fearless, impulsive, independent and pretty much given free reign, as long as we were home by dark. It's kind of a rite of passage to be rebellious and risk-taking at that age--at least it was back then. I think we see less of this now, with so many kids over-scheduled with extracurricular activities, or hooked to electronic devices, for better or worse.

I think this has been mentioned, but I want to point out again that in some videos, he mentions doing "stunts" and exploring abandoned places. In one hauntingly prophetic clip, he mentions almost "getting suffocated-slash-strangled by a chain" at an abandoned playground (39:30 mark on video on post 12 of first page of this thread). So in my opinion, it seems pretty clear that trying to go down a chimney was totally his type of caper.

As for not wanting to go to school that day, who knows? Even kids who basically like school, sometimes just don't want to go. We've all been there, right? Maybe there's social situation we want to avoid. Maybe we didn't do our homework. Maybe we woke up in a crummy mood and just can't face it.

I also want to say how much I appreciate WS's victim friendly policy. My heart goes out to Harley's family. It must be a nightmare to not only lose your child, but also have your personal family life exposed to the world, and be bashed and blamed. (It did rub me wrong that someone on here criticized the mother for having her nails done; perhaps a friend gave her a manicure as a nice gesture or something, cut the woman some slack.)

As a final thought: you know the videos where he's trying to get to 100 subscribers? It took my breath away to see that his 2 YouTube channels now have 2k/3k subscribers. RIP precious Harley. You captured so many hearts.

MOO

I believe that it was left out that Harley tended to be an "urban explorer" as they call it. Which means going into unoccupied areas and checking them out. I was going through different things last night and saw different posts etc that said he and his friends would go into different areas and look around. I think some of his video actually DID show this even with the "production" as I will call it of "we found a dead body" they were playing around the quarry.

So, the Chief was right that it was an accident by misadventure. My brain just doesn't want to believe it b/c imp that coat looked to clean to have gone down a chimney, BUT the house hadn't been used in 10 years and was being renovated. PLUS, the pictures of the coat had a tree in the way.

R.I.P. dear Harley, keep those adventures going with your wings sweet Angel

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

they would have to be, really there is no other explanation for how they got out the flue. In my opinion, he pushed them out so he could be found.

so this also must mean he had not been in the house before, because otherwise he would know there were no fireplaces, and would not try to intentionally go down the chimney.

so why this day?

I wonder if he has done something like this before, in a place that is under renovation, where maybe the chimney, flu,damper are open, and not blocked off. Or saw some other YouTuber do it,and thought he could do it too. He had zero idea it did not go all through until it was tragically far too late.

 

[K9Enzo]

Wonder if he was into geocaching?

 

[demetra]

I thought it was foul play by maybe a online person/predator until they announced he was found in the chimney, like i said i am a old lady and i thought you could go down a chimney and come out in the house maybe this adventurous 14 year old thought the same. One thing is for sure my g babies are very young[ 2-4-6] and i will start a new Christmas theory on how Santa comes in the house and talk about the dangers of a chimney for sure,something i have learned from this beautiful child Harley..May you rest in peace Harley.

 

[heed101]

Port Clinton Police Department
Wednesday, January 15th, 2020

Press Conference Notes from Tuesday, January 14th, 2020

Good morning. I am Police Chief Robert Hickman.

I want to start by thanking the community for their continued support during this investigation. This has been a difficult investigation and I want to thank the community for your patience and support.

This is not the outcome anyone wanted but thanks to your help and support, we have some closure for this family.

We believe Harley Dilly was recovered last evening in a house located at 507 Fulton Street.

During the investigation, multiple leads were exhausted.

Yesterday afternoon, a repeated canvas of the neighbor lead investigators to the house at 507 Fulton Street.

The house had been previously checked multiple times. There was no evidence of forced entry.

The house’s windows were locked and the door was secured with a lock box on the door.

Since a lock box can allow multiple individuals to access a house and the house was vacant, we pursued entry to the house.

The house was entered at 1610 and searched.

Harley’s coat and glasses were discovered on the second floor of the house next to a brick chimney.

We were then able to discover what we believe to be Harley was caught in the chimney.

His family was notified early this morning.

This appears to be an accident.

At this time, there does not appear to be foul play involved.

No cause of death has been determined. An autopsy is being conducted this morning by the Lucas County Coroner.

It appears that Harley climbed an antenna tower to the roof and entered the chimney.

Once in the chimney, Harley’s jacket and glasses were pushed from the chimney, through a flue, and into the second floor of the house.

The chimney was blocked between the second and first floor of the house, which trapped Harley.

The chimney is approximately 9 inches by 13 inches in size.

This is a tragic outcome to the case and a tough loss to the community.

I want to stress that the investigators in the case were many – and the investigation was thorough.

You talk about people coming together in a time of need, that’s exactly what we saw throughout this community and beyond.

I now ask for the same compassion and support as family and friends begin to grieve.

I will take questions; however - please note that this is a pending investigation as an autopsy is occurring this morning in Lucas County.

Chief Hickman

The roof is very steep.

 

[JayLee#99]

I must be one of a small percentage with a daredevil daughter. When questioned how exactly she got on the roof of a certain building. "The bricks stick out a bit. You can spiderman it".

I can see exactly how this happened to HD.

Not the only one. I have a 13 year old son and he came out a daredevil. Lol I swear that child can climb anything! He is also a "YouTuber" and I can totally see him doing something like this for his channel. I know HD wasn't filming this because he didn't even have a phone, I'm just saying that I have raised my kids to be careful and not do crazy things like try to climb down a chimney but the kids these days will do anything for "likes" no matter how watched they are or how they are raised. Unfortunately, its a generational things and they throw logic out the window for the chance of going viral.

 

[Lusitana]

Jumping from the antenna to the roof had to be a challenge. And the roof was probably wet and slippery. It's a steep roof. He didn't strike me as a specially athletic kid, but oh well. So weird. But a scenario where someone hides a body in a chimney, by inserting the body from the opening in the roof, taking a HUGE risk being seen, makes even less sense to me. If the chimney had a opening inside the home, that would make sense. When the news broke that he was found in the chimney that's what I imagined, that he was put there from the inside of the home. From the roof makes no sense whatsoever. Looks like a freak accident. And this was exactly what I meant when I posted that it bothered me immensely that Harley, as a 14-year-old boy, was spending nights away from his home and being unaccounted for for hours/days without anyone even blinking. Teenagers do stupid stuff and get into big trouble because they do stuff like this in a somewhat innocent way, without really thinking much about the consequences. What a absolute shame that he had to go like that.

 

[Meloni88]

The only reason I knew it was almost impossible is because I wasn’t buying the whole Santa clause thing - I was about 5, got inside our fireplace, opened the flue, we called it a “damper” and looked up.

I would never have done it because we had to learn about chimney sweeps being underfed little orphans and even they would get stuck and die sometimes because the flues were so narrow. And they got cancer from the soot.