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

[weepingangel]

Dbm

 

[Diddian]

My 14yo is a pretty extreme risk taker with little regard for his personal safety. It's one of his more endearing traits. I could go on and on about his lapses in judgement and some have proved quite injurious.

He would absolutely climb that antennae and get on that roof. However, there's no way he'd try to go down the chimney. He might look in it, throw things down it. But he would realize that 9x13" was going to lead to him getting real stuck, real fast.

I agree. It seems more likely to me that a 14 year old as smart as Harley appeared to be in his videos would find another way in.

Given that, I can only think of two not very feasible ways that HD's body could show up there if HD didn't place himself there:

1. Someone else climbed the ladder and crossed the roof (carrying HD's body), and dropped HD's body down the chimney. But then, how did HD's coat and eyeglasses end up pushed out the flue on the second floor (unless the person also had a key and placed them there so HD's body would eventually be discovered... but if you have a key, why climb out on the roof with a body and risk being discovered... unless you know about the blocked chimney)? Or;
2. Someone else entered the house with a key, pushed his body UP the chimney and constructed the block below his body between first and second floor AFTER his body was inside and then placed his coat and eyeglasses outside the flue upstairs to give the appearance Harley had done so (i.e. staging). Why IS a flue there anyway if the chimney is blocked below?

The first involves significant risk of discovery while in the act. Both could occur in the vast time frame from disappearance to beginning of search. Given that time frame, I would hope that investigators considered the possibility of staging in their work last night rather than adopted a firm conclusion this was an accident.

There have been a lot of oddities in this case. Two come to mind in relation to the recent discovery.

1. At the candlelight vigil, the only family member to speak to the gathered crowd was HD's grandfather and he was quite obviously very distressed. He repeatedly referred to Harley in the PAST TENSE, before he made a public appeal to Harley to come home. It's possible, as former LE, grandfather knew that the first 48 hours a person is missing is a critical time, so his use of past tense reflected his worst fears. Or, it could have been a meaningful slip indicating he feared something happened to Harley at home given what he knows about the family. And;
2. Twice, in public statements, Mom mentioned that Dad was out at 2 am searching because he couldn't sleep. Of course a father would be out searching for a missing child. Why feel the need to mention that particular piece of information and a particular exact time?

I want to know: What was Harley wearing in the chimney? Was the clothing the same as what he had been wearing at the friend's home the night before?

 

[Syxanthi]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed>

Do I think Harley had a tragic home life? Sure, do I think this was a premeditated filicide... No.
But something somewhere definitely went very wrong.
Poor baby, hope someone's keeping you safe and warm wherever you are now Harl.

 

[Bellecent]

If he climbed the tower and went down the chimney there will be fingerprints. Still can't believe in the dark he did this.

 

[squareandrabbet]

I agree. It seems more likely to me that a 14 year old as smart as Harley appeared to be in his videos would find another way in.

Given that, I can only think of two not very feasible ways that HD's body could show up there if HD didn't place himself there:

1. Someone else climbed the ladder and crossed the roof (carrying HD's body), and dropped HD's body down the chimney. But then, how did HD's coat and eyeglasses end up pushed out the flue on the second floor (unless the person also had a key and placed them there so HD's body would eventually be discovered... but if you have a key, why climb out on the roof with a body and risk being discovered... unless you know about the blocked chimney)? Or;
2. Someone else entered the house with a key, pushed his body UP the chimney and constructed the block below his body between first and second floor AFTER his body was inside and then placed his coat and eyeglasses outside the flue upstairs to give the appearance Harley had done so (i.e. staging). Why IS a flue there anyway if the chimney is blocked below?

The first involves significant risk of discovery while in the act. Both could occur in the vast time frame from disappearance to beginning of search. Given that time frame, I would hope that investigators considered the possibility of staging in their work last night rather than adopted a firm conclusion this was an accident.

There have been a lot of oddities in this case. Two come to mind in relation to the recent discovery.

1. At the candlelight vigil, the only family member to speak to the gathered crowd was HD's grandfather and he was quite obviously very distressed. He repeatedly referred to Harley in the PAST TENSE, before he made a public appeal to Harley to come home. It's possible, as former LE, grandfather knew that the first 48 hours a person is missing is a critical time, so his use of past tense reflected his worst fears. Or, it could have been a meaningful slip indicating he feared something happened to Harley at home given what he knows about the family. And;
2. Twice, in public statements, Mom mentioned that Dad was out at 2 am searching because he couldn't sleep. Of course a father would be out searching for a missing child. Why feel the need to mention that particular piece of information and a particular exact time?

I want to know: What was Harley wearing in the chimney? Was the clothing the same as what he had been wearing at the friend's home the night before?

Sorry, I have to disagree on the grounds that "Harley would have been clever enough to have found another way"; of the classic teen boy-ism: the family stories where "remember the time that Bobby thought he could toboggan off the second floor roof? Broke both arms when he landed; and after we got him doctored up, we asked him what he was thinking when he came up with this plan. He said:

'I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time'"

In my experience, it's practically the clarion call of teenage-boy passage.

 

[LietKynes]

In his video they're taped up on both sides- I think breaking stuff was his norm

I understand what you're saying.
There's a YT video Harley uploaded where at the end his mom is yelling at him and Harley begs her not to break his glasses.
So it's possible they were broken by someone else.
He also posted a video where he's been locked outside the house.
A responsible parents doesn't treat their child that way. Imo.

 

[Cubby]

Perhaps he thought if he could fit down a chimney it'd be fun to film it and put it on YouTube.

Omg, exactly what I thought. Or, perhaps he thought about live streaming from inside the vacant home. Look at all the crazy stuff people put on youtube. With two weeks off school coming up, and having more than an hour before he had to be at school, perhaps it's was a spur of the moment thought to try and get in before continuing on to school.

 

[Betty P]

RIP Harley and condolences to his parents and family. Bless him, I hope he didn't suffer.

Just a terrible tragedy.

 

[rodneymullenmg]

Also, let's not forget this lady, who fell behind a bookcase and died trying to execute a maneuver that she and her sister had both done many times before; the simple plugging in of an appliance:

Missing woman found dead behind bookcase

Also the woman who died of position and compression asphyxia by entrapment on the roof of a Home Depot.


Medical Examiner: Accidental asphyxia is cause in missing Farmington Hills woman Elizabeth Hock’s death


So many sad stories of accidents

 

[kelsie]

How can they rule the death accidental when the autopsy has not been completed yet?

 

[Moonracer]

Getting trapped in chimneys not uncommon. Just a few months ago a young lady in California I think it was tried to climb in because of breaking curfew. She was stuck but yelled and her family heard her. She was rescued.

When people try to climb down chimneys in unoccupied places, such as cabins, they are found deceased, sometimes years later. People don't understanding about chimneys with flues. Horrible way to go. IMO

While nothing can be done for Harley now, as sleuthers I think there is a lot to remember and take away from this case. The idea of proximity to last location in non-abduction cases, the idea of pushing more thorough searches of nearby structures (MANY here felt vacant places should have been searched), and IMO immediate use of drones with infared sensors.

 

[kelsie]

I am reminded of this case.
https://nypost.com/2015/09/30/body-of-18-year-old-missing-for-7-years-found-in-chimney/
A lot of people also don't believe this was accidental.

 

[allboys]

I can not listen anymore. This is more than an accident. He is dead because all those people failed to look in a Gosh Darn vacant house that could be seen from his house.

Yes, I could understand an early sweep of the house that missed him if his glasses and coat had still been on him. But they didn’t enter until yesterday. And the glasses and coat were in easy sight. Ugh.

* I wonder if any search dogs alerted or followed a scent to that house? Maybe not if dogs were used too long after the fact?

 

[ReckoningDay]

You know, I am often a cynical person. I don't think Harley had the best parents or home life, and I have been suspicious of them. But I am willing to admit when it appears I've been wrong, and it is looking like I probably was. I can EASILY see a boy trying to access a locked home through a chimney. Those who say "Oh a 14 year old boy would never..." have probably never had or been a 14 year old boy. I've had more than one, and cannot even begin to tell you the stories. I also had a couple of brothers, and have heard stories from my husband, my dad and two granddads. Teenage boys get up to all sorts of antics even crazier than this sounds. It's beginning to look like a very tragic freak accident, and it some ways that is just as sad. Under these circumstances, I can only hope and pray that his demise was rapid.

 

[OhioLocal7725]

Being female - this makes zero logical sense to me.
Being a mother of a son- I’m not surprised by the act itself, boys do really dumb dangerous stuff.
I’m more shocked he’d enter someone else’s home.

I can’t imagine being his mother. Never laid eyes on him the last time she spoke to him, never got up, never felt his forehead when he said he was sick.
I don’t think I could live with myself & l know I could never forgive myself. What she’s facing is pure hell -

apparently in some of his YouTube videos, he talked about going to haunted and abandoned homes, and he even said he would trespass onto abandoned properties.

 

[Lewie]

Do chimneys get wider toward the top? I just can’t imagine looking at a 9x13 hole and thinking “I can squeeze”.

 

[Rotten apple]

Because he pushed them out of the 2nd floor flue opening when he was stuck.
View attachment 225851

But how did he get his jacket off while he was stuck in that tiny little space? I can’t imagine he had much room to maneuver around like that. Maybe he threw the jacket and glasses in first? This is super perplexing...MOO

 

[Diddian]

Sorry, I have to disagree on the grounds that "Harley would have been clever enough to have found another way"; of the classic teen boy-ism: the family stories where "remember the time that Bobby thought he could toboggan off the second floor roof? Broke both arms when he landed; and after we got him doctored up, we asked him what he was thinking when he came up with this plan. He said:

'I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time'"

In my experience, it's practically the clarion call of teenage-boy passage.

True, but that chimney is smack dab in the middle of the peak of the double-story roof. The risk of being seen as Harley first climbs the antennae and then climbs into the chimney seems kind of high compared to finding a fairly privately-located window or lock to break and gain entry.

 

[Seattle1]

Body of missing Ohio teen Harley Dilly found in abandoned home; death ruled accidental

PORT CLINTON, Ohio (WOIO) - Port Clinton Police say the body of a missing 14-year-old boy was found in an abandoned home.

Police are saying Harley Dilly's death was accidental and foul play does not appear to be a factor.

Police say that Dilly was climbing up an antenna, slipped off and into a chimney and was stuck.

An autopsy is currently being conducted on Dilly’s body.

Port Clinton Police Chief Rob Hickman says that the family has some closure.

“It’s not the outcome we wanted,” he said.

It was an emotional press conference.

“I promise myself not to break down today,” Hickman said.

[..]

Police checked the abandoned home multiple times, but since there was no sign of forced entry and the doors seemed secure there was never a reason for them to check-in.

Authorities say that Dilly slipped in the chimney, shoved his coat and glasses down a flue and then got stuck in the chimney.

 

[scdiv]

There was just a news story in Arizona last month about a 17 year old girl was trapped in the chimney at her friend's house and had to be rescued. The only difference is that she was with a friend who was able to call 911. Teens just don't always think about danger.

Phoenix firefighters rescue 17-year-old girl trapped in chimney

Yazmine says her best friend thought it was a good idea at the time. "I don't know what we were thinking," she told KNXV.

Instead of calling a parent or trying to pry open a window, Nicole climbed onto the roof and tried to go down the chimney. That's when things went wrong.

"She was just like get me out get me out," said Yasmine, "She was panicking... she was like I don't know what to do, call 911."

Neither of the girls realized that the chimney does not go all the way through to the fireplace. Nicole was trapped in the chimney for over an hour until firefighters were called and hoisted her out.