I've been on WS for a year or so, mainly just lurk. This case was the very first that I have read every single word on every thread, including all links and videos. This whole thing breaks my heart to pieces. Just everything from the delay in reporting him missing to where he was ultimately found.
There are a few things that have been on my mind:
If this was some tragic accident I couldn't imagine the guilt the parents will forever live with. Knowing you haven't physically seen your son in over 40 hours and in that time you were a town over having food, drinks, and fun all while your son is missing and there may have been something you could have done. Now that we have an idea of what happened it probably wouldn't have mattered anyways, he was more than likely gone by the time school was over. But They will always live with the "what-ifs". And I couldn't even imagine that.
If it wasn't an accident and he was put there, I hope that person Groundhog Days the worst moment of their life over and over and over again.
Half of me can totally see a 14 year old boy getting himself into this kind of mischievous adventure turned tragic accident, but the other half think somehow someway somebody put him in there. I do not understand how his jacket and glasses made it out of the flue without being forced or it opened from inside the house. The ones I have seen in person are made of black sheet metal cut in a circle and either slide to the side or on a spring that pops it up. It would take some force to get it open and something through, not like an open hole. Unless since it was in the middle of a remodel, there were no covers. I can fit pretty much everything into it being an accident besides that. I can see the force of a baseball being dropped down opening it. But not something light as a puffy jacket and a pair of eyeglasses. I do hope that LEO does decide to release a bit more information so all these rumors can be put to rest.
I also feel some of the criticisms of LOE is justified and some is going way over the line. Over the line is what that lady said in the Sandusky Register calling for his resignation and slamming him that hard in the press. Absolutely some things should have been handled different. It feels as if there are only half truths being told. But that does not mean they didn't do their jobs. They did look for him a hell of a lot more than what some children in this same situation ever got. How many agencies did they have involved? From the get go ( or at least from what I could tell) the chief knew this may have been way too much, and he called in the big guns. None of them thought to check that house before either. The chief is obviously emotional over what has happened to Harley, you can tell he was fighting back tears in the PC of the announcement of his death. I do think some things should have been handled differently, especially surrounding social media, but the people saying he should be fired, IMO, are just throwing their hurt at him and hoping it will stick. I don't think he deserves it. I see people have dug up stuff about his past and there is an article going around about how he failed his leadership assessment (btw I didn't even see anything in that article about his leadership assessment), I feel that some of the media and reporting are digging hard to find a story. I am not saying he hasn't done questionable stuff in his past, but how does that directly coincide with the investigation surrounding Harley. I'm going to keep an open mind about the chief until I have seen more concrete evidence that he screwed the investigation up.
I know there is not a set and right way to grieve. I don't even know how I would act if something like this happened to one of my children. My oldest is 10, and she's a good kid. Now, my 4 year old son I can see some crazy teenage days coming from him. So I try really hard not to judge other parents. Being a parent is so freaking HARD, no matter how some people try to project they're perfect and so are their kids. But, I don't know, the post from the mom just struck me as so... weird? She keeps complaining/lashing out at social media, which I understand, but she is fueling the fire with her words. I feel like she needs to take a step FB/SM until things are calmed down. People will back up if there is nothing to attack. I find a lot of what she said in that post as very strange. But, as I said I've never been through this so I'm trying hard not to read things into the wording and her choice of words. If this was just some crazy accident I hope the Dilly family finds some peace, from SM and from the tragedy that has happened. I do think his mom should take a break from FB for awhile, if for nothing else besides not having people tear apart every word she says. If there is no fuel for a fire, it will go out.
Port Clinton as a whole has a lot of healing ahead of them. I wish I was closer so I could go to the visitation. I wish Harley could see the turn out we all know he will have. He touched so many lives in the last month. I hope he sees the amount of hearts he captured, I just wish the ending was a different.