Found Deceased OH - Harley Dilly, 14, walking to Port Clinton HS, 20 Dec 2019 #6 *found in chimney*

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Harley Dilly was last seen at Port Clinton High School wearing maroon puffer jacket on Friday. The teen is reportedly 4 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 101 pounds.

Port Clinton teen reported missing

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MEDIA MAPS & TIMELINE *NO DISCUSSION* thread

Previous threads:
OH - OH - Harley Dilly, 14, enroute to Port Clinton High School, 20 Dec 2019
OH - OH - Harley Dilly, 14, walking to Port Clinton High School, 20 Dec 2019 #2
Thread #3
Thread #4
Thread #5

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POLL - Harley Dilly Disappearance

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I'm now wondering if it is a regional thing. Many years ago we lived in a house that was built in the mid to late 1800's ours had access in the house. I vividly remember cause the access was in my room in the closet. I was in there one time and my leg fell through rotted plywood that covering the access. I have a 2 inch scar on my shin and scarred for life because my brothers were laughing and telling me spiders (this wasn't long after the movie Arachnophobia was released and scared the crap out of me) were now crawling all over my leg while they were trying to pull me out lmao. This was in the Western Slope of Colorado. I'll research more into if it was a regional thing or just the preference of the builder.

Edit- I remember my house in Cali had access in the house, it was in the utility room. Where I currently live in WNY ours did until a couple months ago. We had a house fire. The fire started in the same room the access was and when we came back after everything was fixed, there isn't access from the room anymore. That reminds me, I might want to look where they moved it to. lol. I know this probably isn't pertinent to the case. But it has got me wondering. I apologize if the crawl space talk t=is too off topic!
My dad’s house has access to his crawl space through the cupboard under the kitchen sink. You can lift a panel out of the floor and crawl under.
 
One thing I did not realize until I drove past it was that basically the side of the house where the antenna is, it’s facing the street, the corner and it’s VERY visible. Only if he was under the cover of night, would no one have seen him and even then it seems far fetched. IMO. I mean, I just cannot see him climbing that thing. I’m having trouble with that one.

Same. That's a fairly dense neighborhood, not just a couple houses out in the middle of nowhere. He had no guarantee at all that he wouldn't be seen by anyone.
 
One thing I did not realize until I drove past it was that basically the side of the house where the antenna is, it’s facing the street, the corner and it’s VERY visible. Only if he was under the cover of night, would no one have seen him and even then it seems far fetched. IMO. I mean, I just cannot see him climbing that thing. I’m having trouble with that one.

Same. That's a fairly dense neighborhood, not just a couple houses out in the middle of nowhere. He had no guarantee at all that he wouldn't be seen by anyone.
Even though police 'believe' they know what happened and they think it's a clear case of misadventure, I hope they are gathering/have gathered evidence to support their theory, such as by seeking fingerprints/handprints/shoeprints on the antenna, and/or footsteps across the roof (or possibly evidence of the roofing material on the soles of HD's shoes, and/or markings inside the chimney/soot under his fingernails to suggest he had tried to crawl back up/escape, or whatever other ways police might have of confirming their theory. There could potentially even be some kind of a 'note/message' left inside the chimney (written with fingernails into the same black soot that may have been present on his body) - if HD had 'hours' inside that chimney to lament his decision, pray for help, and/or possibly to realize he was going to pass out or die before someone found him, he may have wanted to leave a message to his parents or something? ie 'i love you', whatever. Also they could have asked neighboring residents if they were out and about at all that day and if they might remember hearing screams or yelling, or whatever. Surely HD would have tried to bring attention to himself in hopes of being saved? Not everyone will take the initiative to come forward to police to give information even if they may have heard something. imo.

I'm not sure how/when 'inquests' are called for over there, but seems like this might be a good candidate for an inquest to perhaps suggest measures to be put in place to prevent this type of thing from happening in future?
 
Strangers flock to Port Clinton to remember Harley Dilly


PORT CLINTON, Ohio — People from Port Clinton were not the only ones who came out to remember Harley Dilly on Saturday.

The 14-year-old teen's story has touched countless people across the region and the country, inspiring complete strangers to travel out to his memorial service.
Continues at link
 
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Too many people are accepting Harley's death as accidental with 100% certainty with no questions asked. Another chimney death accepted as accidental was that of Cornell student Terrence Quinn (1993). Quinn's shoes and pants fell into the fireplace when the damper was opened before starting a fire. What makes Harley's death so questionable was his huge social media presence where he gave out his phone number and other personal information. Harley was too naive about the dangers of his SM online postings. There might have been an evil person who followed Harley's videos, photos and other postings. In addition to other questions that I earlier posted, there was no mention about gloves or mittens that Harley might have worn. That supposed surveillance image of Harley appears to show his hands in his pockets. 18 °F = - 7.78 °C ..... "Conclusions: The data reflect the strong link between the risk of skin damage and the thermal properties of the material touched. For aluminium and steel, skin temperatures of 0°C occurs within 2–6 s at surface temperatures of −15°C." Temperature Limit Values For Touching Cold Surfaces with the Fingertip
 
Even though police 'believe' they know what happened and they think it's a clear case of misadventure, I hope they are gathering/have gathered evidence to support their theory, such as by seeking fingerprints/handprints/shoeprints on the antenna, and/or footsteps across the roof (or possibly evidence of the roofing material on the soles of HD's shoes, and/or markings inside the chimney/soot under his fingernails to suggest he had tried to crawl back up/escape, or whatever other ways police might have of confirming their theory. There could potentially even be some kind of a 'note/message' left inside the chimney (written with fingernails into the same black soot that may have been present on his body) - if HD had 'hours' inside that chimney to lament his decision, pray for help, and/or possibly to realize he was going to pass out or die before someone found him, he may have wanted to leave a message to his parents or something? ie 'i love you', whatever. Also they could have asked neighboring residents if they were out and about at all that day and if they might remember hearing screams or yelling, or whatever. Surely HD would have tried to bring attention to himself in hopes of being saved? Not everyone will take the initiative to come forward to police to give information even if they may have heard something. imo.

I'm not sure how/when 'inquests' are called for over there, but seems like this might be a good candidate for an inquest to perhaps suggest measures to be put in place to prevent this type of thing from happening in future?

MSM said they entered the house shortly after 4 pm. There were in there a long time.

"Mr. Schmitz came to Port Clinton Monday night just in case police had questions about the condition of the house while they were conducting the search. He left the scene sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. Tuesday, and sometime after he got home, he got a call from police to let him know what they found."
House where Harley Dilly was found has been empty for years

I think I read they were also back the next day, probably finishing up on the grounds outside, in better light? Maybe someone has that link. Gives hope that they really did try to collect everything they could.
 
Something else to think about. Ohio is one of the major human trafficking hubs in the nation. Traffickers look for vulnerable targets. IMO, Harley exposed his vulnerability to the world with some of his YouTube videos that he posted for all to see. The Ohio Department Of Education link below will show some of these vulnerable traits that traffickers focus on. Look for "Individual" and "Relationship" (Family conflict, disruption, dysfunction). "It is also important to note that girls are not the only victims of child sex trafficking. In certain areas, some studies have estimated as much as 40 to 45 percent of the victim population to be boys." Teen Sex Trafficking: What Parents Need to KNOW! | Ohio Department of Education
 
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Something else to think about. Ohio is one of the major human trafficking hubs of the nation. Traffickers look for vulnerable targets. IMO, Harley exposed his vulnerability to the world with some of his YouTube videos that he posted for all to see. The Ohio Department Of Education link below will show some of these vulnerable traits that traffickers focus on. Look for "Individual" and "Relationship" (Family conflict, disruption, dysfunction

Are you speculating a sex trafficker forced HD onto the roof of the home he was found in and forced him down the chimney, alive?
 
MSM said they entered the house shortly after 4 pm. There were in there a long time.

"Mr. Schmitz came to Port Clinton Monday night just in case police had questions about the condition of the house while they were conducting the search. He left the scene sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. Tuesday, and sometime after he got home, he got a call from police to let him know what they found."
House where Harley Dilly was found has been empty for years

I think I read they were also back the next day, probably finishing up on the grounds outside, in better light? Maybe someone has that link. Gives hope that they really did try to collect everything they could.

Tragedy: Harley Dilly found in chimney of unoccupied home

Tuesday January 14 Fox News Cleveland was reporting on the Port Clinton PD press conference and they also reported that:

"Investigators are still on scene gathering evidence. Sources added that a portion of the home’s wall was removed."

With the wall removed it would take days to have it repaired. I don't know if the PD or house insurance pays for repairs.

Strange the home's owner was there after the coat and glasses were found but wasn't told Harvey was found until he was back home at 1:00am. It must be because LE did not know until they had time to take the wall apart.

Seems they could not look up and see him, that he was hidden from site which makes sense.
 
Strange the home's owner was there after the coat and glasses were found but wasn't told Harvey was found until he was back home at 1:00am. It must be because LE did not know until they had time to take the wall apart.

Seems they could not look up and see him, that he was hidden from site which makes sense.

sbm

That’s one of the perplexing things to me. From the lengths of time he was in there (supposedly) and the amount of decomposition, many people are saying that it would have been very obvious there was a deceased body in the house just by smell alone. Which makes sense. But they were in there for a very long time and it truly seemed like they did not realize he was there until many many hours into it and then desperate steps were taken to bust through the wall. I say desperate because a sledgehammer was used instead of something more precise like a masonry saw. Just a disconnect for me. Especially with Hickman saying to the reporters after they had been in the house a bit that Harley was still considered missing. It’s possible that that was not the truth but what if it was because they had no idea he was in the wall/chimney?
 
I’m still stuck on the fact that the vacant house was not searched sooner. I realize there were absentee owners (not blaming them at all) but that would be one of the first places I would insist LE search. If LE wouldn’t/couldn’t/didn’t search it, I’d do whatever I had to do to get in there and search it myself and deal with the consequences later. It just boggles my mind.
 
sbm

That’s one of the perplexing things to me. From the lengths of time he was in there (supposedly) and the amount of decomposition, many people are saying that it would have been very obvious there was a deceased body in the house just by smell alone. Which makes sense. But they were in there for a very long time and it truly seemed like they did not realize he was there until many many hours into it and then desperate steps were taken to bust through the wall. I say desperate because a sledgehammer was used instead of something more precise like a masonry saw. Just a disconnect for me. Especially with Hickman saying to the reporters after they had been in the house a bit that Harley was still considered missing. It’s possible that that was not the truth but what if it was because they had no idea he was in the wall/chimney?
Interesting. Articles I've read say LE went in at 4:00pm and then found his coat and glasses on the 2nd floor. The way the articles read makes it sound like his things were found right away. They were reported to have been found by a flue.

In that case, it seems to me that LE and the fire department etc....would have accessed the flue then identified him long before 1:00am when the homeowner was informed.
The only thing I can think of is they ran dental record before notifying the home owner.

I do believe that when Hickman had been in the house but then told reporters Harvey was still missing, that the glasses and coat had been found but they had not taken the wall apart yet. An ambulance was there and that would indicate to me that they had found him. I would like to know the time the ambulance was dispatched.

...Opinion...
 
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Same. That's a fairly dense neighborhood, not just a couple houses out in the middle of nowhere. He had no guarantee at all that he wouldn't be seen by anyone.
Then it seems even less likely that anyone who did this purposely to Harley would have been able to climb a very high antenna, carrying a 14 year old, on to a steep roof, with no risk of being seen by anyone. And the only way into the chimney was from the rooftop...
 
Then it seems even less likely that anyone who did this purposely to Harley would have been able to climb a very high antenna, carrying a 14 year old, on to a steep roof, with no risk of being seen by anyone. And the only way into the chimney was from the rooftop...

If by "even less likely" you mean impossible, I agree.
 
Are you speculating a sex trafficker forced HD onto the roof of the home he was found in and forced him down the chimney, alive?
Yes, I am speculating about what possibilities could have occurred just as LE speculated about that surveillance photo. That photo shows a person walking from an area WEST of the sober living home. The Dilly home is EAST of that home. If Harley had not posted some of those personal YouTube videos exposing his emotions, I would not have speculated about human trafficking. Do know that LE speculates often in trying to solve a case. Pay attention to wording such as "believed to be" and other words and phrases. JMHO
 
Then it seems even less likely that anyone who did this purposely to Harley would have been able to climb a very high antenna, carrying a 14 year old, on to a steep roof, with no risk of being seen by anyone. And the only way into the chimney was from the rooftop...

They could only get a kid up there if they forced the kid to climb because they are holding a gun or knife.

When kids get abducted they are put into cars and the cars drive away. No one abducts a kid then goes to a vacant house near the kid's home, then forces them to climb on the roof, then puts them down a chimney while also keeping them alive to be a witness.

So preposterous..:rolleyes:

...Opinion...
 
Yes, I am speculating about what possibilities could have occurred just as LE speculated about that surveillance photo. That photo shows a person walking from an area WEST of the sober living home. The Dilly home is EAST of that home. If Harley had not posted some of those personal YouTube videos exposing his emotions, I would not have speculated about human trafficking. Do know that LE speculates often in trying to solve a case. Pay attention to wording such as "believed to be" and other words and phrases. JMHO
That is one of the worse surveillance photos I have seen on a WS thread in regards to using it to identify a victim...Opinion....

We can pinpoint where that photo comes from if someone can find the article that tells what business the surveillance photo comes from. Then the business can be traced on google maps.

I read which business but can't recall it. I will try to find it.
 

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