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

[Betty P]

As I mentioned in post number 554, when I was a kid my father was a ham radio operator who had a very tall radio tower like the one next to this abandoned house and I used to climb the tower to get on the roof of my old Victorian house this way. Maybe Harley had a fight with his mom or his parents and played hooky from school that day since they wouldn't let him stay home. He probably had no where to go so he decided to waste some time until the school day was over. Those radio towers are like huge ladders and for curious kids it is quite tempting to climb them.

When I used to get to the top of the roof-line of the house on my dad's tower, I couldn't look down at how high up I was because I would freeze with fear. Going up you don't watch your steps as carefully as going down the tower. When you descend these type of towers going down you have to look down to watch every one of your steps so you don't fall off of them. That in itself is way scarier than going up because by then you realize how dangerous it is and things below you look so far away.

When he got on the top of the roof maybe he tried to climb down but froze with fear at how high up he was. As unsensible as sliding down a chimney is, at least you don't have to look down like you would if you were high up on the tower. He may have been too afraid to climb down and having no phone to call for help made him more vulnerable. Even if he had his phone, he may have been way too afraid to notify the authorities or his parents that he needed help because he would have been in a lot of trouble for trespassing.

He was warned that if he got into anymore trouble and the police were called, DH would have taken him away for 30 days. He was terrified of this. Maybe going down the chimney was the only way he thought he could get down and safely inside the house so he could let himself out without getting caught by his parents or the police. Once he got inside the chimney, it was too late to get back out and he got himself trapped inside and died. This is the most heartbreaking tragedy. I shudder to think of the fear he felt in his last few moments of life.

Thanks DeeDee1111. That sounds like a likely scenario. A 14 yo boy (or girl) just isn't mature enough to think things through like an adult and he was probably worried about getting in trouble if he had to call for help. Fourteen (and adolescence in general) is such a difficult age. Maturing into a teen, but still so much a child. Impulsive and risk-taking, but still really afraid of the consequences.

Welcome to Websleuths! Hope you visit often! Welcome to all the new visitors here who came to try to spread the word and help find HD.

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

IMO, based on what's been released so far, in order for him to be saved, someone would have had to been on his heels when he left his home that day. Hate to say this but I don't think anything could have been done....

That's why pharmaceutical geniuses invented ADHD medication.

 

[bellyup]

If he went into the chimney shortly after he was last seen, he was probably dead before he was reported missing. They couldn't have saved him in that case.

Parents didn’t report him missing for 41 hours. Nothing LE could have done. He was very likely passed before they even knew he was missing.

 

[dkryder]

I think they were looking for any signs that a 14 yr old had broken into the home. And it was 'untouched' and double locked, with no signs that anyone had tried to break in.

I am not going to call them useless, incompetent idiots and compare them to Barney Fife, because they didn't think to check the chimney. I am pretty sure the officers that checked that home the previous times are now gutted and devastated. But it is not something they had envisioned, not because they are lazy or worthless, but because it didn't occur to them at the time.

I think it is unfair to personally blame the first responders for this tragedy. JMO

So then what was different from the first several times they checked that house and the last time? Someone decided that since there was a lockbox they should take a look inside. Why did it take 3 weeks and several visits to decide that?

 

[BOSCOE]

Parents didn’t report him missing for 41 hours. Nothing LE could have done. He was very likely passed before they even knew he was missing.

Exactly and before school noticed.
Unavoidable tragedy and thankfully Harley didn't suffer.

 

[Topppps]

If he went into the chimney shortly after he was last seen, he was probably dead before he was reported missing. They couldn't have saved him in that case.

Could you explain more? Haven't got a chance to watch the press conference. What reasons do we have that he didnt fall in get stuck and slowly die of dehydration which takes about 10 days.

 

[bellyup]

Oh Thank God. This means he wouldn’t have starved or dehydrated or succumbed to the elements and been alive for days suffering a tortuous slow death.

Thank God it was quick then.

ETA: I think this is what this means, anyway. That the air was pressed out of him, and not that he ran out of air slowly per say.

Positional asphyxia in a chimney would be relatively quick. About 5-10 mins before full loss of consciousness.

 

[Alleykins]

I agree @katydid23.
It's unfair to blame first responders or investigators who may have previously checked the house for Harley's demise. There's a good chance he was already deceased by the time Harley was reported missing. We'll know for certain when TOD is established.
We know from the Kyle Plush case how quickly someone can die from compression asphyxia. Time is of the essence. Even if someone had been right there, if they couldn't pull him out immediately, by the time help arrived with any extrication equipment needed, it would have been too late. There's nothing they could have done to change the tragic outcome. It was a terrible accident, and I'm sure his family is devastated. They have my deepest sympathy.

 

[margarita25]

Could you explain more? Haven't got a chance to watch the press conference. What reasons do we have that he didnt fall in get stuck and slowly die of dehydration which takes about 10 days.

Compressive asphyxia
Cause of death
Per PCPD

 

[Bellecent]

I haven't gotten the chance to read most of the replies here, but what happened is a tragic accident. He got onto the roof easily apparently. When I was a child my dad was a ham radio operator and built a very tall radio tower just like the one that was next to this house. They are sort of like metal ladders in a sense.

When I was a kid I was a tomboy. When my parents weren't home I used to get in all sorts of trouble by climbing my dad's radio tower and jumping off of it onto the roof of my old Victorian house. I used to explore the roof of the house for the fun of it not aware of how dangerous that was. When you are a kid you think you are invincible and you can get yourself into a pickle quite easy.

When I used to climb my dad's radio tower, going up I didn't bother to look down, but when I had to come down it was so much more scarier because I had to look down as I descended and then would see how high up I was and froze with fear. A few times, I waited until my parents got home to get down because of fear and one of my parents would unlock a window on an upper floor so I could avoid climbing back down the tower and get safely inside the house. After a few spankings, I stopped doing this.

Maybe Harley was exploring the roof of this abandoned house and thought it would be easy peasy to get inside the home via the chimney. He liked to do live Youtube videos and streams. There are a lot of Youtubers that go into abandoned houses and film what they find. Those type of videos get thousands upon thousands of views. Since he didn't have a working phone that day, maybe he was gaining intel to see how easy it was to get access into the abandoned home and was planning on making a future youtube video showing an abandoned house.

But at 6:08 am? He had to go somewhere else first.

 

[Seattle1]

I dunno. I linked a Colorado case where the teen went in head first. I could see it going either way here.

I remember that -- Josh Maddux from Woodland Park! If I recall correctly, he was found in a fetal position with his feet above his head. Many still believe he was placed in that position by at least two persons because of steel grating inside the chimney (impossible to crow through?), and his shoes, socks, and pants found inside the firebox.

 

[Meloni88]

So the police didn't search an abandoned house that was right there opposite Harley's house? Because there was no sign of forced entry? That's such a poor excuse. Kids are small and sneaky.

 

[Angelcat13]

Compressive asphyxia
Cause of death
Per PCPD

Good to know. Being unable to expand his chest to breathe means he would have quickly lost consciousness and death would have occurred not long afterwards. Hopefully this knowledge will bring a sliver of peace to those that hoped for a better outcome for HD.

 

[PixieStix]

Well, one thing I can say is I don’t think anyone expected this, stuck in a chimney. “Accident” / “Misadventure” was in the poll. Checking votes:

POLL - Harley Dilly Disappearance

ETA:
There were 13 votes for Accident / Misadventrue, 7.3%.

Final poll results:

1. Misadventure / Accident
   13 vote(s)
   7.3%
2. 
   Suicide
   18 vote(s)
   10.2%
3. 
   Runaway / In Hiding
   14 vote(s)
   7.9%
4. 
   Foul Play be person(s) known to Harley
   91 vote(s)
   51.4%
5. 
   Online Predator
   40 vote(s)
   22.6%
6. 
   Stranger Abduction
   1 vote(s)
   0.6%

I was one of the votes for misadventure/accident but was torn on it being foul play. I never imagined the outcome would be finding him in a chimney. It wasn't even on my radar.

Harley Dilly likely died day he went missing and within hours after getting stuck in chimney, source says

Sorry I can't keep up rn so unsure if this was posted yet.

I am comforted knowing it looks like he died relatively fast. Some later posts after yours said COD was compressed asphyxia so likely he died even faster than a few hours. I hope his family finds comfort in that too. Even if he had been reported missing after school when he should have been home it's looking like he would have already passed.

Yeah. I was convinced this was some sort of misadventure, up until last night. When law enforcement descended on that home, I was then convinced this was foul play.

Turns out it was really “misadventure,” only far more unusual than any of us probably imagined.

Yup! I also strongly leaned towards misadventure right up until LE was at that house for so long and then I was pretty convinced we were looking at a homicide. I know chimney deaths are a thing it just wasn't on my radar at all. This was in fact a misadventure of a strange sort I hadn't considered.

 

[allboys]

Question I have is would Harley do this ? I was a risk taker at that age and while I might have climbed the antenna mast and looked down the chimney I would have never gone into it. And from Mom's description of him and his habits going down a chimney seems out of character. Why not just break one of those upper floor windowns and get in that way?

BBM
Because that would be breaking and entering. Again, going back to profiling/mindset, I would imagine Harley’s mindset upon wanting “in” to that house was one one like that of an animal seeking refuge/a place to temporarily burrow away.

Obviously, not a plan well thought through, and what was the plan to get out again? But this is a non-fully developed teenage brain we are discussing here.

 

[Syxanthi]

I am suddenly feeling very tired, It would seem no matter the ' if only's' with regards to LE, it doesn't matter because of the delay in him being reported missing.
It's horrible when something like this happens, it feels so unjust. It feels like there should be somewhere to off load the anger, someone to blame.
Sadly if just one of those events leading up to his leaving the house had gone differently this whole thing might never have happened, and I have no doubt those involved will think on that everyday.
Think I am gonna take a break and some time to grieve for a young boy who was funny and smart who just wanted things to be different..
Bless you Harley Dilly, you were a good kid, now someone's got a wonderful guardian angel in you. I know you will excel in the task.

 

[dkryder]

I agree @katydid23.
It's unfair to blame first responders or investigators who may have previously checked the house for Harley's demise. There's a good chance he was already deceased by the time Harley was reported missing. We'll know for certain when TOD is established.
We know from the Kyle Plush case how quickly someone can die from compression asphyxia. Time is of the essence. Even if someone had been right there, if they couldn't pull him out immediately, by the time help arrived with any extrication equipment needed, it would have been too late. There's nothing they could have done to change the tragic outcome. It was a terrible accident, and I'm sure his family is devastated. They have my deepest sympathy.

You are skirting the issue. What if Harley had been tied up to the wall and his mouth taped shut? Do you think he could have died of starvation?

 

[LovesPeace2]

Harley Dilly likely died day he went missing and within hours after getting stuck in chimney, source says

Sorry I can't keep up rn so unsure if this was posted yet.

Just dang hrs . That poor young man my heart breaks for him. Fly high Harley

 

[katydid23]

So then what was different from the first several times they checked that house and the last time? Someone decided that since there was a lockbox they should take a look inside. Why did it take 3 weeks and several visits to decide that?

Probably because they first 2 times they checked they had a hundred other places they urgently needed to look at too. The potential scenarios were endless at the start, and they knew he could have been kidnapped, or was maybe being groomed by someone and hidden, or was on a greyhound bus. They were looking at ALL of the neighborhood homes, as quickly as possible.

Weeks later, they could take more time with the few places that hadn't been cleared. And they were able to contact the owners for the keys. I wish they had done so earlier, like everyone does.

But they had literally hundreds and hundreds of locations to check out. Harley was like a needle in a haystack. When you are boots on the ground, looking for a 14 yr old, the possibilities are endless. You are not always going to get it right. Should they have assumed he was in the chimney?

 

[Alleykins]

You are skirting the issue. What if Harley had been tied up to the wall and his mouth taped shut? Do you think he could have died of starvation?

I'm not skirting the issue. The police have said there appears to be no sign of foul play and he died of asphyxiation, so I'm not sure where you're coming from.