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

[GeorgiaRai]

Where I've ended up in my thinking: Harley was considering skipping school that day (for any number of reasons that would seem legit to a 14 year old). He left early to give himself time to think about it, make a plan, wander a bit (taking care not to be seen/caught) and still get to school on time if he changed his mind. He needed a place where he could watch his house, to see when it'd be safe to be out & about (NOT safe as in I think he feared his parents, but safe from being found out). Either out of curiosity or in search of a good look-out spot, he climbs the antennae (possibly he and/or other kids had climbed on it in the past). Once he realized he could get on the roof, I agree with those who suspect he meant only to look into the chimney, and his glasses fell in. He mistook their "disappearing" out the flue as confirmation there was an opening he could also get through, so he went to retrieve them. He removed his coat, stuffed it in, and followed. It seems like he made it pretty far down the chute, and used his hands or feet to push his coat out. Then, there was nothing he could do to get out at the bottom or get back to the top.

At that point, however he actually got there, in my heart I believe that if he called out, it was for his parents; and if he made a wish, it was to be home.

MOO

 

[Linda7NJ]

Spoke too soon...

Firefighters free Calif. girl stuck in chimney

 

[Meloni88]

Firefighters free Calif. girl stuck in chimney

Weird they keep referring to her as a woman, it says she was 13 in the first line.

 

[Mandrew]

OCD, if he even had it, is less about the behavior and more about the relief that comes from performing it

If he wanted to bathe, the act of bathing brings calm. He would need that act even if he was 100% clean, so getting dirty wouldn't matter because he'd need to bathe if he was clean or dirty anyway.

 

[Mandrew]

So sad. A tragic accident.
I can't really see someone climbing up there with him and shoving him down the chimney.

I agee, if he were he'd have to have been drugged and carried, which would've shown in the autopsy.

No one is going to be able to climb up that antenna with a boy struggling.

As a former 14 year old boy, a lot of the questions will have the same answer, which is, "I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

 

[deugirtni]

still confused. The homeowner said there is NO fireplace, so I assume the small porthole is where the glasses and coat had to come out since there is no fireplace opening for anything to fall. So the items had to be pushed out through the porthole by Harley in the chimney, they could not fall out of the porthole on their own.

I wish the media cared about facts as much as we do.

I haven't been able to keep up with this thread, can you please lead me to where the homeowner stated there was no fireplace in the home? TIA!

 

[Tutter]

I haven't been able to keep up with this thread, can you please lead me to where the homeowner stated there was no fireplace in the home? TIA!

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

 

[wishBones1962]

An Antenna COULD be considered a public nuisance, HOWEVER they are very useful for many reasons. Cellphone towers use antenna's to keep service going to customers, the tower such as the one near this house, can be used for ham radios (emergency radio) and also as a lightning rod which can help prevent fires during bad storms.

IMO chimneys should have a VENTED cover of sorts on them, that way a person isn't able to get INTO it, the owner doesn't have to worry about liabilities and they can also keep it clean.

I think I means to say "Attractive nuisance". These just need to be more secured. IMO

 

[IceIce9]

Weird they keep referring to her as a woman, it says she was 13 in the first line.

The article referred to two different stories. One was the 13 year old girl, the other was a woman. Both stuck in chimneys.

 

[Meloni88]

The article referred to two different stories. One was the 13 year old girl, the other was a woman. Both stuck in chimneys.

Oh okay, I just read the first few lines of the article and played the video assuming it would be about the girl.

This is a more widespread problem than probably any of us realized.

 

[Diddian]

What a nightmare end to a mysterious and prolonged disappearance.

When Harley's grandfather, in all his distress, spoke at the candlelight vigil, he said, "Harley was a good boy, but he wasn't a perfect boy, and he loved his mother." That's how he died. Harley's grandfather's characterization of his grandson describes nearly all of us.

Now, left with the consequences of the less than perfect, all of us are left with going on making the most we can of the other part of us: the good.

RIP, Harley. Grace and tenderness to his grieving family and community.

 

[Periwinkl3]

Thank you, for the info.

I'm not sure a teen would think hey, I'll scale down a tiny opening to explore a house. It seems really bizarre to me.

Agreed, especially in that weather. So I think it was something he'd done before when he was a little younger and even more slender--or maybe he'd heard someone else had done it. But HD didn't realize he'd filled out just enough to stop him from being able to get down safely.

 

[mom2tee]

Where I've ended up in my thinking: Harley was considering skipping school that day (for any number of reasons that would seem legit to a 14 year old). He left early to give himself time to think about it, make a plan, wander a bit (taking care not to be seen/caught) and still get to school on time if he changed his mind. He needed a place where he could watch his house, to see when it'd be safe to be out & about (NOT safe as in I think he feared his parents, but safe from being found out). Either out of curiosity or in search of a good look-out spot, he climbs the antennae (possibly he and/or other kids had climbed on it in the past). Once he realized he could get on the roof, I agree with those who suspect he meant only to look into the chimney, and his glasses fell in. He mistook their "disappearing" out the flue as confirmation there was an opening he could also get through, so he went to retrieve them. He removed his coat, stuffed it in, and followed. It seems like he made it pretty far down the chute, and used his hands or feet to push his coat out. Then, there was nothing he could do to get out at the bottom or get back to the top.

At that point, however he actually got there, in my heart I believe that if he called out, it was for his parents; and if he made a wish, it was to be home.

MOO

I agree with this analysis.

 

[Night Watcher]

Absolutely gutted by the conclusion to this case. I just wanted to throw in the fact that baths can be a way to self-soothe (esp in people with past trauma/PTSD) and not about cleanliness.

Hot and warm baths are great stress and anxiety relievers and relieve muscle tension. Harley did have a stressful life.

 

[deugirtni]

What a tragic loss. He must have taken his coat off before he entered the chimney, since there wouldn't have been enough space to take it off while inside. From above, maybe he saw a hint of daylight coming from below (the flue vent?), and thought it would end in a fireplace, just like Santa - something he could blog or write about? Just 5 days before Christmas! That he shoved his coat out of the flue vent into the room of the home, I'm thinking he likely thought that once the home was *searched*, they would see his coat and glasses, and know to look further for him. But nobody came in time. I'm relieved to hear that he died of 'compressive asphyxiation' as opposed to starvation, which could have gone on for days, but what a way to die. Did anyone in the neighborhood come out to say they'd heard any kind of yelling or screaming that day or night he went missing? imo.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I really think the information that he climbed an antenna tower to access the chimney will turn out to be false. How did his glasses and jacket end up inside, then? Not only inside, but it sounds like they weren't even near the chimney. And how does a person who dies of asphyxia manage to remove their jacket? It is simply not possible.

He probably found a way in, like through a window, and then decided to explore the chimney. Far more likely explanation. There's just no other way to explain the jacket being in the house.

Myself, I'll go with Occam's and logic. There weren't any fireplaces in the house = sealed off. He cut through drywall to enter? NOPE

He would not have been able to remove jacket for it to be below/above him when in Chimney=he took off before he went in. Agree that he would not have been able to take off jacket when inside the chimney. Not enough room to do so in that tight quarters using basic logic from what we know now about the dimensions.

Not sure where you have read that the jacket was nowhere near the chimney as the presser specifically stated it was. (Unless you are going with the photo of the jacket on the door we have all seen, and logically was put there by LE, yet you think the presser was lies?)

It's so interesting that we have the same information, and interpret it so differently. One person thinks it's cut/dry one way (he came in through window and explored the chimney vs. he came in through chimney from the top)

I'll agree to disagree on your opinion.

 

[allboys]

Forgive me if I somehow missed this discussion.

Authorities still believe it was Harley on the surveillance video, correct? I don’t fully understand where that camera was in relation to his house & the home he was found in, but I’m wondering if there shouldn’t be video of him passing by the camera heading back towards his house.

I heard the chief say when answering questions after the press conference, that the video was taken from the house next door. I’m assuming he meant the house next door to the uninhabited home where Harley was found.

 

[12midnight]

So tragic. Seems a nearby vacant house should have been searched sooner rather than just checking the perimeter.

 

[BlueShoe]

Did Harley think every old house must have a fireplace? Had he never been in an older home without a fireplace? If he had planned this out, it seems like he would peer into the windows and see that this house had no fireplace on the first floor. So then he went down the chimney expecting to land in the furnace? Just more stuff that does not make much sense. MOO

 

[K9Enzo]

Did he have a history of breaking and entering?