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

[Hippononymous]

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

I would have known nothing about fireplaces and chimneys at his age...I have lived in a few houses now with fireplaces and/or chimneys and still don’t know a ton about them. MOO

 

[IceIce9]

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.

It was confusing because of the way the article was written.

 

[IceIce9]

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

I think maybe people sometimes assume a chimney = fireplace.

 

[x_files]

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

I'd love to interview them to see what they were thinking. Call me paranoid but I guess I'm just NOT that adventurous. Breaking a window would be much, much easier and I wouldn't want to do that even, but in an emergency, the windowpane is going to go first before I'd consider going down a chimney- no way!

 

[holtzmann]

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.

This.

Also, as someone with mental health issues, it's a little disturbing to see so many insisting that OCD would keep this boy, who was active at school and online and has not been described as impaired by whatever cleanliness rituals he had, from UrbEx'ing for fun.

 

[allboys]

Thought of the day yesterday:
this is awful...the inside of this house should have been searched sooner...poor Harley. Heartbreaking.

Thought of the day today:

Thank goodness Harley’s coat and glasses dropped down and out into the room. I can’t imagine how long the mystery of his disappearance may have gone on otherwise.

 

[osu]

Fisherman’s Wharf in Port Clinton collecting donations to assist with funeral for Harley Dilly

January 15, 2020
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A family-owned fishing bait and tackle store in Port Clinton is collecting donations to help cover the costs of a funeral for Harley Dilly.

Fisherman’s Wharf said on Facebook that money donated or collected through sales of their shirts will be used to assist with funeral expenses and will be presented to the Port Clinton Police Department.


Fisherman’s Wharf in Port Clinton collecting donations to assist with funeral for Harley Dilly

 

[Night Watcher]

Locks can be easily picked, even by amateurs. Cheap lock pick tool kits are sold online. There are also lessons online that teach how to pick locks. I have no idea about the position of Harley's remains found in the chimney. Feet down or up? Nor do I know what was on the second floor. A completely sealed wallboard wall in relation to the chimney? An open elbow vent (flue)? If open, birds and squirrels could gain access into the home. IMO, LE is not releasing some relevant information. It is very possible that Harley was a murder victim. I still think about Damian Henning from Norwalk, Ohio who vanished from Kalahari, south of Sandusky, Ohio. His body was found two days later under a high level bridge in Toledo, Ohio. LE and the coroner ruled his death a suicide. I do not believe it due to LE sloppy investigation, ignoring surveillance videos, clues and forensic evidence. Damian's mother has a Facebook page that is public and she details her issues with LE. Her last name is Jackson.

 

[alyssa5597]

Port Clinton Police Department
Wednesday, January 15th, 2020

Press Conference Notes from Tuesday, January 14th, 2020

Good morning. I am Police Chief Robert Hickman.

I want to start by thanking the community for their continued support during this investigation. This has been a difficult investigation and I want to thank the community for your patience and support.

This is not the outcome anyone wanted but thanks to your help and support, we have some closure for this family.

We believe Harley Dilly was recovered last evening in a house located at 507 Fulton Street.

During the investigation, multiple leads were exhausted.

Yesterday afternoon, a repeated canvas of the neighbor lead investigators to the house at 507 Fulton Street.

The house had been previously checked multiple times. There was no evidence of forced entry.

The house’s windows were locked and the door was secured with a lock box on the door.

Since a lock box can allow multiple individuals to access a house and the house was vacant, we pursued entry to the house.

The house was entered at 1610 and searched.

Harley’s coat and glasses were discovered on the second floor of the house next to a brick chimney.

We were then able to discover what we believe to be Harley was caught in the chimney.

His family was notified early this morning.

This appears to be an accident.

At this time, there does not appear to be foul play involved.

No cause of death has been determined. An autopsy is being conducted this morning by the Lucas County Coroner.

It appears that Harley climbed an antenna tower to the roof and entered the chimney.

Once in the chimney, Harley’s jacket and glasses were pushed from the chimney, through a flue, and into the second floor of the house.

The chimney was blocked between the second and first floor of the house, which trapped Harley.

The chimney is approximately 9 inches by 13 inches in size.

This is a tragic outcome to the case and a tough loss to the community.

I want to stress that the investigators in the case were many – and the investigation was thorough.

You talk about people coming together in a time of need, that’s exactly what we saw throughout this community and beyond.

I now ask for the same compassion and support as family and friends begin to grieve.

I will take questions; however - please note that this is a pending investigation as an autopsy is occurring this morning in Lucas County.

Chief Hickman

 

[Pseudonymph]

Every 14-year-old boy grows at a rapid pace and they don’t even have a sense of their own size. He may have done this many times when he was younger and smaller. Poor kid.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

A particular kind of snake that squeezes its prey to death. We had a creek. They liked the creek, climbed the trees, decided to check out the neighbor’s roof while up in the trees, found an uncapped chimney and voila - had an indoor home.

Oh My. Good thing you found it before it harmed the baby.

 

[x_files]

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.

Do you have a link to the photo of his jacket hanging up?
Thanks! I'm catching up on this case.

 

[Diddian]

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

By the time it was discovered Harley was missing and a search was underway, it was already too late. An interior search would only have recovered Harley's body sooner; it would not have prevented his death.

Depending upon his position and how compressed he was in that chimney, Harley may have died before the school even discovered and attempted to report him absent for the day. Had his phone been intact and on his person, he still may not have been saved by it because he may have been too constricted to use it and no one would have known to attempt to track him with it soon enough.

It's very possible that the only circumstance that would have saved him is if a person had been standing inside the room when his coat and glasses fell or were pushed out of the chimney and that person had the tools on hand to break open the chimney without delay.

That early in the morning, without anyone else inside that house and without any means to call for immediate help, Harley made a tragically foolish mistake going down that chimney.

 

[Kiranerys]

I would have known nothing about fireplaces and chimneys at his age...I have lived in a few houses now with fireplaces and/or chimneys and still don’t know a ton about them. MOO

The only thing I would have known about chimneys,including the one in the house I grew up in,is that trying to climb down one is a really really bad idea!.
Poor Harley,I just cant even think about how scared he must have been

 

[demetra]

I was looking at videos and stuff about chimneys and found this story of a young man that survived being in a chimney and his adventure that got him in that situation

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/19/experience-i-fell-down-a-chimney

 

[x_files]

I was looking at videos and stuff about chimneys and found this story of a young man that survived being in a chimney and his adventure that got him in that situation

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/19/experience-i-fell-down-a-chimney

His situation actually makes sense because he was sitting and accidentally fell in the chimney. Was Harley sitting on top watching his house when he fell in. Do we know if he was found feet or head first?

 

[demetra]

His situation actually makes sense because he was sitting and accidentally fell in the chimney. Was Harley sitting on top watching his house when he fell in. Do we know if he was found feet or head first?

I have no ideal what position he was found in but i wish he had his phone like the young man in the story..

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

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.

You must not have any teenagers. My oldest ( now 28) climbed one of those big electric power towers, all the way to the top with his equally crazy friend. I about had heart attack when I found out. It was well after the fact. I thank God they both lived to tell about it.

 

[x_files]

You must not have any teenagers. My oldest ( now 28) climbed one of those big electric power towers, all the way to the top with his equally crazy friend. I about had heart attack when I found out. It was well after the fact. I thank God they both lived to tell about it.

yes, I have one and babysat lots of young pre-teen boys. They liked jumping off of things, tree forts, tire swings, not crawl, not on my watch at least. (Thank god!)
I was also one myself and never crossed my mind to go down a small enclosure ever.
Climbing in open space (even though the height and the fact it's an electrical tower) makes far more sense to me vs. than crawling into a closed space with no escape.
My fear of confinement small spaces most likely contributed to my lack of exploration.

 

[OnlyFacts]

"Once in the chimney, Harley’s jacket and glasses were pushed from the chimney, through a flue, and into the second floor of the house."

So, the police think his jacket and glasses were pushed from the chimney AFTER he was in there. That's very interesting