Found Deceased OH - Harley Dilly, 14, walking to Port Clinton High School, 20 Dec 2019 #5

[cobalt sky]

Based on statements from the Chief and the homeowner, we know that the chimney runs vertically the length of the house, there are no fireplaces, but there are flues approximately 6-8" diameter exiting via walls in some of the rooms of the house. The homeowner also stated that the chimney had been blocked off at the location between the first and second floor.

The size of the chimney is about 9" x 13". Harley would have had to enter the chimney head first with arms extended in front of him, or feet first with arms up above him. The other option would be head or feet first with arms at his sides but then he wouldn't have been able to manipulate his arms/hands to push things through a flue.

If he went in head first, he would have had to take his coat off and push it down the chimney first before entering himself. The puffiness and lightness of the coat would have prevented it from dropping to the bottom, Harley likely pushed it along in front of him as he worked his way down the chimney. He also may have been holding his glasses in his hands in front of him, or rested them on top of the coat. Or they might have been in a coat pocket. Once he worked his way down to the level of the flue, he would have been able to displace anything covering or filling the flue and then push his glasses and coat through the flue hole out onto the floor. He might have pushed those items out through the flue in order to move them to get a better idea of what was in front of him, with the light coming in from the flue it would be at this point he would have realized that the chimney was blocked off and he was unable to go any further. But to accept this theory, one would have to accept that it was still dark outside, it would have been pitch black in that chimney, I just can't imagine anyone going head first into a super dark chimney but maybe he just wasn't afraid.

If he went in feet first, arms above, he then would have been pulling his coat down with him as he descended. Eventually his feet would have hit the spot where the chimney had been blocked off and he couldn't go any further. He may have then been just the right position where his hands were at the level of the flue and he was able to then push his coat and glasses through the flue, maybe in an attempt to get more air, maybe to leave a clue as to where he was, I can't imagine what poor Harley was thinking at that point .

Any other explanation of how the coat and glasses could have got where they were would indicate something nefarious and would not match with any of the facts that have thus far been revealed about this case.

I do hope that more details are released at some point. I have been thinking about Harley since the terrible news of his death and praying that he did not suffer long and is now at peace.

 

[scdiv]

I agree! This is what we learn from Harley: 1. Report missing as soon as possible. 2. Hand your child a phone, the cheapest phone will do -- even if they don't have a contract, they can always dial 911. 3. Every house, shed, whatever in close proximity of the house the missing person lived needs to be searched closely, either by LE, volunteers, home owners, to rule out any accident.

Teach kids that chimneys don't lead to fireplaces and instead are blocked. I don't say that with any blame. I really never even thought about chimneys and flue doors and angles and that it's literally a trap. I thought Santa and Mary Poppins, slide right on down into the fireplace, maybe get covered in soot.

 

[Deleted member 110058]

I would really like to know what made the Chief suddenly: wow, why not look inside that house again? Did they give an answer to that that makes sense? ETA no.

Police discover body of missing Port Clinton teen at vacant house
Watch the video at top of page.
(Paraphrased by me)
The reporter states that when re-canvasing the area, the Police Chief realized there was a lock box on the door so he decided to search the home.
So the Chief did not see the lock box when the outside of the home was originally searched.

ETA: Based upon the above link, the inside of home wasn't searched because no one had previously seen the lockbox....not because there were no signs of entry (as stated in the PC). So to me it seems that they did not know the home was vacant until the Police Chief realized there was a lockbox on the door.

 

[whatsnext]

Police discover body of missing Port Clinton teen at vacant house
Watch the video at top of page.
(Paraphrased by me)
The reporter states that when re-canvasing the area, the Police Chief realized there was a lock box on the door so he decided to search the home.
So the Chief did not see the lock box when the outside of the home was originally searched.

Thank you, but that is still no excuse why an unoccupied house wasn't searched earlier. JMO
This tragedy could have been resolved much earlier .

 

[Tutter]

Given that Harley wasn’t visibly seen or captured on any other surveillance cameras after the first sighting shortly after 6am, it’s quite possible that he headed straight to the vacant house, scaled the antenna and headed to the chimney. If this is the case though, it would have been pitch black out at that time. Also, if it was light when he was on the roof, I imagine someone would have noticed him leading me to believe it was dark.

If it was indeed still dark, he had no source of light and no phone with a flashlight to peer into the chimney with. I find it so hard to imagine he would enter the chimney when he couldn’t visibly see the bottom. I simply can’t wrap my head around that. It’s just so sad.

is it possible he didn’t go home Thursday night after being told to leave his friends house? came in Friday morning early before 6 according to the cctv, talked to his mom ( who made a point she didn’t see him), wanted to stay home, and when he couldn’t, he then went to the house and tried to get in. So tired, hungry maybe didn’t feel well, just wanted to sleep?
I really can’t think of anything that fits him being seen on camera at 6:08 am, then climbing to the roof and into the chimney. Maybe he hung around outside for a while thinking of a way in and waited until it was light out to try the chimney.


What time did his mom say she talked to him?

it seems impossible that someone forced him into the chimney either, for many reasons.

such a sad strange case.

 

[Liltxtrndo]

Based on statements from the Chief and the homeowner, we know that the chimney runs vertically the length of the house, there are no fireplaces, but there are flues approximately 6-8" diameter exiting via walls in some of the rooms of the house. The homeowner also stated that the chimney had been blocked off at the location between the first and second floor.

The size of the chimney is about 9" x 13". Harley would have had to enter the chimney head first with arms extended in front of him, or feet first with arms up above him. The other option would be head or feet first with arms at his sides but then he wouldn't have been able to manipulate his arms/hands to push things through a flue.

If he went in head first, he would have had to take his coat off and push it down the chimney first before entering himself. The puffiness and lightness of the coat would have prevented it from dropping to the bottom, Harley likely pushed it along in front of him as he worked his way down the chimney. He also may have been holding his glasses in his hands in front of him, or rested them on top of the coat. Or they might have been in a coat pocket. Once he worked his way down to the level of the flue, he would have been able to displace anything covering or filling the flue and then push his glasses and coat through the flue hole out onto the floor. He might have pushed those items out through the flue in order to move them to get a better idea of what was in front of him, with the light coming in from the flue it would be at this point he would have realized that the chimney was blocked off and he was unable to go any further. But to accept this theory, one would have to accept that it was still dark outside, it would have been pitch black in that chimney, I just can't imagine anyone going head first into a super dark chimney but maybe he just wasn't afraid.

If he went in feet first, arms above, he then would have been pulling his coat down with him as he descended. Eventually his feet would have hit the spot where the chimney had been blocked off and he couldn't go any further. He may have then been just the right position where his hands were at the level of the flue and he was able to then push his coat and glasses through the flue, maybe in an attempt to get more air, maybe to leave a clue as to where he was, I can't imagine what poor Harley was thinking at that point .

Any other explanation of how the coat and glasses could have got where they were would indicate something nefarious and would not match with any of the facts that have thus far been revealed about this case.

I do hope that more details are released at some point. I have been thinking about Harley since the terrible news of his death and praying that he did not suffer long and is now at peace.

I have not been able to get this off of my mind. I am glad to read that the flues actually came out into the rooms because I knew I read that the homeowner said there were no fireplaces...I still have trouble with all of this, and wonder if he met with whoever, got in , and "whoever" left it locked up tight. I am not a conspiracy theorist but looking at that opening, and knowing a coat doesn't weigh much, so did he shove it through before he tried to go down or what???? It's so horrible just wondering about what this poor child endured that I think I just cannot completely wrap my head around it.

 

[IceIce9]

Police discover body of missing Port Clinton teen at vacant house
Watch the video at top of page.
(Paraphrased by me)
The reporter states that when re-canvasing the area, the Police Chief realized there was a lock box on the door so he decided to search the home.
So the Chief did not see the lock box when the outside of the home was originally searched.

I am sorry but how closely could they have looked when previously “searching” the home, if they didn’t even notice the lockbox?

 

[Liltxtrndo]

I have not been able to get this off of my mind. I am glad to read that the flues actually came out into the rooms because I knew I read that the homeowner said there were no fireplaces...I still have trouble with all of this, and wonder if he met with whoever, got in , and "whoever" left it locked up tight. I am not a conspiracy theorist but looking at that opening, and knowing a coat doesn't weigh much, so did he shove it through before he tried to go down or what???? It's so horrible just wondering about what this poor child endured that I think I just cannot completely wrap my head around it.

I am updating my own comment here, because after reading an article from Mail Online, I realized that if he had actually been in the house, he would have seen that there were no fireplaces, and only about an 8" stove pipe at the end. I just wanted to update since I just commented that maybe he was in the house somehow. I guess the investigators hung his coat up when they were in the home??

 

[Deleted member 110058]

I have not been able to get this off of my mind. I am glad to read that the flues actually came out into the rooms because I knew I read that the homeowner said there were no fireplaces...I still have trouble with all of this, and wonder if he met with whoever, got in , and "whoever" left it locked up tight. I am not a conspiracy theorist but looking at that opening, and knowing a coat doesn't weigh much, so did he shove it through before he tried to go down or what???? It's so horrible just wondering about what this poor child endured that I think I just cannot completely wrap my head around it.

BBM
I, for one, cannot think about and refuse to wrap my head around it. It's too upsetting.
I don't care how large the flew was, whether it was a working chimney, how he got on the roof, which way he went down, or how long it took him to die. I don't wanna read it or think about it. Not criticizing anyone for discussing this stuff at all.
I just can't deal with it.
(

 

[hey-Debbie]

Thanks for this. I still don' understand about the coat and glasses thing myself. I have the same thoughts as you and just don't see him going head first and he'd have to drag the coat behind him. He'd also have to have the glasses off already because he couldn't have taken them off while in the chimney. I still am not sure about the police deciding to do another check of the house because of the lockbox. Something had to give them a reason to search with no visible proof of a breakin.

Based on statements from the Chief and the homeowner, we know that the chimney runs vertically the length of the house, there are no fireplaces, but there are flues approximately 6-8" diameter exiting via walls in some of the rooms of the house. The homeowner also stated that the chimney had been blocked off at the location between the first and second floor.

The size of the chimney is about 9" x 13". Harley would have had to enter the chimney head first with arms extended in front of him, or feet first with arms up above him. The other option would be head or feet first with arms at his sides but then he wouldn't have been able to manipulate his arms/hands to push things through a flue.

If he went in head first, he would have had to take his coat off and push it down the chimney first before entering himself. The puffiness and lightness of the coat would have prevented it from dropping to the bottom, Harley likely pushed it along in front of him as he worked his way down the chimney. He also may have been holding his glasses in his hands in front of him, or rested them on top of the coat. Or they might have been in a coat pocket. Once he worked his way down to the level of the flue, he would have been able to displace anything covering or filling the flue and then push his glasses and coat through the flue hole out onto the floor. He might have pushed those items out through the flue in order to move them to get a better idea of what was in front of him, with the light coming in from the flue it would be at this point he would have realized that the chimney was blocked off and he was unable to go any further. But to accept this theory, one would have to accept that it was still dark outside, it would have been pitch black in that chimney, I just can't imagine anyone going head first into a super dark chimney but maybe he just wasn't afraid.

If he went in feet first, arms above, he then would have been pulling his coat down with him as he descended. Eventually his feet would have hit the spot where the chimney had been blocked off and he couldn't go any further. He may have then been just the right position where his hands were at the level of the flue and he was able to then push his coat and glasses through the flue, maybe in an attempt to get more air, maybe to leave a clue as to where he was, I can't imagine what poor Harley was thinking at that point .

Any other explanation of how the coat and glasses could have got where they were would indicate something nefarious and would not match with any of the facts that have thus far been revealed about this case.

I do hope that more details are released at some point. I have been thinking about Harley since the terrible news of his death and praying that he did not suffer long and is now at peace.

 

[Lamima]

Could the coat and glasses on the 2nd floor by the chimney be OUTSIDE the home? Did it say somewhere they were inside? Just arriving to this thread.

 

[Sonic7273]

If he went in feet first, arms above, he then would have been pulling his coat down with him as he descended. Eventually his feet would have hit the spot where the chimney had been blocked off and he couldn't go any further. He may have then been just the right position where his hands were at the level of the flue and he was able to then push his coat and glasses through the flue

I literally was just about to write this theory. It’s the only one that makes perfect sense to me. Took his jacket off because it was bulky. Took his glasses off for safekeeping. Maybe wrapped the glasses in the jacket and holding that in his hand began descending feet down. Landing in between the first and second floor (I’m picturing the floor level of the second floor), he would have been just tall enough to reach the opening. And for as tight as the space was at that point, he could have been slowly sliding downward, giving him time to shove them through the flue opening. Poor boy

 

[skywalker20]

Teach kids that chimneys don't lead to fireplaces and instead are blocked. I don't say that with any blame. I really never even thought about chimneys and flue doors and angles and that it's literally a trap. I thought Santa and Mary Poppins, slide right on down into the fireplace, maybe get covered in soot.

yes, in Europe every house has a chimney, almost none have fireplaces. Just saying... Also, Baby Jesus brings the presents and not Santa Claus.

 

[skywalker20]

Public memorial service to be held in honor of Port Clinton teen Harley Dilly
On Saturday, Jan. 25 from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., the community is invited to gather in mourning at the Gerner-Wolf-Walker Funeral Home.
Public memorial service to be held in honor of Port Clinton teen Harley Dilly
If you live close enough to attend.

 

[nefes]

Police discover body of missing Port Clinton teen at vacant house
Watch the video at top of page.
(Paraphrased by me)
The reporter states that when re-canvasing the area, the Police Chief realized there was a lock box on the door so he decided to search the home.
So the Chief did not see the lock box when the outside of the home was originally searched.

ETA: Based upon the above link, the inside of home wasn't searched because no one had previously seen the lockbox....not because there were no signs of entry (as stated in the PC). So to me it seems that they did not know the home was vacant until the Police Chief realized there was a lockbox on the door.

I still don't buy this. How could they say that the house was locked up tight before, so that's why they had no reason to search it because if they had checked to see if it was locked, no one could have missed the lock box . It hangs on the door handle, doesn't it? Only a blind person could miss that

 

[Jessthinkin]

DBM

 

[Jessthinkin]

I completely disagree with her comment. I think it is disgusting to berate him personally and call him a failure. Yes, the poor boy was recovered 170 feet away from his home, in a chimney.

But look at how many other places he may have been, if you do a circle of 170 feet from the family porch. Endless amount of potential places he may have been found. Looking for a missing child is like finding a needle in a haystack. Was he hiding, or being held hostage or on a greyhound or in a friends garage apartment? The police were not just looking at places in his neighbourhood.

Hindsight is 20/20, so NOW we know he was stuck in the chimney. But she is calling the chief of police an utter failure because he didn't figure that out sooner? IMO, that is taking a cheap shot at a man who probably spent 60 to 80 hours a week , 7 days a week, trying to find this missing child.

It is pretty easy to sit back and then pounce on him after the child is found. No matter where he would have been found, someone would have criticised the chief and said he failed. I find it disturbing. JMO

I respectfully disagree; there are not "endless" places to search in a 170-foot radius (the reported distance of the empty home from Harley's home)

 

[Diddian]

I think he shoved the coat in first, with glasses possibly inside the pocket. Then I think he probably pushed it out the opening with his feet.

Assuming there are not facts LE knows to which we are not privy (say, for example that we were to later learn that Harley was discovered in the chimney wearing the clothes he was wearing Thurs, Dec 19 when he left his friend's house and that the Friday morning surveillance photo we have all seen was actually from earlier in the week):

Then, I think Harley probably climbed the antenna, traversed the roof to its ridge, looked down the chimney and assumed there would be a reachable and passable fireplace opening below, took off his coat to make himself slimmer, shimmied down the tight chimney with his coat left loose to pull down from above him as he made his way down. Eventually his feet reached the obstacle closing off the chimney from the floor below. At that point, he took stock of his situation and tried to come up with Plan B. He noticed the narrow flue opening above him and figured that maybe, somehow, he'd be able to find a way to squeeze himself out there and if not that, to push bricks out to enlarge the opening. So, he pushed his coat out the opening, took off his glasses (so they wouldn't break as he forced his way out) and pushed them out to join the coat, and then he struggled as best he could - without success - to enlarge that opening. His struggle became frantic as his efforts failed to enlarge the opening, causing him to break or injure his ribs, and after that breathing became more compressed than it had been when he was simply shimmying down. Eventually, he succumbed to compression caused by injury from his own efforts to enlarge the flue opening so he could get out.

If he was wearing the clothes he was wearing Thursday Dec 19 and the surveillance photo we've all seen was not actually from Friday Dec 20, then someone else put him there, likely after causing unintentional fatal harm elsewhere, with the intent to conceal their crime and delay discovery of his body. In that scenario, I fail to see how the coat and glasses end up outside the flue opening unless that person had access to a key to gain access to place the coat and glasses there so Harley's body would eventually be discovered.

The homeowner has said keys were not given out to others. Also, in that photo we've all seen, the coat that was hanging on the corner of the door looked like it had gray soot or possibly dry mortar on it, so it had been in the chimney at some point.

I think it most likely that Harley succumbed to an accident caused by his own misadventure. The other seems almost "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"-like in necessary strength and would require such extreme deviance and risk of discovery in attempting to pull it off.

For all their imperfections and our witness of some of Harley's struggle with them, it just doesn't seem like this family showed signs of that. There were plenty of signs that they all loved each other, even as they struggled with living with each other sometimes. And as far as I know, there were no signs of past physical battering or other forms of physical abuse.

 

[Sonic7273]

I’m also thinking, given the slippery and snowy conditions around that time frame, that having climbed the antenna and having climbed the roof to get to the ridge, he might have looked into the chimney and second guessed his original plan. But the idea of coming back down the roof would have been treacherous and dangerous and the chimney might have seemed a safer way forward.

 

[Hatfield]

I am sorry but how closely could they have looked when previously “searching” the home, if they didn’t even notice the lockbox?

Irregardless of the lock box, from other cases, the protocol of checking with close neighbors and close homes to his home "usually" is that if the owner of the home is not home, then LE would keep going back to the home to make sure to contact the owner and make sure that home was checked and crossed off the list. If LE had kept going back and nobody was ever home they would have realized it was vacant and then took the steps they finally took to get access to the vacant home.