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

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deugirtni said:
To me, that doesn't make sense. It would be like if someone burned to death in a vacant home with no obvious entry, and they didn't bother to investigate the home and instead just said, oh it was a fire. Wouldn't the chimney have everything to do with the investigation? Maybe the investigation is completed already, but surely it would have included an analysis of what exactly happened, including the boy's positioning and whether there were signs inside the chimney that he'd tried to escape, etc? Whether all of the things noted in the preliminary autopsy report make sense as far as the 'scene' (inside the chimney), etc? How and when he could've tried to put his jacket through the flue opening, etc? How long he could have survived inside there, considering the available oxygen, etc? Confirming how he got up there, and that he did in fact go up there (backed with evidence like shoeprints or handprints on the antenna), etc? imo.
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Yes, I'm sure their investigation of the chimney, home, etc. is done. I'm not sure they would reveal non-essential details like whether he'd tried to escape, for example. We may want to know those details, but I'm sure it was fairly obvious to the people who found the body exactly what happened.
 
More than you ever wanted to know about the coroner, autopsy and death certificate process:

State of Ohio Administrative Code:
Lawriter - OAC
Lawriter - ORC
CHAPTER 104
COUNTY CORONER
Each county elects a coroner quadrennially to serve a four year term which commences on the first Monday of January after election. The coroner is charged by Ohio law with the responsibility of determining the cause and manner of death in all cases of death by violence, accident, suicide, or suspicious or unusual manner (ORC 313.12).
The coroner must also make inquiry into the death of any child under the age of two years when in apparent good health and for any developmentally disabled individual who dies within their jurisdiction. Ohio is one of two states that requires the coroner to be elected and to be a licensed physician.
The anatomic cause of death is a medical determination (i.e., pneumonia, gunshot wound, blunt head trauma, stab wound) while the manner of death is a medicolegal determination (was it accident, homicide, suicide, etc.) The investigation of a death involves both a medical and legal phase, and requires a specialized discipline correlating knowledge of both law and medicine.
The coroner's verdict as appears on death certificate filed with the Division of Vital Statistics is considered the legally accepted cause, manner and mode of death (ORC 313.19). The coroner’s verdict pertains to only the physiological cause of death and does not determine criminal responsibility (State v Cousin, 5 O App 3d 32). A coroner's verdict may only be changed upon direct order from a common pleas court after a hearing (ORC 313.19). Only the coroner can sign the death certificate if the manner of death is anything other than a natural death.
https://ccao.org/wp-content/uploads/hdbkchap104-
2010.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/blue_form.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/DEATH11-03final-acc.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/hb_cod.pdf
 
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Wow, it took 3 months before they tore down A. Castro's house. However, I will say, if I lived in that town, every time I went past that house it would bother me. I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one that would feel that way.

I guess with it being tore down is a moment of closure for all of us.

And if it was the other way around, and one of Harley's parents had died in that home, he too would want it tore down.
 
catch_22 said:
I know the official (preliminary) cause/manor of death was ruled compressive asphyxia. And this will probably prove (or will be unable to be disproven) to be the case. The skeptic in me wonders.

For one thing, they seemed to release this intitial finding awfully quickly. Like the day after he was found? Is that normal? It kind of reminded me of iran shooting down the passenger plane. Within hours they said, "mechanical failure. Nothing to see here." It just seemed suspicious how quickly they seemed to try and control the narrative.

Why would they attempt to mislead? I think it is in everyone's best interest to believe that he passed quickly and didn't suffer for multiple days. Public outcry, criticism of the investigation, potential lawsuits, and everyone's peace of mind could all be potentially reduced/avoided with the outcome that he passed within a few hours.

I'm not trying to stir the pot. From how I'm picturing it, I'm just not sure that I see how he would've gotten "wedged". Also, if he was "wedged", it kind of seems unlikely that he would go through the trouble of pushing his coat and glasses out of the flue. Granted, I obviously don't have all of the facts, and could easily be completely wrong.

In their theory's defense, the other day I tried to imagine myself in that space (proportionally larger for my body), and was trying to imagine how much he could move his arms and legs. I found it very unlikely that he would be able to bend his knee up to his chin (assuming he was in the standing position). But it may have been possible for him to get his arms from above his head to his sides and vise versa. My roundabout point is that when i was standing there with my arms raised above my head, it seemed like that in itself was making it somewhat harder for me to breathe. Possibly leading more credence to their theory. And less to mine. (Or maybe just telling me that I need to visit the gym more often?) ; )

I guess maybe this doesn't really matter at this point. Nothing is going to bring that poor boy back.

Speculation and MOO.
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I imagine if he was in the standing position he would get tired of standing after awhile and tried to get into a sort of sitting position.His butt could only go down so far but after awhile gravity sank it down until he got stuck.Its possible he was very sleepy and fell asleep in this squatted position and died in his sleep as his muscles relaxed and sank.
 
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tresptip said:
I imagine if he was in the standing position he would get tired of standing after awhile and tried to get into a sort of sitting position.His butt could only go down so far but after awhile gravity sank it down until he got stuck.Its possible he was very sleepy and fell asleep in this squatted position and died in his sleep as his muscles relaxed and sank.
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Or if hypothermia got to him and he became unconscious.
 
Warwick7 said:
Wow, it took 3 months before they tore down A. Castro's house. However, I will say, if I lived in that town, every time I went past that house it would bother me. I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one that would feel that way.

I guess with it being tore down is a moment of closure for all of us.

And if it was the other way around, and one of Harley's parents had died in that home, he too would want it tore down.
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It was just the chimney and debris from the second floor, per sm video coverage.
 
deugirtni said:
To me, that doesn't make sense. It would be like if someone burned to death in a vacant home with no obvious entry, and they didn't bother to investigate the home and instead just said, oh it was a fire. Wouldn't the chimney have everything to do with the investigation? Maybe the investigation is completed already, but surely it would have included an analysis of what exactly happened, including the boy's positioning and whether there were signs inside the chimney that he'd tried to escape, etc? Whether all of the things noted in the preliminary autopsy report make sense as far as the 'scene' (inside the chimney), etc? How and when he could've tried to put his jacket through the flue opening, etc? How long he could have survived inside there, considering the available oxygen, etc? Confirming how he got up there, and that he did in fact go up there (backed with evidence like shoeprints or handprints on the antenna), etc? imo.
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I'm with you. This whole case stinks to high heaven.
MOO
 
A neighbor posted videos of the Police Chief doing (and a few other LE) demo work at the death house yesterday. He also drove the dump truck they loaded a bunch of stuff from the house in. This is so odd to me. I am not big on conspiracy theories and I have always felt this was just a horrible accident. But the Chief is doing some really odd things that seem out of line with his job.

I also wonder why the home owner is allowing the police to do the demo/construction work?

This case just gets stranger and stranger
 
The removal of the chimney - I really feel for the homeowner here. Having a body that decomposed for several weeks in a super tight area of your home does not leave you with many options but to remove it, IMO. There's no amount of elbow grease that's going to clean it up what was physically left behind, IMO. It appears the investigation into where HD's body was found is complete, the chimney can go.

Perhaps because LE had to remove a structure of someones home during an investigation, they have a policy that states they will be responsible for the repairs. I'm sure there's a price cap on that.

To me this is two fold. The emotion of what happened & the reality of what what was left behind when the body was removed. Also, there might be a concern of those that would break the law, trespass and break into this home to have a look at the scene. We know the morbid curiosity of some.
 
Kiranerys said:
Yep,maybe....................
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I have been wondering about the same thing. Both his friends and Harley were at one of the boys houses. The other one lives about a mile away. It does not really make sense that Harley would have walked over there when they were meeting at the other boy's house anyway. But then the question is where was Harley on Friday from 6:08 am until the end of the school day? It would help to have the surveillance video from Thursday evening, 6 pm, say, until Saturday. I still have a hard time imagining that a teenager would climb up to a roof at 6 am in the morning. Given Harley did not feel good that morning.... I hope that the autopsy will shed some light on this.
 
I thought at first maybe the homeowner just removed the brick chimney that was visible on the roof. But reading though today, the chief (along with others) removed the entire chimney/flue/whatever that went from the roof to the basement?
 
K9Enzo said:
The removal of the chimney - I really feel for the homeowner here. Having a body that decomposed for several weeks in a super tight area of your home does not leave you with many options but to remove it, IMO. There's no amount of elbow grease that's going to clean it up what was physically left behind, IMO. It appears the investigation into where HD's body was found is complete, the chimney can go.

Perhaps because LE had to remove a structure of someones home during an investigation, they have a policy that states they will be responsible for the repairs. I'm sure there's a price cap on that.

To me this is two fold. The emotion of what happened & the reality of what what was left behind when the body was removed. Also, there might be a concern of those that would break the law, trespass and break into this home to have a look at the scene. We know the morbid curiosity of some.
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K9Enzo said:
Perhaps when portions of the chimney were removed for the body recovery, the homeowner was left with a risk of structural damage to the remainder of the house if a repair was not made. Just a thought.
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It seems reasonable if they might want to remove it for many reasons, and ensure it is then structurally sound, etc., but for the police chief to be assisting with that seems way off. It also seems way too quick.. thinking of people who may potentially want to take this event further via the courts, etc.. there will be no evidence with which anyone could defend themselves, etc., in the event of a potential lawsuit. If the only party who had access to know the exact condition of the chimney and how someone got into it (the police), is also involved in removing it so quickly.. it just seems like a position I wouldn't want to put myself into, if it were me. Just sayin.

Wouldn't a professional construction company who does this type of structural work be more prudent - one who is at arm's length and uninvolved, knows none of the parties involved, can make notes and say what they observed both before and after the demolition/renovation, etc.? For example - it could very well be that the homeowner did have something in place to deter animals and such from entering the top of the chimney.. say that had been removed before HD entered.. then mightn't things like that potentially become important evidence in future if needed? But if parties involved in demolishing it might have various reasons for stating or not stating any such details, it just gives a bad taste, imho.
 
Night Watcher said:
There are some very strong people among us. Have you ever seen roofers carrying bundles of shingles up a ladder? There are videos online that show this. Here is one roofer carrying 180 pounds up a ladder.
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Was the only entrance to the Chimney down? Also was he in the Chimney the entire time or was he placed there later? I don't think it would be impossible to carry a dead or unconscious unto a roof. MOO
 
The husband of one of my coworkers owns a company that does specialized disaster restoration. That’s what they call it, but they do cleanup and restoration at homes and businesses where there have been murders, accidents, deaths from natural causes where the bodies have been present for some time before anyone noticed, etc.

Often they have to cut out and replace sections of walls, carpet, flooring, etc.

I just mention this because I never knew such companies existed before I met this coworker. And I never considered the cleanup and restoration that would have to be done after tragedies of this type.
 
K9Enzo said:
Perhaps when portions of the chimney were removed for the body recovery, the homeowner was left with a risk of structural damage to the remainder of the house if a repair was not made. Just a thought.
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This makes sense. I was thinking they were removing a potential crime scene or part of it. They probably had to remove part of the chimney to get the body out. It makes sense to get rid of it instead of repairing the chimney that wasn't in use and that a child was found in. It also prevents more people from checking out the roof or measuring the opening to test theories. You don't want people climbing on the roof to make a shrine either.
 
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