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

[CSIDreamer]

I really think he was hoping someone would his coat/glasses and find him

I was thinking the same thing. I had the thought he shoved them out the stovepipe hole. Jmo

 

[bellyup]

Compressive asphyxia
Cause of death
Per PCPD

 

[Alethea]

I don't mean to come across as defending local law enforcement in this case. However, it is important to remember that they were being assisted by larger LE agencies with significant expertise. WHY didn't any of the other, more experienced LE people insist on trying to gain entry to the home? It seems like they were able to contact the owner's for permission to access the property last night, so why didn't they reach out to the owner's for permission in the very beginning?

That being said, we also have to keep in mind that the family didn't report HD missing until the next night. If the dimensions of the chimney are as small as noted in the Press Conference, it is quite possible that HD would have been unable to breathe and (I hope) quickly lost consciousness and died. If this is the case, HD was probably dead before the school even attempted to notify his parents that he was absent.

This doesn't absolve LE for mistakes made, but I hope they (and others) can learn from this and not torture themselves wondering if quicker action could have saved him. It is easy (and understandable) to be angry at LE and the actions that likely should have been made, but I can't imagine the pain that all of them must feel wondering if the outcome could have been different if they had.

I was an ICU/Trauma Nurse for 12 years and I know how painful it is to wonder if something you did or didn't do led to a bad outcome. Most people don't have jobs where a mistake, something overlooked, etc will lead to someone's death. It can be easy to second guess what SHOULD have been done, but LE, first-responders, health care workers, etc often have to make snap decisions that can have heart-breaking consequences.

I feel for everyone touched by this tragedy - his parents, family, friends, neighbors, classmates, searchers, LE and even the media that reported on the case and those of us here that followed it closely hoping for a different outcome. I ultimately feel for HD who will never get the chance to grow up and live his life. I just hope he can see how much he was cared for by so many.

https://www.nbc12.com/2019/07/09/rescue-underway-child-trapped-chimney/
Mistakes and errors and tragedies happen. However, when they do, it is important to evaluate how they could have been prevented. What did we learn and what standard operating procedures need to be updated to prevent this tragedy from happening again?

When a child goes missing it should be imperative to search and clear houses and buildings in the immediate area where the child was last seen. Even if it’s difficult and you have to secure permission from absentee property owners. This isn’t bashing LE, it’s critically evaluating what happened. Even if he couldn’t be saved because of an injury during the fall, he would have been found much sooner saving significant LE resources.

Wonderful organizations like NCMEC and the Amber Alert system only came around because of critical evaluation of horrific kidnapping cases.

LE has the power and the resources of the state behind it. They can handle a little criticism from victims advocates.

 

[Angelcat13]

In the building I work in there is a chimney that turns. If you can imagine looking at two floors, on the ground floor the fireplace opens to your left. You go up a floor and the fireplace is to your right in that room.

So it's one chimney but with a left facing side on the ground floor and a right facing floor above it.

It could be something like that.

In older houses, like mine that was built in 1850, there were at least two fireplaces in the original part of the house - one on the 1st floor and one in the basement. They each have their own flue (the internal part of the chimney), but both flues are enclosed in one chimney. So if you look at it from outside, it looks like one chimney, but if you look inside it you can see there are two flues - therefore at least two fireplaces in the home. Another quick lesson - a lot of people think the flue is the metal "door" you open when using the fireplace. This is actually called the damper.

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

The roof pitch on that old house is extreme. It is very, very steep. It was extremely risky for Harley to try to reach the chimney. If the roof is made from slate (crumbling slate at its old age), that was even more risky.

 

[Liltxtrndo]

The homeowner spoke to 19 news (trying to find link, saw on local Tv) and said there were no fireplaces in the house. So now I’m even more confused as to how the coat and glasses were found on the second floor.

Can anyone explain how this might occur? The house was built in 1850. I don’t know enough about how that is built to understand how coat and glasses could come out if no fireplaces at all?

I wonder if there were no fireplaces, where the coat and glasses came out? This also begs the question...if he somehow was in the house and took his glasses and jacket off...I am sure I am missing something but I cannot imagine if no fireplace, then what? It's not like a coat weighs very much either...it wouldn't probably go barreling through a vent. IMO One more thought, if LE was able to gain entrance by lockbox, then how do we know Harley and possibly someone else didn't do the same?

 

[K9Enzo]

Super sad case with an unexpected end (at least to me). Compressed asphyxia - what a horrible end. My first thought was the teen boy who died after being trapped in a folding seat in his vehicle. He was in his school parking lot the whole time.

 

[Hatfield]

Most important thing I learned being a parent, never to say, “MY KID WOULD NEVER” ....

So true.

When I think back to all the crazy insane things I did when I was around his age its a small miracle I made it through those years.

Chimneys covered? Yes, me and a friend played "Mountain Climbers" and rapelled down the outside of my friend's chimney using cheap homemade safety harnesses made out of nylon straps and used a thin crappy rope. Its a miracle the rope didnt break and lucky we didnt pull the chimney down on top of us as we rapelled down the outside.

 

[steff13]

So, is it possible he was dead before he was even reported missing?

 

[KJ's Mamu]

I am deeply saddened by the outcome. I will never forget Harley's smile. Prayers for his family and friends for peace and strength.

 

[scdiv]

I'll be honest, I really thought LE had more information that they weren't sharing. If they weren't zeroing in on any person or persons of interest, and it wasn't alarming correspondence they found from analyzing electronic devices, then why the resistance and pushback against search parties for so long?

Usually when I read these cases and people are pushing for it and don't understand why LE is saying no, I get a sense that LE has very good reasons for saying that is not needed at this time, and sure enough, it comes out that they had a suspect in their grasp and were strategically working the case before making the arrest or getting a confession.

This case was all over the place with some unusual factors. The fact that there was precedent of Harley not coming home in other instances after there had been family conflict. A glimpse of a home life that raised flags, with police having made several previous visits to the family's home for different issues. Harley's open and public social media accounts, conversing with strangers, giving out his phone number, and talking about issues in his home life that could potentially make him a target of a predator. It was hard to know what to think. I'm relieved he didn't meet with foul play and that someone didn't hurt this little boy, yet so saddened how senseless and tragic this accident was.

 

[InsightfulSage]

So, is it possible he was dead before he was even reported missing?

Sadly, I would think it is quite likely.

 

[Topppps]

Is there any reason not to think police could have saved his life if they acted faster?

 

[Periwinkl3]

^^sbm
Harley was also to begin winter break from school for two weeks and figuring out if he could get inside that house probably important to him. I think the idea of two weeks at home with no outlet would definitely be stressing him out.

I'm thinking maybe the "popular" kids were all ditching school the last day before break and he didn't want to be looked at as uncool. He asked if he could stay home and Mom said no. He then left the home as if he were going to school, went to school to check out who was going in, and decided to skip. He couldn't go home, though. Perhaps this house was known to neighborhood kids as an easy place to get into. Boys his age know all the spots and their vulnerabilities. The whole thing is tragic and infuriating.

 

[K9Enzo]

Is there any reason not to think police could have saved his life if they acted faster?

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....

 

[katydid23]

Gosh, kid across the street was missing. CBI, FBI, Marshalls, and "nothing led us to believe anybody was in the house". Like I guess anybody using the house would leave the doors open, radio tv on plus lights.? MOO.

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

 

[steff13]

Is there any reason not to think police could have saved his life if they acted faster?

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.

 

[Alleykins]

My heart is breaking for this young man and his family. RIP Harley.

 

[margarita25]

rsbm
He said schools should teach these kids about getting in these tight spaces.

Indeed. This is why Hide and Seek can also be a dangerous game.

 

[margarita25]

Compressive asphyxia
Cause of death
Per PCPD

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.