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

[Linda7NJ]

Empty for 10 years? So it’s not for sale or a rental. Wonder why they don’t sell it if they don’t rent or use it?
I wouldn’t pay utilities, groundskeeping, maintenance on an empty house for 10 years.

people hold onto property for lots of reasons.

 

[holtzmann]

I'm not sure about the state this home is in, but here in MN, the realtor has a huge liability if anything happens to a home that they have listed. So they generally pay a company to maintain these homes. Now, we don't know if this home is actually listed for sale. So there may not be a realtor involved.

AFAWK the home is not for sale, just not being used by the owner.

 

[Linda7NJ]

staceyfreyfox8 (@staceyfreyfox8) Tweeted:
Investigators have a drone up over the house in Port Clinton where they searched for Harley Dilly. They’re looking at the chimney. staceyfreyfox8 on Twitter

staceyfreyfox8 on Twitter

 

[hey-Debbie]

I'm thinking something along the lines of, maybe he went there to hang out for whatever reason, hung up his coat to get it out of his way, and was accosted or injured afterward.

I'm still not sold that definitely is his jacket.

 

[alyssa5597]

Amy Steigerwald on Twitter
RIGHT NOW: Port Clinton PD still not confirming if #HarleyDilly is dead or alive. Police are speaking on the case at noon. You can watch live on our
@WTOL11Toledo
app or Facebook. We will also have updates on our noon broadcast

Tim Miller on Twitter
Our @mbackuswtol says she just talked to the Port Clinton Police chief, who says he is aware that the Ohio Attorney General’s Office sent out the information that Harley Dilly has been “recovered” but that’s all he could tell her. No official confirmation he is dead or alive.
https://twitter.com/TimWTOL/status/1217084229013659648/photo/1

 

[Deleted member 110058]

AFAWK the home is not for sale, just not being used by the owner.

Thanks Holz...great info to know. As someone mentioned earlier, the owner lives out of town so they must have someone local doing the maintenance. This adds an entire new dimension. When and what worker accessed the home last? Could anyone (an adult) who had access to the home have taken Harley there? Although I am not sure this is a case of foul play, LE has much investigating to do before we can discount foul play.

 

[sabrecmc]

We don't know the circumstances yet, of course, but I am bit surprised that a nearby vacant home wasn't searched earlier, other than the perimeter, it sounds like. I only have experience with one missing child, but the police in that situation definitely searched inside homes that were under construction or for sale in the area, so it does seem strange to me that no one thought to look inside a nearby vacant home that has been vacant for years and that Harley presumably knew was vacant.

 

[alyssa5597]

I'm still not sold that definitely is his jacket.

You think it is a total coincidence that house was searched, there was a jacket present that looked exactly like what he was reported missing in, and a huge police presence and crime scene investigation units there only hours before they announced Harley was recovered?

 

[BlueShoe]

I'm still so shocked that the house was not searched much earlier. Surely the neighbors nearby would know that house was empty if it had been empty for that many years. There were so many agencies involved and not one of them learned about this? Not one neighbor mentioned it? Or did they mention it and it was ignored? If the outside was searched, why not the inside? And would it have made a difference if more information was shared with the community and if they were allowed to participate in some way in searches? Keeping it all so close to the vest and discouraging community involvement seems like a major mistake to me.

 

[Hatfield]

people hold onto property for lots of reasons.

Yes, its not as uncommon as I had thought until a neighbor accross the street bought the home and is never there hardly. He seldom shows up about once every 2 or 3 months. The lawn is always uncut for weeks at a time in summer, and the mail and newspapers build up. One day his mailbox door could not even close as the mail was so stuffed.

I've been meaning to try to catch the owner to ask if he wants help maintaining lawn and picking up mail from his mailbox but he is never there to be able to even ask him.

 

[holtzmann]

We don't know the circumstances yet, of course, but I am bit surprised that a nearby vacant home wasn't searched earlier, other than the perimeter, it sounds like. I only have experience with one missing child, but the police in that situation definitely searched inside homes that were under construction or for sale in the area, so it does seem strange to me that no one thought to look inside a nearby vacant home that has been vacant for years and that Harley presumably knew was vacant.

The only explanation I can think of is that they simply didn't realize the house wasn't occupied. Given its upkeep, it would be natural to not see it initially as a vacant home.

Neighbors might have known given that it hasn't been lived in in, according to homeowner, 10 years, but I couldn't tell you who half my neighbors are either, so... who knows?

 

[LovesPeace2]

Ughhh went to bed hearing le say no body and wake up to well there’s a body. Just argh it took le 3 weeks to notice house was vacant and search unreal. Poor Harley my heart breaks for his siblings

A

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[nefes]

Has there been any word on whether or not they will be taking questions at the PC?

 

[alyssa5597]

Scott Noll on Twitter
10:25 AM · Jan 14, 2020

Signs in the the windows of #HarleyDilly’s home read “Hope for Harley” and “Come home Harley.” Missing poster still on mailbox.@WEWS #WEWS

 

[CurlyQ]

Yes, its not as uncommon as I had thought until a neighbor accross the street bought the home and is never there hardly. He seldom shows up about once every 2 or 3 months. The lawn is always uncut for weeks at a time in summer, and the mail and newspapers build up. One day his mailbox door could not even close as the mail was so stuffed.

I've been meaning to try to catch the owner to ask if he wants help maintaining lawn and picking up mail from his mailbox but he is never there to be able to even ask him.

Uncut for weeks? Wow! The city we own property in will charge you $178.00 to mow each time someone complains about the length of your lawn, if your grass/weeds exceed 8 inches. They come out, take a picture, send you a notice, if not mowed in 72 hours, they do it for you and send you a bill. If you don't pay, they can put a lien on the property. How awesome of you to be willing to help him out

 

[lonetraveler]

I'm wondering if he was found stuck inside the chimney.

 

[Deleted member 110058]

Took the chief 3 weeks to notice lockbox. He had someone walk a dog around house nobody noticed. Everybody was just waiting for LE to get done before they searched themselves. Guess the search ended last night. I hope the city takes the reward money as a start to begin putting up security / traffic cameras.

My thoughts exactly! Is it possible that the lockbox was recently placed in the home?
Does anyone know if this state mandates that vacant homes have a lock box so that emergency responders may enter?

 

[holtzmann]

Still thinking about LE communications here. The deviation from "child found" to "child recovered" is so at odds with the reluctance to confirm whether he is alive or dead. Given the time passed, I would be shocked to hear that HD is alive. I wonder why the language choices.

 

[Alethea]

people hold onto property for lots of reasons.

And if this is a seasonal area, it may have been a vacation home the owners have not used in some time but hope to be able to use or pass down to their children.

LE cannot just walk into a home without permission, a warrant, or an emergency. It seems like they should have known it was not occupied based on a canvas early on. I’m not sure why they wouldn’t have asked the owner for permission to check inside during the initial days. Maybe it just fell through the cracks. But you’d think they’d have a little map to have asked each home on these blocks if they saw or heard anything - or if they have surveillance.