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

[Mandrew]

I just think if he had used that house before he would have found an easier way in and out.

I thought the same thing, but perhaps he DID have easy access. I read the last time the owner of the house visited was in November. Perhaps before then Harley had access through a unlocked window or somehow knew the code on the lockbox.

Then when the owner visited in November he either locked the windows, made them more secure or change the code on the lock box?

 

[Gunslinging Granny]

Wouldn't a larger person gather speed/velocity as they fell, though, due to being heavy?

Nobody but an infant or toddler could fall through a tiny hole this size.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

If I understand, a flue is like a metal plate, that can be opened during a fire to allow smoke to escape, or closed when no fire to keep heat in/rain & snow out. It can be used like a damper during a fire, closed partway to create a draft and/or control the rate of the burn.

The flue has to be attached to the chimney, usually by means of a cross piece of metal, so even if the chimney is itself a large enough space, the flue and its connectors effectively cut that space in half if something is trying to get past it.

If his coat and glasses fell to the fireplace floor, I'd guess the flue was open. It's not airtight when closed, but wouldn't have enough room for those things.

RIP Harley

 

[Mistyjks]

Not if he was trapped upside down. Inverse/inverted suspension deaths occur within hours.

Never knew inverted suspension was some sort of actual term, but yes, quite right. I’m reminded of the man in England last year that somehow managed to get up and then caught upside down by one boot. They suspect he was like that for at least 15 hrs before he passed. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10388594/man-hung-upside-drown-chimney-died-brain-swelling/

I’m also reminded of Kyle Plush, the 16 yr old that got wedged between a seat and the wall of his minivan while reaching over the seat to grab a tennis racket. He eventually was unable to breathe and passed.

This tears me up, I’ve got way too invested in this case, as I think many of us did. I’m too overcome with grief to even express my rage at how botched this entire investigation went down. I’m sorry, but those are MOO. I appreciate the sincerity and raw emotion the Chief has seemed to have had since the start, but the entire investigation, to me at least, was amateur at best and Harley possibly paid the price of that with his life. There are no words right now really.

 

[TropicalTapioca]

Especially when you see the picture of the antenna tower "ladder" right by the roof and chimney. In hindsight it all looks so obvious.

I hadn’t seen that photo view of the antenna. Now I can see how he could climb that and easily get on the roof to the chimney.

 

[lonetraveler]

I am so upset like others.

The excuse he gave about not entering the house before yesterday because they did not see forced entry is just plain stupid IMO. Lets say a window was open and he had crawled inside and then locked the window. Or like what happened with the chimney.

Sorry but that excuse fails miserably. I know they are human and make errors so I forgive them for any errors they made. But I also know if I am ever needing to search for someone, I am going to arrange my own personal search party no matter what LE tells me. Time was of the essence and perhaps he could have been saved if they had gotten there in time.

Gonna sit on my hands and cry for awhile.

I totally agree with your post and feel the same. JMO but I believe that LE thought he had taken off on his own. I'm thinking that if TES had been involved earlier and given free reign he would have
been found.

 

[PixieStix]

A tiny 14yr old kid climbed up to that chimney without leaving a ladder behind? How on earth would he have done that?

Now that I really examine the picture of the location of the roof to the antenna that antenna looks rather far to be able to get on the roof. Maybe it's just the angle.

 

[cocomod]

My neighbor son was extremely hyperactive, and I always get strange things! Once he put a hose into the car to help his dad wash the car. Once he woke up early brought a hose into the house and put it in the heater vent. He was always doing something strange! Luckily, they were very patient with him. Well one day, he climbed up on the roof and he fell into the chimney. Luckily, his parents were there and heard him screaming for help. This story has broken my heart!! How alone he must have felt.

 

[NuttMegg]

I just think if he had used that house before he would have found an easier way in and out.
Whatever the cause its a horrific way for a child to die, alone in the dark.

And I don't expect the police to check EVERY Empty home but I would have thought a house across the street or minutes from his home would have been prime to check.

Maybe there was snow before the search began, and given no footprints in the snow, doors dead bolted (he said) and no windows breached, I can understand why they wouldn't have entered. It's too bad the the jacket and glasses weren't found on the 1st floor, maybe they would have been seen by searchers who probably didn't look through 2nd floor windows. Maybe there was undisturbed dust on the 1st floor, as seen through window searches.

 

[Diddian]

Or someone else had that key and hid him in the chimney- I cannot imagine why he would get in the chimney on his own.

Reports say the current owner had not given anyone a key; however, if the current owner was not the original owner and did not have the home rekeyed once they acquired it, then anyone the previous owner had given a key to (realtor, family, neighbor, contractor, maintenance company) could access the home.

 

[Bellecent]

Police Chief said the fireplace was blocked from 1st/2nd floor.

Guess the key is how was it blocked? Still can't believe he climbed up and went down chimney. Does his jacket show dirt?

 

[Linda7NJ]

Being female - this makes zero logical sense to me.
Being a mother of a son- I’m not surprised by the act itself, boys do really dumb dangerous stuff.
I’m more shocked he’d enter someone else’s home.

I can’t imagine being his mother. Never laid eyes on him the last time she spoke to him, never got up, never felt his forehead when he said he was sick.
I don’t think I could live with myself & l know I could never forgive myself. What she’s facing is pure hell -

 

[holtzmann]

Y'all, I'm so sick over this. Please note I am 4'11" and 104 pounds, only slightly bigger than Harley. This piece of paper is cut to 9" by 13". I can't imagine. I'm horrified.

 

[dkryder]

Nobody but an infant or toddler could fall through a tiny hole this size.

The chimney is wider at the top and decreases like a square funnel. That one way it increases draw or draft to get smoke out of the fireplace.

 

[TropicalTapioca]

Guess the key is how was it blocked? Still can't believe he climbed up and went down chimney. Does his jacket show dirt?

In a lot of older homes, some don’t use the chimneys so they have them closed off, to prevent animals and weather/temperature to get inside.

 

[NuttMegg]

When I was a kid, chimneys used to be just brick, a large opening all the way up. But with energy consciousness many old fireplaces have inserts that terminate in a flue, and the flue takes up a lot of room in the chimney, but provides better heat efficiency. Maybe the second floor fireplace was removed, but the flue was still there (for chimney cleaning). Maybe above that metal flue the chimney was open, just brick. That's what I am thinking he encountered, reaching that 2nd floor flue and knowing he couldn't make it with his jacket and glasses, and there was no going back up. Then the passage to first floor even narrower because of the flue. (stove pipe)

 

[Davia18]

Y'all, I'm so sick over this. Please note I am 4'11" and 104 pounds, only slightly bigger than Harley. This piece of paper is cut to 9" by 13". I can't imagine. I'm horrified.

Thank you for the visual, just heartbreaking. How desperate to even try and do what he did.

 

[Syxanthi]

Even from the front shos that ntenna looks to be more than a good jump to the roof, and in the snow ,that in itself was an achievement.

Gonna give my boys extra hugs tonight, and remind them that I love them like crazy.

 

[nonanks]

Even if the police would have checked inside that home back from the day he was reported missing Harley may have already been dead then. Didn't his mom wait like 2 or 3 days to even report him missing?

 

[Tutter]

I'm really shaken up by this. I'm roughly the same size as Harley and I can't imagine how absolutely dreadful that chimney must have felt to be in. My arms would have to be up over my head for my shoulders to fit in that span. 9" x 13". Fuuuuuu.

I am having a really hard time accepting that he tried to climb down the chimney. It makes no sense to me. If he was stuck in there, how would the jacket (how would he get it off?) and glasses get past his body and into a room below?

He allegedly didn’t feel well, so he left for somewhere at 6:08 am, and then climbed into a chimney!? He had to have used this house before if he went there on his own this day. If his entry was the chimney before, was it just he got stuck this time? I imagine if it was a close call any other time, he wouldn’t keep using it.

It doesn’t make sense....