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

[Night Watcher]

deleted double post

 

[Linda7NJ]

Quoting the above, that “Police have been called five times to the Dilly home since 2016,” that would mean that Harley would have been TEN years old (eleven, at the oldest, if it was later in 2016) at that time, as it was four years ago. That’s so young.

IIRC the earliest two had nothing to do with Harley

 

[Kiranerys]

Expert speaks out, provides new information after body of 14-year-old Harley Dilly is found in chimney

This article was linked to above. It breaks down the five calls to LE:

2016 & 2017 - 3 calls that don't include any reference to a juvenile.
January 2017 - unruly juvenile
[gap of 20 months]
September 2019 - unruly juvenile - "Harley was upset about an incident that happened at the home. We showed up and that's about it....the problem was resolved"

IMO, it's typical of the media to tie in 3 old phone calls that aren't even related to Harley, just for the sensational headline.

Same is being done, IMO, with the 2018 "I'm scared" youtube when he's quoted as saying "the future could hold bad things for me. I don't want to find out what that could mean" and it ends so ominously. Except that the very next thing he says is "it could mean me not going to Washington DC on a field trip." And then he voices concern that he might not get an Xbox for Christmas.

School would've let out around 2:30; he'd seen and talked to his mother and argued "for at least 5 minutes" after that. During the video he says it's 3:30, and before it's over, she is calling him on his cell. Yes, it's heartbreaking to see how sad and lost he feels at that moment. It sounds like the family needed some resources made available to them and counseling or support. But to conclude that Harley suffered years of emotional neglect and abuse, based on 8 minutes recorded a year ago, and that somehow put his parents at fault for his horrific, accidental death? That's a giant leap to the worst possible conclusion, and I don't understand why so many people are willing to make that jump.

People are making that conclusion based on more than the one video,and more so on other things that cannot be discussed here,suffice to say that these are not rumours and hearsay. Neither are they based on Harleys words alone,I think pretty much every adult here is sensible enough to not base their opinion solely on the words of a disgruntled 12 year old in a single youtube video. IMO

 

[simlyme]

*

I do understand why people are bashing the parents (innocents). People are angry at the outcome of this case and they wonder if Harley would still be alive if he was reported missing soon after the call from the school was made. There was snow on the ground December 20 as shown by that surveillance video image. No what ifs will bring Harley back. When searching for a missing person or solving a crime, one must have a very open mind to consider all clues and possibilities. There are too many narrow minded and closed minded people in this world and also in LE. What if police were called to the Dilly home the morning Harley went missing after the school called about Harley's absence. An observant and open minded police officer probably would have noticed tracks in the snow leading to that house and around that TV antenna tower. JMHO.

I'm not disagreeing with you about people being angry, but, we don't know everything and really very little about what happened the night before Harley went missing. There's too many rumours to even get started on that. I have not read anywhere where the school called his mother, do you have a link? Harley had left home before this and I think his mother handled it the way she always had.She may have handled it the way a counselor advised her, we don't know. Anger is a big part of grief and I can see how she would be angry. She lost her son and most likely wishes she had done what all the armchair detectives blame her for not doing. Kids nowadays are very hard to raise with all the influence around them, and I can imagine that Harley had some moments that were not easy to handle, just as we all do with teenagers and our own selves as we were growing up. I believe this was truly an accident and it cost Harley his life. It's very sad for us to learn of this but I can't even imagine how his family feels.

 

[firebird]

*

I do understand why people are bashing the parents (innocents). People are angry at the outcome of this case and they wonder if Harley would still be alive if he was reported missing soon after the call from the school was made. There was snow on the ground December 20 as shown by that surveillance video image. No what ifs will bring Harley back. When searching for a missing person or solving a crime, one must have a very open mind to consider all clues and possibilities. There are too many narrow minded and closed minded people in this world and also in LE. What if police were called to the Dilly home the morning Harley went missing after the school called about Harley's absence. An observant and open minded police officer probably would have noticed tracks in the snow leading to that house and around that TV antenna tower. JMHO.

I can understand why they might want to - although I don't necessarily agree that this was anyone else's "fault." But that begs the question why they "are bashing the parents" in these threads. <modsnip: discussing moderation>

 

[heed101]

I'm not disagreeing with you about people being angry, but, we don't know everything and really very little about what happened the night before Harley went missing. There's too many rumours to even get started on that. I have not read anywhere where the school called his mother, do you have a link? Harley had left home before this and I think his mother handled it the way she always had.She may have handled it the way a counselor advised her, we don't know. Anger is a big part of grief and I can see how she would be angry. She lost her son and most likely wishes she had done what all the armchair detectives blame her for not doing. Kids nowadays are very hard to raise with all the influence around them, and I can imagine that Harley had some moments that were not easy to handle, just as we all do with teenagers and our own selves as we were growing up. I believe this was truly an accident and it cost Harley his life. It's very sad for us to learn of this but I can't even imagine how his family feels.

Mother of Port Clinton teen Harley Dilly speaks out after he is found dead
The school definitely called the mom ..she says it

 

[Linda7NJ]

I'm not disagreeing with you about people being angry, but, we don't know everything and really very little about what happened the night before Harley went missing. There's too many rumours to even get started on that. I have not read anywhere where the school called his mother, do you have a link? Harley had left home before this and I think his mother handled it the way she always had.She may have handled it the way a counselor advised her, we don't know. Anger is a big part of grief and I can see how she would be angry. She lost her son and most likely wishes she had done what all the armchair detectives blame her for not doing. Kids nowadays are very hard to raise with all the influence around them, and I can imagine that Harley had some moments that were not easy to handle, just as we all do with teenagers and our own selves as we were growing up. I believe this was truly an accident and it cost Harley his life. It's very sad for us to learn of this but I can't even imagine how his family feels.

Some people are just wired differently due to mental illness, brain trauma, etc...and they can not feel what normal people feel. It’s simply part of who they are. Right, Wrong or Indifferent.

 

[firebird]

Mother of Port Clinton teen Harley Dilly speaks out after he is found dead
The school definitely called the mom ..she says it

Technically, she doesn't say they called her, in particular. I think that's a fair assumption, but the fb post at the link only says that they called one of several numbers on the family's contact list and could not leave a vm b/c the vm was full.

 

[MrsWatson]

While I may not agree with many of the parenting choices made by the Dillys, I didn't live in that house, I didn't see their day-to-day routine & my child didn't die stuck in a chimney, so I don't feel like it's my job to judge them. They have to live with it every day, for the rest of their lives.

No fingers pointed anywhere are going to bring Harley back.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I feel compassion for the mom. IMO, that post is a angry mama lashing out at the masses. I can only imagine the online chatter coming at her from perfect parents, with perfect children. Other moms especially, can be brutal, IMO.
I hope there is someone grounded in her life that can steady her.

I agree with you. I was aquainted with a woman who lost her daughter and said for awhile afterward, she didn't feel sane. I feel, there but for the grace of....

 

[simlyme]

Mother of Port Clinton teen Harley Dilly speaks out after he is found dead
The school definitely called the mom ..she says it

So, ok, they made a call , but could not leave a message because her box was full. Apparently they didn't call the next person out of 6 to call. So my understanding is she must have called them back.
I just listened to 9 messages on my answering machine that have been there for 1 week, that I didn't know were there. What's the sense of picking apart every single thing she did or didn't do. I don't understand that.

 

[10ofRods]

I think Harley was doomed from the instant he went down that chimney, as I don't think he lasted very long inside it. Poor kid. Even if the search had started sooner, I don't think the outcome would be different. There was no way for him to get down that chimney, and postural asphyxiation would have overcome him within 30 minutes, IMO. 2 hours at the most.

 

[heed101]

Technically, she doesn't say they called her, in particular. I think that's a fair assumption, but the fb post at the link only says that they called one of several numbers on the family's contact list and could not leave a vm b/c the vm was full.

The school has to call the parent when the child does not show up. Her voicemail was full. Even if this information is not correct (which it is) he did not come home after school and was not reported missing until the next evening. <modsnip>

 

[Kiranerys]

Mother of Port Clinton teen Harley Dilly speaks out after he is found dead
The school definitely called the mom ..she says it

Yes,they definitely did!,also people keep saying about Harley leaving after an argument on other occasions and staying away,but the chief himself said this happened ONE time,and as far as I can tell there was no argument that morning,just him being a bit disgruntled about having to go to school,like he tried his luck,it didnt pay off and that was that,no big drama I mean his mother didnt feel the need to leave her bed so it doesnt sound like a doozy of a fight or anything to me....so IMO Harley didnt leave after a fight,in actual fact as far as anyone was concerned he didnt return home from school and to me these are two very different scenarios,which require two very different reactions!.

 

[simlyme]

Some people are just wired differently due to mental illness, brain trauma, etc...and they can not feel what normal people feel. It’s simply part of who they are. Right, Wrong or Indifferent.

I don't understand what that has to do with my post.

 

[Andreee]

Some people are just wired differently due to mental illness, brain trauma, etc...and they can not feel what normal people feel. It’s simply part of who they are. Right, Wrong or Indifferent.

Exactly. I get so sick and tired of victim and victim family blaming in so many places on social media, and swift rushes to judgement in general. I am glad Websleuths has rules that at least try to keep things under control that way.

 

[Linda7NJ]

So, ok, they made a call , but could not leave a message because her box was full. Apparently they didn't call the next person out of 6 to call. So my understanding is she must have called them back.
I just listened to 9 messages on my answering machine that have been there for 1 week, that I didn't know were there. What's the sense of picking apart every single thing she did or didn't do. I don't understand that.

She didn’t call them back. She believed he was in school that day originally and that was the last place she believed he was seen at 3pm

 

[Linda7NJ]

I don't understand what that has to do with my post.

I was responding to the way other people may deal with the loss of a child by Imaging how they feel.

What I mentioned is the way some people are unable to process like others. Everyone doesn’t process or feel things like normal people. It’s why some people may come off as “not caring” or “angry” ~

 

[NYatheart]

I just can’t get on board with blaming the family. Let’s say they hypothetically answered the call from the school & knew immediately that he was missing. They saw him on that camera walking his normal route to school. I’d imagine the first thing the police would suspect is that he either took off on his own (runaway) or he was abducted (certainly his social media would have- and did -raise red flags). I’d suspect they canvassed the neighborhood, but since what happened to Harley is so incredibly rare, I just can’t imagine anyone would have thought to be checking chimneys. I mean, we have five threads, and it wasn’t until he was found that someone posted that perhaps he tried to go down the chimney. It just wasn’t on the radar because all other options would have been far more likely than ultimately what happened.

And I can’t get on board with the hate towards law enforcement in this case. It wasn’t just local law enforcement either, so those of you blaming law enforcement for not finding him sooner are pretty much placing blame on those from a local to FEDERAL level. What happened to Harley was a horrible horrible accident. Unfathomable. But sadly nothing anyone could have done, whether it was when the school called or during the investigation would have prevented this because I honestly feel he was gone even before the school would have made that call.

I know people want to try to find answers & place blame, because the reality of what happened to poor Harley is just so heartbreaking, but I just don’t think it’s fair or accurate. My heart breaks for Harley and his family. No matter what his family was like & no matter how much some people want to villianize them, they just lost their son, brother, grandson, etc & I can’t even fathom that pain.

 

[heed101]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed>

‘Gut wrenching’: Community mourns as missing teen Harley Dilly dies trapped across the street from his home " Harley's disappearance was reported to police just before midnight on December 21. "