Posted on 01/14/2020 10:51:47 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Almost a month after Harley Dilly disappeared on his way to school, police believe the Port Clinton, Ohio, boy’s body has been found in a chimney.
“This is not the outcome anyone wanted, but … we have some closure for the family,” Port Clinton Police Chief Robert Hickman said Tuesday.
Harley, 14, was last seen on Dec. 20 in Port Clinton as he left for school between 6 and 7 a.m., police said.
At least 75 law enforcement agencies have scoured more than 150 acres with helicopters, trained dogs and search-and-rescue teams, Port Clinton police said.
During another sweep of the area Monday, authorities zeroed in on a vacant summer home that was undergoing renovation.
There were no signs of forced entry to the house, and there was a lockbox for keys, Hickman said.
Police went in and discovered a tragic scene.
“Harley’s coat, glasses were discovered on the second floor of the house next to a brick chimney,” Hickman said.
“We were then able to discover what we believe to be Harley, who was caught in the chimney.”
Since his disappearance, Hickman has posted daily updates in the search effort on the Department’s official Facebook page. Harley’s photo also became the page’s profile picture.
An autopsy was being performed Tuesday to confirm the body’s identity and the cause of death.
“This appears to be an accident,” the police chief said.
“It appears Harley climbed an antenna tower to the roof and entered a chimney. Once in the chimney, Harley’s jacket and glasses were pushed from the chimney, through a flue, and into the second floor of the house. The chimney was blocked between the second and first floor, which trapped Harley.”
It was not clear why the boy may have tried to enter the chimney.
Between your story, mine, and this headline, that’s 3 people who died trying to get into buildings through the chimney.
Apparently it happens more than any of us thought.
Now THAT would be a bad way to die.
I think sometimes the person attempting to enter through a chimney loses their grip at some point and falls into a position which allows little room for chest expansion. You can't yell and you can't get enough air to survive. Must be a lot like drowning.
When I was a kid we all wandered for miles in any direction during the day and were expected home before dark. Explored many attractive nuisances in my day. Steered clear of the railroad tracks after a neighbor boy was killed after hanging from the ladder on a car and falling onto the tracks.
I can remember being surprised once to find that the starter motor on a large bulldozer would turn even without an ignition key. It was still fun to play on.
Would other friends of his have been passing the house that morning? He may have wanted to get up on the roof to yell downand surprise and amaze them...
I was about 13 when I started a small Cat dozer at a construction site near us. I turned the key to “off” and it wouldn’t turn off! I about crapped my pants when I found that out. I figured by Monday, the crew would come back to a machine with no fuel left and I was done for.
Then I realized it was a diesel engine and killing the spark doesn’t turn off the engine (I was really into engines at that age). I found the fuel shut off and killed it. Whew!
The police had been at his home several times for calls for an unruly child. He also would go out at night and not return, which resulted in a delay in reporting him missing.
The house was a summer rental that was locked up for the season. No one had been in it in months.
Leni
On dope?
“When I was a kid we all wandered for miles in any direction during the day and were expected home before dark.”
That’s how I grew up, too...and that was in, ‘The People’s Republic of Milwaukeestan,’ and it used to be SAFE for kids to do that.
We always headed for any wooded area. Hours and hours playing with others, or just by myself. Heaven! ;)
My first thought too. Horrible accident.
No one living in the house.
Kid was in the chimney.
The chimney is blocked between the first and second floor.
The only way for the kid to get in the chimney is from the roof.
The kid is below the roof line inside a chimney, the house is in a residential neighborhood in the winter.
People are not spending a lot of time outside. The kid most likely can’t hear very much of the outside noises of people talking so he doesn’t know when to cry for help. The only way for his cries to get to people outside is up the chimney. With all the ambient noise outside his cries would be very unlikely to be heard by anyone. Add to this that the boy would for the first day have spent a lot of energy trying to escape. After the second day he would be exhausted, dehydrated and had little energy to cry for help.
What killer would haul a kid up on a roof and stuff him in a chimney? If the killer did how would he get the kids coat and glasses in the house without breaking in to the house?
The kid's only hope would be that someone came to work on the house and found his coat.
But given that it was the Friday before Christmas it is unlikely anyone was going to be working in a house that didn’t have to be done before summer.
What doesn’t pass the smell test?
LOL, shared experience. Still remember the olfactory sense, gear oil lube
No smell test needed.
Leni
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