Community raising funds for family of missing boy found dead in chimney
The community of Port Clinton, Ohio, is continuing to support the family of Harley Dilly after officials announced they recovered the teen's body inside a vacant home.
Since the 14-year-old went missing Dec. 20, on his way to Port Clinton High School for the last day of class before holiday break, residents of the small town had banded together for search-and-rescue efforts.
Various organizations, residents and businesses had donated more than $18,000 to help investigators. Police on Tuesday announced they'd discovered his body.
Port Clinton Police Chief Robert J. Hickman said Harley was found inside an abandoned home within feet of his own.
Employees of Fisherman's Wharf on Madison Street, which launched a GoFundMe, and loved ones who started the Facebook page "Search Party for Harley Dilly," have turned their search-and-rescue fundraisers into collections for Harley's funeral expenses.
The nearly $6,000 raised on the GoFundMe page given to the police department will be given back to the boy's family, according to a social media post by the fishing company. The co-owner of the Facebook page changed its name to "Hearts For Harley" and created a PayPal account to collect funds for Harley's family.
"The Dillys are aware we are doing this in combination with Fisherman's Wharf," Megan Lenthe wrote on the social media page.
The Dilly family didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Harley's older sister, Ashlyn, posted on her Facebook page on Wednesday, "😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 2005-2019 💔an angel taken too soon, fly high bubby 😭💔🙏."
Funeral arrangements had not been announced as of Wednesday.
Dilly, who was 4 feet, 9 inches tall and about 100 pounds, was found trapped inside a chimney, about one-third of the way down. The house, a vacation home, was unoccupied at the time, Hickman said.
No foul play is suspected, police said. The Ottawa County Coroner's Office preliminarily ruled the boy's cause of death to be compression asphyxia. The investigation is ongoing.
"Harley's coat and glasses were discovered on the second floor of the house next to a brick chimney," Hickman said Tuesday at a press conference.
In an anonymous interview with WOIO, the owner of the home said the home has no fireplace and the chimney wasn't in use.
James Schmitz, the home's owner, declined to comment when reached by ABC News on Wednesday.
