A teenager had no choice but to await his untimely death after sliding down a chimney and getting stuck at the bottom.
The harrowing final moments of Harley Dilley have been played out in heartbreaking detail after the devastating incident resurfaced on social media earlier this week. The 14-year-old vanished on his way to school just before Christmas in 2019.
Unknown to his family, he had decided to avoid school that day and instead take refuge in a property that was under renovation just yards from his Cleveland home. He scrambled up an antenna tower to the roof and climbed inside the chimney - measuring just nine inches by 13 inches - hoping there would be an open fireplace at the bottom where he could get out.
But the minute Harley landed feet-first at the bottom of the tight space with his arms stuck above his head, he realized it was bricked up and that he was trapped. He managed to wriggle free of the clothes that had been pushed up his body during his descent and shoved them through a flue vent out into the house.
But 4ft 9", 7st Harley was unable to grip onto anything to gain leverage or bend his arms and knees to hoist himself back up the 15ft chimney leaving him facing the grim reality of his fate.
But it wasn't until 23 days later that footage from a neighbor's camera led police to the unoccupied home in Port Clinton, Ohio where they found an undisturbed scene littered with Harley's jacket, t-shirt and glasses on the floor beneath a vent hole.
When an officer put his hand through the hole, he was horrified to find himself touching Harley's head.
An excavation team was called in to pull the wall down and Harley was discovered in the upright position with his hands above his head and his trousers, torch and shoes at his feet.
A cause of death was given as compressive asphyxia as his chest was unable to fully expand to take enough air into his lungs. It is not known how long Harley survived his nightmare ordeal but the coroner said he would have likely died the same day.