Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male Hiker, Denim & “Mostly Harmless” Jul'18 - Vance Rodriguez #5

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

A few posts have been removed that are personalizing/inflammatory toward another poster. This is not in the spirit of Websleuths and is a violation of TOS.

Please tone down the attitude and post respectfully toward others or don't post.

Thank you.

 

[GatorFL]

What was it about the documentary that made you love it? Also, would you consider it an advantageous watch for the general population?

There was a lot of drama between the two competing Facebook groups and I thought that the doc accurately captured that. I guess getting a peek into the personalities of the mods who controlled those groups gave it a little context for me personally.

To be honest, if you didn’t see the drama back in the day, this would be an almost complete waste of time.

 

[sunflowermomma]

Did they take the documentary down on Max? I watched half of it last night, but today only the trailer is available.

 

[Narkj]

That’s odd. It does appear to be be down. I have a feeling I know why but we’ll see.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

There was a lot of drama between the two competing Facebook groups and I thought that the doc accurately captured that. I guess getting a peek into the personalities of the mods who controlled those groups gave it a little context for me personally.

To be honest, if you didn’t see the drama back in the day, this would be an almost complete waste of time.

Interesting!

 

[GatorFL]

I should add that I liked Brandon’s song.

 

[Narkj]

I should add that I liked Brandon’s song.

I felt the same way. I talked to him a few times and he’s a gentle soul who took it hard. Same for Obsidian.

 

[fred&edna]

There was a lot of drama between the two competing Facebook groups and I thought that the doc accurately captured that. I guess getting a peek into the personalities of the mods who controlled those groups gave it a little context for me personally.

To be honest, if you didn’t see the drama back in the day, this would be an almost complete waste of time.

Thank you so much for the info... I have a better understanding now. I didn't follow the case on FB and wasn't aware of the drama (another thing I'm glad I missed!)

 

[Vaderman]

There was a lot of drama between the two competing Facebook groups and I thought that the doc accurately captured that. I guess getting a peek into the personalities of the mods who controlled those groups gave it a little context for me personally.

To be honest, if you didn’t see the drama back in the day, this would be an almost complete waste of time.

I was not familiar with the drama, but I didn't think the documentary was a waste of time. I would definitely recommend giving it a view.

 

[sunflowermomma]

Finally finished the doc as it's back up. MOO - I don't think it portrayed Vance in a "bad light", it was just honest about his life and relationships. If the facts are bad, well, so be it.

 

[cherrymeg]

There was a lot of drama between the two competing Facebook groups and I thought that the doc accurately captured that. I guess getting a peek into the personalities of the mods who controlled those groups gave it a little context for me personally.

To be honest, if you didn’t see the drama back in the day, this would be an almost complete waste of time.

I heard about the case and read about it. I didn’t really know about any drama. I have seen similar things happen in other cases. I kind of skipped ahead so I could see how he was identified. He might have turned out to be different than people pictured him but at least his family and ex’s have closure. I would have liked to see more about his life. I had respect for everyone that helped to identify him.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Recently saw the Max "They Called him Mostly Harmless" documentary. Excellent doc.! I liked the thoroughness re: going over how the investigation progressed & how the pieces were put together to finally determine who the deceased MP actually was.

I know that an incredible amount of time/money/effort went into solving this case. And, IMHO all MP cases deserve this amount of time/money/effort put forth towards solving them. Unfortunately & as we all know - there are way too many cases out there, and they can't all receive the same amount of attention.

I find this case especially fascinating because of how it captured the interest of the close-knit hiking community & so many people online. IMHO the fact that VR had been a hiker (before his passing) & was found in a somewhat isolated area frequented by hikers had a lot to do with why this case was ultimately solved.

Conversely, if VP had been found deceased in a tent in a large city/urban environment - it would have been assumed that he was just a homeless transient. And, if it had happened that way, it's fairly certain that this case would have barely made the local news - if that.

 

[Narkj]

Was going through my archives and realized I may not have shared all my photos of Vance Rodriguez. These weren’t closeups and that’s probably why I didn’t share them. I believe one of the hikers I connected with sent these to me, but I can’t recall which one. Anyway, they show him interacting with other hikers.