Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male Hiker, Denim & “Mostly Harmless” July 2018 - Vance Rodriguez #3

[branmuffin]

Ya'll are talking about a scar, but I thought they said there were no scars, tattoos or other identifying markings? Does it look like a surgical scar or more like an accident/knifing scar?

You are correct. Initially, the poster issued by the CCSO said he had no scars or tattoos. The scar is not barely visible; you can see it clearly and it's about seven or eight inches long. It's definitely a surgical scar.

 

[NickandNora4ever]

This case. I swear, I don’t know why it bothers and intrigues me so much. No ID on him at all when he was found. I’m sure they checked all trash cans adjacent to where he was found. Which makes me wonder how often trash cans are changed in areas like that? It’s been two years so anything he threw away is long gone. It’s clear from the pics posted in that Facebook group he was there a LONG time. Grass and vines had grown over his sandals.

I don’t know why but this case loosely reminds me of the Lori Erica Ruff mystery; I don’t think he was ever reported as missing so we aren’t going to find him in missing persons databases, sounds like he had family issues, rambling notes everyone is trying to decipher but leads to dead ends. I don’t know what he did with his ID and anything else that could’ve identified him. Maybe he threw it away along the hike. Maybe it’s in a storage locker somewhere. Maybe he left it with his equally mysterious sister. What really gets me is this: I’m not necessarily of the mind he had some terminal illness and he wanted to die like this BUT if he thought/planned that he was going to get back home at any point, why get rid of his ID/wallet/credit/debit cards/keys? It makes no sense other than simply he really did not want to be identified. He didn’t have any keys found with him correct? He had absolutely nothing personal on him other than his journals and cash?

 

[Bit of hope]

Okay, I looked at the photos at the site of his discovery. I haven't seen any autopsy photos. I'm going to try to record what I saw. Don't read if you think it may upset you.

First of all, I wasn't all that shocked over his appearance considering he weighed 83 pounds. He was extremely emaciated. There was the beginnings of decomp in the eyes and mouth. He had a LOT of bites on his neck and and arms, not so much on his legs. Speaking of his legs, in death he appeared to have more hair on his legs than he did in life. He had a laceration on his right leg just above the knee that was about 2 inches long. It didn't appear to be infected.

Close-up pics of Denim's left ear showed a discolouration on his scalp that appeared to be a contusion, quite red without being bloody. His hair was about two inches long which leads me to believe he wasn't there a long time. It was not anywhere near as gray as his beard. His chest was lightly dusted with hair and maybe about 20 percent of it was gray. His beard was a little bit longer than what we have seen in some of his photos on the trail but not by much. I haven't ever done a time line to find out how many days or weeks elapsed between some of the pics we see of him with a beard and then clean shaven. It might give us some idea of how long he was there in the tent.

There is one image where LE or coroner pulled down his shorts and there is a brief view of his genital area to record blood that has seeped through his shorts. I think that refers to an explanation in the autopsy report of evidence of scratching which must have been very intense to cause broken skin. There are lots of health issues that can cause intense itching without it being related to insect bites. Perhaps some of those broken areas of skin on his neck and arms are related to itching without insect bites.

Yes, the tent was a mess but I think it had more to do with him thrashing around trying either to get out of the tent or access food. It kind of reminded of my elderly dad who fell in his home and couldn't get up. He had been pushing himself along the floor on his back and using his cane to try and knock down the phone or get something to eat until help came. The police had thought initially there had been some home invasion and his place was trashed until he explained what he had been doing. I don't think there was any madness there, just desperation, which makes me sadder.

The abdominal scar runs from just under Denim's breastbone down slightly past his navel. As Narkj said it wasn't pale and hardly visible, it was quite pronounced and obvious, mainly because it had dirt in it. It also didn't really look like a childhood scar to me. My dad had an exploratory operation that rendered him with a scar that ran just slightly north of his groin to his clavicle. That was a terrible looking scar, bumpy and about half an inch wide. Denim's wasn't anywhere near as bad as that. It was a clean heal and didn't appear to have any stitches.

I've seen a lot of crime scene photos and autopsy photos and can remain detached when viewing them. It's a little different when it's someone you almost feel like you know. I felt real grief viewing those images of Denim.

Thanks for describing this. The scratching, the mess in his tent and his toxicology results.... could he have overdosed on diphenhydramine, somehow?

From one of my earlier posts.
"Diphenhydramine or dimenhydrinate is sold in the Netherlands as Dramamine. It is a doctor's prescription medicine for motion sickness. It is an old-fashioned type of antihistamine that several pharmacists told me probably won't sell much anymore. 1 pharmacist thought it was already off the market in the Netherlands. You should be careful with Dramamine (or Benadil; it is sold on the internet under this name). At high doses, you experience visual and auditory hallucinations. That is, you see and hear things that are not there. Due to this side effect, Dramamine is especially popular in America as a trip agent. However, there are risks: Thrips up to 30 hours have been reported with 10 50mg pills. That is much, much longer than most people can handle. Such a trip is physically and mentally grueling and really no longer fun. Moreover, during such long trips people often find themselves in dangerous situations. Furthermore, overdoses with Dramamine have resulted in heart failure, seizures and severe psychoses".

Also very confusions, this new information....faint scar, now very obvious scar, sitting up, now laid down....I don't know....it seems odd to me. There was also something going on with his penis according to the autopsy rapport. What could that be? (I didn't saw his pm pictures)

 

[annemc2]

@branmuffin Thanks for your detailed thoughts! Seeing his remains makes the autopsy report seem...lacking. There was a lot of detail in the photos that was not noted on the report that we've seen. I've also looked at many postmortem images and am usually quite detached. Seeing him felt like a little piece of my heart was ripped out.

 

[GatorFL]

The military father theory is interesting, as MH has several qualities that line up with former military and/or military brat. (This doesn't mean I think it is the gospel, but it makes sense for the theory)

His posture stands out a little, to me. There are certain ways he is standing and faces he makes that remind me of military members I knew (I am sure everyone rolls their eyes hearing it, but I was in the Army for over 10 years. I only mention it to add a little credibility to my claim)

He was reportedly doing the hike without GPS, and only using maps. I didn't see the mention of a compass, but any seasoned soldier will always emphasize the importance of having map and compass readily available, checking it frequently to ensure you haven't gone off your intended path, and if you have, readjusting from there. This makes me think that he was taught or learned navigational skills at some point. (A counter agreement could be that if he stuck to the beaten path, it would not be too overly difficult to stay on his intended direction).

A (perhaps unimportant) observation regarding military familiarity is that MH is ALWAYS wearing some kind of headgear. I do not think I have ever seen a picture where he was not wearing his Columbia hat or blue beanie/bandana.

MH also fits the physical description for a military member (and potential vet). He was white, he was between five feet 6 inches tall and five feet 10 inches tall, he was approximately between 150-180 pounds (when healthy). This physical description matches (probably under guessing) 60% of the U.S. Army Ranger Regiment. It is also my physical description.

Could be a brat, but unlikely a vet

Things that contradict MH once being a military member are the lack of tattoos and lack of tobacco product usage (that we know of with perfect teeth). However, I personally have zero tattoos, and I have never had to wear braces. I had one very small cavity, one time, over 10 years ago and I was devastated. I have a very small filling that is not noticeable. I have never used tobacco products, ever.

A big thing that stands out to me to rule him out as a vet is his pack. I have looked at multiple pictures of him wearing it, and it is almost as big as he is. Sure, military members can carry large amounts in their rucksacks/ALICE/MOLLIE etc. The point is, it looked like he had absolutely no idea how to pack his items for maximum space and weight efficiency (on the flip side, I have met soldiers who were in the military for many years and had just as bad packs, one of which was a SSG who had a lawn chair hanging off his pack, with several other items swinging from it )

Fingerprints is another big one that is mentioned to rule out former military. However, as I stated before, if anyone was going to misfile, lose, forget, accidently throw away, save under the entirely wrong folder, it would be government and military record keeping systems.

Abusive Father

I touched on it before, but I don't 100% buy it. This information was being relayed from interpretation, which can be different from person to person.

One of my favorite stories to tell is how my highly religious father was so upset with me, he took his glasses off and balled his fists up. He turned red, and pounded his head with one of his fists. He leaned forward and challenged me to hit him, saying something to the effect of "COME ON, GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON, COME ON!!! TRY TO HIT ME!!!" (Much like the account about MH, this all happened in our front yard) Some people hear this story and immediately feel deep empathy for me, as if I was traumatized. I was not traumatized at all, and personally I find the entire set of events to be hilarious. In my mind, when this happened, I was thinking to myself "Hell no, I am not going to try to hit him, this dude is mad as hell"

If he was military he would have fingerprints on file.

 

[Countem]

Exciting official announcement of upcoming genetic and genealogical testing, though Othram already let us know.

DNASolves

 

[GatorFL]

Thanks for describing this. The scratching, the mess in his tent and his toxicology results.... could he have overdosed on diphenhydramine, somehow?

From one of my earlier posts.
"Diphenhydramine or dimenhydrinate is sold in the Netherlands as Dramamine. It is a doctor's prescription medicine for motion sickness. It is an old-fashioned type of antihistamine that several pharmacists told me probably won't sell much anymore. 1 pharmacist thought it was already off the market in the Netherlands. You should be careful with Dramamine (or Benadil; it is sold on the internet under this name). At high doses, you experience visual and auditory hallucinations. That is, you see and hear things that are not there. Due to this side effect, Dramamine is especially popular in America as a trip agent. However, there are risks: Thrips up to 30 hours have been reported with 10 50mg pills. That is much, much longer than most people can handle. Such a trip is physically and mentally grueling and really no longer fun. Moreover, during such long trips people often find themselves in dangerous situations. Furthermore, overdoses with Dramamine have resulted in heart failure, seizures and severe psychoses".

Also very confusions, this new information....faint scar, now very obvious scar, sitting up, now laid down....I don't know....it seems odd to me. There was also something going on with his penis according to the autopsy rapport. What could that be? (I didn't saw his pm pictures)

I think you might be confusing two different medications. Diphenhydramine/benadryl is different than dimenhydrinate/dramamine.

Dimenhydrinate /dramamine appears to be a combination of diphenhydramine and another medication for motion sickness.

Diphenhydramine is used as an antihistamine and sleep aid. Ibuprofen is a pain reliever/anti inflammatory. In the USA both of these are over the counter and available at any drug store.

Anyways, as a hiker I can tell you it is common to carry and consume both diphenhydramine and ibuprofen while hiking. In the USA these are over the counter and available at any drug store. Diphenhydramine is used as an antihistamine and sleep aid.

He had it in his system but the autopsy report does not diagnose him with dangerous levels.

 

[ilovepierre]

If he was military he would have fingerprints on file.

Yes, but the military is also notorious for misplacing/not entering/losing important files and documents.

I don’t think MH was military anyway.

IMO.

 

[0101ABA]

The passion of the sleuthers who are attempting to give this gentlemen his name back is admirable. However, over 30 posts have had to be removed due to TOS violations that I know are well known to many following this thread.

1.) Do not link to SM profiles of people who you think may look like MH. I can’t imagine seeing my profile featured on a true crime website as a potential UID when I’m alive and well. Even more egregious were comments to the effect of “unfortunately for us he’s still alive.” Please just think about that for a second...

2.) We do not discuss photos, evidence, etc that cannot be sourced and linked to. We have no way of verifying their authenticity and further if all members can’t access them it comes across as secretive...”I know something you don’t know”

Any questions, PM myself or another mod.

 

[GatorFL]

Yes, but the military is also notorious for misplacing/not entering/losing important files and documents.

I don’t think MH was military anyway.

IMO.

Agreed.

 

[branmuffin]

Hey guys, this case has been on my mind for the last weeks as it seems to revolve around topics that are very close to me, namely development and coding. This is my first post as I made the account solely after finding out this:

I searched dozens of development-relevant pages for usernames that could be derived from the aliases used by MH. Surprisingly I found a profile called "mostlyharmless" on stackoverflow, a page revolving around users helping each other by answering questions.

The user is from the US, ceased activity around the end of 2014 and generally responded to topics related to topics mentioned in the notebooks (web techhnologies, server protocols). One of his top responses is about server architecture in an MMORPG game - this aligns well with MHs notebook.

His responses also go into the business part of being in IT so he likely has some experience here. Stackoverflow is often used by beginning programmers so it sticks out that he seems to know about internal processes in a tech firm.

The most striking thing however is an answer about organization . Here he explains that he is always taking notes as he has a bad memory. Someone who relies this heavily on notes will almost certainly look out for their notebooks and keep them in pristine condition. It also explains his neat handwriting and details like the serparation of o's and 0's via slash - note taking is an essential part of his routine and he was very experienced in it.

What do you guys think about this ? If I am not missing something colossal I am pretty positive that this profile is a good candidate for MH. The name is the same, the timeframe aligns, the experience and age of the answers point to a few years of job experience and details like the bad memory really make this stick out.

Hi, I was reading his response regarding organization. A word I picked up on that he used is "Thrice". The only people I know who use that phrase are of Indian or South Asian background. It's not a word used much in North American vernacular or even Britain anymore.

 

[dotr]

Hi, I was reading his response regarding organization. A word I picked up on that he used is "Thrice". The only people I know who use that phrase are of Indian or South Asian background. It's not a word used much in North American vernacular or even Britain anymore.

Reading through some sites concerning language usage (not sure if links are okay here How common is "thrice"?)
it seems that the word thrice is not uncommon in South Asia, to fundamentalist Christians and in some fairly modern comedies such as the "Simpsons", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" "Kung Fu Panda" ect.
imo, speculation.

 

[leilarose68]

Hi, I was reading his response regarding organization. A word I picked up on that he used is "Thrice". The only people I know who use that phrase are of Indian or South Asian background. It's not a word used much in North American vernacular or even Britain anymore.

Younger American nerdy or hipster-y types will sometimes use it to be a little cheeky and funny. But yeah, using it completely seriously is rare.

 

[NickandNora4ever]

Morning thought: Does anyone know if police have looked into stolen/lost wallets reports at police stations local to the trails?

I was reading a comment by Obsidian, who hiked with him for a bit and she was certain he paid for items with a card at least once and she saw him using a wallet.

I’m also really pleased to read that his dna will finally be used in genealogy tracing. I’ve long thought that was probably going to be the only way to find out who he was. Someone recognizing his face from a poster or stumbling across his case just seemed like a long shot even in this age of smartphones and social media.

 

[branmuffin]

Reading through some sites concerning language usage (not sure if links are okay here How common is "thrice"?)
it seems that the word thrice is not uncommon in South Asia, to fundamentalist Christians and in some fairly modern comedies such as the "Simpsons", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" "Kung Fu Panda" ect.
imo, speculation.

Thanks for the link. Some funny comments there. As a Brit, I can safely say it is sort of archaic and pretentious. Most south Asians who use the word were schooled in the English used by colonizers. I find many south Asians to have a much better grasp on grammar, punctuation and English than most English speakers do.

 

[K9Enzo]

Regarding the genealogy dna tracing - how will they be able to use his dna in this way and not violate any privacy laws (if they exist)? I thought that some companies such as Ancestory.com will not work with LE, and state they won't violate the privacy of members. I know that LE can use dna for the databases they work with and have access to, such as CODIS. Hopefully I have worded my question correctly.

 

[EricaJ4u2]

The scar looks like that of an exploratory laparotomy. Could have been any abdominal thing that wasn't found on exam or scans. It's interesting to me that, even though it appears that he starved to death, he has a normal body hair distribution. It's like whatever happened, happened rather quickly. I'm still leaning towards possible undiagnosed adult onset diabetes. If he went into DKA he'd go downhill fast and apparently he had stool present on autopsy, so he was probably eating something.

Does anybody know if he was wearing shoes or if his feet were exposed to water? They have that "washerwoman's" effect that no other part of his body seems to have.

And yeah, I'm imagining the bedroom of a hardcore gamer/coder (totally stereotyping here) combined with lack of cleaning supplies and no garbage service in that tent. It's a disaster. It looks like he didn't mind a mess but kept the things that were important to him (e.g. money, notebook) in very good condition. He never looked particularly disheveled even on the trail (to me, anyway).

He was barefoot when found and one foot looked incredibly 'water-logged'

 

[EricaJ4u2]

The scar looks like that of an exploratory laparotomy. Could have been any abdominal thing that wasn't found on exam or scans. It's interesting to me that, even though it appears that he starved to death, he has a normal body hair distribution. It's like whatever happened, happened rather quickly. I'm still leaning towards possible undiagnosed adult onset diabetes. If he went into DKA he'd go downhill fast and apparently he had stool present on autopsy, so he was probably eating something.

Does anybody know if he was wearing shoes or if his feet were exposed to water? They have that "washerwoman's" effect that no other part of his body seems to have.

And yeah, I'm imagining the bedroom of a hardcore gamer/coder (totally stereotyping here) combined with lack of cleaning supplies and no garbage service in that tent. It's a disaster. It looks like he didn't mind a mess but kept the things that were important to him (e.g. money, notebook) in very good condition. He never looked particularly disheveled even on the trail (to me, anyway).

He was barefoot when found and one foot looked incredibly 'water-logged'

 

[branmuffin]

Regarding the genealogy dna tracing - how will they be able to use his dna in this way and not violate any privacy laws (if they exist)? I thought that some companies such as Ancestory.com will not work with LE, and state they won't violate the privacy of members. I know that LE can use dna for the databases they work with and have access to, such as CODIS. Hopefully I have worded my question correctly.

That's a good question considering very early in the investigation that LE wouldn't be using DNA.

 

[wardo27]

I'm wondering more about the simple explanation of an eating disorder as cause of death. As always, speculation, but:
- Narkj has posted that Obsidian mentioned he was overly obsessed with counting every single calorie during the many miles they hiked in the Virginia area, calculating distances in relation to caloric intake. (see anorexia: Signs of Eating Disorders: Types and Symptoms)
- Peculiar eating behavior has been documented: the photo where he clearly has eaten only the crust of a pizza.
- The small condition of the testicles, enough to warrant mention in the autopsy, would be a possible exhibit of anorexia or an eating disorder in a man (link to journal article, see last section: Anorexia nervosa – medical complications)
- Could explain the lack of any other major diseases or serious internal problems in the autopsy.
- The psychological effects of an eating disorder might have led him to not view his wasting condition as a problem perhaps until too late.