Found Deceased AR - Rodney Letterman, 33, Devil's Den, West Fork, 28 Aug 2017

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I really thought he was out there somewhere. Now, not so much. I, too, wonder if he was ever there to begin with.
 
Gardener1850 said:
Makes a lot of sense. The info about him not having a backpack is strange to me too. This is supposedly a picture from that day:
rodney-2.png

He has a big backpack on, big enough he could have enough supplies to camp for several days. Maybe he set it down when he felt "ill" but I did not see any mention of them recovering his backpack, just that he only had a water bottle. Did the friend carry both their packs back to the car and why wouldn't he leave Rodney's pack with him while he rested?
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You know, Gardener, I remember seeing that photo of him, but assumed it was from an earlier time. In fact, I was not aware that he and his friend had camped overnight before the hike where he went missing. Now, it makes even less sense that he would be without a pack. And it seems that the "lack of pack" is mentioned frequently, as if that information may have been volunteered early on by the friend. (??) Am I being paranoid here?

The "Our Missing Hearts" poster is where I read that they had camped the night prior to the hike. Here's a blurb, and a link:
https://www.facebook.com/OurMissingHearts/posts/1540043866056872
"Rodney and his friend camped overnight before hiking the trail. [ . . .]
Rodney is not carrying a pack, however his friend said he did have water on him."
 
alexwood said:
You know, Gardener, I remember seeing that photo of him, but assumed it was from an earlier time. In fact, I was not aware that he and his friend had camped overnight before the hike where he went missing. Now, it makes even less sense that he would be without a pack. And it seems that the "lack of pack" is mentioned frequently, as if that information may have been volunteered early on by the friend. (??) Am I being paranoid here?

The "Our Missing Hearts" poster is where I read that they had camped the night prior to the hike. Here's a blurb, and a link:
https://www.facebook.com/OurMissingHearts/posts/1540043866056872
"Rodney and his friend camped overnight before hiking the trail. [ . . .]
Rodney is not carrying a pack, however his friend said he did have water on him."
Click to expand...

I thought perhaps it could have been a photo from a different hike as well. But here's a local news video where the reporter says that picture was from the trail where he went missing (if photo was taken the day before, which I see from wording of the reporter is possible, then what happened to his pack?) :
[video=youtube;qiohFqEeWgY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=qiohFqEeWgY[/video]
I thought maybe I was being paranoid but apparently, I'm not the only one!
 
ttcRider said:
I am with you neesaki. We havent even heard from the 'hiking partner'... we dont even know his name. Now the family has stopped giving updates but say if you want to keep sharing his missing posters you are more than welcome???

Nothing from his wife either.

Huh?
Click to expand...

I have to agree with tccRider on this one, my questions

1) Is his friend actively looking for him? does he have any guilt that he left him? after all he was the last one with him. His wife could be in on the disappearance "act" as well if he had a reason to disappear, why no word from her?

2) One Hiker with only water, yet the friend had to go back to the car for medical supplies? wouldn't he have taken perhaps a first aide kit with him? isn't that where you usually require one? in the woods as apposed to the car? How far away was the car that he could just casually RUN BACK for supplies?
If Rod was in need of a band aid don't you think he would stay in the spot where he was left? Didn't his friend re enforced for him to stay there so they would find each other again? That is usually how it works, "You stay right in this exact location and I will be back in 20 minutes"

3) Now his sister said It was NO Medical emergency. So what was so urgent his friend had to go back to the car for what he calls medical supplies?

4) Were they recreational drug users? and the friend went back to the car to get more drugs so they could get even higher than they already were? (medical supplies?) He left Rod in the woods high and something and Rod wondered off ? The plan may have been to spend the day in the woods getting high because they like the intensity of the smells and the sounds of the trees, etc.

If they were real hikers I would think a small first aid kit would be with them and Rod would have more than a bottle of water with him.

I think the friend doesn't want to come clean with their intent in the woods that day and is creating stories. What better place to get high but in the woods where no one will see us. Thanks to Gardener, now we know he has a history with opiates, which are deadly.
 
Gardener1850 said:
BBM. What I don't understand in a case like this is what could there be that LE wouldn't reveal to the public? If what we are being told by the friend is true and this is a missing hiker situation, what is there to hold back? It makes me question (like you said) if he was ever there OR if perhaps LE found evidence of something nefarious they don't want to release. :thinking:
Click to expand...

This is what I was just thinking, was he ever there? Yet there is the pic they showed of him with the backpack. But are we sure that was during that time period? Idk, this is a strange case. I was also thinking drugs could be involved, thanks for posting the records that might possibly lend towards that.
 
DQN said:
I have to agree with tccRider on this one, my questions

1) Is his friend actively looking for him? does he have any guilt that he left him? after all he was the last one with him. His wife could be in on the disappearance "act" as well if he had a reason to disappear, why no word from her?

2) One Hiker with only water, yet the friend had to go back to the car for medical supplies? wouldn't he have taken perhaps a first aide kit with him? isn't that where you usually require one? in the woods as apposed to the car? How far away was the car that he could just casually RUN BACK for supplies?
If Rod was in need of a band aid don't you think he would stay in the spot where he was left? Didn't his friend re enforced for him to stay there so they would find each other again? That is usually how it works, "You stay right in this exact location and I will be back in 20 minutes"

3) Now his sister said It was NO Medical emergency. So what was so urgent his friend had to go back to the car for what he calls medical supplies?

4) Were they recreational drug users? and the friend went back to the car to get more drugs so they could get even higher than they already were? (medical supplies?) He left Rod in the woods high and something and Rod wondered off ? The plan may have been to spend the day in the woods getting high because they like the intensity of the smells and the sounds of the trees, etc.

If they were real hikers I would think a small first aid kit would be with them and Rod would have more than a bottle of water with him.

I think the friend doesn't want to come clean with their intent in the woods that day and is creating stories. What better place to get high but in the woods where no one will see us. Thanks to Gardener, now we know he has a history with opiates, which are deadly.
Click to expand...

bbm It was reported in the first days that Rodney had forgotten his medication for high blood pressure and the friend went back to get it.

I always found that a bit odd. Why didn't Rodney himself go back to get his meds? Why the friend? It made it sound as if Rodney had trouble walking or felt not well or something, but now they're saying it wasn't a medical emergency.

With all that's been discussed here over the last day I strongly think Rodney has chosen to disappear and the friend knows it and supplied the false story. Possibly R was there overnight to establish his presence at the park, then left while still dark. jmo
 
I thought something hinky, now even more so.
 
I always hate it when I follow a disappearance and I immediately get suspicious... I feel horrible for being so jaded but I don't think he even went hiking. The whole story is sketchy. IMO
 
ttcRider said:
I always hate it when I follow a disappearance and I immediately get suspicious... I feel horrible for being so jaded but I don't think he even went hiking. The whole story is sketchy. IMO
Click to expand...
I don't think he did either. Devil's Den is a popular place and I feel like he would have been found by now. Plus the "scenario" is odd and sounds made up to me.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
I am new to this forum I just found out abut this case today. I was out hiking this trail earlier on August 6th it is rough 15 mile hike. I am fascinated by this case and I will be going back out to this area in a week or two. I am very familiar with this trial. The North part of it is close to the road that leads to the park and you can pretty much hear cars go by most of it. The southern part is more remote and while we were on it just saw one other group of people. It does seem odd that his family doesn't seem to be searching more for him. I also found the Facebook of the person I believe was with him and the only post I saw from him on it was a link to a go fund me, seems strange. I know it hard to predict how someone will react in a tragedy but it seem like they would be putting more effort unless they just don't have the resources. I have hiked long distances and ran marathons before and this trail in august was one of the most miserable ones have I have ever done we had about 6 litters of water and ran out of water about 13 miles in. I am curious as to why more details have not been released on this case, or why the friend was never interviewed for the news. The southern end is confusing and even with my igis app the the trail preloaded on it we got off trail there's a few little trail that lead off the main trail to the river. I think if anyone got lost there in august they would head to the river, especially in august.
 
Oklahoma said:
I am new to this forum I just found out abut this case today. I was out hiking this trail earlier on August 6th it is rough 15 mile hike. I am fascinated by this case and I will be going back out to this area in a week or two. I am very familiar with this trial. The North part of it is close to the road that leads to the park and you can pretty much hear cars go by most of it. The southern part is more remote and while we were on it just saw one other group of people. It does seem odd that his family doesn't seem to be searching more for him. I also found the Facebook of the person I believe was with him and the only post I saw from him on it was a link to a go fund me, seems strange. I know it hard to predict how someone will react in a tragedy but it seem like they would be putting more effort unless they just don't have the resources. I have hiked long distances and ran marathons before and this trail in august was one of the most miserable ones have I have ever done we had about 6 litters of water and ran out of water about 13 miles in. I am curious as to why more details have not been released on this case, or why the friend was never interviewed for the news. The southern end is confusing and even with my igis app the the trail preloaded on it we got off trail there's a few little trail that lead off the main trail to the river. I think if anyone got lost there in august they would head to the river, especially in august.
Click to expand...

Welcome Oklahoma! :welcome:Thanks for your insight on the trail and the heat in August.
 
Oklahoma said:
I am new to this forum I just found out abut this case today. I was out hiking this trail earlier on August 6th it is rough 15 mile hike. I am fascinated by this case and I will be going back out to this area in a week or two. I am very familiar with this trial. The North part of it is close to the road that leads to the park and you can pretty much hear cars go by most of it. The southern part is more remote and while we were on it just saw one other group of people. It does seem odd that his family doesn't seem to be searching more for him. I also found the Facebook of the person I believe was with him and the only post I saw from him on it was a link to a go fund me, seems strange. I know it hard to predict how someone will react in a tragedy but it seem like they would be putting more effort unless they just don't have the resources. I have hiked long distances and ran marathons before and this trail in august was one of the most miserable ones have I have ever done we had about 6 litters of water and ran out of water about 13 miles in. I am curious as to why more details have not been released on this case, or why the friend was never interviewed for the news. The southern end is confusing and even with my igis app the the trail preloaded on it we got off trail there's a few little trail that lead off the main trail to the river. I think if anyone got lost there in august they would head to the river, especially in august.
Click to expand...

Hi Oklahoma, welcome to WS and thank you for sharing your thoughts!

I also find it odd that the family does not seem to be searching anymore. At least we haven't heard anything from them or the park officials and there have been no more reports in msm since early September. :thinking:

Maybe, when you go back next next time you could ask the park rangers what's going on with the search, maybe they'll share their thoughts with you.
 
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