Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male Hiker, Denim & “Mostly Harmless” July 2018 - Vance Rodriguez #2

[LeenC]

That would be awesome. I'm guessing he used another name to sign in. I wish we knew if the police had this list and also the list of people who asked for overnight permits at the Unionville Visitor's center in 2017. It would be helpful to cross reference the sign-ins to see if any names match. IIRC @SugarQueen had asked the visitors center to check for his name but they said his alias wasn't on their list. Another thing that bothers me is that in order to hike through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in TN/NC he would need to get a permit. I wonder what name he used for that permit?

If you get the church sign-in list look for names written in all caps. That is how he reportedly wrote his alias BEN BILEMY at the hostel sign-ins. Of course there is no guarantee that he always wrote in all caps but IMO it's a clue.

ETA: Also don't forget we can not post names of other hikers here because of the rules. Any copies of the list you get may have to be sleuthed thru private messages.

Oh that’s indeed very interesting about him needing a permit. Do you know if you would need to show an actual ID to get a permit? It would work like that where I live (Belgium), but I’m not sure about the USA.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

That would be awesome. I'm guessing he used another name to sign in. I wish we knew if the police had this list and also the list of people who asked for overnight permits at the Unionville Visitor's center in 2017. It would be helpful to cross reference the sign-ins to see if any names match. IIRC @SugarQueen had asked the visitors center to check for his name but they said his alias wasn't on their list. Another thing that bothers me is that in order to hike through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in TN/NC he would need to get a permit. I wonder what name he used for that permit?

If you get the church sign-in list look for names written in all caps. That is how he reportedly wrote his alias BEN BILEMY at the hostel sign-ins. Of course there is no guarantee that he always wrote in all caps but IMO it's a clue.

ETA: Also don't forget we can not post names of other hikers here because of the rules. Any copies of the list you get may have to be sleuthed thru private messages.

I had the same thought about cross-referencing the names to Unionville! Let's see what we can do.

I thought about the all caps thing as well. I wonder if that was really his handwriting or an additional layer of disguise.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Bringing over the original photo posted by @booghawk where Duncannon is mentioned:

FL - FL - Big Cypress National Preserve, Male hiker, "Denim" and "Mostly Harmless", 23 July 2018

I believe this is from the Mountain Crossings Instagram.

ETA: I found the Instagram post: Mountain Crossings on Instagram: “This is Denim. He worked in the tech world for the last decade. In June he went for a two week hike on the AT in New York. Today he passed…”

@UnlicensedPI if you get the list you may also want to try to get in touch with the hiker who reported meeting him in the church basement. Or at the very least find out that person's real name (don't post the name here). Denim's name may be on the same sign-in page as the person who met him.

I know her real name and her trail name. I'll reach out if I need to, but it'll be a good way to check when he was there.

 

[Gardener1850]

Oh that’s indeed very interesting about him needing a permit. Do you know if you would need to show an actual ID to get a permit? It would work like that where I live (Belgium), but I’m not sure about the USA.

I don't know if he would have needed ID. There is no mention of needing an ID card on the directions for how to get a permit: Backcountry Permit System - Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

I have often wondered if he either risked not getting a permit and hiked on through without it or if he might have skipped the Great Smokey Mountains part of the AT. As far as I know, no one reported online that they met him in NC. But we know he spent some time in NC because his notebook where he wrote his computer game codes was a notebook purchased from Dollar Tree -- a chain store that is headquartered in NC.

ETA: Wait, I was wrong about Dollar Tree headquarters location-- that's in Virginia according to Wikipedia: Dollar Tree - Wikipedia
But I believe I looked up all the Dollar Tree locations at one time and he only would have come close to one on the AT while in NC.
MOO.

 

[PatLaurel]

I got in contact with the church and they said it's not him. They agree completely that it looks like him, but they've checked their records and can't find him.

MAYBE HE SIGNED IN USING HIS REAL NAME.

Don't want to get too excited about it yet though

SBM and BBM

"They completely agree it looks like him" because it's definitely him! Unless it's a twin brother or his doppelgänger.

I sometimes wonder if he was on some kind of "personal mission" and asked family and friends not to disclose his real identity in case something happened to him? Maybe he wanted to be remembered as the man who hiked the Appalachian trail and not by his real name... Everyone has hidden agendas.

JMO

 

[Bit of hope]

I got in contact with the church and they said it's not him. They agree completely that it looks like him, but they've checked their records and can't find him. They said the picture WAS TAKEN IN 2017 and they're going to check their records again.

I'm thinking if this was so early in his journey, and they can't find his pseudonyms in their records, and this is where we know he picked up the trail but there's a gap between NY and PA............

MAYBE HE SIGNED IN USING HIS REAL NAME.

Don't want to get too excited about it yet though

I'm very convinced this is him. Also because his hands. @UnlicensedPI Great you made contact with the church. Maybe they can contact the people they are sure of being there also at the date this picture was made. Maybe he wasn't even on the trail, but wondering around, looking for a free meal.

 

[Eevee Pie]

It has to be him. He looks more like himself there than in any of the potential missing men that have been posted on this thread. I’m so glad you spotted him!

 

[K9Enzo]

I agree with those of you who think it's Mostly Harmless in the 2017 church meal pic.
This photo is from thread #1, page 1.

IMO, it looks like the same expression. Here, he's slimmed down dramatically compared to the other one. Not sure of the date in the below pic.

Thank you to the poster for calling and trying to jog the memory of those that were there and have records.

I would recommend letting the Sheriff's office know (they may not know about this, ruled it out or perhaps need to take a second look). Private sleuthing can still continue in the background.

 

[SugarQueen]

Unionville has NEVER been contacted by LE, or anyone besides me. I gave them the names Denim, Mostly Harmless, and the real names of two hikers that stated they overnighted in Unionville with him. I also tried contacting a few hikers.... nothing.
I speak to every AT hiker I come across about MH.

 

[SugarQueen]

I’ve seen that photo before!! It was posted somewhere way back when. If the church just posted it recently then someone else posted at ( probably as a photo of him).
( Please excuse me if I have i hard time remembering and keeping up. I had a concussion 8/8 due to an auto accident and sometimes have a hard time keeping track of things)

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Photo was taken July 12, 2017, according to the CLC.

Feel better @SugarQueen !!

 

[SugarQueen]

Thank you!!

Am I understanding correctly that you found it posted very recently?? If so I’m wondering where I saw it the first I’ve and what was said about it . ( good grief, I hope I’m making sense. LOL)

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Thank you!!

Am I understanding correctly that you found it posted very recently?? If so I’m wondering where I saw it the first I’ve and what was said about it . ( good grief, I hope I’m making sense. LOL)

It was posted a few weeks ago in a Missing & Unidentified Facebook group. Maybe you did see it when it was first posted there.

 

[SugarQueen]

Photo was taken July 12, 2017, according to the CLC.

Feel better @SugarQueen !!

It was posted a few weeks ago in a Missing & Unidentified Facebook group. Maybe you did see it when it was first posted there.

It was definitely back when I was pretty active on this thread. Doesn’t really matter I guess. It just has me wondering who posted it then, and what they said about it. LOL

 

[muggles63]

I’ve seen that photo before!! It was posted somewhere way back when. If the church just posted it recently then someone else posted at ( probably as a photo of him).
( Please excuse me if I have i hard time remembering and keeping up. I had a concussion 8/8 due to an auto accident and sometimes have a hard time keeping track of things)

There is a Facebook page that published it as well, it is also searching to find out who he is. It came up on my feed last week. Unfortunately not many people following it

 

[bears10]

I don't know if he would have needed ID. There is no mention of needing an ID card on the directions for how to get a permit: Backcountry Permit System - Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

I have often wondered if he either risked not getting a permit and hiked on through without it or if he might have skipped the Great Smokey Mountains part of the AT. As far as I know, no one reported online that they met him in NC. But we know he spent some time in NC because his notebook where he wrote his computer game codes was a notebook purchased from Dollar Tree -- a chain store that is headquartered in NC.

ETA: Wait, I was wrong about Dollar Tree headquarters location-- that's in Virginia according to Wikipedia: Dollar Tree - Wikipedia
But I believe I looked up all the Dollar Tree locations at one time and he only would have come close to one on the AT while in NC.
MOO.

Dollar trees are all over. I have one 5 min away from me and I live on Long Island. They are in jersey too. Maybe he had the notebooks from before he started his journey.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

I got in contact with the church and they said it's not him. They agree completely that it looks like him, but they've checked their records and can't find him. They said the picture WAS TAKEN IN 2017 and they're going to check their records again.

I'm thinking if this was so early in his journey, and they can't find his pseudonyms in their records, and this is where we know he picked up the trail but there's a gap between NY and PA............

MAYBE HE SIGNED IN USING HIS REAL NAME.

Don't want to get too excited about it yet though

He could have had other trail names we dont know about or could have used any other name.

 

[K9Enzo]

He could have had other trail names we dont know about or could have used any other name.

Good point. I suspect this to be the case. Not sure why he would break his trend of remaining private with his identity at this location. But the what if.... lol

I do appreciate the effort to dig further by members here. It made this site much cooler for me. All of these threads have been respectful on MH/Denim. A lot of good energy here.

 

[janewall]

ETA: I found the Instagram post: Mountain Crossings on Instagram: “This is Denim. He worked in the tech world for the last decade. In June he went for a two week hike on the AT in New York. Today he passed…”

@UnlicensedPI if you get the list you may also want to try to get in touch with the hiker who reported meeting him in the church basement. Or at the very least find out that person's real name (don't post the name here). Denim's name may be on the same sign-in page as the person who met him.

Snipped for focus.

When I looked at the Facebook page of the church with the spaghetti dinners, it struck me that they do not serve an enormous crowd any given week - ranging from 5-15 or so. It would not take a long time to weed through the sign-in sheet for a given date to verify the names or note any handwriting similarities.

I hope Collier County Sheriff's Office contacts the church, or else that the church contacts them. And I'm glad @UnlicensedPI has made outreach! I too am willing to sleuth privately/without sharing other hikers' info on this thread.

ETA: regarding the Dollar Tree notebook, I just went down the Dollar Tree rabbit hole. Facts: they are headquartered in Chesapeake, VA. They have almost 15000 stores in North America, 35 of which are within 10 miles of my house. MH could have picked up the notebook anywhere, including from another hiker who didn't need it and wanted one less item to carry.

 

[SugarQueen]

I honestly wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Collier County Sheriff’s office to follow up.