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

[neesaki]

In prior photos' I thought his stomach was distended. Now I note he is wearing something around his waste under his shirt. Does anyone have a guess what this could be? In this photo, his face also seems to be swollen, especially around the eyes.

Money belt ?

Not sure about facial swelling but he doesn’t look healthy at all.

 

[rinnai]

I have no medical background at all, and it could be very normal, but did anyone else notice bulging veins on the inside of his left elbow? He doesn’t look very vascular elsewhere. Could that be related to any particular condition?

I believe I can see bulging veins below his right elbow as well.

 

[Narkj]

Has the Ben Reynolds possibility been explored/discussed here?

Ben Reynolds, Author at The Trek


ETA I see it has been discussed already

I actually figured out the Ben Reynolds thing. Oddly the person’s name isn’t Ben Reynolds and get he supposedly did the AT hike twice wih brain cancer. There may have been some scam involved I’m afraid. The guy is still alive and lives in North Carolina.
<modsnip: Steve has not been reported missing.>

 

[Narkj]

I don’t know if these are new or not, but I’d never seen them. I guess they’re not particularly helpful either. Just more Mostly Harmless looking healthy and content and eating. The people who posted them were people who interacted with him on trail and already contacted CCSO. I’m trying to track down hikers for a story I plan to write. Obsidian has proved to be the toughest.

 

[MichelleBlue]

I actually figured out the Ben Reynolds thing. Oddly the person’s name isn’t Ben Reynolds and get he supposedly did the AT hike twice wih brain cancer. There may have been some scam involved I’m afraid. The guy is still alive and lives in North Carolina.
<modsnip: Steve has not been reported missing.>

Interesting. I kept coming back to Ben Reynolds for some reason as there were similarities to their stories.

 

[Narkj]

There’s definitely weird things.

The photo of Ben Reynolds taken from back, where he seems fairly big, is a N.C. man who was diagnosed with brain cancer and went hiking. His name wasn’t Ben. He raised money to do it but later said he’d been cured. He’s still alive.

the Ben Reynold Trek page tells a similar story two years later using that man’s photo and he created a whole FB page. Not sure if it was the same man or not, but once I figured out first man was alive, I let it be.

 

[neesaki]

I don’t know if these are new or not, but I’d never seen them. I guess they’re not particularly helpful either. Just more Mostly Harmless looking healthy and content and eating. The people who posted them were people who interacted with him on trail and already contacted CCSO. I’m trying to track down hikers for a story I plan to write. Obsidian has proved to be the toughest.

That’s him for sure. As you say, Looks much healthier.
What is Obsidian? TIA

 

[Narkj]

She’s a hiker who spent a lot of time with him. I’ve reached out to her several times through various mediums.

 

[pppsuedio]

From what I can tell there hasn't been information about the actual programming language the code was written in, can anyone confirm?

If (and its a big if, as always) Mostly Harmless was a trail name he picked on purpose, then maybe it is also a name he used on forums, etc. Here are some searches I did that resulted in usernames involving mostly harmless or some combination, many of these users are inactive from prior to the time MH would have started his hike:

Stack Overflow Mostly Harmless
Stack Overflow Mostlyharmless
GitHub Mostlyharmless

With more information about the language/s he was familiar with it might be a lead that I could chase down rabbit holes for several days. Gotta do something, right? Does anyone know anything more specific about the code?

 

[j_in_c]

From what I can tell there hasn't been information about the actual programming language the code was written in, can anyone confirm?
.....
Stack Overflow Mostly Harmless
Stack Overflow Mostlyharmless
GitHub Mostlyharmless

With more information about the language/s he was familiar with it might be a lead that I could chase down rabbit holes for several days. Gotta do something, right? Does anyone know anything more specific about the code?

I asked the same question about the code snippets. The podcast mentions that the CCSO had an expert look the notes over which I took to mean they asked someone with a SW development background. I am sure they were able to identify the programming language (or if it was just a loose outline for code) but whatever was learned wasn't shared . So much could be determined about where he may have been employed (or if he perhaps worked as a contractor or had an account with moolighting or anything like that) if they were willing to share that info! Anyone willing to reach out to CCSO and see if they are willing and just don't realize anyone is interested??

I tend to believe that the information that was shared on the trail was all true - we just haven't hit the right person or community who would be able to ID him.

 

[K9Enzo]

There's a part of me that believes his profession before hitting the trails was not in the tech industry. I believe those hikers that recalled him saying it, remembered it correctly. But it's possible he just said it, small talk but it wasn't true. I was convinced it would take a little time but eventually a past co-worker would recognize him. So far, dead end.

Then you have the codes jotted down in the notebooks that were recovered from his belongings. This of course makes sense with the tech industry if he was trying to create an app. However, was there really any rhyme or reason to those codes?

It did make me think of a friend from high school who had a brother who would write down "codes" in notebooks, he was obsessed with it, long series of numbers and symbols. There was however some mental health concerns that were brought to light years later.

Or that's exactly what he was doing during down time while on the trail, working on a app and he had the knowledge to lay the ground work.

I still find it a little odd someone in the tech industry would not have a single electronic device to use but then some people truly disconnect. All my rambling opinion today...

 

[j_in_c]

<snipped by me>

I still find it a little odd someone in the tech industry would not have a single electronic device to use but then some people truly disconnect. All my rambling opinion today...

I don't find this odd at all *if* he is in the late 40s/early 50s age bracket. I have worked with several engineers/developers who this would fit to a T (one that refused to have a CC and had to always have a travel companion when on business travel!). The other thing with programmers, especially once they have reached mid or senior level is that it is easy to contract and work remotely - making photo recognition even harder (especially something like remote IT services). This is another reason I wish the code snippets would be shared - it would be easy to determine ramblings of a restless/unwell mind or point towards an area of expertise within the tech world.

Hope it goes without saying that this is all my opinion based on many different work environs and co-workers I have known. That colors my thoughts and I realize it doesn't make my "idea" of who Denim was correct.

 

[Sweetsbeach]

I don't find this odd at all *if* he is in the late 40s/early 50s age bracket. I have worked with several engineers/developers who this would fit to a T (one that refused to have a CC and had to always have a travel companion when on business travel!). The other thing with programmers, especially once they have reached mid or senior level is that it is easy to contract and work remotely - making photo recognition even harder (especially something like remote IT services). This is another reason I wish the code snippets would be shared - it would be easy to determine ramblings of a restless/unwell mind or point towards an area of expertise within the tech world.

Hope it goes without saying that this is all my opinion based on many different work environs and co-workers I have known. That colors my thoughts and I realize it doesn't make my "idea" of who Denim was correct.

Yes! Programmers often work remote. My son's father is a programmer and he has no idea what his coworkers look like that he talks to on conference calls daily. I asked him once if he thought Denim's code in his notebook would help determine his identity. He said in his opinion, no.
It would still be interesting to see though.

 

[Narkj]

If (and its a big if, as always) Mostly Harmless was a trail name he picked on purpose,

yes, I thought that too. Spent days tracking down a screen name user but no match.

I’ve also thought it was strange that he was not carrying any electronics. Of course, everyone, everywhere, can say “well, I know someone who did the same” but I think we have to speak in generalities here. That obviously jives with a hiker who was looking to disconnect, but does coding, talking of a future app, writing down future recipes, make sense for a man who appeared to be intentionality dying? I don’t get it. You can’t make a gaming App when you’re dead.

Working remotely/freelance could certainly pose a problem for ID.

<modsnip: Steve has not been reported missing>

 

[pppsuedio]

I asked the same question about the code snippets. The podcast mentions that the CCSO had an expert look the notes over which I took to mean they asked someone with a SW development background. I am sure they were able to identify the programming language (or if it was just a loose outline for code) but whatever was learned wasn't shared . So much could be determined about where he may have been employed (or if he perhaps worked as a contractor or had an account with moolighting or anything like that) if they were willing to share that info! Anyone willing to reach out to CCSO and see if they are willing and just don't realize anyone is interested??

Yes, I think it could be a good idea for someone to reach out to them - I am not from the US so don't think I can do it though. I think they might provide a more specific answer if someone does get in touch with them though, because I know that section of the podcast stuck in my mind as my impression was that CCSO either just did not feel the specific language was relevant or useful, or maybe were not fully cognizant that there are entirely different programming languages which are used in different fields, or within the same field by different people/companies. Or perhaps they knew that but weren't fully aware that just like with spoken languages tech people will only know one or more languages, but they won't be know all of them, or something. For reference, I have transcribed the section of the podcast where they talk about the code in the notebooks. Here is the link for the episode I am quoting, I have noted the clip's beginning and end times and the names of the people who are speaking:

[Begins at 6:36] [Detective Kevin O’Neill] In the tent along with him I found some paperwork. We did reach out to various sources, such as the FBI and stuff, and we confirmed it is—it was—computer language, and apparently it looked like he was writing a program for a game.

[Kristine Gill (Host)] Notebooks. Scrawled along their lined paper in cramped but neat handwriting were his plans for the future. There are dozens of pages, written in a kind of shorthand to himself, outlining what he needed to develop for the game. He even lists areas in the world—like a roach motel and an algae pond—and then there are little lines of code here and there that we had some programming experts look at for us, and while a lot of it would have only made sense to Mostly Harmless, there are certain words like ‘creep,’ ‘spawn,’ and ‘buff’ that refer to the way a character gains and loses power, and where they come back to life in the game. Mostly Harmless was also working on an app that would help fellow thru-hikers find water sources along the trail, and he was brainstorming different recipes for protein bars. [ends at 7:37]​

 

[Sweetsbeach]

yes, I thought that too. Spent days tracking down a screen name user but no match.

I’ve also thought it was strange that he was not carrying any electronics. Of course, everyone, everywhere, can say “well, I know someone who did the same” but I think we have to speak in generalities here. That obviously jives with a hiker who was looking to disconnect, but does coding, talking of a future app, writing down future recipes, make sense for a man who appeared to be intentionality dying? I don’t get it. You can’t make a gaming App when you’re dead.

Working remotely/freelance could certainly pose a problem for ID.

I was also stuck by the similarities between Steve nose and MH.

I'm still not sold on suicide, even if this hike was helping him get through a dark period in his life. If he was depressed he simply may not have been taking care of himself the way someone else without depression would. MOO.

 

[LurkingRaven]

Hi all, I'm new to the site but I wanted to share some of my observations and I apologise if it's all been said before, I just don't have the time and energy to comb through the whole thread but I've read over the first and last few pages. Also, it got really long and wound up like an essay so sorry for that too.
I found the comment from turanna25, a nurse, regarding the outpopping veins mostly on his left arm possibly being from dialysis enlightening. It looks to me like his abdomen is distended in the march 17th photo as opposed to wearing something under his shirt as it's belly shaped. It could be he gained a bit of fat between the February Collier Sheriff's photo and then, as a side effect of some endocrine process or something, as none of the rest of his body is fatty, though with his level of activity and in that short time I find it doubtful. It could just be down to leaning further forward, abdominal muscles relaxed, though due to the shape I would expect to see some abdominal fat in his other photos and I really don't see any. So that's weird.
I personally notice a bit of puffiness/edema maybe, particularly in his face, which could be caused by organ failure and have something to do with the need for dialysis. Possibly his very tan skin could have hidden some jaundice, though the whites of his eyes don't show any. Very clear in every photo are the dark circles under his eyes, which could be genetic or due to not sleeping well, but in combination with his sunken eyes they certainly conjure up a very cancer-patient-esque look. In a photo posted by MadMcGoo where he's spreading peanut butter on a pita bread (??) and sitting with other people there is a clear contrast in his appearance demonstrated. Even compared to the elderly man in the foreground he looks terribly sickly.
I first decided to post because I was curious as to whether or not his dying with his eyes open meant anything, and I discovered that there was little research into the topic but that his eyes being wide open could very well have been due to increased intracranial pressure, which can be caused by brain or spinal cord tumours. It also seems unlikely that he stopped wearing the knee braces because he didn't need them anymore as increased activity like walking doesn't make knee pain of any kind better. Some other people have said that he might have got too skinny to wear them or they hurt to wear. I certainly think the way he stands in some pictures, putting his weight on his hiking poles, indicates he was still experiencing pain.
So IMO he could very well have had a chronic or terminal condition and had set out on this massive hike to fulfil his bucket list, in which case there would be at least one medical facility who knows him well. I'm guessing that the investigators are exploring this route. I'm itching for info into what they have/are looking into.
But apparently organ failure or cancer didn't kill him, starvation did. Whether he chose to die that way or didn't, he could have written a few lines about the situation he was in (or maybe he wrote it in code, lol). Then again, it almost seems like he was running from his past life and had chosen to leave it all behind him so firmly he didn't want any family or friends to know where he had gone. It astounds me that in this technological era his people haven't come across any of these posts. Hopefully, if nothing else, technology will return him to his home. Detectives might get clearance to enter his DNA into one of the ancestry projects, or facial recognition might match his face with older photos that have to be out there online somewhere.
This case is so sad not only because he died alone and in a horrible way, but because someone should have recognised him by now. I hope this isn't too morbid to say but boy, I would really like to get my hands on that autopsy report.

 

[LurkingRaven]

As a side note, I hope I don't have to see the reconstructed photo of him too many more times.

 

[Victoria Chambers]

Good day one and all. Whilst this is a baffling case, I do believe that this mans true identity will tell more about his chosen alias than the alias tells us about him! I do apologise in advance if this young man has been ruled out, otherwise it looks promising. Investigators found notes in this MP journals that seem to fit with MH and his then situation and it should be looked into IMO.

 

[rinnai]

Has any of you guys recently checked if there are any new additions to the rule out list on NamUs? Maybe it would tell us whether they are still actively working on the case.

(Unfortunately, I cannot create a NamUs account because I'm from Europe.)