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

[TrishTris]

@UnlicensedPI is going to contact them... Fingers crossed!

I followed the link for the FB group on the Wed night dinners and saw a post about another church in town Assembly of God, that offers a place for showers. The post included a photo of a note left by someone who had dinner and then went to the other church to shower. I've been looking for a FB group or photo maybe from the other church and haven't found any yet. Just thought it might be worth a look to see if they also keep records of visitors or have photos.

 

[TrishTris]

The previous post info was found here
CLC Summer Hiker Meals

Photo posted may 15 of a notebook paper mentions showering and sleeping at another church and someone wrote in their log book. So the other church also has a log book.

 

[LadyBadWolf]

I followed the link for the FB group on the Wed night dinners and saw a post about another church in town Assembly of God, that offers a place for showers. The post included a photo of a note left by someone who had dinner and then went to the other church to shower. I've been looking for a FB group or photo maybe from the other church and haven't found any yet. Just thought it might be worth a look to see if they also keep records of visitors or have photos.

There are two churches in Duncannon that offers services, FWIW.

Christ Lutheran Church offers the Summer Spaghetti dinners on Wednesdays, which is where the new picture was uploaded.

Duncannon Assembly of God offers a free space for hikers to stay and shower, in the basement of the church, I believe. Am I remembering right that MH stayed at a church hostel in Duncannon? I imagine this would be where he slept/ visited.

It sounds like both locations have sign-ins/comment books. Many possibilities!!

 

[LadyBadWolf]

Also, basically just said the same thing as @TrishTis. #greatminds

 

[coffeeandacig]

Anyone else find it odd that even during a comfy meal at a church, MH still keeps his hair covered?

If he was balding, I would totally get it...but he wasn't.
Makes me suspect that he had some very long dark brown, unruly hair before he ever got on the AT.

 

[Blueberry2720]

Huge thought, but what if we could somehow contact hikers who signed the log books at the churches and show them MH's picture to see if we could glean any more tidbits of info. Do you think he ever shared his real name or where he was from with ANYONE??

 

[Blueberry2720]

I really think that Allan Kenley Matheson from Nova Scotia, presented as a possible MH a few pages back, could really be MH. He is the closest I've seen yet.

In a past thread a few of us took MH's pic with a beard and regressed it with different apps and removed the beard. A few came out making him look about 20ish, while a few others made look about 16. I will try to find the thread and pics to compare with Kenley.

 

[Gardener1850]

I decided to review Canadian missing persons again. Have we discussed Robert Aho as a possibility?

Canada's Missing | Case details
Terry Aho 'chasing a ghost' to find missing son - Sudbury.com

More photos in this video:

Local police look to identify hiker who died

Robert left with a pack. He's the right age, right height, blue eyes, good teeth and his nose is the closest match I've seen in a while. I'm not sure about his ears. And he's slightly heavier than Denim in the face in all his photos. But those differences could be explained by his losing weight while he hiked. Ears also continue to grow as a man ages, so they would change over almost a decade. Robert has been missing since October 2009.

The only thing that gives me pause is that he is bald--
"He's also been naturally bald from the age of 16, with just a little bit of hair around his ears, which he shaves."
The article also says, Robert loses his memory when he has seizures and his family thinks he may have amnesia.
I read online that some seizure medications can cause hair loss. I wonder if his hair would eventually grow back in if he was no longer taking the medications he needed for his seizure condition?

It's probably a very long shot but if anyone reading thinks Robert could be a match please contact the proper Canadian authorities. I'm only going to suggest here as I'm really not sure, thanks.

 

[Bit of hope]

I decided to review Canadian missing persons again. Have we discussed Robert Aho as a possibility?

View attachment 205756

View attachment 205758

Canada's Missing | Case details
Terry Aho 'chasing a ghost' to find missing son - Sudbury.com

More photos in this video:

Local police look to identify hiker who died

Robert left with a pack. He's the right age, right height, blue eyes, good teeth and his nose is the closest match I've seen in a while. I'm not sure about his ears. And he's slightly heavier than Denim in the face in all his photos. But those differences could be explained by his losing weight while he hiked. Ears also continue to grow as a man ages, so they would change over almost a decade. Robert has been missing since October 2009.

The only thing that gives me pause is that he is bald--
"He's also been naturally bald from the age of 16, with just a little bit of hair around his ears, which he shaves."
The article also says, Robert loses his memory when he has seizures and his family thinks he may have amnesia.
I read online that some seizure medications can cause hair loss. I wonder if his hair would eventually grow back in if he was no longer taking the medications he needed for his seizure condition?

It's probably a very long shot but if anyone reading thinks Robert could be a match please contact the proper Canadian authorities. I'm only going to suggest here as I'm really not sure, thanks.

I'm confused. He was bald at a very young age (jee, 16 that's hard for a young guy) maybe hair implements?

 

[Gardener1850]

I'm confused. He was bald at a very young age (jee, 16 that's hard for a young guy) maybe hair implements?

Yes, bald at 16 but also has a medical condition causing seizures. I don't know if it is the case for Robert, but some medication can cause baldness. Maybe when he left home and stopped the medication his hair came back? Like I said, it is a long shot. I was thinking how Denim always seems to wear his hat in every photo. Someone who was previously bald may be used to wearing a hat all the time to protect his head. It may be a habit for him. JMO.

 

[Laughing]

Huge thought, but what if we could somehow contact hikers who signed the log books at the churches and show them MH's picture to see if we could glean any more tidbits of info. Do you think he ever shared his real name or where he was from with ANYONE??

Maybe deliver Denim's posters to locations, to be placed near the log book?

I expect that many hikers cover the trail in sections -- maybe start at the closest access to your home/your relative and arrange for pickup so you can return to work, the next year hike in the other direction, or pick up where you left off? Eventually, you could complete the AT this way & continue to work the rest of the year.

So, if someone met Denim, left the trail the next day, and returned to the trail when they had enough vacation -- that hiker might see the poster & call in another scrap of info or 2.

Guessing here!

JMHO YMMV

 

[LeenC]

I decided to review Canadian missing persons again. Have we discussed Robert Aho as a possibility?

View attachment 205756

View attachment 205758

Canada's Missing | Case details
Terry Aho 'chasing a ghost' to find missing son - Sudbury.com

More photos in this video:

Local police look to identify hiker who died

Robert left with a pack. He's the right age, right height, blue eyes, good teeth and his nose is the closest match I've seen in a while. I'm not sure about his ears. And he's slightly heavier than Denim in the face in all his photos. But those differences could be explained by his losing weight while he hiked. Ears also continue to grow as a man ages, so they would change over almost a decade. Robert has been missing since October 2009.

The only thing that gives me pause is that he is bald--
"He's also been naturally bald from the age of 16, with just a little bit of hair around his ears, which he shaves."
The article also says, Robert loses his memory when he has seizures and his family thinks he may have amnesia.
I read online that some seizure medications can cause hair loss. I wonder if his hair would eventually grow back in if he was no longer taking the medications he needed for his seizure condition?

It's probably a very long shot but if anyone reading thinks Robert could be a match please contact the proper Canadian authorities. I'm only going to suggest here as I'm really not sure, thanks.

I agree that their noses look very much alike! But overall I think there are too many discrepancies. Mainly Robert being bald excludes him as a possibility to me. The article states that he was “naturally” bald so I doubt it was a result from his medication. Even if it was, I doubt his hair would grow back as thick as MH’s hair was. But nevertheless this is a great find! Especially because I haven’t seen many missing people with the same kind of nose yet!

 

[PJFL]

Ignore this, please. The man found was the father. Son Robert is still missing. So sorry for the mix-up. Go back to whatever you were doing.



UPDATED; MAN FOUND (Police looking for missing man) - BayToday.ca

This article from 2016 reports Aho was found safe.

ETA: His father's FB page has a very recent--2 days ago--post with his son's missing info.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

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

 

[Suglo]

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

That is definitely him. I really hope they send whatever they have to LE and let them figure it out if they won’t let you have the records.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

That is definitely him. I really hope they send whatever they have to LE and let them figure it out if they won’t let you have the records.

I may ask them for the records. I may be able to break some serious ground if they can give me the records from the day the photo was taken.

 

[Coffee56]

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 agree. I'm quite sure its Denim.

 

[Gardener1850]

I may ask them for the records. I may be able to break some serious ground if they can give me the records from the day the photo was taken.

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.

 

[Coffee56]

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.

Always willing to sleuth privately.

 

[Gardener1850]

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.