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

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Sunrisenow said:
I'm very intrigued by this case, and I've done a lot of online research.

I've just stumbled across a missing case report from last month of a man, John Jesse Willey, 41, who was last seen in 2018. He was living in West Virginia where he also had friends and family. However it wasn’t unusual for the family to not see him for a year.
Unfortunately the missing person report doesn't provide much information (height, eye color etc.). But I see similarities in the photo. What do you think?

Authorities looking for Morgan County, W.Va., man last seen in 2018
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I really don't see any resemblance at all. The face shape is off, the shape of the lips, the jaw line. I don't see it.
 
This interesting article written in August 2016 describes a man (who is obviously not MH) that wanted to escape his office job, under circumstances that let him do so without quitting his job.

The man went on to found "Destination Backcountry Adventures" which is basically a way to help people in NC and NJ escape their lives for outdoor retreats.

Anyways, the circumstances leading up to him founding it are very interesting. I am not suggesting MH had ever even heard of this man or his company, but the read is interesting and sounds like something MH would have been interested in.

Into the wild with Destination Backcountry Adventures
 
I am struggling with some of the missing persons pics. It was said that M.H. spoke to someone early on in his hike about losing significant weight, fairly recently before starting on the trail. I would imagine that if/when he would be reported missing, he could actually be reported as much more heavier. My appearance can vary quite a bit just by gaining/losing 20-25 lbs..
 
I checked his NAMUS profile recently to review it again. It was mentioned that it appeared he was living in the park. Was that LE not recognizing a thru-hiker for the most part lives on a trail or he was really just living there and not leaving. He had the money to walk off the trail & go back home. Perhaps “home” no longer existed for him?
 
Current exclusions The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

MP28933 Glenn Bartek 07/11/2012 Maricopa AZ
MP11834 David Broad 03/23/2011 Kings NY
MP2469 Michael Davis 06/26/2007 Duval FL
-- Alexander Glenn 08/22/2017 -- WI
MP52000 Paul Glova 08/15/2018 Broward FL
MP56741 Scott Godsey 07/09/2018 Charlotte FL
MP8577 Terry Hattaway 04/19/2000 Escambia FL
MP11218 James Johansen 06/13/2007 Greenbrier WV
MP41250 Scott Kurland 11/26/2017 Pasco FL
MP41863 Valentino Malloggi 06/10/2017 Broward FL
MP4937 Anthony Medearis 08/05/2002 St. Francois MO
MP19181 Sean Nooney 12/15/2012 Pierce WA
MP19181 Sean Nooney 12/15/2012 Pierce WA
MP30727 Glen Oldfield II 09/17/2015 Skamania WA
MP26485 Eric Smith 11/08/2013 Tazewell VA
MP7406 Shaun Steward 02/01/2008 Maricopa AZ
MP28265 Roger Temple 12/07/2014 Middlesex MA
MP12308 David Whitehurst 04/17/1992 Hillsborough FL
 
One thing that continues to stick out for me is that he told people he had friends put his belongings into a storage unit. He mentions 2-3 hard drives full of Doctor Who episodes as being with these belongings.

if this is true,it shows he did have friends and they knew he would be gone for a bit so they helped him store his stuff. Makes me wonder how long he paid for the storage unit. Makes me wonder if there’s a storage unit somewhere in the Brooklyn area or even the area around the first park that he began hiking in that’s been sitting untouched for over 3 years. Would that sort of thing be noticeable to anyone who manages these types of businesses? It’s possible the contents were auctioned off a long time ago for non payment as well. Seems like there would’ve been a large amount of tech stuff stored along with some possibly some nerdy memorabilia, like Dr Who Funkos or whatever. It could’ve made for a very lucrative auction if it had a bunch of tech stuff and memorabilia.

Whovians are my people. I wonder who was his favorite Doctor :(
 
You know, now that you mention it, that's odd. Why, in 2018, did a supposedly tech-savvy guy have stuff on hard drives instead of a couple of thumb drives or a pack of CDs?? Was he carrying the drives with him and that's why his pack was reportedly so heavy?
 
carbuff said:
You know, now that you mention it, that's odd. Why, in 2018, did a supposedly tech-savvy guy have stuff on hard drives instead of a couple of thumb drives or a pack of CDs?? Was he carrying the drives with him and that's why his pack was reportedly so heavy?
Click to expand...

I don’t think he had the drives with him. Sounds like he had zero tech with him aside from his watch. Folks he talked to were certain he had told them he had put stuff in storage with help of friends. It’s possible none of it was true of course BUT if it is true he does have a small circle of friends out there. I don’t think he’s going to be on any missing persons lists at this point. They still probably think he’s hiking although I wonder if someone is starting to get suspicious since it’s been almost two years since his death and no communication if he was using public PCs (pay phones? Do they still have pay phones around the trails at c-stores and such?) to maybe keep in sporadic contact with someone. Also curious as to how he thought he’d get home with zero id? Do they still have storage lockers in places like train and bus stations? Are there any at the first park he went to? Bear lake or Harriman I think?

I also noticed that one of the people Denim/Mostly Harmless had to talked to had written down in his journal that “Denim” said he was from NJ. He double checked to see if had written it down right since reports were saying he worked in Brooklyn. And yup, his journal noted Denim has said he was from NJ.
 
dotr said:
Cannot quite shake the thought that "Denim" might formerly be from a Orthodox Jewish community, unless of course he was not circumcised . imo, speculation.
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Why do you think so?

Orthodox communities are very strict about their internet access. I'm not sure how he would have developed tech skills while living in an Orthodox community, and he would have had a lot of catching up to do upon leaving. IMO he doesn't really have the "right look" either (not that it's an entirely homogeneous group, but Orthodox is insular and closely related, his features are unusual for those communities). They also have a distinct accent/cadence that MH was never reported as having. JMO/MOO/etc
 
carbuff said:
You know, now that you mention it, that's odd. Why, in 2018, did a supposedly tech-savvy guy have stuff on hard drives instead of a couple of thumb drives or a pack of CDs?? Was he carrying the drives with him and that's why his pack was reportedly so heavy?
Click to expand...

It looks like he did a lot of gaming, and those kinds of files are huge. I had to buy an upgraded hard drive for my Playstation 4 because I kept running out of room, and computer games are even worse. I still have the older hard drive, though, because all my old game saves are on it. If MH was a serious computer gamer, it makes sense that he would have needed a lot of memory for all his files.
 
mlw987m said:
I was just thinking - if he had a storage unit and didn't pay on it or stopped because he passed away - chances are slim that it would still be available - they auction those off every month for non payment - think Storage Wars
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I have thought of this too, but with uncertainty about exactly where he was from, his real name, and exact items that can distinguish him, it seems very unlikely to determine what storage unit he owned. It appears there are many, many storage units that go to auction.
 
lonewanderer said:
I have thought of this too, but with uncertainty about exactly where he was from, his real name, and exact items that can distinguish him, it seems very unlikely to determine what storage unit he owned. It appears there are many, many storage units that go to auction.
Click to expand...

Somebody did try to follow up on this aspect last year, but came up empty. It's probably in thread #2.
 
I’m not sure if this has been posted but in case it has not.

GI Joe's 2017 Appalachian Trail Journal : Black Rock : Trail Journals, Backpacking and Hiking Journals

Friday, August 25, 2017
Destination: Calf Mountain shelter
Start Location: Loft Mountain Campground
Today's Miles: 19.20
Trip Miles: 1497.40

About 5pm or a little earlier, arrived at the Calf mountain shelter. Glad to find a spring with water. No other source since this morning. Met s bunch of other hikers:

Obsidian - staunton

Denim - Brooklyn

Also mentioned in this one.

GI Joe's 2017 Appalachian Trail Journal : Hike w Joe 2 : Trail Journals, Backpacking and Hiking Journals
 
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And another.

Rolling Thunder's 2017 Appalachian Trail Journal : Day 144: A low point to start, a high point to finish : Trail Journals, Backpacking and Hiking Journals

Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Destination: Beauty Spot
Start Location: Clyde Smith shelter

From here, we headed down to a spring, where we stocked up with water for tonight's camp at a place called Beauty Spot. In the process, we found two sobo section hikers present. Morocco Mule and Denim were very veryfamiliar names for weeks in the shelter registers so it was odd to finally meet them. Such is the monodirectional nature of trail communication, of course they had never heard of any of the members of Team KRT.
 
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