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

[branmuffin]

I've heard of people working with a speech therapist to largely reduce an accent.

I know he's probably not the one, but accent and reported eye-color wouldn't be enough to say that with certainty, IMO.[/QU

I wonder whether there is a suspicion that Konstantin chose to lose himself in America rather than going back to Russia. It could be interpreted that the broken window in his vehicle was staged to suggest a robbery. The video produced by his parents was done in 2011 or at least uploaded onto YT then. It appears they filmed it on the front porch of the apartment building he lived in although the lighting is very poor.

 

[Ursamajr]

Ok- this one looks the most facially similar yet. Set of the eyes, ears, jaw, symmetry of the nose. The article below says Konstantin Salikhov was 31 in 2010, so 39 in 2018. He may or may not have had an accent- just because he was from Russia does not mean he was educated there. Could have gone to boarding schools. Apparently he had a 2nd car that was abandoned on the north end of the AT. Some compelling info! From multiple links below:

I'm really trying to but I don't see any much similarity except both have hooded eyes. The eyebrows alone really set them apart. KS's lower lip is fuller and rounder and KS has a square jaw where MH's is more narrow. MH's earlobes seem to be attached whereas KS's seems to be detached.

 

[MichelleBlue]

IMO Not seeing the physical resemblance here, but I do have some questions for anyone who can answer:
1) I understand there is a Russia connection with the Screeps game. Can anyone explain what that is?
2) I recall MH traveled for a short time with an African American woman. What aas.her trail name and has anyone been able to make contact with her?

 

[MichelleBlue]

IMO Not seeing the physical resemblance here, but I do have some questions for anyone who can answer:
1) I understand there is a Russia connection with the Screeps game. Can anyone explain what that is?
2) I recall MH traveled for a short time with an African American woman. What aas.her trail name and has anyone been able to make contact with her?

Quoting my own post. I should've dug a little more before asking. It was founded by 3 Russian gentlemen.

About the Screeps Team

 

[branmuffin]

IMO Not seeing the physical resemblance here, but I do have some questions for anyone who can answer:
1) I understand there is a Russia connection with the Screeps game. Can anyone explain what that is?
2) I recall MH traveled for a short time with an African American woman. What aas.her trail name and has anyone been able to make contact with her?

The woman's trail name was Obsidian.

 

[branmuffin]

Does anyone have a Twitter account? On the Screeps forum there is a poster who made 9 comments in April 2017. @Narkj has already asked on Screeps if there has been any more activity after that date and the answer was no. Kudos to @Narkj! The poster's avatar name was ben2. I checked on Twitter to see if there was someone with that handle. There is; they joined in 2006. Unfortunately, they have never made any comments but they have 89 followers. I just wondered if someone with a Twitter account could see who some of the followers are and see if they have any connection to gaming or computers. It's ben @ben2. Thanks.

There's also a ben2 who posted on a website called Steam Community which is about creating games but I don't see any activity. I have a feeling it may be a common name online.

 

[carbuff]

@ben2 doesn't follow anybody. His followers include a lot of sales and bot-looking things, including job-search sites and a lot of health/diet/fitness things. It doesn't look like an active account. It also looks like there was related activity (mentioned by other people) earlier this year.

Kind of fits what we know about Denim but unless you want to start contacting the people on that list, I don't see any clues.

 

[MichelleBlue]

@ben2 doesn't follow anybody. His followers include a lot of sales and bot-looking things, including job-search sites and a lot of health/diet/fitness things. It doesn't look like an active account. It also looks like there was related activity (mentioned by other people) earlier this year.

Kind of fits what we know about Denim but unless you want to start contacting the people on that list, I don't see any clues.

Yes, the posts @ben2 was mentioned in are sort of generic/appear to be ads. He IS followed by a hiking page, Alabama roll tide, & some tech stuff? Also, one person checking in on him July 2018. Let me click around on that more...

 

[carbuff]

Yes, the posts @ben2 was mentioned in are sort of generic/appear to be ads. He IS followed by a hiking page, Alabama roll tide, & some tech stuff? Also, one person checking in on him July 2018. Let me click around on that more...

There's a hiking page, a rock-climbing page, and a couple of other outdoors-sounding things.

Several of them appear to be located in central California (Yolo is near Sacramento).

I dunno. I kind of think it's not him, and then I kind of think it might be.

 

[MichelleBlue]

There's a hiking page, a rock-climbing page, and a couple of other outdoors-sounding things.

Several of them appear to be located in central California (Yolo is near Sacramento).

I dunno. I kind of think it's not him, and then I kind of think it might be.

Can't really be sure, but this @ben2 has never posted anything, it looks like? And also, there isn't a connection between this @ben2 and the Screeps page at all?

The person who checked in on him in July 2018, just asked, "Hi. How are you?" or something like that. That individual does appear to be an active Twitter user.

 

[carbuff]

Can't really be sure, but this @ben2 has never posted anything, it looks like? And also, there isn't a connection between this @ben2 and the Screeps page at all?

The person who checked in on him in July 2018, just asked, "Hi. How are you?" or something like that. That individual does appear to be an active Twitter user.

I don't see any indication that he ever posted, though I'm not expert on Twitter privacy settings. I don't know whether he could have hidden it the way you can on Facebook.

I clicked through on several of the profiles and they appear to be real people.

I couldn't tell from anything in the posts what game he was playing, but then I'm not a gamer.

 

[MichelleBlue]

I have to chuckle because I was clicking around and found another Ben (not the ben2 from above) who posted a very specific, detailed blog about Screeps coding in 2016. What made me laugh is he is still active & posted blogs as recently as this month. He posted about food replacement powders and bars! Sooo... basically my point is it easy to see connections when you are looking for them. This person is definitely not our MH, but darn he sure could be if he was still alive! IMO

 

[MaryFromFla]

I think whatever it is he wrote does mean something. Someday maybe someone will figure it out. I believe he was trying to get somewhere using a formula he was very familiar with and probably knew like the back of his hand. However, for some unknown reason, his brain was short circuiting and he likely didn’t generate enough of or the correct code to build anything. In other words, I doubt that even if somewhere were to decipher this it would/could lead to the end product; an actual game or app.

This almost confirms for me that whatever happened to him physically, if anything, his demise was due largely in part to his mental state. I wonder if being out in the elements got to him. His body would have gone into panic mode shortly after he began if he wasn’t used to those conditions, I think his brain would have done the same thing. Combined with whatever reason he was on the trail to begin with. It must have been hell for him if this is the case. Extremely heartbreaking.

JMOO

Has anyone ever heard of Rhabdo? Its a medical condition brought on my too much protein physical exertion and dehydration..It can make you literally bonkers..

 

[MaryFromFla]

I think the notebook will crack the case.

Could the numbers mentioned in a previous post regarding the note books be their chronological order. (Example 1/1 meaning book one.) There were people who said he spoke about a hiking based game and also developing trail bars/food items...the numbers might coincide with those items/ideas specifically. Just a thought.

 

[MaryFromFla]

I do agree, and I find it rather interesting they don't mention the jacket. Where do you think it went? Or why wasn't it logged in with the other belongings?

He could have donated his cold climate items to shed weight on the trail. Why keep a jacket with you in Florida summer heat?

 

[coffeeandacig]

He could have donated his cold climate items to shed weight on the trail. Why keep a jacket with you in Florida summer heat?

Schizophrenic? Body temperature abnormalities...

 

[UnlicensedPI]

If you look at the Ben2 Twitter and an account called Team Buckshot, they have a lot of connections. IMO it's not him but it's so close

 

[SugarQueen]

Wow! You folks have been busy! Glad to see our hiker is still being looked at. I’m not fully caught up yet but I did skim their to show my DS The notebook page info. His take is some pages look like a loose flowchart, some appear to be arrays, obviously there is an outline for a game. There is no doubt MH had some serious programming knowledge. If there is anything more specific you want me to ask him just let me know. He Has been writing code for a few years and is now in the process of getting his computer science degree. He hopes to write code for video games.

 

[Pseudonymph]

Wow! You folks have been busy! Glad to see our hiker is still being looked at. I’m not fully caught up yet but I did skim their to show my DS The notebook page info. His take is some pages look like a loose flowchart, some appear to be arrays, obviously there is an outline for a game. There is no doubt MH had some serious programming knowledge. If there is anything more specific you want me to ask him just let me know. He Has been writing code for a few years and is now in the process of getting his computer science degree. He hopes to write code for video games.

My son has a similar background and said the notebook can be compared to a music composer who takes notes sometimes in words but also sometimes in musical fragments because that’s how a composer’s brain would process things.

 

[Narkj]

Someone mentioned Obsidian and I have spoken to her. She’s really lovely and genuinely heartbroken over this. She said they were both introverts and enjoyed each other’s company. She said he ate a lot of candy and had knee pain and was obsessed with caloric content- getting the most calories per serving (many hikers are) and that she never saw him write anything.