Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male Hiker, Denim & “Mostly Harmless” July 2018 - Vance Rodriguez#4

[gfinale]

All this talk about his wallet gave me this thought...In my life, I have only a few friends, no social media presence, no professional contacts, no employer/coworkers, no close family (parents and siblings are estranged after a childhood of abuse). I also have an invisible disability that keeps me somewhat isolated. I don't talk about it or share much with others beyond the "better do it while I still can" type talk. Thus, people who might care about me if I die, probably just think I'm doing fine and handling my life well on my own.

I could totally see myself seeking out the trail for a personally fulfilling journey, 'finding myself', looking to connect with others taking the same path in life. Not having any support your whole life, but to find it in death...Seeing that there are more people caring about him now than perhaps while he was living. I wonder how that would make MH feel. Would he feel angry that he lived in suffering and loneliness for so long and no one even thought to care about him until his deceased, wasting body was found in the wilderness after so much physical/mental suffering?

It makes me kind of hope, for him, that if he doesn't want his identity known, that he's granted that wish. If those who cared about him could have identified him, perhaps we would already know. It just makes me think he had no one, and lived a life where no one looked out for him.

I'll always wonder what MH wanted, and if he wanted it this way. If he did things to intentionally thwart people from identifying him, or if he planned to meet his end in some way during this excursion. Even if we do find out his identity, maybe he didn't feel that he was important enough to be named in death. This makes me hurt for those who have suffered through life alone, only to receive love much too late to experience it.

I hear what you're saying in a few ways and it's interesting. I posted quite a bit back that maybe he was doing the nobody loves me kind of thing after losing a girlfriend. It's certainly possible that nobody was looking out for him. I think if he wanted to die anonymous, there are better ways to do it, some ways where his body is never found. I personally don't think he purposely killed himself by starvation. Yes, he starved though as a result of whatever else. It's unlikely he set off from the beginning to hike all that way and starve himself way down in southern Florida either. He's said to have started in jeans and camping for a couple of weeks somewhere near the AT. He seems to have decided while there to hike some, probably in the course of running into others who were hiking. He hiked some and obviously enjoyed it for whatever all the reasons are that he did. So much, he hiked all the way to near the end of the AT at which point, he was sold. So, he bought himself good hiking gear and wanted to remain on trails as much as possible while hiking all the way to Key West whether that's probably just because it's possible and the southern tip or because something was there. This is what I seem to have gathered about how his journey unfolded for him.

 

[gfinale]

Very good way to put it! I really think I agree more and more with this, that he probably wouldn’t want to be identified or else he would have left some sort of trail or note.

I keep coming back to the fact that he had pen and paper and could very easily have written a note and put on the outside of his tent or somewhere at the last campsite if he wanted help, but he didn’t.

He also could have written something as a goodbye letter in his notebooks when he must have realised he was getting worse and worse, but nothing.

It seems so strange starving to death having managed to get proper sustenance for over a year hiking without seemingly getting unwell.

Are there many causes of death that won’t show up in autopsy reports? If he had been bitten by some spider or something?

Why do you guys think the police haven’t published a full list of items he had with him? I heard that his pack was missing from the campsite but was later found but no explanation why or where it was found.

We went over the backpack thing and the police just overlooked listing it. I don't know if there is a list somewhere by the police of everything he had. That would be swell, if so.

We have discussed concerns about the thoroughness of the autopsy. On top of it, he wasn't seen from Apr to July when he died. I think there are probably things he could have had that could have debilitated him and caused him not to eat for a length, possibly getting better from those but, at the same time becoming very sickly from not eating. I'm not a medical person and don't live in the region to know what he could have had or got, one example would be a heavy duty flu though.

 

[gfinale]

But, how many accounts do we have of him actually buying anything.

He was hiking for a year or so (with assumed breaks) and didn't seem to have outside help.

To be sure he made many purchases, be it with cash or card, without an eyewitness account for each transaction.

I would suggest they should have or should make more of an attempt to track that card, figure out where he bought it, see if he bought more there or anywhere else. They know places he was and when. They know places he stayed and places he bought stuff. It just doesn't sound like a very through job has been done on that and I don't buy that there's no way to figure out the card when they know a place where the card was used in a transaction. They know the exact date, time, what was bought and what kind of card it is (Visa)!

 

[GatorFL]

I'm not questioning why he used cards, I use them too, I'm questioning why it's the only purchase anybody has said he made on card and it was way back near the end of the AT so he must have made lots more purchases after that.

Assuming he stayed in hotels on days off the trail he would likely have needed a credit card.

 

[moodleman]

MH reminds me of a documentary I recently saw called “God Knows Where I Am” which featured a transient woman who was so mentally ill, she broke into an abandoned house on an apple orchard, wrote in a journal, and survived on nothing but apples until she eventually starved to death in the cold winter night. The kicker was that there was a neighbor across the street who could’ve helped, if only she reached out.

The main difference, despite how terribly mentally disturbed she was, was that in her final moments she realized it was going to be game over soon and decided to write her name and burial wishes on the last page of the journal. MH really, really, really didn’t want to be identified. Despite using a fake name and not carrying any identifiable piece of information, he surely must’ve realized the end was near in his final days and purposefully decided not to log what his final wishes may be.

 

[gfinale]

MH reminds me of a documentary I recently saw called “God Knows Where I Am” which featured a transient woman who was so mentally ill, she broke into an abandoned house on an apple orchard, wrote in a journal, and survived on nothing but apples until she eventually starved to death in the cold winter night. The kicker was that there was a neighbor across the street who could’ve helped, if only she reached out.

The main difference, despite how terribly mentally disturbed she was, was that in her final moments she realized it was going to be game over soon and decided to write her name and burial wishes on the last page of the journal. MH really, really, really didn’t want to be identified. Despite using a fake name and not carrying any identifiable piece of information, he surely must’ve realized the end was near in his final days and purposefully decided not to log what his final wishes may be.

MH exhibited absolutely no sign of mental illness though. Also, I'm not so sure he realized he was that close to death.

 

[moodleman]

MH exhibited absolutely no sign of mental illness though. Also, I'm not so sure he realized he was that close to death.

One could argue his entire trip that he was severely ill equipped for (denim jeans, heavy pack, no ID, no CC, fake name, hiking through Florida in July) could’ve been a symptom of a mental illness. I just don’t know how you could wither down presumably 50+ pounds and not realize the end is near. He must’ve realized there was a point of no return, he knew he had no ID or credit card, and his only chance at giving authorities his identity would have been to write it down in his journal which he just didn’t do. I suspect mental illness played a major role in MH’s demise.

 

[branmuffin]

I feel like we've gone full circle somehow in this thread for the last couple of pages. We've had @gfinale who provided a manifesto of what we all shouldn't have been thinking about MH, which to me was based in logic.

His presentation made sense. Which was to get rid of all the chaff and focus on the facts which were that MH was exactly what he said he was: a man, with a sister and an abusive father, who worked in IT for ten years. That he wanted to hike the trail before he wasn't able to and in that time frame he may or may not have visited a sister. That he initially was unprepared for the hike but over time became more savvy and invested in items that benefited his venture. A person who presented a grounded, pleasant, soft spoken persona with a sense of humour to all who met him on the way.

How does that description transcribe into an individual who was bipolar or with some underlying mental health issue? Someone suffering from a terminal illness, bent on ending his life in the most dire of circumstances? Someone who purposely eradicated all aspects of his history for the sole purpose of confounding the people who happened on the reality of his demise?

Everything we know about MH is based on factual reports from people who met him on the trail. Everything we've read was straightforward and accurate as far as we can tell from the narrative people provided who interacted with him. No hint of subversion. No vibe of trickery. No intuition that he was not who he said he was. Without exception, everybody who met him described in the same manner.

So many things could be possible regarding whether he had a wallet or not. Whether he left the trail for a while. Whether he planned his demise. But keeping our feet on terra firma could help us identify him a lot more than veering into flights of fantasy.

Personally, I think his death was misadventure. Which I find much more terrible than a choreographed event. Sometimes I wonder if he was thisclose to being found. I envision him in his tent, unable to move but hearing snatches of voices of hikers passing so near his tent, desperately trying to garner attention to his situation. I see him straining at the mesh hoping beyond hope, that someone, anyone, would venture near his tent. Someone who may have been curious about a lonely tent in an overgrown site but chose not to disturb a camper. And how many times that may have happened.

MH had a middle and an end. We just need to find the beginning. I hope DNA gives us a clue.

 

[Mind your biscuits]

I feel like we've gone full circle somehow in this thread for the last couple of pages. We've had @gfinale who provided a manifesto of what we all shouldn't have been thinking about MH, which to me was based in logic.

His presentation made sense. Which was to get rid of all the chaff and focus on the facts which were that MH was exactly what he said he was: a man, with a sister and an abusive father, who worked in IT for ten years. That he wanted to hike the trail before he wasn't able to and in that time frame he may or may not have visited a sister. That he initially was unprepared for the hike but over time became more savvy and invested in items that benefited his venture. A person who presented a grounded, pleasant, soft spoken persona with a sense of humour to all who met him on the way.

How does that description transcribe into an individual who was bipolar or with some underlying mental health issue? Someone suffering from a terminal illness, bent on ending his life in the most dire of circumstances? Someone who purposely eradicated all aspects of his history for the sole purpose of confounding the people who happened on the reality of his demise?

Everything we know about MH is based on factual reports from people who met him on the trail. Everything we've read was straightforward and accurate as far as we can tell from the narrative people provided who interacted with him. No hint of subversion. No vibe of trickery. No intuition that he was not who he said he was. Without exception, everybody who met him described in the same manner.

So many things could be possible regarding whether he had a wallet or not. Whether he left the trail for a while. Whether he planned his demise. But keeping our feet on terra firma could help us identify him a lot more than veering into flights of fantasy.

Personally, I think his death was misadventure. Which I find much more terrible than a choreographed event. Sometimes I wonder if he was thisclose to being found. I envision him in his tent, unable to move but hearing snatches of voices of hikers passing so near his tent, desperately trying to garner attention to his situation. I see him straining at the mesh hoping beyond hope, that someone, anyone, would venture near his tent. Someone who may have been curious about a lonely tent in an overgrown site but chose not to disturb a camper. And how many times that may have happened.

MH had a middle and an end. We just need to find the beginning. I hope DNA gives us a clue.

Excellent post. Although a part of me wants him to remain a mystery for ever, you know what I mean? I like DB Cooper minus the felonies! Moo.

 

[gfinale]

One could argue his entire trip that he was severely ill equipped for (denim jeans, heavy pack, no ID, no CC, fake name, hiking through Florida in July) could’ve been a symptom of a mental illness. I just don’t know how you could wither down presumably 50+ pounds and not realize the end is near. He must’ve realized there was a point of no return, he knew he had no ID or credit card, and his only chance at giving authorities his identity would have been to write it down in his journal which he just didn’t do. I suspect mental illness played a major role in MH’s demise.

It's a symptom of being a newbie to hiking He made his way around the trails with no problem and, by the end of the AT bought himself good gear, once he had learned some about what to buy and realized he wanted to do more. He was doing fine until Apr 13, 2018 or so as witnesses have said all along the way. Hiker skinny, pretty well keeping up his speed. I have put it out there recently that we know he had a wallet with a ton of cash in it. That comes from multiple, reliable witnesses. We know he had it until at least after the end of the AT because Bob who sold him the tent saw it. We know he didn't have the wallet when he was found. We don't seem to know whether or not he had ID in the wallet but he did have at least one card that Obsidian saw him pull out of the wallet and use. Where did the wallet go is a big question. The assumption that he purposely left with no ID can't be made until we know he wasn't carrying it in his wallet that went missing...or unless someone can point out otherwise. He wasn't hiking through Florida in July, he reached Big Cypress on Apr 13, 2018. Whatever happened caused him to stay there and go no further until July when he passed away. 83 lbs, not 50 but your point is understood.

 

[gfinale]

Assuming he stayed in hotels on days off the trail he would likely have needed a credit card.

We/they need to find some of those hotels. Unfortunately, it's 2 years later!

 

[gfinale]

I feel like we've gone full circle somehow in this thread for the last couple of pages. We've had @gfinale who provided a manifesto of what we all shouldn't have been thinking about MH, which to me was based in logic.

His presentation made sense. Which was to get rid of all the chaff and focus on the facts which were that MH was exactly what he said he was: a man, with a sister and an abusive father, who worked in IT for ten years. That he wanted to hike the trail before he wasn't able to and in that time frame he may or may not have visited a sister. That he initially was unprepared for the hike but over time became more savvy and invested in items that benefited his venture. A person who presented a grounded, pleasant, soft spoken persona with a sense of humour to all who met him on the way.

How does that description transcribe into an individual who was bipolar or with some underlying mental health issue? Someone suffering from a terminal illness, bent on ending his life in the most dire of circumstances? Someone who purposely eradicated all aspects of his history for the sole purpose of confounding the people who happened on the reality of his demise?

Everything we know about MH is based on factual reports from people who met him on the trail. Everything we've read was straightforward and accurate as far as we can tell from the narrative people provided who interacted with him. No hint of subversion. No vibe of trickery. No intuition that he was not who he said he was. Without exception, everybody who met him described in the same manner.

So many things could be possible regarding whether he had a wallet or not. Whether he left the trail for a while. Whether he planned his demise. But keeping our feet on terra firma could help us identify him a lot more than veering into flights of fantasy.

Personally, I think his death was misadventure. Which I find much more terrible than a choreographed event. Sometimes I wonder if he was this close to being found. I envision him in his tent, unable to move but hearing snatches of voices of hikers passing so near his tent, desperately trying to garner attention to his situation. I see him straining at the mesh hoping beyond hope, that someone, anyone, would venture near his tent. Someone who may have been curious about a lonely tent in an overgrown site but chose not to disturb a camper. And how many times that may have happened.

MH had a middle and an end. We just need to find the beginning. I hope DNA gives us a clue.

And I think we can add to that,

1) He didn't tell anyone he was dying. He said he wanted to do this massive undertaking before he couldn't. He had bad knees for one and was getting older.

2) There are several accounts of him saying he had a sister but, there is only one account of anyone saying he stayed/visited her and that's a camper (not hiker, trail angel or shop owner) who doesn't seem to fit the timeline, came forward apparently well after most others and could be a bogus story.

3) Nobody who spent time with him has said he exhibited any unusual behavior whatsoever. I've known several bipolar people, all of them exhibit some unusual behaviour, especially when it's advanced enough that it would have affected what he did. Several don't exhibit just one condition either, it is a combination of bipolar, paranoia, OCD, psychosis, etc. All of them have been way more dynamic than him. I believe we definitely know that, when found, he wasn't taking any prescriptions, just 2 regular things for his knees. Nobody seeing him has said he was taking further meds either.

4) If he was trying to give a guilt trip to anyone, he would have left ID or a note saying who he was. If he was making a point about global warming by starving himself, he would have left a note to say so. What possible motive could someone have for slowly and painfully killing themself's (themselves'?!!) by starvation? Felt he did something bad? That's probably the only one and doesn't seem likely.

5) I'm not sure we can say he purposely eradicated anything that would say who he was because we don't seem to be sure of whether he had ID up until a certain point when it could have been lost, damaged or stolen. He could have leaned over his fire and dropped his ID in it. We don't know. He could have lost his map too btw!

I'm not saying some other theories couldn't be possible but, I think the odds say by far, this is probably who he was. The ONLY thing about him that I consider unusual is the way he died.

 

[GatorFL]

It's a symptom of being a newbie to hiking He made his way around the trails with no problem and, by the end of the AT bought himself good gear, once he had learned some about what to buy and realized he wanted to do more. He was doing fine until Apr 13, 2018 or so as witnesses have said all along the way. Hiker skinny, pretty well keeping up his speed. I have put it out there recently that we know he had a wallet with a ton of cash in it. That comes from multiple, reliable witnesses. We know he had it until at least after the end of the AT because Bob who sold him the tent saw it. We know he didn't have the wallet when he was found. We don't seem to know whether or not he had ID in the wallet but he did have at least one card that Obsidian saw him pull out of the wallet and use. Where did the wallet go is a big question. The assumption that he purposely left with no ID can't be made until we know he wasn't carrying it in his wallet that went missing...or unless someone can point out otherwise. He wasn't hiking through Florida in July, he reached Big Cypress on Apr 13, 2018. Whatever happened caused him to stay there and go no further until July when he passed away. 83 lbs, not 50 but your point is understood.

He had good gear before he bought the tent. I think his pack is a Deuter, it looks like one. Really good large pack. The Sawyer is the top of the line water filter. His shoes were also pretty high end. We can't assume that whatever he was using beforehand wasn't good as well.

 

[Dylansmom08]

I've thought a lot about this one and it occured to me that perhaps he had some type of slow progressing cancer.Maybe instead of going through treatments that would possibly render him weak, sick and in need of someone to care for him in his prolonged days he chose to just let nature take its course and enjoy what ever time he had left doing something he had always wanted to do. Perhaps he didn't want his family to be saddened and grieving for him after his death so he just didn't tell anyone he was ill. So many people are just not the type to keep close contact with family and therefore if he wasn't in the habit of contacting family they may assume no news is good news and he is doing well. We will never know what his reasons were for certain and I don't know if we will ever identify him but we can keep trying.

 

[branmuffin]

I've thought a lot about this one and it occured to me that perhaps he had some type of slow progressing cancer.Maybe instead of going through treatments that would possibly render him weak, sick and in need of someone to care for him in his prolonged days he chose to just let nature take its course and enjoy what ever time he had left doing something he had always wanted to do. Perhaps he didn't want his family to be saddened and grieving for him after his death so he just didn't tell anyone he was ill. So many people are just not the type to keep close contact with family and therefore if he wasn't in the habit of contacting family they may assume no news is good news and he is doing well. We will never know what his reasons were for certain and I don't know if we will ever identify him but we can keep trying.

His autopsy report showed no underlying illness. Usually by the time an individual knows they have cancer, even slow growing cancer, there is evidence in the body. A full body scan was done before the actual autopsy.

 

[lonewanderer]

And I think we can add to that,

1) He didn't tell anyone he was dying. He said he wanted to do this massive undertaking before he couldn't. He had bad knees for one and was getting older.

2) There are several accounts of him saying he had a sister but, there is only one account of anyone saying he stayed/visited her and that's a camper (not hiker, trail angel or shop owner) who doesn't seem to fit the timeline, came forward apparently well after most others and could be a bogus story.

3) Nobody who spent time with him has said he exhibited any unusual behavior whatsoever. I've known several bipolar people, all of them exhibit some unusual behaviour, especially when it's advanced enough that it would have affected what he did. Several don't exhibit just one condition either, it is a combination of bipolar, paranoia, OCD, psychosis, etc. All of them have been way more dynamic than him. I believe we definitely know that, when found, he wasn't taking any prescriptions, just 2 regular things for his knees. Nobody seeing him has said he was taking further meds either.

4) If he was trying to give a guilt trip to anyone, he would have left ID or a note saying who he was. If he was making a point about global warming by starving himself, he would have left a note to say so. What possible motive could someone have for slowly and painfully killing themself's (themselves'?!!) by starvation? Felt he did something bad? That's probably the only one and doesn't seem likely.

5) I'm not sure we can say he purposely eradicated anything that would say who he was because we don't seem to be sure of whether he had ID up until a certain point when it could have been lost, damaged or stolen. He could have leaned over his fire and dropped his ID in it. We don't know. He could have lost his map too btw!

I'm not saying some other theories couldn't be possible but, I think the odds say by far, this is probably who he was. The ONLY thing about him that I consider unusual is the way he died.

This has led me to speculate that he may have had something happened to him where he was still "alive", as in heart function and breathing, but was basically immobile and/or in vegetative state, which eventually led to starvation. He was lying on his back cringing and trying his hardest to get up and leave the tent, with his eyes focused on the exiting flaps.

It is really hard to fully buy into this speculation with the autopsy report not showing any signs of heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, or tetanus.

If I didn't know any better, I would say the he was (literally) scared to death. The look on his face and his body position make it look like he encountered a terrifying animal/creature/cryptoid.

I am about to say something that I consider a far-fetched theory......is there any way he could have been the victim of smoke inhalation? If so, it may not have killed him immediately, but him into a coma and caused him to starve. It could account for the lack of evidence in the autopsy (assuming he was in a coma long enough to have different chemicals run their course through his body, I am certainly no scientist and I have no idea if that is even possible, mere speculation on my part). It could explain why he was in his tent. If he was awoken to a massive amount of smoke, he may have tried to leave the tent, but could not see and was choking, etc. He then re-entered the tent hoping it would keep the smoke out. Once again, highly far-fetched theory on my part.

 

[GatorFL]

This has led me to speculate that he may have had something happened to him where he was still "alive", as in heart function and breathing, but was basically immobile and/or in vegetative state, which eventually led to starvation. He was lying on his back cringing and trying his hardest to get up and leave the tent, with his eyes focused on the exiting flaps.

It is really hard to fully buy into this speculation with the autopsy report not showing any signs of heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, or tetanus.

If I didn't know any better, I would say the he was (literally) scared to death. The look on his face and his body position make it look like he encountered a terrifying animal/creature/cryptoid.

I am about to say something that I consider a far-fetched theory......is there any way he could have been the victim of smoke inhalation? If so, it may not have killed him immediately, but him into a coma and caused him to starve. It could account for the lack of evidence in the autopsy (assuming he was in a coma long enough to have different chemicals run their course through his body, I am certainly no scientist and I have no idea if that is even possible, mere speculation on my part). It could explain why he was in his tent. If he was awoken to a massive amount of smoke, he may have tried to leave the tent, but could not see and was choking, etc. He then re-entered the tent hoping it would keep the smoke out. Once again, highly far-fetched theory on my part.

You would think if he had been in a coma he would not have a full bladder or colon. In other words, he was eating and drinking hours before he died.

There are dangerous animals at Nobles Camp, alligators and bears. I've seen videos of both, at the camp. Also nearby are Florida Panthers. I live near a wildlife sanctuary where they have two in captivity and I would never want to tangle with one in the wild.

 

[GatorFL]

View attachment 258254
I plan on hiking out there this Saturday, weather permitting.

I couldn't go today. My hiking partner canceled on me last night and I don't want to make the hike alone. I can try again in 2 weeks.

 

[lonewanderer]

You would think if he had been in a coma he would not have a full bladder or colon. In other words, he was eating and drinking hours before he died.

There are dangerous animals at Nobles Camp, alligators and bears. I've seen videos of both, at the camp. Also nearby are Florida Panthers. I live near a wildlife sanctuary where they have two in captivity and I would never want to tangle with one in the wild.

This is also how I think. Though in some earlier posts from other users, and some health websites claim, that when a person's body knows that it is slowly dying the organs will slowly stop working. These claims state that people in hospice care often start having problems urinating and defecating in days leading up to their death.

This whole case is just super hard!

 

[gfinale]

He had good gear before he bought the tent. I think his pack is a Deuter, it looks like one. Really good large pack. The Sawyer is the top of the line water filter. His shoes were also pretty high end. We can't assume that whatever he was using beforehand wasn't good as well.

Good point, Gator. I think we can almost assume he started out with none of that though. If we are to believe he was wearing jeans for a while. No?