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

[PatLaurel]

That can be good and bad...hahaha! I've solved many cases, almost every one I've ever worked on but never in a public place, working with others I actually own a version of that computer called the ZX81 with expansion memory but I'd have to dig it out

Update: I actually found a ZX Spectrum emulator, downloaded the game and am running it now. I figure if it uses the same info in same ways as his notes then there could be something.

Update 2: Unfortunately, nothing in that program looks familiar in his notes.

I always look for the positives! Even if your dedication doesn't result in success you should always feel proud of yourself and of all the work you have done.

I still own my 48k from back in the day... i just can't remember how to work with it! I'm glad you found the emulator, too bad it wasn't of much help though...

And... Congrats on all the cases you have solved!!!

 

[gfinale]

I always look for the positives! Even if your dedication doesn't result in success you should always feel proud of yourself and of all the work you have done.

I still own my 48k from back in the day... i just can't remember how to work with it! I'm glad you found the emulator, too bad it wasn't of much help though...

And... Congrats on all the cases you have solved!!!

Cool about computer! It's all good because we basically ruled it out and realized it's probably his glitch in writing nutrition. All my cases have been missing, adopted or just lost relationship for many years. Never done one where the person is known dead but unidentified.

 

[gfinale]

It starts to get hot in late March. He was already late in getting to South FL when Mike Gormley saw him in mid-April. Hiking activity really tapers off after March. It does not start up again until late October in Central FL. Down here, November.

I also find it odd there are no reports of him at Nobles until early July. I believe people did encounter him but are not aware of the significance of the encounter.

Also odd, I wonder if the rest area was ever searched for signs of him? I bet there is video there. Did he ever wander down to the rest stop? He had to have been resupplied somehow because there is no way he packed in 3 months of food. Even though he was starving. I'll guess they did search and nothing turned up, either because the video had taped over or there were no cameras that could spot him.

Well, this is important :O So, we can see why he wouldn't have moved far between when he saw Mike and where he was found. Maybe it was mostly day hikers not involved in much hiking that didn't notice him between Apr and July. Maybe it's the long time hikers, thru-hikers and trail angels who notice, respond and remember but they're the exact ones who wouldn't be there for those few months He didn't seem in a hurry so maybe he just figured he'd camp for a few months and resume when the weather was more agreeable.

 

[GatorFL]

Well, this is important :O So, we can see why he wouldn't have moved far between when he saw Mike and where he was found. Maybe it was mostly day hikers not involved in much hiking that didn't notice him between Apr and July. Maybe it's the long time hikers, thru-hikers and trail angels who notice, respond and remember but they're the exact ones who wouldn't be there for those few months He didn't seem in a hurry so maybe he just figured he'd camp for a few months and resume when the weather was more agreeable.

The other thought about his time in Nobles is trail maintenance. I am an FTA member and I have been getting invites to do trail maintenance all summer long. I have not done it, but they do a lot of volunteer work along the trails when it is not hiking season. I feel like they could have done some maintenance there. No real way to check though.

 

[gfinale]

The other thought about his time in Nobles is trail maintenance. I am an FTA member and I have been getting invites to do trail maintenance all summer long. I have not done it, but they do a lot of volunteer work along the trails when it is not hiking season. I feel like they could have done some maintenance there. No real way to check though.

Is there no way to check? Would they not track what needed the most maintenance and what had work done thereby knowing what else needed work? Maybe I should call or write them. We may find them or some of their volunteers may have encountered him or his tent at various times either at Nobles Camp or elsewhere :O Imagine finding out there was no yellow tent there in the last week of June but there was one near the end of the FT at that time!

 

[GatorFL]

Is there no way to check? Would they not track what needed the most maintenance and what had work done thereby knowing what else needed work? Maybe I should call or write them. We may find them or some of their volunteers may have encountered him or his tent at various times either at Nobles Camp or elsewhere :O Imagine finding out there was no yellow tent there in the last week of June but there was one near the end of the FT at that time!

I'm not sure how to. I am in a different region I think because I have never seen a hike or maintenance invite south of Palm Beach County.

 

[branmuffin]

I'm not sure how to. I am in a different region I think because I have never seen a hike or maintenance invite south of Palm Beach County.

If the trails have regular park rangers checking the trails wouldn't someone have noticed his tent there for such a long time and investigated? You'd think a single tent there for so long would have raised some red flags for LE since foul play could have been in play.

 

[GatorFL]

If the trails have regular park rangers checking the trails wouldn't someone have noticed his tent there for such a long time and investigated? You'd think a single tent there for so long would have raised some red flags for LE since foul play could have been in play.

To be honest I am not sure. It is not a paid site so I don't think they would have any grounds to investigate. And I am not sure how often rangers go through there. It could be months.

 

[Ursamajr]

On the nutrition and protein bars: it doesn’t say Nutrigain or something like that - it says Nutrion, he misspelled nutrition throughout his notebook in that way

Could also be possible that he was considering naming the food (protein bar?) he was designing - Nutrion.

 

[gfinale]

I'm not sure how to. I am in a different region I think because I have never seen a hike or maintenance invite south of Palm Beach County.

A letter has been sent to FTA asking if they can spread it around in the hopes that anybody there may have seen him or the tent while doing maintenance or whatever. Hopefully they can help and, if not, maybe they refer us to some other places that can

 

[moonriverfarm]

I would love to hear from the person who said the tent was there July 3.

 

[gfinale]

Could also be possible that he was considering naming the food (protein bar?) he was designing - Nutrion.

I'm fairly certain he was writing down the nutrition of various bars/wafers from a certain company. They have regular, high protein, extra high protein, no fat, energy, etc. I have found comparable bars but none have the exact numbers he wrote down. This is all he wrote down, not ingredients, how to make them or anything. At the top, I believe he has written down what his daily intake needs to be and he's trying to figure out what that means in terms of each of the bars.

 

[Valiant]

What if his reason for only eating the pizza crust was something relatively benign, like being lactose intolerant? I imagine he probably didn't run across much dairy while hiking.

 

[wardo27]

I would love to hear from the person who said the tent was there July 3.

Let me know if you all can corroborate or add additional info as I culled this information from several sources:

As far as I can tell, there are two accounts of two separate sets of hikers at Nobles after April 15, and who interacted with MH's tent. This information has been posted on multiple sites, and the screenshots of their accounts seem legit.

One hiker (who posted the video of the Nobles journey referenced earlier in the thread) stated that he was there in early June/July (there seems to be a discrepancy here), they saw MH's tent, approached it, there was no response. MH's tent does not appear in the video, but the indication is that it was there, at that time. Another couple of hikers who popped by Nobles on July 3rd, shouted out at the tent to make themselves known, but also received no response. They "thought he was tired" and perhaps "night hiking" and so they didn't bother him, but left him some "trail magic water on the camp sign post." I've not heard anything more from these hikers, or any additional detail.

 

[Bellaplutt]

I've analysed section 3. Balanced Nutritional Foods more and believe the figures at the top of 3-1 are his overall daily targets for himself. For instance, Carbohydrates 300g. Other than that info such as carbs, protein, sugar, etc., one of the only further notes is "No allergens, minimal ingredients, natural ingredients". This sounds like someone who has lots of sensitivities. Possibly stomach and digestion problems. Could be related to stomach scar? Possibly, he didn't have an eating disorder but maybe he couldn't eat much or he got sick? Could that be why he didn't eat most of his pizza except some crust?

As someone with a degree in nutrition - the numbers of carbs, protein and fat intake is for an average person, would also suit someone of his build - however not enough for someone burning a lot of calories hiking!

And the no-allergen-part is pretty common these days when making a new food product as it makes it more sellable, more people can eat it!

 

[EricaJ4u2]

He did have flavors written down as well.

 

[gfinale]

What if his reason for only eating the pizza crust was something relatively benign, like being lactose intolerant? I imagine he probably didn't run across much dairy while hiking.

Why would he order it though because it seems no one else has pizza in front of them.

 

[gfinale]

Let me know if you all can corroborate or add additional info as I culled this information from several sources:

As far as I can tell, there are two accounts of two separate sets of hikers at Nobles after April 15, and who interacted with MH's tent. This information has been posted on multiple sites, and the screenshots of their accounts seem legit.

One hiker (who posted the video of the Nobles journey referenced earlier in the thread) stated that he was there in early June/July (there seems to be a discrepancy here), they saw MH's tent, approached it, there was no response. MH's tent does not appear in the video, but the indication is that it was there, at that time. Another couple of hikers who popped by Nobles on July 3rd, shouted out at the tent to make themselves known, but also received no response. They "thought he was tired" and perhaps "night hiking" and so they didn't bother him, but left him some "trail magic water on the camp sign post." I've not heard anything more from these hikers, or any additional detail.

I am not aware of 2 sets of hikers around those times, just the ones on July 3, 2018 and then there were the two who found him on July 23, 2018. Can you provide more info or links about these additional hikers? Are you sure the 2 sets of hikers are not actually the same ones? To my understanding, the ones making the video left him water in the morning.

 

[Ursamajr]

Why would he order it though because it seems no one else has pizza in front of them.

@Valiant has a valid point too - he could be lactose intolerant (apparently 65% of the human population is!) and maybe he just wasn't feeling it that day. My favorite part of pizza is the crust. Sometimes I wonder if he just ate it first. I know I've done that before.

 

[gfinale]

As someone with a degree in nutrition - the numbers of carbs, protein and fat intake is for an average person, would also suit someone of his build - however not enough for someone burning a lot of calories hiking!

And the no-allergen-part is pretty common these days when making a new food product as it makes it more sellable, more people can eat it!

I don't think he knew what he was doing but it appears he was a pretty independent person who tried to figure out things on him own...which I think is part of what may have led to his demise. He probably just looked up this is what someone about my height, weight and age needs and calculate, calculate....tada.