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

[branmuffin]

@gfinale - please check your Websleuths inbox. I sent you a message many days ago, with the screenshot attached.

@branmuffin - amazingly, this exchange between the two sets of hikers, I realize, has been talked about on this thread for nearly two years. I feel a little embarrassed about not realizing this before, but the thread is huge. Their names and their comments were posted two years ago - I realized I myself was not doing enough due-diligence and am going back to re-read everything in the entire thread carefully. If you go back to the original Websleuths thread, Pt 1, both hikers are named in August 2018 and it is the same information as stated above. AC was there June 1-2 and he shot the video. And his friend JS commented on AC's news, stating that he, too, was at Nobles on July 3, and also saw the tent, tried to make contact, and upon failing, left "trail magic water" on the sign. Unfortunately nothing new from either of them, since then.

Thank you. I'll go back and review that thread. Lots of water under the bridge since then. I've been going backwards starting with #4 and now #3 thread and didn't really see any reference to JS. I know it's WS rules to use initials but sometimes for people who've been on this thread a long time, you're not likely to remember the reference. Thanks again.

 

[wardo27]

Thank you. I'll go back and review that thread. Lots of water under the bridge since then. I've been going backwards starting with #4 and now #3 thread and didn't really see any reference to JS. I know it's WS rules to use initials but sometimes for people who've been on this thread a long time, you're not likely to remember the reference. Thanks again.

Of course! As I go through the entire thread, I am taking some notes on some curious/interesting things and will report back if they still seem relevant

 

[gfinale]

Who is JS, what's their full name?

I know who JS is now

 

[gfinale]

@gfinale - please check your Websleuths inbox. I sent you a message many days ago, with the screenshot attached.

@branmuffin - amazingly, this exchange between the two sets of hikers, I realize, has been talked about on this thread for nearly two years. I feel a little embarrassed about not realizing this before, but the thread is huge. Their names and their comments were posted two years ago - I realized I myself was not doing enough due-diligence and am going back to re-read everything in the entire thread carefully. If you go back to the original Websleuths thread, Pt 1, both hikers are named in August 2018 and it is the same information as stated above. AC was there June 1-2 and he shot the video. And his friend JS commented on AC's news, stating that he, too, was at Nobles on July 3, and also saw the tent, tried to make contact, and upon failing, left "trail magic water" on the sign. Unfortunately nothing new from either of them, since then.

Thanks for sending, wardo. Also thanks for clearing up that AC and JS confusion once and for all for all of us. As I said in another post, it could be very important because it says he was probably there the entire time as opposed to hiking to Key West then returning.

 

[youcancallmeal]

It seems he has things missing including his watch, wallet and a credit card which was seen by a couple hikers at one point in time. Did he ditch them?

 

[CCJD]

It seems he has things missing including his watch, wallet and a credit card which was seen by a couple hikers at one point in time. Did he ditch them?

bbm

Given MH's penchant for anonymity, I'd bet it wasn't a regular credit card but a prepaid card. He likely paid cash for it since many (smart) retailers will only accept cash to purchase one to avoid fraud.

 

[K9Enzo]

If only BMV's had fancy face recognition software to run his pic through their data base. I'm sure he had a valid drivers license or state id in some state. IMO

 

[Canaille]

I’m originally from Louisiana. It’s driving me crazy that he looks familiar to me. So I started thinking about him telling others he was originally from Baton Rouge. Lots of time when I’ve chatted with people and when they find out I’m from Louisiana, they might ask me what part. I’ll answer and if they’re not familiar they will ask where about is the city located. Now I’m wondering if he was actually from a smaller unknown city or town and just said BR to make it easier and not have to try to explain where a smaller town is. He could’ve also moved to BR to go to LSU and stayed there for some time after graduating, before moving to NY.

 

[iluvmua]

Did other people see/ interactive with MH after the April photo?

 

[Laura Avery]

Good Evening/Morning all. Namus has been playing up for a few days with updates and people , even logging in . But seems to be working again. If you haven't seen it there has been another rule out Daniel Newville Kandiyohi MN
out The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[gfinale]

It seems he has things missing including his watch, wallet and a credit card which was seen by a couple hikers at one point in time. Did he ditch them?

Good question that hasn't been answered. Another way to put it is was he found with them. Also, his FT map. If his map was found, I'd like to see what was marked on it too.

 

[carbuff]

I’m originally from Louisiana. It’s driving me crazy that he looks familiar to me. So I started thinking about him telling others he was originally from Baton Rouge. Lots of time when I’ve chatted with people and when they find out I’m from Louisiana, they might ask me what part. I’ll answer and if they’re not familiar they will ask where about is the city located. Now I’m wondering if he was actually from a smaller unknown city or town and just said BR to make it easier and not have to try to explain where a smaller town is. He could’ve also moved to BR to go to LSU and stayed there for some time after graduating, before moving to NY.

LSU is a good possibility. I didn't realize it was in Baton Rouge.

 

[GatorFL]

LSU is a good possibility. I didn't realize it was in Baton Rouge.

That's about all there is in Baton Rouge. Fantastic place to watch a football game.

The LSU angle is interesting. It's a huge school. Still, you would think if an alum went missing, someone would be looking for him. But maybe not in the hiking community, or South FL. When you go off the grid and your digital footprint stops, and you're a long way from home and former home, I guess it can be easy.

We're a couple weeks into Othram working now. I wonder if they are getting any interesting familial hits yet?

 

[carbuff]

That's about all there is in Baton Rouge. Fantastic place to watch a football game.

The LSU angle is interesting. It's a huge school. Still, you would think if an alum went missing, someone would be looking for him. But maybe not in the hiking community, or South FL. When you go off the grid and your digital footprint stops, and you're a long way from home and former home, I guess it can be easy.

We're a couple weeks into Othram working now. I wonder if they are getting any interesting familial hits yet?

And it would have been quite a few years since he was a student, if indeed he was a student.

Wish I knew more about genealogical research...

 

[Canaille]

LSU is a good possibility. I didn't realize it was in Baton Rouge.

It's the little things like this that make my day.

And it would have been quite a few years since he was a student, if indeed he was a student.

Wish I knew more about genealogical research...

I know, I’m dying to know if he’s got some “Cajun” in him. Gosh he looks so familiar and its going to drive me nuts! I’ve been mentally combing former co workers in that IT department we had. I can only come up with three people who worked there for a short time and none are him. Guess I need find office party pics to see if anyone like him is in there

 

[branmuffin]

I'm still wading through the first thread. It's been a while since I did that and in the interim I realized things I read before didn't have an impact on me that it does now.

Just a few revelations. It was established early on that the backpack MH was carrying was a Gregory, yet I forgot and I guess others did too, since we've discussed it again fairly recently and believe we thought it was another brand. Another thing that made more of an impact on me was many posts from @RickshawFan who is a regular hiker and how he pretty well dismissed the idea that MH staying in a campground for several weeks (in NY state) doesn't necessarily follow that the individual was homeless, that many times, RickshawFan regularly camped in a park when he was on a business trip and left the restroom wearing a suit!

Refreshing my memory about Unionville NY and Bear Mountain State Park in NY makes it quite feasible that MH may have worked in NYC but it's just as likely he could have lived in NJ as much as Brooklyn. I've been to NYC so many times and landed in NJ and took the subway like commuters(or as my friend called them 'tunnel people').

Rereading reminded me that there is NO record of him being in TN or NC which begs the question was he thru-hiking or section hiking and where was he if he went off trail?

For newcomers to the site, it's a good idea to go back through Thread #1 post 336 to see the rule outs from Namus. So all you newbies who suggest Robert Wayne Roush or Glen Oldfield, it ain't them. I presume LE has much better processes to access any and all MP's from each state than we could possibly have.

Also, I was going through the whole anagram thing with the name Ben Bilemy, again. I truly believe his real first name was Ben; many people who adopt aliases retain some portion of their real identities. It's a little awkward if someone is yelling, "Ben! Ben!" and you don't answer because your real name is Matthew or Steven or something. Anyway, I was messing around with the name again and came up with Bemily. I looked on Google and there was some show on tv about kids who sign on for travel on large sailing crafts and one of the episodes was 'Bemily' relating to a romance between a couple of deck hands, Ben and Emily. It reminded me of the whole Bennifer (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez or Brangelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) and was wondering if it was a wry reference to his now ex-girlfriend Emily. Clutching at straws here. I am in no way suggesting MH is the male half of the couple on the boat, however.

Unfortunately, I still haven't found any reference to JS. I would like to know what discussion referenced this source and whether it is legitimate. It would be nice if we can all share legitimate information.

Re-reading my comment it might have come across as not compassionate or missing the mark. That was not my intent. I thought about LE moving items around in his tent to search but I don't think that accounts for all of it. I also think they took pics before touching anything. My comment about his tent not being tidy is because I do think he was suffering both physically and mentally. The condition of the inside of his tent is telling. To a degree, I think that's a given with the state he was found in. I'm not sure what one's body & mind does when it starts to shutdown from starvation. Some people who are suffering from severe hypothermia will all of a sudden start to feel very hot, overheated. Some will even undress - paradoxical undressing. While this was not the environment MH was in, the mind, IMO, is fascinating while under extreme stress. Did he experience hallucinations? That whole scene where he was found just screams bad energy to me and I believe he suffered greatly. IMO.

I understand where you are coming from, so I apologize. I also believe he suffered greatly and perhaps more so, if he was aware that people who could have saved him were so close but he was unable to muster the energy to attract them. I've read a few posts of hikers who say they always respect a hiker's privacy and would never open or peer into a tent. Based on what I've seen of people dying of old age or terminal illnesses, though, most of them are really not aware of their surroundings or circumstances at that late stage of starvation.

If you haven't established that he wasn't in the army then you're behind. It's pretty obvious so, yes, I assume you would know that. I wouldn't call it musings, I would call it logic, reason, deduction and sometimes a heavily leaning probability that leads me to find people. You can go about whatever though.

I wasn't referring to him not being in the army. It's obvious he wasn't in the army. Fingerprints, etc. That's based on logic reason, deduction and probability. I was referring to the rest of your comment which is opinion. I just happen to have an opinion that doesn't reflect yours. That's all.

 

[wardo27]

I'm still wading through the first thread. It's been a while since I did that and in the interim I realized things I read before didn't have an impact on me that it does now.

Just a few revelations. It was established early on that the backpack MH was carrying was a Gregory, yet I forgot and I guess others did too, since we've discussed it again fairly recently and believe we thought it was another brand. Another thing that made more of an impact on me was many posts from @RickshawFan who is a regular hiker and how he pretty well dismissed the idea that MH staying in a campground for several weeks (in NY state) doesn't necessarily follow that the individual was homeless, that many times, RickshawFan regularly camped in a park when he was on a business trip and left the restroom wearing a suit!

I agree - I've been going through the entire thread as well (a "Gregory Stout" apparently!) By Thread 2, things get more solipsistic, as there just isn't any or much new information prior to the release of the autopsy and the code books.

My thoughts: 1) with head hung down, I have to admit that pretty much everything we've been pondering has already been discussed or at least broached, pre-autopsy, so I agree, it's well worth re-reading. 2) @moonriverfarm @Laughing @carbuff have been on it since the very beginning, and @UnlicensedPI 's posts have been really great. 3) there are many people who look like other people. I tend to agree with @UnlicensedPI who said that, in a nutshell, there are so many photos of this guy, when we see a photo of someone who might be him we won't be on the fence; it'll be more like 'bingo.'

Within the first month of the thread, there are many comments from other sites being re-posted, fast and furious. Some are exactly what we know from first-hand accounts, some are misleading or incorrect sightings, and some of those aren't followed up on. Some are question marks.

For example (yes, some of these are indeed repeats, I am just stating what stood out to me):

It was stated that he "worked for lodging in at least one location." No idea about the proof of that one. By February 2019, it was being discussed as dubious but I haven't seen it thrown out at all.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy recommended $1,000 per month in expenses to hike the trail. Thus, the amount of money on his person could not be considered abnormal. What's unusual was that it was all in cash.

Agreed, re: @branmuffin 's takeaway about homelessness, but there were others who indicated that they took offense to the term itself, because it could all have been a temporary time in-between places to live.

News outlets reported he had clean clothes on him, stated one commenter.

It took about 7 months to confirm from law enforcement that his backpack was found with him - it just wasn't listed in the original count of his belongings.

According to CC police, the Lake George connection came from another hiker.

Yes, it is confusing: the autopsy said "cachexia" but the coroner said "starvation."

When asked about the comment/idea that MH may have had a terminal illness and wanted to do the hike "while he still could," Obsidian said that didn't sound like him at all.

Overall, I am certainly humbled by the sheer amount of work that many put into the thread. And my favorite post is, for its poetics, this one below:

FL - FL - Big Cypress National Preserve, Male hiker, "Denim" and "Mostly Harmless", 23 July 2018

 

[iluvmua]

Did MH ever discuss his religious beliefs?

 

[GatorFL]

I agree - I've been going through the entire thread as well (a "Gregory Stout" apparently!) By Thread 2, things get more solipsistic, as there just isn't any or much new information prior to the release of the autopsy and the code books.

My thoughts: 1) with head hung down, I have to admit that pretty much everything we've been pondering has already been discussed or at least broached, pre-autopsy, so I agree, it's well worth re-reading. 2) @moonriverfarm @Laughing @carbuff have been on it since the very beginning, and @UnlicensedPI 's posts have been really great. 3) there are many people who look like other people. I tend to agree with @UnlicensedPI who said that, in a nutshell, there are so many photos of this guy, when we see a photo of someone who might be him we won't be on the fence; it'll be more like 'bingo.'

Within the first month of the thread, there are many comments from other sites being re-posted, fast and furious. Some are exactly what we know from first-hand accounts, some are misleading or incorrect sightings, and some of those aren't followed up on. Some are question marks.

For example (yes, some of these are indeed repeats, I am just stating what stood out to me):

It was stated that he "worked for lodging in at least one location." No idea about the proof of that one. By February 2019, it was being discussed as dubious but I haven't seen it thrown out at all.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy recommended $1,000 per month in expenses to hike the trail. Thus, the amount of money on his person could not be considered abnormal. What's unusual was that it was all in cash.

Agreed, re: @branmuffin 's takeaway about homelessness, but there were others who indicated that they took offense to the term itself, because it could all have been a temporary time in-between places to live.

News outlets reported he had clean clothes on him, stated one commenter.

It took about 7 months to confirm from law enforcement that his backpack was found with him - it just wasn't listed in the original count of his belongings.

According to CC police, the Lake George connection came from another hiker.

Yes, it is confusing: the autopsy said "cachexia" but the coroner said "starvation."

When asked about the comment/idea that MH may have had a terminal illness and wanted to do the hike "while he still could," Obsidian said that didn't sound like him at all.

Overall, I am certainly humbled by the sheer amount of work that many put into the thread. And my favorite post is, for its poetics, this one below:

FL - FL - Big Cypress National Preserve, Male hiker, "Denim" and "Mostly Harmless", 23 July 2018

Regarding the cachexia, the Collier County ME noted cachexia. @Narkj (IIRC) sent the autopsy to Dr Cyril Wecht who said MH obviously died from starvation.

 

[branmuffin]

I wonder if there would be any value in attempting a second autopsy. Maybe reviewing organ samples or extracting tissue for DNA analysis to discover any difficult-to-detect diseases or illnesses. It was obvious he had knee problems but there was no mention of deterioration of the knee joints on the AR.

I remember reading years ago that Curt Cobain was convinced he had some kind of illness like cancer since he talked about constant stomach pain he had, yet on autopsy there was no indication that he had any type of illness like cancer, Crohn's, ulcers, etc. It must have just been stress related.