Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male Hiker, Denim & “Mostly Harmless” Jul'18 - Vance Rodriguez #5

[branmuffin]

It's over, everybody. We know who he is. Like most of us imagined all along, it just took the right person seeing the right photos/media and we have an Id. Expect an official announement soon. God bless all the thousands of people who took this case on. It pays off.

Thank you! A picture of a man grounded in a real life. Is that an arm I see wrapped around his?

 

[Susikatze]

Yes, this.

Well things like this could be accident related as well. But i am not commenting further, we know nothing about him, let alone his mental state.

Allow him to come home and his family to find closure.

 

[K9Enzo]

@Narkj Thank you for updating this group.

This is incredible. That's him.

Hopefully CCSO will release a statement soon.

 

[Laura Avery]

Looking at ancestry his Birthday is 25th Of February and well..
24-25 Feb 2018 – A camper (BV) met him at Sand Pond Campground is in Pine Log State Forest, in Ebro, FL. He left from there headed for the FL trail. He told BV he had been staying with his sister in Sarasota or Ft. Myers, FL and started in that area. He also talked to BV about some health problems and needed/wanted to do this trip while he still could.

Also as an odd coincidence pointed out on Reddit, he was 42 when he died (The meaning of life to Non Douglas Adams fans) , he also passed exactly two years to the day prior to His grandfather 23rd Of July.

 

[mp_1989]

Looking at ancestry his Birthday is 25th Of February and well..
24-25 Feb 2018 – A camper (BV) met him at Sand Pond Campground is in Pine Log State Forest, in Ebro, FL. He left from there headed for the FL trail. He told BV he had been staying with his sister in Sarasota or Ft. Myers, FL and started in that area. He also talked to BV about some health problems and needed/wanted to do this trip while he still could.

Also as an odd coincidence pointed out on Reddit, he was 42 when he died (The meaning of life to Non Douglas Adams fans) , he also passed exactly two years to the day prior to His grandfather 23rd Of July.

I find it weird that his sister isn't mentioned in the obit... Unless I've missed something

 

[Curious_in_NC]

He told BV he had been staying with his sister in Sarasota or Ft. Myers, FL and started in that area. RSBM

Wow, it's hard to believe this and other info was all there, but just not being seen by the right people. This is the case that brought me to Websleuths so it's strange to see it concluded. All I can say is that he seemed to be the type of person everyone he had met described, and there's no evidence anything he told other people wasn't true: Baton Rouge, Brooklyn, IT, a sister in FL, etc. A straight up guy. RIP.

 

[ballads1]

What was his name?? Do we know yet??

 

[coffeeandacig]

I feel a sadness with his identification. Almost as if he's just died, again.
RIP dear sweet man. Hope you know that thousands of strangers mourn your passing.

 

[elmomom]

What was his name?? Do we know yet??

It is out there, I believe it is against TOS to post it here until there is official confirmation though.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

Very sad for the family to be finding out a week from Christmas.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

It's over, everybody. We know who he is. Like most of us imagined all along, it just took the right person seeing the right photos/media and we have an Id. Expect an official announement soon. God bless all the thousands of people who took this case on. It pays off.

Yes, that's HIM! I had a feeling we'd have no doubt when we saw a photo. I'm so, so happy he has his real name back. My god, that's our guy. How lucky he is to be grieved by so many, even those of us who never knew him in life.

 

[wary]

What was his name?? Do we know yet??

At present this is still ‘unconfirmed rumor,’ though extremely believable—but not discussable, under WS terms of service. Do a Google search for “mostly harmless” and limit it to the last 24 hours. Answer will be right there.

 

[texasgirl2]

Amazing news! I'm so happy he got his name back.

Maybe 2020 wasn't so bad after all...

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Was it as assumed here, that his family wondered how he was doing out there, but he wasn't reported officially as a missing person? (That's fine. I'm just wondering.)

 

[K9Enzo]

Was it as assumed here, that his family wondered how he was doing out there, but he wasn't reported officially as a missing person? (That's fine. I'm just wondering.)

(IMO) Not sure yet, but I think it's a strong possibility he was never reported as a missing person. IIRC, CCSO said in their podcast they didn't believe he was a missing person either. Perhaps one of those people that was in and out of touch. I have a uncle like that.

 

[branmuffin]

Was it as assumed here, that his family wondered how he was doing out there, but he wasn't reported officially as a missing person? (That's fine. I'm just wondering.)

He seems like he came from a pretty big family. Big families can be close knit, messy or a combination of both.

I feel bad for his family. His death will seem like it came just before Christmas. I have to wonder though, what with Covid, if any family members tried to get in touch with him since New York was hit so hard.

 

[ilovepierre]

Wow! This is amazing news!

 

[KAE]

I saw this on social media last night. I commented that I hoped his name would be held back until his family could be notified properly. Within minutes his name was out there. My heart goes out to his family, friends and co-workers. I was also hoping Othram would be able to break the news, given all the work they put into this case. They can still confirm the ID though.
Feeling so very sad right now.

 

[Narkj]

I posted last night out of sheer shock. I haven't slept. After looking at a few thousand faces for the last 2 years, my brain became blurred almost and I started thinking "well sure, maybe that could be him"to a lot more faces than unusual. I tried to believe that when I finally saw him, I would know. That's what hapened last night. I screamed out loud at my dining room table and woke up my family. If any of the Mods want to remove the photo from my post, that's fine. I can't figure out how to do it myself. If you need to delete the whole post, that's fine too. It is him, and that will come out, eventually.

I've had to inform family members their loved ones died on a few rare occasions as a reporter and it's a grim task.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

The public knew his name before his immediate family was even notified of the possibility? If that's true, that's awful.
ETA: Because families deserve to be notified by law enforcement in a proper way.