Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male Hiker, Denim & “Mostly Harmless” July 2018 - Vance Rodriguez #2

[PropaneYeeter]

David Joseph Broad was added to his rule-out list on NamUs a couple of days back.

 

[Gardener1850]

You know, you're all going above and beyond to bring Mostly Harmless/Denim back to a home he chose to reject for his own whatever reasons. I appreciate the hard work by ALL.

Me, if I'm found on the trail dead, from natural reasons, I hope you never solve my mystery. But please feel free to try.

Respectfully, we don't know that he "rejected" any home. We don't know that he never planned to return or make contact with his family ever again. It is very common for hikers not to share their personal info with strangers they meet on the trail for security reasons. He reportedly left personal things in storage somewhere before his hike. Do you think he wanted his personal computer hard drives with his info on them sold? People he met said he acted like he had plans for the future when he finished his hike. He was writing code for a computer game he wanted to create and writing recipes for trail bars he wanted to invent. Do these sound like things a person who never planned to get back on the grid would dream about doing? He had plenty of paper but didn't leave any kind of note saying he knew he was dying nor did he ask not to be identified should something happen to him. That is your opinion based on what you say you would want if you died suddenly while hiking. There is no indication he even knew he was dying. Imagine this man was your son, brother, father or close friend- wouldn't you want to know what happened to him? He may have children somewhere that are growing up without knowing him. His family deserves to know what happened to him. MOO.

 

[Bit of hope]

You know, you're all going above and beyond to bring Mostly Harmless/Denim back to a home he chose to reject for his own whatever reasons. I appreciate the hard work by ALL.

Me, if I'm found on the trail dead, from natural reasons, I hope you never solve my mystery. But please feel free to try.

Ok....nothing wrong with feeling like this, for yourself.....you are entitled to...this is always a big dilemma. Wouldn't you want your loved ones to know, even if you lost track a long way ago? I sure hope he was happy doing what he did when he died, no remorse..being one with nature....Are you saying we should let go?

 

[Catmommy]

Ok....nothing wrong with feeling like this, for yourself.....you are entitled to...this is always a big dilemma. Wouldn't you want your loved ones to know, even if you lost track a long way ago? I sure hope he was happy doing what he did when he died, no remorse..being one with nature....Are you saying we should let go?

Not at all. Many of you are so totally invested in solving his mystery that I wish you luck. I was stating my opinion and my feeling, as usual. I appreciate that you all are trying to bring word of his demise to any possible survivors, I'm sure they'd appreciate that. All sorts of people choose to live outside what most of us consider normal. I think Denim did. Perhaps these were his final wishes, we'll never know, but it is possible that he hasn't been identified after all this time because he didn't want to be. That should be respected as well. Entirely my point of view only. Please carry on if that's how you are inclined.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

This is my first time ever posting here.. I have been searching many missing persons cases since I first heard of this case. I Found a case from 02 that looks a lot like him.. I showed my sister she just said I think that's him.

I don't think that they have any known samples from James himself. However my sister and myself both sent in samples of our DNA to use for a family match several years ago...

Thank you all. I sent them they link to Denims namus.

As unlikely as it may be, I am still wondering about James Thomas Wiggins.

Has anyone contacted the FACES Lab at LSU? I just noticed their website says there are no dental records available for James. The Doe Network says, “Available; Caps on upper front teeth,” as does The Charley Project (“Wiggins has caps on his front upper teeth”), but his NamUs profile doesn’t mention anything about his teeth.

If his dentals are indeed available for comparison, or the information about caps on the upper front teeth is accurate, he should be an easy rule-out, IMO (as a layperson).

James Thomas Wiggins - LA Repository for Unidentified & Missing People

The Doe Network: James Thomas Wiggins - 4484DMLA

James Thomas Wiggins – The Charley Project
http://charleyproject.org/case/james-thomas-wiggins
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[MadMcGoo]

AZ - Randy Parscale, 10, Oracle, 7 April 1979

 

[MaryFromFla]

Still think Blaine Hector is a good match not ruled out. Did some further digging on him. Hector has two kids if you combine some of the letters from each kiddos name you can get "Ben Bilemy" Never got any reply when submitted to l.e.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Still think Blaine Hector is a good match not ruled out. Did some further digging on him. Hector has two kids if you combine some of the letters from each kiddos name you can get "Ben Bilemy" Never got any reply when submitted to l.e.

FWIW, I agree Blaine looks like a good possibility! Especially if LE didn’t rule him out fairly quickly. JMO. I hadn’t seen him before now.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Blaine was an avid hiker/outdoorsman. That doesn't match up with MH.

IMO, we need to be thinking like detectives, not researchers. I don't think we're going to find him on a missing persons list. For example, he knew his way around a map but didn't know enough about hiking to know the very basic rule about appropriate clothing. Could this be because he played those kinds of video games, had a good sense of direction, or was involved in another activity during which he used this skill (aviation, treasure hunting, fishing, geocaching...)? We know he was a nerd (computer programmer who liked Doctor Who and probably Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), so maybe he went to Comic Con or hung out in a library. Maybe he was involved in another faction of that world, such as Magic the Gathering/DnD tournaments, or maybe he hung out in a library. Think about the things we do know about him and extrapolate possibilities from there.

Just my thoughts. I think we should focus on investigative paths instead of missing persons.

 

[SugarQueen]

@UnlicensedPI , I agree with everything you just said!
( I am still dealing with complications from a concussion. My thoughts can get a bit jumbled. )

Here’s where I am...

I believe he was in the tech field in NYC
I believe he started his hike around Bear Mtn.
I believe the Ben Bilemy name is from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.


I have the feeling he lived fairly close to his starting point. He may have done a large portion of his work from home. It’s easy to drive or catch the bus at Bear Mtn right to the city.
I think if we could find a way to get his poster out to:
Social media sites in the Bear Mtn area
Somehow spread it into the tech world in NYC
Hold on, just had a thought and if I don’t put it here now it will be lost in my head. What about stores that hold Magic, or D&D, or game tournaments? A lot of stores near me that carry the stuff host the games. Maybe we should try to spread his poster to those type of stores?
( sorry if I sound like I’m rambling.)

 

[UnlicensedPI]

@UnlicensedPI , I agree with everything you just said!
( I am still dealing with complications from a concussion. My thoughts can get a bit jumbled. )

Here’s where I am...

I believe he was in the tech field in NYC
I believe he started his hike around Bear Mtn.
I believe the Ben Bilemy name is from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.


I have the feeling he lived fairly close to his starting point. He may have done a large portion of his work from home. It’s easy to drive or catch the bus at Bear Mtn right to the city.
I think if we could find a way to get his poster out to:
Social media sites in the Bear Mtn area
Somehow spread it into the tech world in NYC
Hold on, just had a thought and if I don’t put it here now it will be lost in my head. What about stores that hold Magic, or D&D, or game tournaments? A lot of stores near me that carry the stuff host the games. Maybe we should try to spread his poster to those type of stores?
( sorry if I sound like I’m rambling.)

I agree, I think we should try to break some ground in the nerd world around New York. Lots of comic shops host tournaments and there are even some fantasy/game themed bars now. A lot of them have regular schedules (like MTG on Thursdays or something) so sending out flyers might be helpful

 

[SugarQueen]

Another thought....... it seems like tech/ gamer nerds are really getting into the brewery scene. Maybe we can try spreading his poster in that world too?

In my area the independent shops that seek the cards, and board games tend to have schedules like that. My son used to go weekly. The place he went has several specific game nights, plus does a generic play what you want night, and holds some video game tournaments. It’s a fairly small place that is packed every night.

 

[Bit of hope]

Maybe he was a white hat hacker, he had money, he was interested in ICT. "How much I make in one day, my friends make in one year," said Singh <one of the best white hat hacker of the world>
White hat hackers: Who are they and what do they do?
(or of course a gray or black hat hacker)

 

[coffeeandacig]

13 NYC gaming companies taking it to the next level
Probably a good place to start. It couldn't hurt to email them with MH's stats and story.

MMORPG online is a site for the gaming community, sort of an online magazine, and they have plenty of contacts. They have a general discussion forum, so I'll go ahead and post up asking for ID help.
MMORPG.com: Free MMO and MMORPG Games Reviews & News

 

[nannymo]

How expensive would a billboard be say on a major highway in Florida close to the trail where his sister might pass it and see his face?

Or one somewhere around New York?

Is that out of the question? I really don't know how much billboards run!

 

[SugarQueen]

Billboards are super expensive. Anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 depending on location and if they are digital.

 

[Gardener1850]

Billboards are super expensive. Anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 depending on location and if they are digital.

That's crazy! For less than half the cost of the cheapest billboard they could run his DNA with DNA Doe Project and probably solve this case in a matter of days or possible even hours. It's so frustrating that LE hasn't tried DNA Doe Project for this case. They even had one of DDP's founders posting on the Collier County FB page offering DDP's services. Denim has so many people online who want him to be identified and so many people he met along his journey that raising a couple thousand for the DNA sequencing would be a breeze. MOO.

 

[Bit of hope]

Blaine was an avid hiker/outdoorsman. That doesn't match up with MH.

IMO, we need to be thinking like detectives, not researchers. I don't think we're going to find him on a missing persons list. For example, he knew his way around a map but didn't know enough about hiking to know the very basic rule about appropriate clothing. Could this be because he played those kinds of video games, had a good sense of direction, or was involved in another activity during which he used this skill (aviation, treasure hunting, fishing, geocaching...)? We know he was a nerd (computer programmer who liked Doctor Who and probably Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), so maybe he went to Comic Con or hung out in a library. Maybe he was involved in another faction of that world, such as Magic the Gathering/DnD tournaments, or maybe he hung out in a library. Think about the things we do know about him and extrapolate possibilities from there.

Just my thoughts. I think we should focus on investigative paths instead of missing persons.

This makes some sense. But also is full of assumptions....not every computer programmer is a nerd (depending what you associate with that) Get the feel what you think his world would look like as a nerd....but it doesn't have to be....

 

[MaryFromFla]

Man, I agree with what was said about the basic hiking clothing thing. (bummer) The problem I run into with distributing pics up in Bear Mountain and even NY, is he did tell someone early on in the hike, that he has lost *significant weight before his hike. So what pics are available and there are a lot, can be *drastically different* than what people would/could recognize...

 

[UnlicensedPI]

This makes some sense. But also is full of assumptions....not every computer programmer is a nerd (depending what you associate with that) Get the feel what you think his world would look like as a nerd....but it doesn't have to be....

Hikers who met him reported he was a fan of Doctor Who and his name could be a reference to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I'm not pulling this out of thin air. Trust me, I've spent a lot of time in the nerd world and I know how much of it can cross over