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

[gfinale]

He had food in his possession. He was on a well marked trail after having hiked 1200 miles from NY to South FL. No way he was lost. He knew how to read trails. Nobles Camp is 100 yards off an old road which is 5 miles away from a rest stop on I-75 where there is help, food and shelter. That is the easiest hiking anybody can do.

It is said people did see his tent at Nobles before he died but they did not disturb him. He could have asked anybody coming across the camp for help. He could have moved 100 yards at a time over a number of days and made the rest area. Even a rudimentary map would have shown him he did not have far to go.

Lost, not moving far, etc. doesn't make sense. He was manic somehow and chose to avoid contact and to wither away there. That makes sense. Although we will never know for sure.

Can you provide some sources for what you are saying here. I'm not saying it's false but I do think there are some assumptions. I've read a fair amount and have not encountered some of what you are saying. Where does it say he had enough food in his possession? Where is the actual map he had that shows the rest stop or where does it say he had a map that showed a rest stop where you are saying? Where does it say he was manic? I have read nothing that says he had any kind of mental health issue.

 

[gfinale]

Exactly. He chose to use an alias and to stick to himself. And he did that for a long time. The question is WHY? We all want that answer. What was he running from? A broken heart? A crime? Running from all responsibility?

Not to imply he was involved in bad stuff but, if it was anything official he was hiding or running from, would we not have heard from those people involved? I read his friends put his stuff in storage. Who put it in storage and how long did they pay? How did he know that and why was he not involved? If my friend asks me to put his stuff in storage, my first question is why can't you help do it?! In fact, if they did it for him, it sounds like he needed to leave in a hurry. Who continued paying for the storage? Did they never get the clue he had disappeared when the storage place wanted payment? So, I don't get the storage part and how those friends would not end up knowing something was wrong with him.

 

[gfinale]

This article here paints a different picture of the FT as a very challenging trail. It says sometimes there are controlled burns that destroy the markers and only gps can lead you through. Contrary to the thought about it being easy, others have got lost. There are swamps, dangerous animals and you run out of water quick. Most people don't hike it in the summer which could explain why nobody saw him in his last months. He shouldn't have been hiking it either and, especially, alone. I don't think we can assume all of what the inexperienced hiker, MH, may have encountered. I know there is a sickness you catch from bad water that's fairly common and can take weeks before you feel better. He could have even got a flu that made him sick for weeks and not eating. What I'm saying mostly is I think it's important to explore all the possibilities instead of assuming one knows when they can't possibly know for sure.

The 'Florida Man' of Thru-Hikes

 

[MadMcGoo]

I applaud the amount of time and effort she’s put into getting Denim’s information out there to the public!

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/crime/2020/07/23/two-years-later-deceased-hiker-mostly-harmless-found-collier-still-unidentified/5480540002/

...Spires created a Facebook group dedicated to identifying Mostly Harmless, which now has about 400 members. She spends several hours every day working on solving the case.

“We all have our own little methods and we just do what we can,” Spires said. “I share his flyer and I pick a state, it’s not very efficient and it's very time consuming, but I pick a state and I work through that state."

Spires will break each state down by county and post a flyer with information about Mostly Harmless in two groups from each county on social media then share the information with every newspaper, TV station and law enforcement agency in the state.

Her goal is to reach as many people who have not heard about the case as possible. The photos of Mostly Harmless are what have captured the attention of so many people who never met him, she said....

 

[rainwaterstill]

Up thread and back a few pages, a few people were discussing RHABDO and some one asked if people die from RHABDO. The short answer is Yes, if it is not treated promptly. My fit as a fiddle physically active child came close to dying a few years ago from it. His case was brought on by extreme physical exertion during a military training exercise. Luckily, the people in charge of the exercise recognized the symptoms and rushed him to the ER. He spent a week in the hospital hooked up to IV fluids. The way he explained it to me was that the nervous system goes into overdrive, causing paralysis, and then the vital organs begin shutting down because of the continual nonstop firing of neurons and the inability of the vital organs to function properly.
Rhabdomyolysis: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

If MH was not used to physical exertion, even after spending months on the trail, RHABDO would be a definite possibility.

 

[SweetClover]

This article here paints a different picture of the FT as a very challenging trail. It says sometimes there are controlled burns that destroy the markers and only gps can lead you through.

I stumbled across a trail diary from a FT hiker the other day that I read. (I can't remember the guy's trail name or I would link it!) He ran across lots of sections on the trail that were flooded, poorly marked, or incredibly un-maintained...and his hike was in the winter/early spring, which is more typical for the FT as opposed to the middle of summer when MH was there.

I've done a section hike on the AT, and while I would not at all claim to be experienced, I never once had any issue following the trail. There were a few places you could maybe start following a "ghost" trail (places where the trail was rerouted and the blaze was removed from the tree, but you can still sort of see it) but otherwise navigation wasn't much of a factor. Keep going north/south and know how many miles until the next watersource. (I recognize other parts of the AT may be very different!)

It seems to me that the FT is much more difficult than the AT, at least navigation and elements-wise. I don't know if MH actually did get lost or was unaware that he was so close to potential safety. But, I can't help but think that either the extreme conditions of the trail in the summer, or just suddenly not having any hiker bubbles around him, had something to do with his decline here as opposed to anywhere else he hiked.

 

[GatorFL]

Can you provide some sources for what you are saying here. I'm not saying it's false but I do think there are some assumptions. I've read a fair amount and have not encountered some of what you are saying. Where does it say he had enough food in his possession? Where is the actual map he had that shows the rest stop or where does it say he had a map that showed a rest stop where you are saying? Where does it say he was manic? I have read nothing that says he had any kind of mental health issue.

I've read that there was food in the tent. I'll have to ask the person that has the case file to repost it because I just looked and did not see it. We know he ate not too long before dying because he had a full colon.

We know he had a paper map, several of the hikers he spoke with talked about it. The man who printed the maps said he paid cash for them. CCSO confirmed and discussed that he was using a paper map on the podcast. And especially Kelly Fairbanks, who was concerned he was going to get lost with a map vs an app. In any case, he was camped just off a well marked trail (that was once a road) 5 miles from the Exit 63 rest area on I-75.

The mental health/ED is speculation based upon what happened to him. He was spotted in mid April, 5 miles north of Nobles, and he was headed south. Mike Gormley told him about the camp. For some reason, MH decided to camp there and it appears he never decamped. He was found dead there in late July.

 

[GatorFL]

Not to imply he was involved in bad stuff but, if it was anything official he was hiding or running from, would we not have heard from those people involved? I read his friends put his stuff in storage. Who put it in storage and how long did they pay? How did he know that and why was he not involved? If my friend asks me to put his stuff in storage, my first question is why can't you help do it?! In fact, if they did it for him, it sounds like he needed to leave in a hurry. Who continued paying for the storage? Did they never get the clue he had disappeared when the storage place wanted payment? So, I don't get the storage part and how those friends would not end up knowing something was wrong with him.

Nobody knows about the friends or stuff in storage. If we knew that, we would know his name, why he was hiking and perhaps why he died.

What we do know is others offered to lighten his pack by shipping his winter gear home. MH refused the help. I believe it was Mike Gormley who spoke about this on the podcast.

 

[GatorFL]

This article here paints a different picture of the FT as a very challenging trail. It says sometimes there are controlled burns that destroy the markers and only gps can lead you through. Contrary to the thought about it being easy, others have got lost. There are swamps, dangerous animals and you run out of water quick. Most people don't hike it in the summer which could explain why nobody saw him in his last months. He shouldn't have been hiking it either and, especially, alone. I don't think we can assume all of what the inexperienced hiker, MH, may have encountered. I know there is a sickness you catch from bad water that's fairly common and can take weeks before you feel better. He could have even got a flu that made him sick for weeks and not eating. What I'm saying mostly is I think it's important to explore all the possibilities instead of assuming one knows when they can't possibly know for sure.

The 'Florida Man' of Thru-Hikes

I am sure he had plenty of diversions on the trail, I know I do. It is easy to miss a blaze and then you look up and you realize you're on the wrong trail. You learn pretty quickly to backtrack. The two worst things to hike through are a swamp and then sugar sand. Incredibly taxing. Even more so in the summer. I see what you want to go with this but we know for sure that where he was, Nobles Camp, is just off a well marked trail that is only 5 miles from the Exit 63 Rest Area on I-75. After completing the AT, the Benton McKaye, the Pinhoti and the FT I would not consider him a novice hiker. Just the opposite. He had more trail miles than probably 95% of active hikers by the time he died.

On the FT you're hiking water source to water source. There are plenty of springs, ponds, streams and rivers though and if you have the right gear you can filter them and drink the water. We know he was obtaining water from a creek on the AT because there are statements about this from another hiker. And if he was at Nobles for 3 months, he had to be drinking from the freshwater pond there, that is the water source for that camp. I believe the illness you're speaking of is giardiasis. It dehydrates you and makes you have wet, runny diarrhea so I think we can rule that out based on the autopsy, since he had both a full bladder and formed feces. That would also be a simple thing to spot with a fecal sample. Flu doesn't last for weeks either.

 

[GatorFL]

I stumbled across a trail diary from a FT hiker the other day that I read. (I can't remember the guy's trail name or I would link it!) He ran across lots of sections on the trail that were flooded, poorly marked, or incredibly un-maintained...and his hike was in the winter/early spring, which is more typical for the FT as opposed to the middle of summer when MH was there.

I've done a section hike on the AT, and while I would not at all claim to be experienced, I never once had any issue following the trail. There were a few places you could maybe start following a "ghost" trail (places where the trail was rerouted and the blaze was removed from the tree, but you can still sort of see it) but otherwise navigation wasn't much of a factor. Keep going north/south and know how many miles until the next watersource. (I recognize other parts of the AT may be very different!)

It seems to me that the FT is much more difficult than the AT, at least navigation and elements-wise. I don't know if MH actually did get lost or was unaware that he was so close to potential safety. But, I can't help but think that either the extreme conditions of the trail in the summer, or just suddenly not having any hiker bubbles around him, had something to do with his decline here as opposed to anywhere else he hiked.

Meh, I think they're the same. Maybe said a better way, every trail has its plusses and minuses. The AT is a lot of elevation changes. FT has the swamps and sugar sand and the occasional burn area.

Most people thru hiking have some help. Families sending caches to trail angels or hostels so their hiker is resupplied. That is an interesting point, he seemed to be doing it without that kind of help.

I live in South FL, I pretty much stop hiking in April because it just gets too hot. Plus it is the rainy season. I start up again in November.

 

[SweetClover]

Meh, I think they're the same. Maybe said a better way, every trail has its plusses and minuses. The AT is a lot of elevation changes. FT has the swamps and sugar sand and the occasional burn area.

Most people thru hiking have some help. Families sending caches to trail angels or hostels so their hiker is resupplied. That is an interesting point, he seemed to be doing it without that kind of help.

I live in South FL, I pretty much stop hiking in April because it just gets too hot. Plus it is the rainy season. I start up again in November.

That's fair, I have little experience with Florida in general, let alone hiking it. I think I just automatically went heck-no at the swamps. I'll take the climbs. XD

My main question with MH is why he died *here*, of all the miles he hiked. But, even if we ever find out who he was, I suppose that's the part we will never truly know.

 

[Bellaplutt]

Just got signed up! Read about MH for the first time today and got sucked into the rabbit hole!

I was thinking his alias Bilemy might be a play on Emily, maybe his ex or sister or something? Emily B?

 

[Laughing]

Just got signed up! Read about MH for the first time today and got sucked into the rabbit hole!

I was thinking his alias Bilemy might be a play on Emily, maybe his ex or sister or something? Emily B?

Actually think you hit on something new!

Mom, sister, someone -- Emily B. or Emily Bea.

Sister, lover -- Ben (and B)Emily?

Glad the genetic genealogy is under way.

JMHO YMMV LRR

 

[Classito]

Couldn't find much on Michael Walters
5'9
Brown Hair
Blue eyes

MISSING PERSON - MICHAEL A. WALTERS

 

[gfinale]

I applaud the amount of time and effort she’s put into getting Denim’s information out there to the public!
https://www.naplesnews.com/story/ne...-found-collier-still-unidentified/5480540002/
Deceased hiker Mostly Harmless still unidentified: Unsolved mystery nameless man found Big Cypress National Preserve

...Spires created a Facebook group dedicated to identifying Mostly Harmless, which now has about 400 members. She spends several hours every day working on solving the case.

“We all have our own little methods and we just do what we can,” Spires said. “I share his flyer and I pick a state, it’s not very efficient and it's very time consuming, but I pick a state and I work through that state."

Spires will break each state down by county and post a flyer with information about Mostly Harmless in two groups from each county on social media then share the information with every newspaper, TV station and law enforcement agency in the state.

Her goal is to reach as many people who have not heard about the case as possible. The photos of Mostly Harmless are what have captured the attention of so many people who never met him, she said....

I work a totally different way and that's fine. I hone in on details. Her's is a breadth first search, mine is a depth first.

 

[gfinale]

Actually think you hit on something new!

Mom, sister, someone -- Emily B. or Emily Bea.

Sister, lover -- Ben (and B)Emily?

Glad the genetic genealogy is under way.

JMHO YMMV LRR

Who knows.

 

[j_in_c]

Couldn't find much on Michael Walters
5'9
Brown Hair
Blue eyes
View attachment 256850
MISSING PERSON - MICHAEL A. WALTERS

I think since Ben B's first sightings are on the trail in summer 2017 and his last seen is 9/24/2017, doesn't seem a likely match (and a short time to go gray!)

 

[GatorFL]

Couldn't find much on Michael Walters
5'9
Brown Hair
Blue eyes
View attachment 256850
MISSING PERSON - MICHAEL A. WALTERS

Dates are wrong. MH started hiking in April 2017. He was also accounted for in June 2017.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I work a totally different way and that's fine. I hone in on details. Her's is a breadth first search, mine is a depth first.

It takes all kinds of kinds! And I’m super thankful for all of them!

 

[GatorFL]

I went back and read some of the other hikers accounts of meeting him. Magpie who ran into him 4 times, confirmed he was filtering his water. This is obvious, he would have gotten sick far before SWFL if he was not filtering his water.