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

[SugarQueen]

I received a reply from Unionville town hall. All a hiker needs to supply is their name and address.
I sent a second email explaining why I was asking, asking if they would have permit info from summer 2017, included the Ben Bilemy alias, and attached an early article showing LE was trying to ID him. I was sure to explain without ID family can’t be notified and he can’t be buried with his name. I asked for any help or suggestions she may have.
I also let her know that I owned property in town, and who I was since I have met her several times.
Hopefully she is curious enough to poke around if they still have the records.

 

[SugarQueen]

I am friendly with the wife of Unionville’s Mayor. If they indicate they have records from that summer I may be able to get a little assistance from the Mayor if absolutely necessary.

ETA: I’m going to guess he Used his alias for the permit but I’m hoping the address he used may give a clue.

 

[SugarQueen]

I don’t usually hang out in this part of the forum so this may be a complete waste of time. Lol. I just figured it was worth a try. Thanks for humoring me.

 

[Gardener1850]

I received a reply from Unionville town hall. All a hiker needs to supply is their name and address.
I sent a second email explaining why I was asking, asking if they would have permit info from summer 2017, included the Ben Bilemy alias, and attached an early article showing LE was trying to ID him. I was sure to explain without ID family can’t be notified and he can’t be buried with his name. I asked for any help or suggestions she may have.
I also let her know that I owned property in town, and who I was since I have met her several times.
Hopefully she is curious enough to poke around if they still have the records.

Hi SugarQueen! This is great, thank you for doing that.
I'm not sure if it is any help but the person who met him at the Unionville visitor center has the initials CD and you can find his full name in the comments on this post: Mountain Crossings at Walasi-yi
I wonder if perhaps CD got a permit for our unknown hiker so that he didn't have to give his address? Can hikers share camping permits? If nothing else, asking them to check for CD's name in the logbook will tell us the date our unknown hiker was in Unionville. There is also a JC on that post that CD talks to who says he remembers Denim from Unionville as well.

 

[SugarQueen]

@Gardener1850 i haven’t been able to find the specific post you referred to. Can you give me a date, or just shoot me CD’s name? Thanks

 

[Gardener1850]

@Gardener1850 i haven’t been able to find the specific post you referred to. Can you give me a date, or just shoot me CD’s name? Thanks

It's about the 4th comment on the post from over a year ago.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

@Gardener1850 i haven’t been able to find the specific post you referred to. Can you give me a date, or just shoot me CD’s name? Thanks

It's in the comments of that linked post! The post should link you to a photo and in the comments CD says they stayed together at the visitor center in Unionville. He tags JC to share the excitement that Denim made it to Springer

 

[SugarQueen]

Got it, thanks. For some reason on my iPad the link wasn’t taking me to a specific post. Worked on my phone ok.
IF I can get any help from town hall having those names to look for is awesome!

 

[carbuff]

I don’t usually hang out in this part of the forum so this may be a complete waste of time. Lol. I just figured it was worth a try. Thanks for humoring me.

Not humoring you--this is great information and I'm really glad you're here..

 

[SugarQueen]

Awww, thanks Carbuff!!

 

[SugarQueen]

I just heard back from town hall. They don’t show any permit issued to “ Ben Bilemy” !! I gave her the name of the two hikers who camped with him there. I asked that she look for those names and see who else got permits the same day. Maybe, just maybe, there was only one other permit issued.
I honestly wasn’t even sure I was going to hear back. I made sure to lay some heavy praise on her. I also reminded her how wonderful it would be to be able to give him back his name.
I think I’m going to have to bake her a little something.
Hell, if we find his name I bake her a BIG something, buy her flowers, whatever. Lol

ETA: I am pretty certain he had a permit. One of the town hall employees lives right by the camping spot and checks permits. He loves the hikers and usually hangs out with them a bit.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

I just heard back from town hall. They don’t show any permit issued to “ Ben Bilemy” !! I gave her the name of the two hikers who camped with him there. I asked that she look for those names and see who else got permits the same day. Maybe, just maybe, there was only one other permit issued.
I honestly wasn’t even sure I was going to hear back. I made sure to lay some heavy praise on her. I also reminded her how wonderful it would be to be able to give him back his name.
I think I’m going to have to bake her a little something.
Hell, if we find his name I bake her a BIG something, buy her flowers, whatever. Lol

ETA: I am pretty certain he had a permit. One of the town hall employees lives right by the camping spot and checks permits. He loves the hikers and usually hangs out with them a bit.

This could be HUGE!! All my props to you, SugarQueen. If we find his name this way, I'll bake YOU something

 

[SugarQueen]

This could be HUGE!! All my props to you, SugarQueen. If we find his name this way, I'll bake YOU something

Wow!! Nobody EVER bakes me anything!!! Lol

 

[K9Enzo]

@SugarQueen great thinking!

I was just out hiking with my dog yesterday and thought of Mostly Harmless.

 

[Gardener1850]

I just heard back from town hall. They don’t show any permit issued to “ Ben Bilemy” !! I gave her the name of the two hikers who camped with him there. I asked that she look for those names and see who else got permits the same day. Maybe, just maybe, there was only one other permit issued.
I honestly wasn’t even sure I was going to hear back. I made sure to lay some heavy praise on her. I also reminded her how wonderful it would be to be able to give him back his name.
I think I’m going to have to bake her a little something.
Hell, if we find his name I bake her a BIG something, buy her flowers, whatever. Lol

ETA: I am pretty certain he had a permit. One of the town hall employees lives right by the camping spot and checks permits. He loves the hikers and usually hangs out with them a bit.

I'm so excited to hear what you find out! I have been thinking this could crack the case wide open! Those two men who said they remembered camping with him when he was known as Denim might not even realize that Denim was found deceased in Florida. Their comments were about him making it to Springer Mountain, GA in December. I never saw them comment back after others commented and pointed out the Collier's County Sheriff office was looking for info. So they might not have turned in a tip about seeing him there. You might be the first one to contact the visitor's center about Denim.

One thing I want to note-- if the visitor's center gives you a name it's important that you don't post it here (unless it matches up to a known missing person). We have gotten in trouble with mods on the thread already for sleuthing random people who look like Denim. Please send the name on to the Collier's County Sheriff's office and explain how you got the info instead. As much as I'm eager to know his name, we have to be careful to protect the privacy of uninvolved individuals. We're not allowed to openly sleuth people who aren't reported missing or as suspects in a crime. If the name he used is not his own name and address OR if it turns out these two men were mistaken about who they camped with then the sheriff's office will hopefully sort that out. But what you are doing is so important and I'm so encouraged by your efforts. Please keep thinking of ways to find info like this-- it's brilliant.

 

[Bit of hope]

Hopes up! Sorry...these days I don't have a lot of energy...thanks for the lovely people who do. Hugs.

 

[SugarQueen]

IF they find a name I’m not sure if they will give it to me. I’m hoping they will so I can poke around and see if I can find anything on the name before it’s passed on. I’d like to be able to back the name up with additional information like social media or something. I know LE has been ruling out names quickly so I’m hoping to have more than a name.
Since nothing was found under Ben Bilemy I’m hoping he used his own name. This would have been the early side of his hike so maybe he hadn’t started using ANY alias yet.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

IF they find a name I’m not sure if they will give it to me. I’m hoping they will so I can poke around and see if I can find anything on the name before it’s passed on. I’d like to be able to back the name up with additional information like social media or something. I know LE has been ruling out names quickly so I’m hoping to have more than a name.
Since nothing was found under Ben Bilemy I’m hoping he used his own name. This would have been the early side of his hike so maybe he hadn’t started using ANY alias yet.

Did you ever reach out to Horler's?

 

[SugarQueen]

I actually didn’t reach out to Horlers. It’s my understanding when Horlers give a permit they forward the info to town hall.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

I actually didn’t reach out to Horlers. It’s my understanding when Horlers give a permit they forward the info to town hall.

They may still be able to recall details about him that could help. Maybe he had a conversation with an employee since he was so friendly