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

[EllieGato]

He did call back. I didnt understand most of what he was saying... but in a nutshell, I think he was trying to explain that you dont get your stuff if you dont pay... somebody comes and does the paperwork and sells (auctions) the stuff... that person takes money, gives him money 'I take what he gives me' and 'he sells he sees the people many places"

Asked him straight out...
The man in the picture Was his stuff where you are? At your business?

No I no see him. No name no name. I give you number and you call man who sell many places. He... photo you know he match maybe he see many people. Same things over and over.

I took the number and it's a NY cell phone with a please leave your number for (person says name and business) message and it is is current and it is a business that sounds like it includes auctions.

I really think the guy who called
1)Had an idea to share...call this aucioneer and tell him too. He goes to all the places. Sees a lot of people.
2)And just wanted to talk.

At anyrate, I will call the auctioneer Monday and ask if I can send him a flyer too. I blocked my number of course.

I also took my number off the email that had the CCSO flyer attached. It was down in my business signature and I didnt think to remove it. It only has my spam email now. Those emails only went to businesses and probably actual corporate offices, so I'm not too worried about it. I'm sure 2/3 or more are getting passed over.

Oh well. At least I know someone looked at one.

ETA: Paper flyers are CCSO flyers with additional pictures only.

 

[MaryFromFla]

Could he have been telling you he knows MH from the picture because he (MH) IS the auctioneer? Could ge have meant that he has things that belongs to him (MH) that will go up for auction soon? Either way it was nice that he was trying to help. He (MH) could have paid for storage for a year up front though or possibly longer than a year...I vaugely remember someone saying that his friends had put somethings in storage for him.

 

[EllieGato]

I feel pretty good that he has not seen the man in the picture, MH.

The man on the message stating his name and business had a NY accent.

I'm trying to find a business listing.

 

[EllieGato]

I really think he just wanted to talk. But I'll toss this stick out a little further if I can from a distance. It could be good idea.

Most of those storage facilities are part of a corporation. Who knows where the email goes. Maybe he just thought this was a better way. I mean I really doubt an auctioneer can make a connection by doing paperwork and coming across a name he doesn't even know, of a guy he hasn't seen. I'm thinking this through. I also doubt he opens the stuff in the unit.

But I guess it's possible he could have seen MH somewhere.

The best way is just find the auctioneer business and tag them the CCSO flyer. I'll look on fb with a friend later.

 

[EllieGato]

I talked to the auctioneer in NY. It was an awkward conversation starting out.
'Call the office for a claim request...'
'Are you the spouse?'
'If he is missing you need to file a police report'
'Deceased... we check public notices first...
'Where was the unit?'
'If he did have one, when was it abandoned?
And finally, 'I'm going to have my wife call you, she handles police bulletins and information packets for the auctions.'

His wife was super nice and said she'd put the CCSO flyer in with the packet for winning bidders. She explained the entire process. After hearing a bit about his story she expressed that most people abandon their storage units before they hit their hardest times, and she thinks if he had one it has likely been processed as abandoned. If a friend got it for him, they would never know, but she said she would flip back through older records and see if there was a Ben Bilemy. I told her to call CCSO if anything caught her eye as a good possibility. She said she would.

I also expressed that the man who gave me their business number was from a storage facility and I was concerned that maybe he recognized MH and that is why he called. She knew exactly who gave me their number and said she would check into his records for anybody possible. It turns out the caller did give me his name, I just didn't realize it.

 

[EllieGato]

And I'm going to throw this out there. I told myself I would stop but I wanted to see what someone else thinks.

What if Ben Bilemy was not an alias, per se. I keep wanting to call him BenBilemy, based on the fact that he chose that name. But he never used it verbally that we know of. What if it wasn't a name at all. What if it was a way to remember something, like a number. Has anyone else picked up their phone and dialed BENBILEMY to see what it looks like? The numerical translation. It isn't enough numbers to be a phone number. But what about a social security number or an account number? Not necessarily a bank account number, but any type of acct number.

If it is a ss number, then it would probably be a parents or spouses, not his own. One he might have needed later and didnt want to forget.

So what I really want to know is, do you think the detectives in Florida already tried that?

 

[Moonshinerice]

And I'm going to throw this out there. I told myself I would stop but I wanted to see what someone else thinks.

What if Ben Bilemy was not an alias, per se. I keep wanting to call him BenBilemy, based on the fact that he chose that name. But he never used it verbally that we know of. What if it wasn't a name at all. What if it was a way to remember something, like a number. Has anyone else picked up their phone and dialed BENBILEMY to see what it looks like? The numerical translation. It isn't enough numbers to be a phone number. But what about a social security number or an account number? Not necessarily a bank account number, but any type of acct number.

If it is a ss number, then it would probably be a parents or spouses, not his own. One he might have needed later and didnt want to forget.

So what I really want to know is, do you think the detectives in Florida already tried that?

Interesting idea. There are enough digits for it to be a social security number. BEN=236. All SS numbers starting with 236 came out of West VA.

I read a FB post that he told a few hikers that his “real” name was Ben.

 

[CaseyLPC]

I just translated the name into a SSN and did a quick lookup. It is a valid SSN from West Virginia. It was first issued in 1936 and last issued in 1950. The person who owns that number is estimated to be between 81 and 99 years old. Information is from WWW.SSN-Verify.com.

 

[EllieGato]

I just translated the name into a SSN and did a quick lookup. It is a valid SSN from West Virginia. It was first issued in 1936 and last issued in 1950. The person who owns that number is estimated to be between 81 and 99 years old. Information is from WWW.SSN-Verify.com.

I wonder if it belongs to a person in a nursing home. I dont follow how they get the current age... unless they apply some average of age 18 to get a card and then calculate current age. Or maybe it is because they didn't assign them until 1936. Confusing.

I hope the detective checked it out. Seems like a couple of phone calls would answer that one.

 

[Hatfield]

I really think he just wanted to talk. But I'll toss this stick out a little further if I can from a distance. It could be good idea.

Most of those storage facilities are part of a corporation. Who knows where the email goes. Maybe he just thought this was a better way. I mean I really doubt an auctioneer can make a connection by doing paperwork and coming across a name he doesn't even know, of a guy he hasn't seen. I'm thinking this through. I also doubt he opens the stuff in the unit.

But I guess it's possible he could have seen MH somewhere.

The best way is just find the auctioneer business and tag them the CCSO flyer. I'll look on fb with a friend later.

That is a good thought about checking with storage facilities.

I went to a few auctions of abandoned storage units and to me, the storage place itself would be more likely to see the person renting the storage unit to recognize a picture because I doubt the auctioneer would ever see the person or even a photo of the people who once owned a storage unit. But as far as names on records, then yeah maybe even the auctioneer could have records with names on them.

Anyway thanks for trying that angle as it is a good idea.

 

[carbuff]

Nice work, EllieGato. Your dedication is inspiring!

 

[EllieGato]

Thanks, but I do think Gardener1850 is the real one who keeps the inspiration flowing here.

Not sure where Gardener1850 is, but hoping everything is ok with them.

Hat tip to Gardener1850, SugarQueen, InMyHumbleOpinion, and everybody else here (you too Carbuff) for keeping me inspired.

I think the DNA results are due back about now. I'm sure they will trickle in in phases with additional MP ruleouts, and I am hoping it will eventually lead to a possible surname.

 

[Gardener1850]

Thanks, but I do think Gardener1850 is the real one who keeps the inspiration flowing here.

Not sure where Gardener1850 is, but hoping everything is ok with them.

Hat tip to Gardener1850, SugarQueen, InMyHumbleOpinion, and everybody else here (you too Carbuff) for keeping me inspired.

I think the DNA results are due back about now. I'm sure they will trickle in in phases with additional MP ruleouts, and I am hoping it will eventually lead to a possible surname.

Aw thanks, Ellie, You are too kind. I had an internet blackout for two days this week due to bad weather and I'm in the middle of another snowstorm right now-- hoping I won't lose power or internet again this weekend. I still can't help thinking about Denim and wondering if he was hiking the Appalachian Trail in snowstorms in November and December 2017 before he bought his tent. I started a predictive timeline trying to figure out which trail shelters he could have reached on each day but it is very long and time consuming. I'm not sure when I will finish it (or if it would even be helpful).

Keep up your creative efforts. I was thinking today that even though storage unit buyers might not know nor have met Denim, if by any chance he stored photo albums in his storage unit or photos of himself on his hard drives perhaps someone who bought the items will notice the photos are the same man and call in. People who buy storage units are usually looking to resale the items inside for a profit-- antique sellers, auctions companies or pawn shop dealers. Unfortunately they would probably have no use for old photos and might toss them out-- unless they see your flyer. So perhaps you will make a serendipitous connection by your efforts. You never know. Keep up the good work!

 

[Owutatangledweb]

And I'm going to throw this out there. I told myself I would stop but I wanted to see what someone else thinks.

What if Ben Bilemy was not an alias, per se. I keep wanting to call him BenBilemy, based on the fact that he chose that name. But he never used it verbally that we know of. What if it wasn't a name at all. What if it was a way to remember something, like a number. Has anyone else picked up their phone and dialed BENBILEMY to see what it looks like? The numerical translation. It isn't enough numbers to be a phone number. But what about a social security number or an account number? Not necessarily a bank account number, but any type of acct number.

If it is a ss number, then it would probably be a parents or spouses, not his own. One he might have needed later and didnt want to forget.

So what I really want to know is, do you think the detectives in Florida already tried that?

What about "been billing me?" Running from debt?

 

[ilovepierre]

Interesting idea. There are enough digits for it to be a social security number. BEN=236. All SS numbers starting with 236 came out of West VA.

I read a FB post that he told a few hikers that his “real” name was Ben.

Maybe a clue to where he was born/grew up?

IMO

 

[ilovepierre]

I just translated the name into a SSN and did a quick lookup. It is a valid SSN from West Virginia. It was first issued in 1936 and last issued in 1950. The person who owns that number is estimated to be between 81 and 99 years old. Information is from WWW.SSN-Verify.com.

I wonder if the SSN could belong to MH’s father?
It would be a weird thing to have memorized though.
Your own, sure. But someone else’s? That’s weird, to me.
I don’t even have my own SIN (Social Insurance Number) memorized!

 

[UnlicensedPI]

If MH was really planning on only hiking for two weeks, then why did he have so much money and such a heavy pack? Maybe he went off trail to get his things/cash when he got a taste for the trail. I wonder if he used an ATM/debit card to get his money, or if he got it from a savings account at a physical bank. I think he must have lived somewhat close to Unionville if he did go off trail and get back on.

Also, if he borrowed phones at certain points, I wonder if it's possible to figure out what numbers he called.

 

[SugarQueen]

After a bout of some kind of flu/ crud I’m back!! I was hoping you all would solve this while I was gone. LOL
Joking aside, where do we go from here? I really thought Unionville and the camping permit would lead somewhere.
Anyone think it’s worth it for me to email the detective? Maybe see if she can tell me what did/ didn’t happen with Unionville? Idk what else to do at this point.

 

[Bit of hope]

After a bout of some kind of flu/ crud I’m back!! I was hoping you all would solve this while I was gone. LOL
Joking aside, where do we go from here? I really thought Unionville and the camping permit would lead somewhere.
Anyone think it’s worth it for me to email the detective? Maybe see if she can tell me what did/ didn’t happen with Unionville? Idk what else to do at this point.

Just want to say one thing SugarQueen....you are great! (and humor get's you through all the sad things) We need more people like you (and a bunch of others still working hard on this case)

 

[carbuff]

After a bout of some kind of flu/ crud I’m back!! I was hoping you all would solve this while I was gone. LOL
Joking aside, where do we go from here? I really thought Unionville and the camping permit would lead somewhere.
Anyone think it’s worth it for me to email the detective? Maybe see if she can tell me what did/ didn’t happen with Unionville? Idk what else to do at this point.

LE generally moves at a pace that seems intolerably slow to us. It could take weeks or months before anything happens, and even longer before they decide to release any public information.

Did you ask the detective to let you know the result? If so, then I'd say be patient. If not, you could email a polite request.