Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male hiker, "Denim" & "Mostly Harmless", Jul 2018 - Vance Rodriguez

[Canaille]

Definitely mistaken for another case. The CCSO was adamant he had zero evidence of dental work. Perfect teeth.

I’ve been thinking about this. What about dental X-rays, even if he never had dental work done? I guess that might be like looking for a needle in a haystack... since they don’t exactly know where he’s from?

 

[K9Enzo]

I’ve been thinking about this. What about dental X-rays, even if he never had dental work done? I guess that might be like looking for a needle in a haystack... since they don’t exactly know where he’s from?

There’s probably a dentist office(s) somewhere that have his dental X-rays on file. Probably for routine dental care (cleaning, standard X-ray’s) but like you said, a needle in a haystack because these offices that most likely hold the records have no clue he’s an unidentified deceased.

CCSO has made a point several times to say he had perfect teeth, no dental work. That’s a big deal when scanning missing people. I personally don’t think he was a missing person.

IMO

 

[Canaille]

So sad. In so many ways. How is it that no one has noticed him missing from somehwere... ANYWHERE?

But, I think about myself as an example... I used to work in an office where we would have holiday gatherings, some would leave early in the day to play golf, go to lunch together in groups. So, I could see where some people would be noticed if they went missing. But, now again about myself... I moved away from my hometown, I don’t keep up with family as much as I should, and I don’t have close friends. So, if I decided to abandone my husband, who would consider me missing?

And if he told anyone that he would be traveling/hiking for a year or so, the. I guess they don’t see the time that has passed by?

I know we have no right to his name and his story, but I hope and pray that whatever family he has will allow his info to be made public.

 

[Bellaplutt]

Definitely mistaken for another case. The CCSO was adamant he had zero evidence of dental work. Perfect teeth.

My bad

 

[baberuthless]

I’m late to the party here on websleuths but I’m from the Glens Falls/Lake George area and around the same age as MH. I don’t know how much the MP photos show, but If anyone has images of his face in the PM photos and could send them to me either cropped or uncropped, I don’t care, I would be grateful. I am thinking that if he is the possible person I’m thinking of, he had an eating disorder back when I was hanging out with an overlapping group of ours (late ‘90’s and very early 2000’s). It’s very hard to tell given time and his looking much healthier in early photos. I can’t find this person on social media. I have had some contact with Collier County Sheriff’s Office, but I can’t be certain and would like to put my mind at ease. I have zero knowledge of his family members.

I don’t think we can post that here, and it seems that all the PM face photos have been scrubbed from articles and the web. If you know his first and last name, and what state/city he lived in at the time, there are plenty of phone lookup websites. Can you find other people in that group? Maybe they know how to contact him.

 

[nobanzi]

Hi. So update on the guy I knew back in the day that I thought potentially could be MH. Through finding and communicating with people we both knew back then (for better or worse) I have learned that the man I was considering has been heard from within the past year. He’s alive and well, which is good to hear. Sorry for the false lead

 

[lonewanderer]

Hi. So update on the guy I knew back in the day that I thought potentially could be MH. Through finding and communicating with people we both knew back then (for better or worse) I have learned that the man I was considering has been heard from within the past year. He’s alive and well, which is good to hear. Sorry for the false lead

It was a lead, all the same.

It takes a lot of courage to speak up!

 

[Canaille]

Hi. So update on the guy I knew back in the day that I thought potentially could be MH. Through finding and communicating with people we both knew back then (for better or worse) I have learned that the man I was considering has been heard from within the past year. He’s alive and well, which is good to hear. Sorry for the false lead

The time and effort you took are much appreciated. Thank you for updating us!!

 

[K9Enzo]

Hi. So update on the guy I knew back in the day that I thought potentially could be MH. Through finding and communicating with people we both knew back then (for better or worse) I have learned that the man I was considering has been heard from within the past year. He’s alive and well, which is good to hear. Sorry for the false lead

Thanks for updating us. I think it’s really cool & thoughtful that you looked further into it.

If the dna testing does not result in identifying him, I think your post scenario is exactly how it will happen. One day, someone that did know him will say “hey, isn’t that....?!”.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I find it interesting, there have been several known-missing men suggested on this thread that look so similar to him (one ruled-out by fingerprints, another was submitted by someone here and I don't think is on the rule-outs list yet), and if he turns out to be still someone else, there must be so many men out there who could be mistaken for him.
Is it right to assume the DNA testing has a high chance of working?

 

[lonewanderer]

I find it interesting, there have been several known-missing men suggested on this thread that look so similar to him (one ruled-out by fingerprints, another was submitted by someone here and I don't think is on the rule-outs list yet), and if he turns out to be still someone else, there must be so many men out there who could be mistaken for him.
Is it right to assume the DNA testing has a high chance of working?

I was thinking about this. I could be a really good way to find his family members. If he was adopted, it may be another dead lead.

 

[GatorFL]

I was thinking about this. I could be a really good way to find his family members. If he was adopted, it may be another dead lead.

If he were adopted, it would still likely find the birth parents. The birth mother would likely know the agency who handled the adoption and CCSO could track down the adoptive parents from there. Of course there is a chance it doesn't find his birth family.

I think his genealogy will ultimately determine his identity. I am less certain his identity will be made public.

 

[lsutoomaha]

If he were adopted, it would still likely find the birth parents. The birth mother would likely know the agency who handled the adoption and CCSO could track down the adoptive parents from there. Of course there is a chance it doesn't find his birth family.

I think his genealogy will ultimately determine his identity. I am less certain his identity will be made public.

If discovered, his identity legally has to be made public upon request, due to the remains being found in Florida.

 

[lonewanderer]

If he were adopted, it would still likely find the birth parents. The birth mother would likely know the agency who handled the adoption and CCSO could track down the adoptive parents from there. Of course there is a chance it doesn't find his birth family.

I think his genealogy will ultimately determine his identity. I am less certain his identity will be made public.

This is a different way of looking at it than I did.

For me, I thought the lead may go cold if (say) a first cousin was identified and MH was adopted. The first cousin may have never met or knows about him, and probably wouldn’t recognize him in pictures.

My mind was narrowed to facial recognition, great perspective from you!

 

[ballads1]

If he were adopted, it would still likely find the birth parents. The birth mother would likely know the agency who handled the adoption and CCSO could track down the adoptive parents from there. Of course there is a chance it doesn't find his birth family.

I think his genealogy will ultimately determine his identity. I am less certain his identity will be made public.

I strongly believe he was adopted or grew up in foster/group homes. It seems to be one of the only logical explanations for no one coming forward to claim him.

He could also just be very estranged from his whole family. Perhaps he was gay, and upon coming out, his religious family disowned him. It’s horrible to think about, but it does happen.

Just trying to look at every possibility!

 

[Canaille]

Just curious about how LE operates. In a case like this one, doesn’t LE submit dna to a database for unsolved crimes? To make sure he wasn’t on the run from something? I know I had read that they didn’t find fingerprints on file.

I’m also wondering about the sister he claimed he was planning to visit. Some thought it could’ve been her grave... but if his sister was alive, I wonder if she had been expecting him.

This is such a puzzling case.

 

[GatorFL]

If discovered, his identity legally has to be made public upon request, due to the remains being found in Florida.

I live in FL and I am not sure that is the law here. Otham themselves told me that the family could conceal his identity if they so chose. So I don't think this is clear.

 

[Bit of hope]

Honestly....I would love to know his name and a background story about his life....but if that's not going to happen....I'm totally in peace with that.

 

[MaryFromFla]

I strongly believe he was adopted or grew up in foster/group homes. It seems to be one of the only logical explanations for no one coming forward to claim him.

He could also just be very estranged from his whole family. Perhaps he was gay, and upon coming out, his religious family disowned him. It’s horrible to think about, but it does happen.

Just trying to look at every possibility!

I understand looking at every possibility. He told other hikers he had a sister he was going to visit with. He said that she lived in Florida. He had plans to visit her while hiking through...

 

[Canaille]

I understand looking at every possibility. He told other hikers he had a sister he was going to visit with. He said that she lived in Florida. He had plans to visit her while hiking through...

This really has me stumped. I wonder if the sister is alive and if she was expecting him. If so, it just seems to me that she would’ve been looking for him and/or have seen the news about him.