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

[Kaydence]

This is my first time posting the thread. I will go back and read from start of the first, but before I do that I had some questions I wanted to ask:
--Do we have access to the code he wrote?
--If so, has it been searched for in a repository such as GitHub?
--I would be happy to dive in to the programming aspect of this, if it hasn't been done. Or rather, my partner would be happy to dive into it. They are a software developer with an extensive back ground.

 

[GatorFL]

This is my first time posting the thread. I will go back and read from start of the first, but before I do that I had some questions I wanted to ask:
--Do we have access to the code he wrote?
--If so, has it been searched for in a repository such as GitHub?
--I would be happy to dive in to the programming aspect of this, if it hasn't been done. Or rather, my partner would be happy to dive into it. They are a software developer with an extensive back ground.

Yes, there are both photos and transcriptions of the code. It has been researched extensively in the Screeps community and IIRC Github as well. You'll find them here, keep reading.

 

[throwaway crush]

I'm sure it's just coincidence, but that missing man from Connecticut (Matt Cheraki) shares a last name with the former CEO of a motorcycle company, and that man (DC) has eerily similar hair, complexion, eyes, eyebrows, nose, and smile to Mostly Harmless. The odds are almost zero, but if Mostly Harmless is Matt Cheraki, could he be the grown estranged son of DC?

The internet says DC has three children, is from France originally, lived in NYC a few years ago, and then was transferred overseas for work.

I agree, and if you look DC up with New Haven, he made multiple appearances in the area.

 

[throwaway crush]

I'm sure it's just coincidence, but that missing man from Connecticut (Matt Cheraki) shares a last name with the former CEO of a motorcycle company, and that man (DC) has eerily similar hair, complexion, eyes, eyebrows, nose, and smile to Mostly Harmless. The odds are almost zero, but if Mostly Harmless is Matt Cheraki, could he be the grown estranged son of DC?

The internet says DC has three children, is from France originally, lived in NYC a few years ago, and then was transferred overseas for work.

I agree, and if you look DC up with New Haven, he made multiple appearances in the area. Also Baton Rouge - French inspired area.

 

[Narkj]

Someone mentioned the two campers who met Denim at Unionville. I tried really hard to get in touch with them- via social media, email, relatives , etc. very frustrating. No replies. They would be the earliest contact with him.

 

[SugarQueen]

Someone mentioned the two campers who met Denim at Unionville. I tried really hard to get in touch with them- via social media, email, relatives , etc. very frustrating. No replies. They would be the earliest contact with him.

I also tried, early on. I also went to Unionville town hall. They stated they couldn’t find camping permits under either of those names. Unfortunately not everyone fills out the permit paper. The paperwork also could have been filled out at the deli that does it after hours. It could have been lost at either place. I also don’t know if they would have told me if they DID find anything.
I was also told they have never been contacted by LE.

 

[SugarQueen]

My thought with the Unionville permit was it was early in his hike , maybe he wasn’t using Ben Bilemy yet.

 

[Sillybilly]

Hey everyone,

Please do not post names or personal information and pictures of random individuals who are not known to be missing or who just happen to have the same surname as someone you think it might be.

If you want to sleuth these types of things behind the scenes and discuss your findings with others in private messaging, that's fine but don't post those findings on the public thread. Websleuths' private messaging system allows you to add up to 20 other members to the private discussion.

Thank you.

 

[Catmommy]

If this man had wanted to be known by anybody he would have shared his name with trail mates/other folks along his way at some point or had something in his possession that had his identity on it like an i.d. card, driver's license or social security card. He didn't. That had to be intentional. He didn't want to share who he "really was" for whatever reason. Maybe Denim and Mostly Harmless IS who he really was, who he really wanted to be. That was his freedom of choice and his prerogative. Why? He can't tell us. I don't know that he would if he were still alive. Of course, if he were still alive we wouldn't be interested. And that's my opinion only.

 

[acutename]

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.

we have no reason to believe that he was or was not telling people on the trail the truth. he was using a fake name to sign into places where he was required to sign in so he could have been just supplying random made up info. I am not convinced that there are any family members or partners for this person IMHO.

 

[acutename]

"Summit fever" is a real phenomena, as you get closer, you think you will have time to make it up (and then back down) safely.

hypothermia does not lead to clear thinking either... and to link the two cases, starvation makes you feel cold even in hot weather

 

[acutename]

Just looked this over.. In the twisted body image... its obvious he has a vertical incision scar in the center of his abdomen. There's nothing "probable" about it. I wonder what this scar was from. Clearly some kind of surgery.

Could not understand how the autopsy could say "probably a scar." It's a scar and a big one. Though it initially seemed crazy to me that a person could go from about 150 lbs to 83 in a few weeks, how much of that "loss" would be dehydration in the FL heat? 60% water....

 

[GatorFL]

Could not understand how the autopsy could say "probably a scar." It's a scar and a big one. Though it initially seemed crazy to me that a person could go from about 150 lbs to 83 in a few weeks, how much of that "loss" would be dehydration in the FL heat? 60% water....

It wasn't all water loss. It was muscle loss and major organ shrinkage. I looked at the autopsy closely and each of his organs was about half normal size. I would counter argue that he was drinking a lot while he was not eating. Otherwise he would have died earlier, of dehydration. He didn't, he died of starvation.

I think the autopsy could have been more detailed but I don't think it was a bad autopsy at all. The MD who performed it is an expert witness and has testified in murder trials. Trying to discredit whole document out because of a phrase "probably a scar" is pretty myopic.

 

[acutename]

It wasn't all water loss. It was muscle loss and major organ shrinkage. I looked at the autopsy closely and each of his organs was about half normal size. I would counter argue that he was drinking a lot while he was not eating. Otherwise he would have died earlier, of dehydration. He didn't, he died of starvation.

I think the autopsy could have been more detailed but I don't think it was a bad autopsy at all. The MD who performed it is an expert witness and has testified in murder trials. Trying to discredit whole document out because of a phrase "probably a scar" is pretty myopic.

sorry- not "trying to discredit the whole document." I know the body was not seriously decomposed when it was examined, but it was not fresh either, so maybe not so easy to analyze. also not sure how much time any examiner has for any one body. I was really trying to comprehend losing about half your body weight in three weeks- I do not think that most people would shrink that fast. the healthy person cannot lose 5 lbs after the holidays - it is something to lose 70 lbs in three weeks if the last person who saw MH was correct in his timing/assessment.

 

[acutename]

trying to read over the sources again.... was he last seen 3 or 4 weeks prior to being found or 3 or 4 months? big difference and more time for illness.

 

[acutename]

I'm so glad his signature is in this thread... I was dreading having to look for it.

I used to read a lot about signatures. I fully believe that our handwriting says a lot about what is going on in the brain. I mean, it is the brain that controls what our hands do. And I agree about that "y". The bottom of the B not being closed has meaning, in my opinion.

It is not a signature that wants to be read and comprehended IMO

 

[mademejoin]

I found a couple of articles online about a condition called gastroparesis that can cause dramatic weight loss like this, often in a short amount of time. Sometimes it's a result of diabetes, sometimes it occurs on its own. I wonder if it would show up on autopsy? From what I'm reading, it seems that it won't necessarily show up with any visible abnormalities and perhaps the signs would be subtle or missing, for the average coroner. It seems to lead people to eat much less, because they are nauseated and in pain, but not stop eating entirely.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I still can’t figure out why the scar was downplayed either. There’s absolutely no way, in my opinion, it could have gone unnoticed. Moot point, but puzzling nonetheless.

 

[acutename]

Here is the link Mostly Harmless Notebook
I found them in a post by @UnlicensedPI Post#185 in Thread 3

As for dates, it looks like the upper left annotations are page numbering or indexing, not dates.

FWIW- possibly not much, when I looked at the photos of the notebook pages, it seemed as if he was writing very small mostly without margins. the writing seems distinctive- someone who knew him would recognize it if they ever saw it, IMO. his handwritten signature does not look like the printing in his notebooks either, IMO.

 

[SugarQueen]

While it may seem his info was spread around a lot I don’t think it really has been. Sure sleuth and hiking forums have it all BUT what about everyday folks? He had neighbors and coworkers. He bought food and day to day needs somewhere. Did he go out to lunch during the work week? Go to a certain dry cleaner? Where was his “ real” life?
I think his ID is out there in his every day world and the info isn’t reaching it.