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

[lonewanderer]

I am very much interested in your speculations and theories. Will you please share with us? We don't need to know if they are similar to you in any way but it would be great to learn other ideas. Sometimes it seems like we are just going around the same circle. Thanks.

I originally wrote out a ton of cryptic babble.

Its really hard for me to narrow down a solid, solid theory.

One theory says I think he may have been heartbroken, and did not feel loved. He may have set foot on the trail thinking no one cared what happened to him. Seeking comfort in "Disposal friends" (Chuck Pahlaniuk) along the trail. Somewhere he did not have to let anyone see his insecurities, somewhere where he could meet lots of different people but never have to get to know them well enough for them to form a negative opinion of him. I don't think it was suicidal, I just think he was going where the tide took him.

I have to fight another theory very hard, as part of me wants to think that maybe he is not quite as innocent as we think he is. Part of this is influenced by stories like Pheonix Coldon. Like MH, she was highly intelligent and talented. I would not be surprised at all if she was able to create a new life for herself. So, the thought is that MH may have been using prepaid cards, cash, no phone or GPS, and other identifiers in order to protect his assets for whatever reason. The reasons do not have to be evil, it could be something as simple as going through a divorce and hitting the trail with his savings before his ex-wife could wipe him out. He could have just wanted to escape this crazy world, and he is kinda lucky to have done so before 2020.

 

[Armalita]

Re: the foster system speculation- if he was a child in the system, I believe this places even MORE eyes on him. Foster families genuinely care about their foster children’s future and their overall well being. Wouldn’t this theory have brought someone to light?

Even if he had been in foster care that doesn't answer the question of nobody knowing who he is. Mailman, employees, employer, convenient store clerks, library clerk, garbage man, doctors, nurses, etc. Someone would have known him unless his appearance had changed so much he wasn't recognized. Until someone answers that question it will remain a mystery.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

I think the hiker who claims he stayed with his sister is not being truthful. She claims they met at Sand Pond, he stayed a night or two and left on February 24th. However, we KNOW he was in Aucilla, over 100 miles away, on February 22nd because other hikers saw him and wrote about him in their online trail journals before his death. Her claim doesn't fit the known timeline. IMO this myth of him staying with a sister before starting the FT, as told by the Sand Pond camper, can be easily dispelled through firsthand accounts of other hikers, which can be proven true due to the fact they were detailed before his death (in other words, these accounts are not from bandwagoners who churned the rumor mill after his case generated interest).

 

[GatorFL]

I think the hiker who claims he stayed with his sister is not being truthful. She claims they met at Sand Pond, he stayed a night or two and left on February 24th. However, we KNOW he was in Aucilla, over 100 miles away, on February 22nd because other hikers saw him and wrote about him in their online trail journals before his death. Her claim doesn't fit the known timeline. IMO this myth of him staying with a sister before starting the FT, as told by the Sand Pond camper, can be easily dispelled through firsthand accounts of other hikers, which can be proven true due to the fact they were detailed before his death (in other words, these accounts are not from bandwagoners who churned the rumor mill after his case generated interest).

I agree. There is something about the Sand Pond date that doesn't work. He seems to have averaged the 10 miles a day he told others he hiked. Pensacola and Ebro are 100 miles apart. 30 days to do 100 miles seems excessive for MH.

 

[EricaJ4u2]

I keep seeing July 3 referenced as the day the other hikers were at Nobles. Are we talking about Armando Cruz? Because he was there June 1 & 2. Wondering if I have missed something here. Who was there Jul 3?

 

[GatorFL]

It doesn't look anything like the camp MH was in, IMO.

Did you miss the sign for Nobles Camp in the video at 3:53?

Remember it is a former airstrip, it likely has some size to it. Most of these primitive campsites on the FT are fairly open and have some space to them. It is common to get a group of 20 or more hiking and overnighting while trailblazing and you need room for that many tents.

 

[GatorFL]

I keep seeing July 3 referenced as the day the other hikers were at Nobles. Are we talking about Armando Cruz? Because he was there June 1 & 2. Wondering if I have missed something here. Who was there Jul 3?

Armando told people on FB he was there July 3. Whatever day he was there he saw MH's tent but did not see him. They left water for him on the signpost for the campground.

 

[GatorFL]

I originally wrote out a ton of cryptic babble.

Its really hard for me to narrow down a solid, solid theory.

One theory says I think he may have been heartbroken, and did not feel loved. He may have set foot on the trail thinking no one cared what happened to him. Seeking comfort in "Disposal friends" (Chuck Pahlaniuk) along the trail. Somewhere he did not have to let anyone see his insecurities, somewhere where he could meet lots of different people but never have to get to know them well enough for them to form a negative opinion of him. I don't think it was suicidal, I just think he was going where the tide took him.

I have to fight another theory very hard, as part of me wants to think that maybe he is not quite as innocent as we think he is. Part of this is influenced by stories like Pheonix Coldon. Like MH, she was highly intelligent and talented. I would not be surprised at all if she was able to create a new life for herself. So, the thought is that MH may have been using prepaid cards, cash, no phone or GPS, and other identifiers in order to protect his assets for whatever reason. The reasons do not have to be evil, it could be something as simple as going through a divorce and hitting the trail with his savings before his ex-wife could wipe him out. He could have just wanted to escape this crazy world, and he is kinda lucky to have done so before 2020.

Regarding the bolded:

The why is as big a mystery as who he is. I think he could have been heartbroken, alone, and
so the trail was his escape. This is also a reason I like the ED theory because feeling worthless is a trigger for anorexia. It takes some time to develop too. On the podcast the detective was clear he could have been running from a crime.

I hope that identifying who he is brings some reasons for why he was on the trail and why he starved to death.

 

[lonewanderer]

Regarding the bolded:

The why is as big a mystery as who he is. I think he could have been heartbroken, alone, and
so the trail was his escape. This is also a reason I like the ED theory because feeling worthless is a trigger for anorexia. It takes some time to develop too. On the podcast the detective was clear he could have been running from a crime.

I hope that identifying who he is brings some reasons for why he was on the trail and why he starved to death.

After a little more thought, I have a few more ideas as to why he did things he did (and why I would have done them that way).

It seems like he was not strapped for cash. Because of this, I personally would not take a “burner” phone up and down the AT, especially if I had a reason to conceal my whereabouts.

A burner would be sure to have some kind of evidence, should it be found on me at any point. If I was to use a burner, it would only be at WiFi spots and would not have an actual SIM card. Even without a SIM, it could also eventually be pinpointed as a specific MAC address that accessed different wi-fi spots as it was used.

So, if I was MH and I didn’t want to leave a digital footprint (specifically regarding a phone), and I had the money MH appears to have, I would simply buy a cheap burner phone (Or burner decide that could access WiFi) with cash every time I needed one, and physically destroy it immediately after using it.

As for the cash and prepaid cards, he could have slowly taken out wads of cash here and there and/or sold things. As a clever IT guy, i think it is more plausible to say he may have done something similar to creating a Paypal with a fake name and transferring the accumulated funds onto prepaid cards that cannot be traced back to you, or at least, that’s something I would have highly considered if I did not want my money and actions traced.

I have other ideas brewing as to how I would do specific things he did, and why I would have done them if I was him. I will post more as I think of them.

 

[Dylansmom08]

Police: Hiker who died in Florida may be Lake George-area man; ID sought

I'm guessing from this they have been able to narrow down the area he was originally from maybe this is where his sister lives? I remember reading an article that others had said he told them of a sister in Florida so maybe they are closing in on his identity. As for why he would be out on the trails like he was that's a big part of the mystery. He doesn't fit the typical homeless image clearly he had money from some means and was going out of his way to keep anyone from finding out his identity. I don't think he was a wanted man if he was they would have found a hit on his prints when they ran them so that leaves was he running from something that no one knew he did? Or was he running from someone that was threatening him for something he knew or saw? We may not ever know those answers but I do feel like with the genealogy people working on this we will eventually be able to give him his identity back and return him to his family.

 

[Valiant]

Police: Hiker who died in Florida may be Lake George-area man; ID sought

I'm guessing from this they have been able to narrow down the area he was originally from maybe this is where his sister lives? I remember reading an article that others had said he told them of a sister in Florida so maybe they are closing in on his identity. As for why he would be out on the trails like he was that's a big part of the mystery. He doesn't fit the typical homeless image clearly he had money from some means and was going out of his way to keep anyone from finding out his identity. I don't think he was a wanted man if he was they would have found a hit on his prints when they ran them so that leaves was he running from something that no one knew he did? Or was he running from someone that was threatening him for something he knew or saw? We may not ever know those answers but I do feel like with the genealogy people working on this we will eventually be able to give him his identity back and return him to his family.

That article was about Lake George, New York. The sister was allegedly in Florida, maybe Sarasota? area.

 

[BethInAK]

I just want to clarify that his codebook was mostly using normal math, english and logic tables from what I recall. The game we think he was iterating is coded in Javascript, not Java (while similar in name, totally different code) The game is centered around teaching anyone how to code by making it into a video game.

Any other programmer types look at that notebook and think its someone learning to code, but not a developer that wrote it?

 

[BethInAK]

I think the way the other hiker put it is that he smelled really bad compared to other hikers.

Sometimes you are backpacking with a group and one person smells much worse than other people - some people just reek worse.
Except if there was an underlying health condition, it could be that too.

 

[branmuffin]

He was in good shape on April 15. He was at Nobles for 3 months and deteriorated over that period of time. He could have hiked out before he lost the ability and he chose not to.

The guy that took the video I posted was there 20 days earlier, on July 3. MH sought no help from them.

He may have been too ill or weak to call out or draw attention to himself. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. We will never know the why or the how, but I don't believe he was the architect of his own misfortune.

 

[branmuffin]

Sometimes you are backpacking with a group and one person smells much worse than other people - some people just reek worse.
Except if there was an underlying health condition, it could be that too.

I had to take a drug for an infection and I smelled vile. It was embarrassing but I had no choice but to take it. It's not always about lack of proper hygiene. There could be a number of health issues that change body chemistry.

 

[baberuthless]

1) How can someone have such bad hygiene but teeth in near perfect condition? I keep reading on here that he had awful hygiene, hikers said he smelled bad, but his teeth were perfect somehow.

2) For months I firmly believed he got a spider bite or something that caused paralysis and that is why his muscles wasted away however someone commented that his clothes and tent didn’t have urine or feces but his bladder and colon was full of waste. If he was truly unable to get out of his tent, he would’ve soiled himself in there. So he was getting out somehow (maybe crawling? I can’t imagine) and getting water from the pond and using the bathroom.

3) Is there one picture where he’s not wearing that dang hat?

 

[GatorFL]

He may have been too ill or weak to call out or draw attention to himself. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. We will never know the why or the how, but I don't believe he was the architect of his own misfortune.

True. But he could not have been laying comatose in a tent with no water for 19-20 days until he died and the other hikers found him. He had to be alive July 3.

 

[carbuff]

Quite a number of diseases and conditions will make your body have a pronounced bad odor despite perfect hygiene. Hikers can get pretty grungy, but his clothes always seem clean and neat and he's clean, with beard trimmed and combed. I suspect any odor was a symptom of whatever he died of.

 

[GatorFL]

1) How can someone have such bad hygiene but teeth in near perfect condition? I keep reading on here that he had awful hygiene, hikers said he smelled bad, but his teeth were perfect somehow.

2) For months I firmly believed he got a spider bite or something that caused paralysis and that is why his muscles wasted away however someone commented that his clothes and tent didn’t have urine or feces but his bladder and colon was full of waste. If he was truly unable to get out of his tent, he would’ve soiled himself in there. So he was getting out somehow (maybe crawling? I can’t imagine) and getting water from the pond and using the bathroom.

3) Is there one picture where he’s not wearing that dang hat?

1. It's a good question. When you're hiking, it's easy to keep up with oral hygiene because you can brush your teeth with nothing more than a swig of water. Showers are a bit harder to come by. You're looking forward to a campground with facilities or you can take a break and check into a hotel. Also some people are just genetically disposed to have good teeth.

2. The poisonous spiders in FL won't paralyze you. He was certainly mobile for some time as he wasted away. He had to be getting water. In July temps in SW FL you have 3-4 days max, even if you're collecting rainwater. Dehydration is a fast killer. He didn't dehydrate, he starved to death.

3. There is a pic of him in a blue bandana. Here is a link: https://i.imgur.com/kPZ8TMb.jpg

 

[GatorFL]

Quite a number of diseases and conditions will make your body have a pronounced bad odor despite perfect hygiene. Hikers can get pretty grungy, but his clothes always seem clean and neat and he's clean, with beard trimmed and combed. I suspect any odor was a symptom of whatever he died of.

I disagree. Take a look at the pictures, that poor shirt went from a nice shiny grey in the early pictures to a dingy yellowed crusty mess in the last picture next to the truck. And his underwear which you can see in the postmortems, you can tell they have lost their color they look almost bleached out. He did get off trail at times to get cleaned up but it wasn't like most hikers.

He told one hiker he only showered once a month.