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

[SugarQueen]

Yes, they specifically said the ME stated he weighed 83 lbs.
I’ll be honest, the podcast made me tear up a bit. I so want him to have a name. More than anything I wish that he didn’t feel he had to be so alone. Makes me terribly sad.
We now know he had perfect teeth with not even a cavity. I’m assuming that means no fillings or extensive dental work. We know he had plenty of cash.
Did anyone note where the trail angel spoke to him? Any idea of distance from where he was found? I’m wondering how he appeared weight wise at that point.

 

[reasonableguess]

After listening to this, I’m going w/ terminal illness diagnosis and decided to check off a bucket list hike while he still could, and transition on his own terms. Probably estranged fm relatives and had some regrets about that, and chose not to burden them w/ his circumstances.

 

[EllieGato]

I'm going with my initial guess for cause of death, name of illness set aside as it could be many... my guess is he died from Pernicious anemia (B12),and maybe peritonitis and maybe bowel obstruction... wide range of causes as in cancers, auto immune, infectious, parasitic, allergic, and even just scar tissue from a previous surgery are causes. He did have that fine linear scar so possibly some previous problems in the gut or appendix. One starves from not absorbing nutrients and calories, even when you eat well. His eyes and what appears to be a distended belly are a couple of the reasons why I think this.

 

[SugarQueen]

I really doubt I’m going to hear from town hall. I’m guessing they probably think I’m nuts. Lol
I’ll be contacting Collier County later today. Hopefully they contact Unionville and can get some answers.

 

[EllieGato]

I really doubt I’m going to hear from town hall. I’m guessing they probably think I’m nuts. Lol
I’ll be contacting Collier County later today. Hopefully they contact Unionville and can get some answers.

My SO said I shouldn't really expect an email reply from Jerome Idaho either. The important thing is that we put them in touch with each other, they are aware, and hopefully they'll follow through with some due diligence.

 

[perfectingpink]

Isn't coding or at least some parts of coding, personal to the individual? (I know NOTHING about coding and am only going off bits I have heard or at least thought I heard.) If so, would the gaming community be a good resource to see if they recognize the work?

 

[muggles63]

Isn't coding or at least some parts of coding, personal to the individual? (I know NOTHING about coding and am only going off bits I have heard or at least thought I heard.) If so, would the gaming community be a good resource to see if they recognize the work?[/Q

My daughter is a gamer, but can not do coding. I asked her about it and she said most people go to uni to learn that type of coding. But it makes sense now the tech/coding link, he may have worked in the gaming industry. It might be worth trying to get his image on the gamer streams and forums, it might bring new eyes on him if we are lucky. JMI

 

[muggles63]

I did that all wrong I was trying to reply to perfectinpinks comment, apologies. Not sure how to fix

 

[EllieGato]

On the podcast, there is a little bit about this, and I do think there is a personal level to one's code. But they did find terms similarly used that elude to a gaming character gaining or losing strength, etc. Better to listen to the podcast than me though, as this is out of my realm of understanding. There is also mention of an app he was writing for other thru hikers that helps them find water.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Isn't coding or at least some parts of coding, personal to the individual? (I know NOTHING about coding and am only going off bits I have heard or at least thought I heard.) If so, would the gaming community be a good resource to see if they recognize the work?

This makes a lot of sense. Share the codes themselves and the ideas he had written down.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

I'm under the impression the gaming industry is rather small in NYC and the east coast in general. It could be much easier to find him through that smaller community. We know he worked in tech but I wonder if he actually worked in gaming/apps.

 

[j_in_c]

Isn't coding or at least some parts of coding, personal to the individual? (I know NOTHING about coding and am only going off bits I have heard or at least thought I heard.) If so, would the gaming community be a good resource to see if they recognize the work?

I wouldn't say that code is in anyway personal, however, if they were willing to publish what language the code was it might yield clues as to what industry he may have worked in - IT, Hardware development, Game development, Website Development, etc. And of course some coding languages are used in almost every industry. It sounds like they did reach out to some developers who likely were able to ID the language at a minimum and then whether any variables or functions would point to anything useful.

As for the gaming references- I am not a gamer, but my kids play and spawning (can't recall what else was mentioned) is a thing in many games. The popular one my kids play is Terraria. I am curious if the clues mentioned point to a specific gaming community which could potentially yield more clues.

 

[Gardener1850]

Yes, they specifically said the ME stated he weighed 83 lbs.
I’ll be honest, the podcast made me tear up a bit. I so want him to have a name. More than anything I wish that he didn’t feel he had to be so alone. Makes me terribly sad.
We now know he had perfect teeth with not even a cavity. I’m assuming that means no fillings or extensive dental work. We know he had plenty of cash.
Did anyone note where the trail angel spoke to him? Any idea of distance from where he was found? I’m wondering how he appeared weight wise at that point.

This is the photo that the Trail Angel took of him near Crestview, Florida in January 2018:

This was near the beginning of his trek in Florida in the panhandle area. He was on Hwy 90, West of Crestview: Google Maps

 

[Gardener1850]

CCSO Media Relations

Very informative podcast from the Collier County Sheriff Department.

What were the autopsy findings as to cause of death?

We know from this podcast he was found in a semi-upright position with eyes wide open. He has notebooks filled with coding and ideas for video games he was writing. and he had a large amount of cash. But where was his pack?

So glad they are doing this podcast series. We learn the DNA is not yet complete in his NAMUS profile-- it could be up to a year to get the DNA back from University of North Texas because of a backlog. They are currently eliminating people based on dental records and fingerprints. He has perfect teeth-- no dental work at all. So anyone one with fillings or crooked teeth they have ruled out. He also has no tattoos.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

In this post they mention he said he was a computer programmer.
Kris Campbell

 

[Gardener1850]

Still listening to the podcast. They tracked down where he bought the tent! That tent is not usually sold along the AT but the manufacturer revealed one was apparently sold in Georgia at the Top of Georgia Hiking Center and Hostel. They spoke to the owner who sold him the tent. The hostel owner was surprised he bought such a large tent toward the end of his hike on the AT. It's technically a two person tent and they had trouble selling it. It's a $300 tent and he purchased it in cash. There were only two other people who stayed with Ben Bilemy at the hostel and the other two people were easy to rule out as not being him. He stayed there the night before Thanksgiving Nov 22 2017, then they were closed on Thanksgiving Day. Then he came back and stayed at the hostel for Nov 24, Nov 25 and Nov 26. Then he likely bought the tent right before leaving.

Here is that Hostel's website: North Georgia Hiking Center and Hostel | Top of Georgia Hostel

He kept hiking and came to Mountain Crossings about 40 miles south of Top of Georgia:
This is the photo that was posted to the Mountain Crossings Page on
December 2, 2017:

The owner of Mountain Crossings spoke and said that he seemed hesitant at first to have his photo taken for the website but he did agree. The owner also said he had a large stack of cash in his wallet. That guide in his right hand was printed for him by the owner from the a free mapping app of the Pinolti trail because he didn't have a cell phone to download the free online guidebook. It ended up being over 4o pages of paper printed so they charged him a couple bucks for the printing and called it even.

I wonder where he was staying on the night of Thanksgiving?

 

[EllieGato]

I was wondering about Thanksgiving too. He was in that area multiple days.

 

[Coffee56]

Isn't coding or at least some parts of coding, personal to the individual? (I know NOTHING about coding and am only going off bits I have heard or at least thought I heard.) If so, would the gaming community be a good resource to see if they recognize the work?

I’m a self taught coder. Everyone codes differently. There are also different coding languages. The basics are the same but most people end up taking a different way to get to the end result.

I would definitely share with the gaming community.

 

[Gardener1850]

I have been thinking about the significance of him buying the tent in GA when he had just hiked the AT for at least 6 months and was almost finished with it. I wonder if staying in that Top of GA hostel for several days and buying the tent was around the time when he might have actually decided to go off grid and break off contact with people he knew? I also wondered if he knew someone in the area to visit for the holiday and perhaps that is why he stayed so many days.

I started looking at Sheriff office postings in the counties near that GA hostel. Just north of there is Clay County, NC and they had a posting for a missing man on Dec 20, 2017:

I've never seen anything on Michael Todd Popa before and I have not checked yet to see if he is still missing. The comments on the post from a year ago say he is: Clay County NC Sheriff's Office

Our hiker started the Pinolti trail around Dec 29th, 2017. We know this because he was photographed at the trailhead near the GA/AL state line:

 

[Gardener1850]

I have been thinking about the significance of him buying the tent in GA when he had just hiked the AT for at least 6 months and was almost finished with it. I wonder if staying in that Top of GA hostel for several days and buying the tent was around the time when he might have actually decided to go off grid and break off contact with people he knew? I also wondered if he knew someone in the area to visit for the holiday and perhaps that is why he stayed so many days.

I started looking at Sheriff office postings in the counties near that GA hostel. Just north of there is Clay County, NC and they had a posting for a missing man on Dec 20, 2017:

I've never seen anything on Michael Todd Popa before and I have not checked yet to see if he is still missing. The comments on the post from a year ago say he is: Clay County NC Sheriff's Office

Our hiker started the Pinolti trail around Dec 29th, 2017. We know this because he was photographed at the trailhead near the GA/AL state line:

Disregard the above suggestion, I just found an article stating Michael Todd Poppa was found deceased in Feb 2018:
Body found in lake at Clay County; Sheriff's Office seeks man in hopes of gathering information