Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male Hiker, Denim & “Mostly Harmless” July 2018 - Vance Rodriguez #2

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Gardener1850 said:
Respectfully, we don't know that he "rejected" any home. We don't know that he never planned to return or make contact with his family ever again. It is very common for hikers not to share their personal info with strangers they meet on the trail for security reasons. He reportedly left personal things in storage somewhere before his hike. Do you think he wanted his personal computer hard drives with his info on them sold? People he met said he acted like he had plans for the future when he finished his hike. He was writing code for a computer game he wanted to create and writing recipes for trail bars he wanted to invent. Do these sound like things a person who never planned to get back on the grid would dream about doing? He had plenty of paper but didn't leave any kind of note saying he knew he was dying nor did he ask not to be identified should something happen to him. That is your opinion based on what you say you would want if you died suddenly while hiking. There is no indication he even knew he was dying. Imagine this man was your son, brother, father or close friend- wouldn't you want to know what happened to him? He may have children somewhere that are growing up without knowing him. His family deserves to know what happened to him. MOO.
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While I do agree that it may be common for hikers to not share personal details for security reasons, I find it odd that there is no mention of a single piece of evidence found that the campsite that would identify him or even appear to help in the identification process - no driver's license or state ID, no address book, no papers of any kind hinting where he came from or where he was going.
I really think he took steps to appear and remain anonymous.
 
Valiant said:
While I do agree that it may be common for hikers to not share personal details for security reasons, I find it odd that there is no mention of a single piece of evidence found that the campsite that would identify him or even appear to help in the identification process - no driver's license or state ID, no address book, no papers of any kind hinting where he came from or where he was going.
I really think he took steps to appear and remain anonymous.
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It could be the case that he was actively trying to remain unknown or it could be that when you go backpacking, you only bring minimal identification with you and that in many months on the trail, it could have been lost. If he was truly living in NYC, it is possible he didn't drive a car regularly or have a current driver's license. I would love to be able to run a facial recognition on NY state's driver's license/ID photo database. I find it more curious about how he was accessing his funds without an ATM/Debit/CC. I still think the key is to get his story and photo circulated in NYC and especially in SW developer's circles. I have also worried that he may have worked remotely and therefore people would not necessarily know what he looks like. If anyone on here is on the "Slack" board for tech in NYC, I've thought that would be a great place to post Denim's story.
 
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Valiant said:
While I do agree that it may be common for hikers to not share personal details for security reasons, I find it odd that there is no mention of a single piece of evidence found that the campsite that would identify him or even appear to help in the identification process - no driver's license or state ID, no address book, no papers of any kind hinting where he came from or where he was going.
I really think he took steps to appear and remain anonymous.
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You may be right that he wanted to be anonymous on the trail. But does that equal wanting to be anonymous in an unexpected death too? Forever? From reading hikers blogs I get the idea that many hikers do not carry any ID with them on purpose. ID is rarely needed on the trail, adds to the weight of the pack and is at risk of getting lost. A younger hiker might want an ID to buy alcohol occasionally but a man Denim's age is not going to be carded anywhere. I think it was a little unusual that he had large amounts of cash with him but if someone is choosing not to carry an ATM card then they either have to carry all their cash for the hike or have money sent to them along the trail (Blogs on the subject say to plan to spend around $1000 per month on the AT). He may have been secretive in order to keep anyone from getting too close to him and noticing how much cash he was carrying. One hiker that met him said they got the impression that he was working in exchange for room and board and looking for odd jobs to pay his way along the trail. Perhaps he was budgeting his hike carefully and trying to make his money last longer or perhaps he gave that impression on purpose because he didn't want anyone to know he was carrying all of his cash with him.

MOO.
 
I watched an American Greed story this weekend on TV. The suspect ran from LE and alluded them for 6 years.......he was continuously hiking the AP! I thought of Denim and looked for him in the background. I didn't see him, but it made me think how easy it would be to just disappear or become anonymous with this group.

No questions asked!
 
nannymo said:
I watched an American Greed story this weekend on TV. The suspect ran from LE and alluded them for 6 years.......he was continuously hiking the AP! I thought of Denim and looked for him in the background. I didn't see him, but it made me think how easy it would be to just disappear or become anonymous with this group.

No questions asked!
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That was probably about James Hammes who went by the name "Bismark" on the trail for 6 years before he was caught. We have discussed him here a few times in the context of discussing whether Denim could have been a fugitive also. He was caught in 2015-- a couple years before Denim started his hike as far as we know. Here are a couple articles about JH: FBI Arrests Fugitive James Hammes (Bismarck) at Trail Days - AppalachianTrail.com

A Killer Hiding on the Appalachian Trail?
 
If MH was born or grew up in Baton Rouge, one possibility would be the face book groups for local high school reunions in his age bracket. Even if he didn't graduate from a Baton Rouge area high school and only went to elementary or middle school there, someone from his cohort might recognize MH.
 
P
houndpounder said:
Perhaps his ID (wallet) was stolen by a lowlife hiker from the tent after he was deceased.
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Hikers are quite a bit better than the national average. Usually hikers look scruffy, but that is just from being on trail. Usually hikers are stolen from by bums. From the other posts I don't remember hearing that he had a wallet. I also though that LE recovered cash at the site? If he was stolen from at all it was likely by a non hiker.
 
Hello guys :)
I am new to websleuths and this is my first post. I am a bit excited! Furthermore, English is not my mother language so please forgive me for spelling/wording mistakes :)

Because I live in Germany I am normally interested in German cases. In Germany, we have some forums like websleuths as well. I stumbled over this Doe case and for me it seems strange that, inspite of many photos and interactions with people, this person is still unidentified.

I did some research about this case, especially searching the name Bilemy. Of course, I also could not find any person with this surname as well but I found this link to a fan fiction of doctor who:

Angel (11th Doctor x OC) - Chapter I - Wattpad

In some post, MH said that he is doctor who fan. In this fan fiction, a character has the name “Bilemy“.

After checking the profile of the writer of the fan fiction, I don't think that the he has something to do with MH.

Sorry, that this is not much information but this could explain the surname.

XXXX
Recovery
 
Recovery said:
Hello guys :)
I am new to websleuths and this is my first post. I am a bit excited! Furthermore, English is not my mother language so please forgive me for spelling/wording mistakes :)

Because I live in Germany I am normally interested in German cases. In Germany, we have some forums like websleuths as well. I stumbled over this Doe case and for me it seems strange that, inspite of many photos and interactions with people, this person is still unidentified.

I did some research about this case, especially searching the name Bilemy. Of course, I also could not find any person with this surname as well but I found this link to a fan fiction of doctor who:

Angel (11th Doctor x OC) - Chapter I - Wattpad

In some post, MH said that he is doctor who fan. In this fan fiction, a character has the name “Bilemy“.

After checking the profile of the writer of the fan fiction, I don't think that the he has something to do with MH.

Sorry, that this is not much information but this could explain the surname.

XXXX
Recovery
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Hi welcome...good to have you here. Don't worry....everybody here had a first post once....:) Interesting find. I'm not sure Bilemy in the above tekst means a name of a person....it looks more like a curse (decent for Blimey) when the girl slams the door in their faces.
 
Recovery said:
Hello guys :)
I am new to websleuths and this is my first post. I am a bit excited! Furthermore, English is not my mother language so please forgive me for spelling/wording mistakes :)

Because I live in Germany I am normally interested in German cases. In Germany, we have some forums like websleuths as well. I stumbled over this Doe case and for me it seems strange that, inspite of many photos and interactions with people, this person is still unidentified.

I did some research about this case, especially searching the name Bilemy. Of course, I also could not find any person with this surname as well but I found this link to a fan fiction of doctor who:

Angel (11th Doctor x OC) - Chapter I - Wattpad

In some post, MH said that he is doctor who fan. In this fan fiction, a character has the name “Bilemy“.

After checking the profile of the writer of the fan fiction, I don't think that the he has something to do with MH.

Sorry, that this is not much information but this could explain the surname.

XXXX
Recovery
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Welcome to Websleuths, Recovery! Your English is very good. That is an interesting find. It seems that word only appears once in the story. I wonder if perhaps the author meant to used the word "Blimey" but instead wrote "Bilemy"?

Definition of Blimey:

blimey
[ˈblīmē]
EXCLAMATION
BRITISH
informal
  1. used to express one's surprise, excitement, or alarm.
ORIGIN
late 19th century: altered form of (God) blind (or blame) me!
[ˈblīmē]

-------

Is anyone here a fan of Dr Who? Do they say "blimey" a lot in Dr Who? If an author of fan fiction about the show could make that kind of spelling mistake perhaps Denim/Mostly Harmless also misspelled his alias name?
 
Gardener1850 said:
Welcome to Websleuths, Recovery! Your English is very good. That is an interesting find. It seems that word only appears once in the story. I wonder if perhaps the author meant to used the word "Blimey" but instead wrote "Bilemy"?

Definition of Blimey:

blimey
[ˈblīmē]
EXCLAMATION
BRITISH
informal
  1. used to express one's surprise, excitement, or alarm.
ORIGIN
late 19th century: altered form of (God) blind (or blame) me!
[ˈblīmē]

-------

Is anyone here a fan of Dr Who? Do they say "blimey" a lot in Dr Who? If an author of fan fiction about the show could make that kind of spelling mistake perhaps Denim/Mostly Harmless also misspelled his alias name?
Click to expand...
It's repotered that he used Ben Bilemy to sign into lodging along his way. Perhaps Ben Bilemy is a cipher, anagram, or obscure reference such as the one "Recovery" cited.
 
You all do know that there are many sites dedicated to finding out who this man was and who his survivors might be, right? That his secret hasn't been cracked in more than a year tells me that he didn't want it cracked. It takes quite a while to die from starvation - approx 45 to 60 days if one is able to stay hydrated. a week if not. In ALL that time, had Denim wanted anyone to know who and where he was he had plenty of time to pen a note to anyone; relative, lost love. Why do you think he didn't?
 
Catmammy said:
You all do know that there are many sites dedicated to finding out who this man was and who his survivors might be, right? That his secret hasn't been cracked in more than a year tells me that he didn't want it cracked. It takes quite a while to die from starvation - approx 45 to 60 days if one is able to stay hydrated. a week if not. In ALL that time, had Denim wanted anyone to know who and where he was he had plenty of time to pen a note to anyone; relative, lost love. Why do you think he didn't?
Click to expand...

Mental illness?

It's just the first guess I had. Maybe the lack of a note or something to lead to his identity was not a simple choice.
 
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