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

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I know that the Missing Persons records have reportedly been exhausted but I wanted to see if anyone else saw some strong similarities to this guy.

I couldn't find a listing for him on Websleuths but he is on Charley Project.

The photo is circa 1989 so that would mean looking at the pics with a 30 year gap in mind. No tattoos but he reportedly had a linear scar on his right fore arm that reached his wrist.

Scott Jay Hanson, also spelled Hansen on some MP sites... notice the premature grey near his temples.

Todd Jay Hanson – The Charley Project
 

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It would be cool if one of the guys that discovered MH in his tent would join our discussion. I have chatted with him on another hiking site. He was also interviewed in the Sheriff's podcast. Seems like a good guy out hiking with a buddy that came across this tent and decided to check inside. It's common to come across a tent with someone napping inside or away from it. First come, first serve to most camp sites (unless permits are required) and hiker etiquette says to not bother the area. I am relieved they were tired and curious enough to investigate because it seemed off.

IMO, he was completely taken aback by finding someone deceased but more by the shocking sight of their appearance (weight). I recall him stating the camp site was in a miserable location with a super mucky water hole, that attracted mosquitoes. He didn't believe he had been there for long and felt he had to be in a desperate condition to set up camp there.

Honestly, with the hot humid wet weather conditions it's amazing he was found as quickly after his passing as he was. He could have been discovered later and been completely unrecognizable.

This is gross but one question that I would like to know - was there any signs around the tent area of human waste, specifically diarrhea? His end had to be unbearable....
 
K9Enzo said:
It would be cool if one of the guys that discovered MH in his tent would join our discussion. I have chatted with him on another hiking site. He was also interviewed in the Sheriff's podcast. Seems like a good guy out hiking with a buddy that came across this tent and decided to check inside. It's common to come across a tent with someone napping inside or away from it. First come, first serve to most camp sites (unless permits are required) and hiker etiquette says to not bother the area. I am relieved they were tired and curious enough to investigate because it seemed off.

IMO, he was completely taken aback by finding someone deceased but more by the shocking sight of their appearance (weight). I recall him stating the camp site was in a miserable location with a super mucky water hole, that attracted mosquitoes. He didn't believe he had been there for long and felt he had to be in a desperate condition to set up camp there.

Honestly, with the hot humid wet weather conditions it's amazing he was found as quickly after his passing as he was. He could have been discovered later and been completely unrecognizable.

This is gross but one question that I would like to know - was there any signs around the tent area of human waste, specifically diarrhea? His end had to be unbearable....
Click to expand...
That’s terrible to hear. It just dawned on me earlier that he was on the trail in Florida in July. That had to be really miserable with all the heat and humidity. And mosquitoes.
I’m thinking he might have gotten a very bad case of giardiasis. For him to have lost that much weight he must have been sick for quite a while. Really horrible and sad.
Safety - Big Cypress National Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)
 
@neesaki but isn't the thing that he could be identified - he gave his identity as Ben Bilemy, so that's the name that other hikers knew (besides his two nicknames), but the name BB couldn't be verified so that how they figured out he gave a fake name.
also, I'm not 100% sure, but wasn't he found in the same clothes that he was shown wearing in some photos later submitted by people who met him? yellow/light green shorts especially or something like that?
 
Using the search mechanism I cant find a listing for Todd Jay Hanson. I have never started a thread here but I am thinking this guy should have one. I do think there are some similarities to Mostly Harmless but it is hard to imagine someone being on the lam for close to 30 years.

Todd Jay Hanson – The Charley Project

I cant find him on Name Us either.

His teeth sure look good.
 

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neesaki said:
That same thought about him possibly getting ill from parasites in the water occurred to me in the wee hours of the morning. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before.

I was wondering if he might have a money belt around his waist underneath his shirt.

I don’t think your “crazy thought” is crazy at all. I was thinking the same thing last night. How do they know it’s even the same person?

Weird how we’re thinking some of the same things!
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Money belt! That would make perfect sense. I’m sure going from (I assume) a regular life and diet to one of a hiker, he would have experienced some gastrointestinal irregularities; bloating, changes in bowel movements even.

I think the parasite (giardiasis for example) theory is a good one. He would have gotten extremely ill and without some kind of medical treatment... well, you can guess. It wouldn’t have been pretty. Awful to think about. That’s something I would think they’d have found during the autopsy but of course they’ve not released any of those details. For good reason I’m assuming.

EllieGato said:
I know that the Missing Persons records have reportedly been exhausted but I wanted to see if anyone else saw some strong similarities to this guy.

I couldn't find a listing for him on Websleuths but he is on Charley Project.

The photo is circa 1989 so that would mean looking at the pics with a 30 year gap in mind. No tattoos but he reportedly had a linear scar on his right fore arm that reached his wrist.

Scott Jay Hanson, also spelled Hansen on some MP sites... notice the premature grey near his temples.

Todd Jay Hanson – The Charley Project
Click to expand...
Honestly, I don’t see it. Something about his overall look that’s different. But he does have very nice teeth :D (JMO)

K9Enzo said:
It would be cool if one of the guys that discovered MH in his tent would join our discussion. I have chatted with him on another hiking site. He was also interviewed in the Sheriff's podcast. Seems like a good guy out hiking with a buddy that came across this tent and decided to check inside. It's common to come across a tent with someone napping inside or away from it. First come, first serve to most camp sites (unless permits are required) and hiker etiquette says to not bother the area. I am relieved they were tired and curious enough to investigate because it seemed off.

IMO, he was completely taken aback by finding someone deceased but more by the shocking sight of their appearance (weight). I recall him stating the camp site was in a miserable location with a super mucky water hole, that attracted mosquitoes. He didn't believe he had been there for long and felt he had to be in a desperate condition to set up camp there.

Honestly, with the hot humid wet weather conditions it's amazing he was found as quickly after his passing as he was. He could have been discovered later and been completely unrecognizable.

This is gross but one question that I would like to know - was there any signs around the tent area of human waste, specifically diarrhea? His end had to be unbearable....
Click to expand...
It would be interesting to have them here. I wish more agencies could/would do stuff like that podcast! It was incredibly informative and nice to hear things straight from the source. They probably are both still a little shook up from discovering what they did. I bet it’s something they don’t want to relive so I can understand and respect that they aren’t talking about it much. I remember hearing or reading that the camp was pretty overgrown with weeds, even in the small campfire that was made there. No mention of human waste or excrement, but given the circumstances I’m not sure they would have noticed? I’m not sure though.

buruczka said:
@neesaki but isn't the thing that he could be identified - he gave his identity as Ben Bilemy, so that's the name that other hikers knew (besides his two nicknames), but the name BB couldn't be verified so that how they figured out he gave a fake name.
also, I'm not 100% sure, but wasn't he found in the same clothes that he was shown wearing in some photos later submitted by people who met him? yellow/light green shorts especially or something like that?
Click to expand...
He was found in the exact same clothing as what’s seen in the photos. It’s a near impossibility that it’s not the same person, but weirder things have happened. There’s really no way for them to know for sure at this point, until he’s identified, it’s basically just the word of several witnesses. lol. I did say it was a crazy thought ;)
 
SugarQueen said:
Ellie, it states Hanson had a scar on his right forearm and wrist. I think that rules him out unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Yes, I included that... it is described as a linear scar. My linear scar from jumping a fence graduation night 30 years ago has finally disappeared and looks like a wrinke. I can't believe a 30 year old linear scar is enough to truly rule him out. I would hope they use a better rule out mechanism than that.

Did you notice the physical description of the linear scar was just added? I thought that was weird.

Just looking at obituaries, there is an Elizabeth in his family that relocated to Englewood, Florida which is halfway between Sarasota and Fort Meyers.

I think I am going to investigate this a little further but as always, I really appreciate your input SugarQueen.
 

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@EllieGato I think that the overall circumstances are enough to rule Todd out. you're doing great job looking at more possibilities and thinking outside the box, but in my opinion, you're stretching the narrative
 
buruczka said:
@EllieGato ....but in my opinion, you're stretching the narrative
Click to expand...

I have to be honest and say that based on the use of an alias, and considering that the narrative is the story he told to other people (not the facts given by CCSO) and it has led NOwhere, I don't believe the narrative is completely true or accurate. I think it is highly likely Todd Hanson is deceased, but I like to leave no stone unturned.

I hope somebody gives the guy a thread here.
 
coffeeandacig said:
Reading the link above with the discussion of his childhood, I got the impression of the movie "The Great Santini".
Makes me wonder if he was a military child? Of course...pure speculation.

Also, if MH had a sister in the Sarasota/Ft. Myers area, she would've been very upset seeing his weight loss. I hardly think he'd have visited her, then left without her fattening him up a bit. Any sister would've had him Baker Acted so he didn't starve to death.
Click to expand...

BBM

Yeah, most people would have tried to feed him!

Speculation, what if (I know, I know, we avoid speculation here at WS) the abuse was severe enough to involve authorities? This could be a foster sister, a step- or half-sister, or a shares-both-parents sister.

Or even this kind of Sister:

upload_2020-1-3_14-23-57.jpeg

We're chasing our collective tail! So wish we knew more, so wish that Florida's quite impressive privacy standards could be relaxed just for MH/Denim & us here!

JMHO YMMV LRR
 
buruczka said:
@neesaki but isn't the thing that he could be identified - he gave his identity as Ben Bilemy, so that's the name that other hikers knew (besides his two nicknames), but the name BB couldn't be verified so that how they figured out he gave a fake name.
also, I'm not 100% sure, but wasn't he found in the same clothes that he was shown wearing in some photos later submitted by people who met him? yellow/light green shorts especially or something like that?
Click to expand...
Yeah, you're right. Just wish we could figure out who "he" is. Where did I read about the friends in New York that put his belongings in storage. I wonder where that information came from. I did read that somewhere didn't I ?
 
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MadMcGoo said:
Money belt! That would make perfect sense. I’m sure going from (I assume) a regular life and diet to one of a hiker, he would have experienced some gastrointestinal irregularities; bloating, changes in bowel movements even.

I think the parasite (giardiasis for example) theory is a good one. He would have gotten extremely ill and without some kind of medical treatment... well, you can guess. It wouldn’t have been pretty. Awful to think about. That’s something I would think they’d have found during the autopsy but of course they’ve not released any of those details. For good reason I’m assuming.

Honestly, I don’t see it. Something about his overall look that’s different. But he does have very nice teeth :D (JMO)

It would be interesting to have them here. I wish more agencies could/would do stuff like that podcast! It was incredibly informative and nice to hear things straight from the source. They probably are both still a little shook up from discovering what they did. I bet it’s something they don’t want to relive so I can understand and respect that they aren’t talking about it much. I remember hearing or reading that the camp was pretty overgrown with weeds, even in the small campfire that was made there. No mention of human waste or excrement, but given the circumstances I’m not sure they would have noticed? I’m not sure though.

He was found in the exact same clothing as what’s seen in the photos. It’s a near impossibility that it’s not the same person, but weirder things have happened. There’s really no way for them to know for sure at this point, until he’s identified, it’s basically just the word of several witnesses. lol. I did say it was a crazy thought ;)
Click to expand...
Ok thanks, glad to clear that up at least. :)
 
I've thought about doing this before but I was unable to - is there anyone in the NYC area that would want to go flyer with me? I live in downtown NYC and have also lived in Brooklyn for years. I have a few friends in the IT field but none of them recall someone that reminds them of MH. Anyway, would anyone want to help with this project?
 
The problem with him getting sick, IMO, and not purposely walking himself to death, is that you don't get to 83 pounds right away. For someone his height, anything under 115 would have begun to seem alarming, right? He could have sought help easily until the very end, I suppose, when he was too weak.

Those missing months are a real conundrum.

On the flip side, if you think of it as an intentional, that he knew he was going to die, how does he not leave behind one small personal note, anything, that explained what he was going through. What he left behind doesn't seem like someone who was walking an illness into the sunset.

The problem is that neither theory makes total sense. This case is so baffling.
 
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