Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male Hiker, Denim & “Mostly Harmless” July 2018 - Vance Rodriguez #3

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Just heard on the local news (I live in Naples, Florida), a new episode of the Collier County Sheriff's Office's podcast Sworn Statement will be released on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. It will be an update on the Mostly Harmless case!
 
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This was also posted to the Collier County Sheriff's Office Facebook page:

We are working on this investigation and we haven't solved this case yet. But on Wednesday, we'll be releasing a podcast episode with an update on the 2018 case of the deceased hiker known only by his trail name, Mostly Harmless. Detectives have not been able to positively identify the man since locating his remains in the Florida Everglades about two years ago.

On Wednesday, we'll also post images from the hiker's notebook. We talked about what deputies found in those notebooks when we released our first episode of the podcast last year. This year, in an effort to renew interest in the case, we'll be sharing photos of several pages of the journals Mostly Harmless carried.

Stay tuned for the episode release on Wednesday. In the meantime, you can listen to the first season of the podcast for all of our background on this case on iTunes, Spotify, and GooglePlay. We're also on SoundCloud.
https://soundcloud.com/ccso-media-relations
 
gatorale said:
Just heard on the local news (I live in Naples, Florida), a new episode of the Collier County Sheriff's Office's podcast Sworn Statement will be released on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. It will be an update on the Mostly Harmless case!
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Thanks for the update. The podcasts on this guy are fantastic.
 
Very unlikely but posting anyway. He caught my attention as a much younger MH. Same eye shape, eye brow shape, ear shape etc. I suspect he along with his 5 friends drowned the night they stole the boat. They found 2 sets of human remains 3 yrs later in the Niagara River. One wearing pants that matched one of the boys. Not much info on Chad Smith. Reading the thread next.

Families mark 23 years since the Lost Boys went missing in Pickering

CANADA - Canada - 6 Missing Teens, Pickering, Ontario, 17 March 1995
 

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Coffee56 said:
Very unlikely but posting anyway. He caught my attention as a much younger MH. Same eye shape, eye brow shape, ear shape etc. I suspect he along with his 5 friends drowned the night they stole the boat. They found 2 sets of human remains 3 yrs later in the Niagara River. One wearing pants that matched one of the boys. Not much info on Chad Smith. Reading the thread next.

Families mark 23 years since the Lost Boys went missing in Pickering

CANADA - Canada - 6 Missing Teens, Pickering, Ontario, 17 March 1995
Click to expand...

Lots of differing opinions on the thread. Clothing DNA is not a match to the boy with matching clothing. PI is currently working the case and in the thread.
 
Armalita said:
Do we know for a fact that he wrote in these notebooks? Or is it possible that they belonged to someone else. Is it considered that possibly there is no sister? I would love to identify this gentleman along with many more but I'm starting to get confused on how we will do this by solving his screeps codes and how his autopsy will help. I had mentioned in another group that possibly he is gay and that seemed to upset a lot of people. I didn't say it was a fact but is it wrong to go down that avenue and share to some groups? I'm not trying to get kicked off or deleted I just said it's possible. Other opinions would greatly be appreciated because I didn't realize people would get angry over this.
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For what it's worth. I'm totally not offended by the suggestion he could be gay....why would you be anyway, it doesn't change anything.
 
Bit of hope said:
For what it's worth. I'm totally not offended by the suggestion he could be gay....why would you be anyway, it doesn't change anything.
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This, exactly.

The more I think about the orignal post, the more I am confused.

Do we know for a fact that he wrote in these notebooks? Or is it possible that they belonged to someone else. Is it considered that possibly there is no sister? I would love to identify this gentleman along with many more but I'm starting to get confused on how we will do this by solving his screeps codes and how his autopsy will help. I had mentioned in another group that possibly he is gay and that seemed to upset a lot of people. I didn't say it was a fact but is it wrong to go down that avenue and share to some groups? I'm not trying to get kicked off or deleted I just said it's possible. Other opinions would greatly be appreciated because I didn't realize people would get angry over this.

Not sure how identifying his sexual preference (based on very little or no suggestion) is a more important clue than deciphering his Screeps codes and using his autopsy information...but okkk....:p
 
So I did some digging on the Appalachian Trail forums and came across a user named VTGorilla. The user created their account in January 2017. The account was last accessed on May 20, 2017 (after the assumed date of departure, I know). What sticks out to me is that the only post the individual made was related to an app that they were developing. It's an Appalachian Trail mobile game. Take a look and let me know what you guys think...

I made an Appalachian Trail mobile game for Android and iOS - Appalachian Trail Cafe
 
whosbobby said:
So I did some digging on the Appalachian Trail forums and came across a user named VTGorilla. The user created their account in January 2017. The account was last accessed on May 20, 2017 (after the assumed date of departure, I know). What sticks out to me is that the only post the individual made was related to an app that they were developing. It's an Appalachian Trail mobile game. Take a look and let me know what you guys think...

I made an Appalachian Trail mobile game for Android and iOS - Appalachian Trail Cafe
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This individual has a twitter acct last accessed after MH's DOD.
 
whosbobby said:
So I did some digging on the Appalachian Trail forums and came across a user named VTGorilla. The user created their account in January 2017. The account was last accessed on May 20, 2017 (after the assumed date of departure, I know). What sticks out to me is that the only post the individual made was related to an app that they were developing. It's an Appalachian Trail mobile game. Take a look and let me know what you guys think...

I made an Appalachian Trail mobile game for Android and iOS - Appalachian Trail Cafe
Click to expand...
Also posted on Reddit 2 hours ago so definitely not our guy!
 
whosbobby said:
So I did some digging on the Appalachian Trail forums and came across a user named VTGorilla. The user created their account in January 2017. The account was last accessed on May 20, 2017 (after the assumed date of departure, I know). What sticks out to me is that the only post the individual made was related to an app that they were developing. It's an Appalachian Trail mobile game. Take a look and let me know what you guys think...

I made an Appalachian Trail mobile game for Android and iOS - Appalachian Trail Cafe
Click to expand...

Though it appears to be debunked quickly, this is a very good approach!

I don't have nearly as many posts as most people on this site, but don't let your first post be too much of a bummer if it didn't pan out.

I think if you keep trying this angle, you could stumble across something that leads to a final identification.
 
lonewanderer said:
Though it appears to be debunked quickly, this is a very good approach!

I don't have nearly as many posts as most people on this site, but don't let your first post be too much of a bummer if it didn't pan out.

I think if you keep trying this angle, you could stumble across something that leads to a final identification.
Click to expand...

thank you! And yes you’re right, it was debunked fast but I really appreciate the encouragement and kindness! I’ll keep trying!
 
Just listened to the podcast. These are some parts I found relevant:

1. Collier County sent notebooks to an MIT professor, then reached out to high-level Screeps players via their Slack channel. There are clips from an audio interview with one of these players.

2. The Screeps player (Shane) thinks MH was a web developer. He believes the code was written along the trail because there are some gaps and errors that would have been easily solved with access to references or the internet.

3. Some conversation about how common burnout in tech world is.

4. CC LE do not believe that he'll be identified via fingerprints; it will be someone that knows him personally or recognizes his code/handwriting.

5. Screeps says giving access to cops would be a violation of user privacy policies. Same thing from Steam/Valve, which is how they hypothesize MH downloaded Screeps. Law enforcement are "working on access" to both Screeps and Steam accounts, the latter of which would have likely been linked (at one time) to a credit card.
 
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