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

[branmuffin]

Random thoughts:

1. He was visiting a deceased sister in Florida. Her grave maybe.

2. His family knows this is him. Maybe he was sick or maybe this was an accidental/unexpected death, but his family knew there was a chance they’d never see him again and everyone was “okay” with that. He could have left his life behind and not told anyone his plans but, for reasons we aren’t aware of, there was an agreement for his family not to claim him if ever he were found like this.

3. Unlikely, but could we be looking for a long missing child? DNA probably wouldn’t be available and of course visual comparison would be difficult, but it’s something I’ve not entirely ruled out. Again, unlikely.

4. I think he was on the lower end of the estimated age range.

5. I think his online presence was just that, online only. Take this forum for example. Many of us “know” one another and would very easily notice if one of us seemingly disappeared from the site, but would we necessarily be able to identify that person based off of a post mortem reconstruction and a few vague details? No, not in most instances. I think the extent of Denim’s online presence will prove to be similar.

6. I’ve tried reading back through to when it was first discussed and couldn’t find anything, but was anyone able to extract anything of value from the Go Pro footage?

My 2 cents FWIW. Coming up on two years unidentified, I feel like we could have answers soon. Thanks to everyone working tirelessly to try to identify our handsome hiker!

I heard that the two individuals who were trying to clean up the audio were having a real problem isolating Denim's responses. There was too much static and the person holding the Go Pro wasn't aiming the mic at Denim so it's hard to separate.

I also think he is at the younger end of the age range, gray hair notwithstanding. I would say he's about 33.

 

[Ursamajr]

I need to make it out to Noble Camp, I want to see it for myself. I can't get out there before next weekend. I am so curious how he could be out there for months and not encounter one person who realized he needed some help.

Just some insight from a camper: I usually want to be in-and-out of a primitive campsite. Throw up my tent before sundown, take out my stove and cook and then head to sleep so I can get out first thing in the morning. There were plenty of times that I saw another tent already set up when I arrived and then just figured the person was sleeping late if they were still set up when I was heading out.

MH stringing his garbage up in the tree, though considerate, might have worked against him being found. Seeing what looks like a clean, cared for, and occupied campsite wouldn't raise red flags like a occupied yet disturbed/unkempt site would.

I also find that people usually keep to themselves more in primitive and dispersed campsites compared to campgrounds with water/wash stations/bathrooms.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Thank you @branmuffin ! I was pretty sure that was the case but wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

I think you’re right about the age. Somewhere close to that.

 

[GatorFL]

Random thoughts:

1. He was visiting a deceased sister in Florida. Her grave maybe.

2. His family knows this is him. Maybe he was sick or maybe this was an accidental/unexpected death, but his family knew there was a chance they’d never see him again and everyone was “okay” with that. He could have left his life behind and not told anyone his plans but, for reasons we aren’t aware of, there was an agreement for his family not to claim him if ever he were found like this.

3. Unlikely, but could we be looking for a long missing child? DNA probably wouldn’t be available and of course visual comparison would be difficult, but it’s something I’ve not entirely ruled out. Again, unlikely.

4. I think he was on the lower end of the estimated age range.

5. I think his online presence was just that, online only. Take this forum for example. Many of us “know” one another and would very easily notice if one of us seemingly disappeared from the site, but would we necessarily be able to identify that person based off of a post mortem reconstruction and a few vague details? No, not in most instances. I think the extent of Denim’s online presence will prove to be similar.

6. I’ve tried reading back through to when it was first discussed and couldn’t find anything, but was anyone able to extract anything of value from the Go Pro footage?

My 2 cents FWIW. Coming up on two years unidentified, I feel like we could have answers soon. Thanks to everyone working tirelessly to try to identify our handsome hiker!

Great points.

One thing I have thought about frequently is the sister. The timeline from the picture in Tosohatchee WMA to the picture in Big Cypress is one month, mid March to mid April. I've often wondered if he hiked that whole distance in that time frame. Yes, the math is possible but historically he moved pretty slow and that is a rough hike. A lot of it is done through sugar sand and/or swamps both of which are difficult. A diversion, like a visit to the sister in Sarasota, would have brought him from Central Florida to Southwest Florida. We have a good timeline because of the Tosohatchee pic with the hiking poles and Mike Gormley's picture by the truck. He could have taken a zero (number of miles hiked in a day) for a week and gotten caught up by being dropped off in SWFL. MH also cleaned himself up between those pictures so he was off trail for sure at one point since he didn't seem to be shaving his own beard.

I've wondered if the family knew it was him and for one reason or another, they have not come forward.

Regarding #4 a couple of the hikers who met him felt he was younger than the grey hair indicated. I read this somewhere and am pretty sure I heard it on one of the podcasts.

 

[GatorFL]

Just some insight from a camper: I usually want to be in-and-out of a primitive campsite. Throw up my tent before sundown, take out my stove and cook and then head to sleep so I can get out first thing in the morning. There were plenty of times that I saw another tent already set up when I arrived and then just figured the person was sleeping late if they were still set up when I was heading out.

MH stringing his garbage up in the tree, though considerate, might have worked against him being found. Seeing what looks like a clean, cared for, and occupied campsite wouldn't raise red flags like a occupied yet disturbed/unkempt site would.

I also find that people usually keep to themselves more in primitive and dispersed campsites compared to campgrounds with water/wash stations/bathrooms.

It's hit or miss for sure. I've been invited over to the fire and/or completely ignored. The hiking community in FL is pretty welcoming overall though.

But what I was getting at was somebody parking at the rest area and making their way to Noble for a quick wildlife spotting adventure. I was over in Everglades City before the epidemic and stopped by Florida Panther Wildlife Refuge after lunch. It's less than 20 miles west of Nobles. Despite there being only one car in the parking lot I encountered several groups of people out there looking for wildlife, in only a one-hour stroll.

 

[deadfoot13]

I find it even more awful that he could have been just days away from being found alive. How terrible. One thing that really hit me when looking at the mess in his tent, was after all he was going through he still put his garbage up in a tree to avoid littering.

While it was definitely considerate, it was most likely to avoid drawing in predators. Hiking the Appalachian Trail he most likely learned bear safety, which includes hanging your provisions in a tree away from your sleeping area. When I camp, we're careful to not sleep in the clothes that we wore to cook/eat dinner and don't even keep a chapstick in the tent -- nothing scarier than waking up in the middle of the night and realizing there is a bear sniffing your head through the wall of the tent. One year my brother left a cup with rum & coke and a container of worms on the picnic table, a bear stopped by and drank the rum & coke and ate the container of bait...

Edited to correct spelling.

 

[NickandNora4ever]

Blargle. I have totally reversed my former thoughts about this person and I’m now thinking most of the stuff he told other hikers was probably made up or he bent the truth a lot. I also think he probably had a lot of mental health problems which explains how he ended up in the shape he did and what ultimately killed him. Also? I never thought I would lean this way in his case but I’m also throwing around the idea in my head that he was running from something horrible and that is why, instead of trying to get help those last couple months, he let himself get past a point of no return. I think he quite literally wanted to disappear. And in a way, he’s done that. We have his shell and what little bits of info we can glean from conversations with other hikers but we know nothing of him. Whoever he was in real life has totally disappeared.

I think my initial interest in the case was because he was a handsome guy who seemed very gregarious and very nice if not a bit guarded and how he must be missed dearly by someone. He seemed so “normal” and kind from the pictures and small glimpses of personality we get from other hikers. I didn’t want to think the worst.

1)I don’t think he was ever reported missing.
2)I think if he was online at all he kept a very anonymous profile. Probably little social media and it was mostly all scrubbed before he left. Probably a very small circle of friends. Very small. I can’t theorize to his family situation and if they would’ve reported him missing because we know for some of these cases, people just leave their families and they’re never reported missing. Maybe his family situation was awful and he cut contact with them. Maybe they were wonderful and he still cut contact with them or they cut contact with him. We know he had interests in Screeps and was a competent programmer (could’ve been a pro but maybe it was also just a hobby). Those are the only two solid things we know about him. He had more than enough time to figure out a backstory for anyone he met on the trails and he kept repeating the same script to people he met with slight variances.

I’ve said this case kinda reminds me of Lori Ruff with its dead ends, rabbit holes, rambling notes and a shocking death that will only be solved by dna ancestry tracing.

 

[NickandNora4ever]

I need to make it out to Noble Camp, I want to see it for myself. I can't get out there before next weekend. I am so curious how he could be out there for months and not encounter one person who realized he needed some help.

I’m curious about this as well. Are hiking trails and camping spots not occasionally checked over by rangers or other maintenance workers or caretakers? He was camped near a picnic table. No trash cans close by that had to be emptied? No outhouses or shelters? I know July is not the best time to hike and camp in Florida but no one checked that site at all those 2-3 months he was probably living there? We know hikers saw his tent. But it seemed he was living there and had been there a long time and if there had been rangers or maintenance workers they would’ve noticed his tent in same spot every time they went out there.

 

[branmuffin]

While it was definitely considerate, it was most likely to avoid drawing in predators. Hiking the Appalachian Trail he most likely learned bear safety, which includes hanging your provisions in a tree away from your sleeping area. When I camp, we're careful to not sleep in the clothes that we wore to cook/eat dinner and don't even keep a chapstick in the tent -- nothing scarier than waking up in the middle of the night and realizing there is a bear sniffing your head through the wall of the tent. One year my brother left a cup with rum & coke and a container of worms on the picnic table, a bear stopped by and drank the rum & coke and ate the container of bait...

Edited to correct spelling.

LOL once years ago my ex and I went camping in Algonquin Park. After dinner we were sitting around eating pecans and these delicious oatmeal cookies that were drizzled with caramel. We heard a disturbance in the undergrowth and this huge bear came waddling into the campsite lifting its nose until in zeroed in on the cookies. we skedaddled into the tent waiting for it to leave. It was there FOREVER motoring through the cookie bag. We had visions of it sitting in the camp chair spitting the pecan shells into the fire. When it was gone we ventured out and looked at the packet of cookies. All gone. But he had been so neat. Instead of ripping the package to s**t. it'd opened the package on the side with its claw, I guess, like an old fashioned can opener.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I’m with you NickandNora. I’m afraid he might have been running from something terrible. Not as in he was a criminal or had a physically abusive father necessarily, but something less obvious.

Awhile back I went down the rabbit hole of researching a child killer from Louisiana/Mississippi. I highly suspect he was a serial offender but that’s irrelevant in this case. Anyway, I was trying find a link between our hiker, Louisiana, and a past worthy of running from. This particular killer (now deceased after being sentenced to death in LA for kidnapping, raping. and murdering his step daughter) was institutionalized and began committing crimes at a very early age. He basically admitted to his attorney that he’d gotten away with who knows how many other crimes, yet I couldn’t find much on him. This took place in/near Denham Springs which is what caught my attention in the first place.

Long story short, I discovered that his father died at a young age when he was only a year or so old and his mother (and in turn him) changed her last name. It made for a very confusing family tree and quite a blended one as well. He ended up having more than one wife and several children/step children. Some of whom I could not account for and some of whom I suspect could have been victimized by him.

My point being, let’s say our hiker was a product of a rape, a victim of rape or similar abuse at the hands of a family member (or friend of a family member), or was born into a family shrouded in darkness (I am simply using these as examples!). I can only imagine how this would affect a person mentally and emotionally. Then, if he were diagnosed with some ailment, I’d think that’d worsen his physical and mental well-being.

Maybe his family knew of the abuse and were too frightened for everyone’s safety to speak up, and disappearing off the face of the earth was the best option for him. Maybe his mothered married an abusive man and forbid him to ever speak of it. Maybe his family even helped him “disappear” and they’ve been mourning his physical loss for almost 2 years (or more) now.

So many possibilities. I spent awhile researching this killer as I thought at the time I could be on to something - now I’m not sure of anything. I am feeling as though he didn’t want us to easily know who he was. I respect that, although I hope one day we do get to know who he was. This has been an unusually tough case all around. I’ve grown rather attached to him!

 

[GatorFL]

I’m curious about this as well. Are hiking trails and camping spots not occasionally checked over by rangers or other maintenance workers or caretakers? He was camped near a picnic table. No trash cans close by that had to be emptied? No outhouses or shelters? I know July is not the best time to hike and camp in Florida but no one checked that site at all those 2-3 months he was probably living there? We know hikers saw his tent. But it seemed he was living there and had been there a long time and if there had been rangers or maintenance workers they would’ve noticed his tent in same spot every time they went out there.

They're supposed to be. I routinely run into rangers on hikes on other sections of the FT. Some are out there doing wildlife tasks whole others are checking permits. The campgrounds are patrolled more than the trails though. FTA also has a number of trail maintenance hikes in various areas. Between rangers, the Indians and sightseers and other hikers I am positive somebody would have come across him in 3 months. In late May/early June I am guessing he would have been skinny enough for a worried hiker to raise the alarm. The complete radio silence since Mike Gormley saw him and when he was found is puzzling.

 

[NickandNora4ever]

They're supposed to be. I routinely run into rangers on hikes on other sections of the FT. Some are out there doing wildlife tasks whole others are checking permits. The campgrounds are patrolled more than the trails though. FTA also has a number of trail maintenance hikes in various areas. Between rangers, the Indians and sightseers and other hikers I am positive somebody would have come across him in 3 months. In late May/early June I am guessing he would have been skinny enough for a worried hiker to raise the alarm. The complete radio silence since Mike Gormley saw him and when he was found is puzzling.

Pardon my jumbled thoughts for moment: we have the pic of him on the FT in March after he had been photographed in January* so roughly a months gap. He’s got a bushy scraggly beard and looks like hell imo, leaning over his hiking poles. Then a few weeks later, in April, we get those Mike Gormley pics with MH cleaned up a bit. He’s definitely shaved his scraggly beard off and you can see it’s just starting to grow back; he also looks much healthier than he did in the March pic. So where was he those weeks between those two different sets of pics. Hostel stay? Did he make his way to the Florida sister he told other hikers about? And then there’s supposedly nothing at all from the time Mike saw him to when he was found in his tent. So many rabbit holes in this case that lead no where.

*edited it to clarify

 

[Rockymtnmermaid]

They're supposed to be. I routinely run into rangers on hikes on other sections of the FT. Some are out there doing wildlife tasks whole others are checking permits. The campgrounds are patrolled more than the trails though. FTA also has a number of trail maintenance hikes in various areas. Between rangers, the Indians and sightseers and other hikers I am positive somebody would have come across him in 3 months. In late May/early June I am guessing he would have been skinny enough for a worried hiker to raise the alarm. The complete radio silence since Mike Gormley saw him and when he was found is puzzling.

You said Indians, like Native Americans? I’m just curious about that. I’m in South Western Florida quite a bit and have never noticed Native Americans working or living around that area, not like you would see in New Mexico, Oklahoma or South Dakota near the reservations.

 

[GatorFL]

Pardon my jumbled thoughts for moment: we have the first pic of him on the FT in March. He’s got a bushy scraggly beard and looks like hell imo, leaning over his hiking poles. Then a few weeks later, in April, we get those Mike Gormley pics with MH cleaned up a bit. He’s definitely shaved his scraggly beard off and you can see it’s just starting to grow back; he also looks much healthier than he did in the March pic. So where was he those weeks between those two different sets of pics. Hostel stay? Did he make his way to the Florida sister he told other hikers about? And then there’s supposedly nothing at all from the time Mike saw him to when he was found in his tent. So many rabbit holes in this case that lead no where.

Exactly what I referred to above: FL - FL - Big Cypress National Preserve, Male hiker, "Denim" and "Mostly Harmless", 23 July 2018 #4

And you have most of it right, except the March photos were not the first ones on the FT. He was over halfway through the FT by March and had been photographed earlier on the trail, January 24 I believe, by Kelly Fairbanks.

 

[GatorFL]

You said Indians, like Native Americans? I’m just curious about that. I’m in South Western Florida quite a bit and have never noticed Native Americans working or living around that area, not like you would see in New Mexico, Oklahoma or South Dakota near the reservations.

Yes. The Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation is just north of Nobles Camp. They have paperwork that needs to be completed to enter the reservation. https://floridahikes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Seminole-Permit.pdf

 

[Tilker33]

There is a website called codechef - It is described as a non-profit competitive programming community (I believe that is what screeps is too?)

There is a user/programmer who posted in 2013 with username: mostlyharmless - Listed his organization as Megadodo publications and his name as Arthur Dent (Megadodo and Arthur Dent are both names from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) .... The user/programmer was obviously using an alias.

It could easily be another programmer with an interest in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy but thought it was an interesting connection

 

[Laura Avery]

There is a website called codechef - It is described as a non-profit competitive programming community (I believe that is what screeps is too?)

There is a user/programmer who posted in 2013 with username: mostlyharmless - Listed his organization as Megadodo publications and his name as Arthur Dent (Megadodo and Arthur Dent are both names from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) .... The user/programmer was obviously using an alias.

It could easily be another programmer with an interest in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy but thought it was an interesting connection

very interesting find. So looking at Megadodo productions that is also a name of a DA book (Or something to do with him) But there is a megadodo productions page on facebook.
I hope it's ok to post open pages here (Not a personal one|) The last post was 2014. The part where he mentions his company went bust and he was pleased his one of his co-workers is also a Hitchiker fan , mentions The Blockley and @theblockley which is a theatre company in Philly. I find that quite interesting, that page could be owned by anyone in any part of the world, but happens to be run by someone whos coworker lives in one of the places of interest. Also Div part of the page is an add on it seems to part of the rest of the DA mentioned name. DIV also being html coding.

Megadodo Publications, Ursa Minor Beta Div.

 

[rainwaterstill]

Would it be helpful to bring the new-DNA-testing-to-be-done info forward with each new thread, or no?

Yes, in MOO.

 

[Tilker33]

Sorry if this has already been posted as I know this is a large thread.

There is a man with a very similar name to the Ben Bilemy alias, is from Florida and has worked in IT for 20 years. Is it possible that the UID did in-fact have a Sister in Florida , lived there at one point and this was an old co-worker or acquaintance. I also want to assume LE has already reached out to this man

 

[Alisha8191]

Has anyone tried the Amish community , it is Pinecraft in Sarasota, Fl. If he was Amish or Mennonite and shunned, he probably would not be reported missing.