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

[HippyArtist]

I saved the pictures and trust me he has no gash on his neck. No marks like that at all.

Yes he did. There were 187 pics. Did yoy see all of them??

 

[MadMcGoo]

Can anyone provide a link so I can look at them. I am way out of the loop.

As I understand it, a link was shared in the Facebook group (and possibly on here) but it’s since been removed. I missed it too. From reading comments on the Facebook page (Unidentified male hiker Ben Bilemy 2018) several days ago it looked like people were requesting the photos privately. From whom I don’t know.

 

[SugarQueen]

Collier county specifically stated he had no obvious injuries. I’m guessing that would include a gash on his head/ neck.

 

[branmuffin]

My thought, after looking at the body, is that he was robbed. I think whoever left the bloody mark on his head, ransacked his tent and left that mess. But because the police think he was a himeless man, they blew all of that off.

I've reviewed the images of MH and I really don't see any evidence of ante mortem injuries to the deceased other than a laceration on the leg that hadn't healed but didn't appear to be infected and numerous bites.

I think the images you are referring to may be peri mortem or ante mortem. When you look at the images of his hands you see evidence of livor mortis on the fleshy part of his palm just under the thumb. That discoloration is a purple mauve colour. That same colour appears on his back with outlines of objects his body may have fallen on. Because the skin is thin on the scalp with very little tissue between the skull lividity may be a darker colour.

 

[baberuthless]

My thought, after looking at the body, is that he was robbed. I think whoever left the bloody mark on his head, ransacked his tent and left that mess. But because the police think he was a himeless man, they blew all of that off.

I have seen what looks like a red staining under his hair in one of the post mortem pictures, which I’m guessing is what you’re referencing, however the ME specifically states this in the autopsy report:

“Upon reflection of the scalp, there is no extravasated blood within the soft tissues of the scalp, within the temporalis muscles, or beneath the galea aponeurotica.
The 1550 gram brain is beneath a dura devoid of epidural or subdural blood extravasation.”

It could have been some blood pooling after death, red soil stains, or any number of things but there was no injury to his scalp or head, nor was there a brain bleed or any blunt force trauma.

P.S. I would link the autopsy report (it does not have pictures) but I don’t know if it’s allowed.

 

[moonriverfarm]

I saw the photos, every horrible one. There absolutely was an injury with blood, about the size of your little fingernail, on his scalp above his ear. The blood was still red. So I don't take this autopsy report to be 100 percent correct. I think they hurried through it thinking this was a vagrant and skipped out on digging deeper into it.

 

[Coffee56]

Suggested on another page. He’d be at the older end of the age range and I lean to the younger side for MH but posting. Photos aren’t great. I’ve tried to enhance but my photo skills aren’t great. Hair is listed as blond but looks on the darker side in the photo.

Wayne Ronald Baker. Alberta.

The Doe Network: Case File 3936DMAB

Canada's Missing | Case details

 

[branmuffin]

I saw the photos, every horrible one. There absolutely was an injury with blood, about the size of your little fingernail, on his scalp above his ear. The blood was still red. So I don't take this autopsy report to be 100 percent correct. I think they hurried through it thinking this was a vagrant and skipped out on digging deeper into it.

I zoomed every image of his body and found several small scablike injuries that appeared to be bites that had been scratched open. There was quite a bit of soil covering his body that looked like very wet clumps and under those wet clumps of earth there seemed to be red marks. I'm not sure if the acidity in the soil caused them or MH put the soil on his bites to heal them. I've read that during WW1 doctors found that peat moss could act as an astringent to heal wounds.

 

[whosbobby]

I searched this thread and others and didn’t see anything so...

what if he died because of a venomous spider or snake bite?

 

[annemc2]

I searched this thread and others and didn’t see anything so...

what if he died because of a venomous spider or snake bite?

Interesting idea. I would think that would usually leave some kind of mark or wound. Probably a big honking one if it was bad enough to kill someone - all bruised and possibly even necrotic. However the way that autopsy was written though, I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of fang marks were missed.

 

[branmuffin]

I searched this thread and others and didn’t see anything so...

what if he died because of a venomous spider or snake bite?

It's very possible MH suffered some spider bites. There are two specific venomous spiders in Big Cypress - the black widow and the recluse spider. He has numerous bites all over his body.

Any individual with bites from the usual suspects of mosquitoes, ticks and fleas but also spider bites, can alleviate the pain by taking Benedryl which was found in MH's body. In his weakened state, I suppose it is possible that he succumbed to the toxins. What I don't know is whether spider bite venom showed up on autopsy. I have no idea how long it would stay in your system.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Was he said to speak any languages besides English? (Sorry if already discussed.)

 

[whosbobby]

It's very possible MH suffered some spider bites. There are two specific venomous spiders in Big Cypress - the black widow and the recluse spider. He has numerous bites all over his body.

Any individual with bites from the usual suspects of mosquitoes, ticks and fleas but also spider bites, can alleviate the pain by taking Benedryl which was found in MH's body. In his weakened state, I suppose it is possible that he succumbed to the toxins. What I don't know is whether spider bite venom showed up on autopsy. I have no idea how long it would stay in your system.

Hmm it looks like latrodectism, or the condition caused by black widow spiders, can result in partial paralysis. Poisonous Spiders: Bites, Symptoms, and Treatment; an Educational Review

 

[branmuffin]

Was he said to speak any languages besides English? (Sorry if already discussed.)

If he had no reason to converse in another language we'd never know if he could speak one. No discernible accent, either, even an American one.

 

[Armalita]

Yes he did. There were 187 pics. Did yoy see all of them??

Someone said that was from decomposition

 

[baberuthless]

Was he said to speak any languages besides English? (Sorry if already discussed.)

Yes, a hiking couple reported that they talked to him in French and he seemed fluent, he even told them his mother was Cajun.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Yes, a hiking couple reported that they talked to him in French and he seemed fluent, he even told them his mother was Cajun.

I thought I remembered something about that; I wonder how sure they are it was him. If true, maybe it's a small clue.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Yes, a hiking couple reported that they talked to him in French and he seemed fluent, he even told them his mother was Cajun.

Can you give us a source for this, please?

 

[ilovepierre]

I searched this thread and others and didn’t see anything so...

what if he died because of a venomous spider or snake bite?

It’s possible.
But the autopsy report never mentioned snake/spider bites and there was no mention of toxins from either creature found in his bloodstream.

IMO

 

[EricaJ4u2]

Hmm it looks like latrodectism, or the condition caused by black widow spiders, can result in partial paralysis. Poisonous Spiders: Bites, Symptoms, and Treatment; an Educational Review

Any of those scenarios *could* be possible. A bite, poisonous seed, etc. But seeing his condition at death, I don’t think his state was compatible with life. Starvation was obvious.