Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male hiker, "Denim" & "Mostly Harmless", Jul 2018 - Vance Rodriguez

[Curious_in_NC]

Hey all, forgive me, haven't been on here in a while. I swore I saw a photo floating out there with Mostly Harmless's "Ben Bilemy" sign in. Has anyone seen it? I have always been under the impression that he wrote that himself but someone suggested he may have said "Ben Bellamy" aloud and the clerk/owner simply wrote it down the wrong way. That's certainly possibly. People spell my last name "Mark" when I say it aloud because they don't think I said "Nark." Lol.

I realize people have scoured every Ben Bellamy on the planet at this point, but I was just putting it out there. It never occurred to me that someone else could have written it.

Here's a comparison of a notebook page with the sign-in. I'm not a handwriting expert, but it certainly looks to my untrained eye that the same person wrote both documents. The "B"'s especially look similar but also the "i"'s and "e"s.

 

[spiritseeker31]

I just came across this case when this article A Nameless Hiker and the Case the Internet Can’t Crack popped up in my feed. I did a search on here. It looks like I have a LOT to read. I'm off to start!

 

[lonewanderer]

Hey all, forgive me, haven't been on here in a while. I swore I saw a photo floating out there with Mostly Harmless's "Ben Bilemy" sign in. Has anyone seen it? I have always been under the impression that he wrote that himself but someone suggested he may have said "Ben Bellamy" aloud and the clerk/owner simply wrote it down the wrong way. That's certainly possibly. People spell my last name "Mark" when I say it aloud because they don't think I said "Nark." Lol.

I realize people have scoured every Ben Bellamy on the planet at this point, but I was just putting it out there. It never occurred to me that someone else could have written it.

You bring up an interesting point.

I go by "Derek", but I a almost always get greeted with someone asking me "Jarret?(or) Darren? (or) Darryl?" for conformation when I am introducing myself.

We are not twins, and I don't think the names sound anything alike, but my brother's name is Jared. People we have known for our entire lives and have seen our names written down on paper still refer to me with a mixture of our names combined "Jarek, Jarret, Dar-rid"

I can relate to this.

 

[WitchHearse]

I don't want to see the post mortem pics, although i am sure i have seen worse, i just can't picture how they found him sitting. Can anyone try and draw how he was when they found him? I am a slight artist i understand if no one who saw it wants to doodle it.

What i ment by seen worse is my cousin tricked me into watching 3 men 1 hammer.

 

[WitchHearse]

Why does that name Ben Bilemy sound so familiar? Is there a similar name or phrase i am thinking of?

 

[K9Enzo]

Why does that name Ben Bilemy sound so familiar? Is there a similar name or phrase i am thinking of?

It makes me think of 90’s MTV host Bill Bellamy.

 

[branmuffin]

For whatever it's worth, ears would be one of the least reliable ways to match photos from 2 decades apart. Ears are about the only feature that keeps growing all throughout adulthood, making such comparisons difficult.

Not sure if this has already been mentioned but our ears and noses don't continue to grow. It's just the effects of gravity and time having an effect on cartilage and the loss of firmness in the rest of our faces due to the loss of collagen.

 

[branmuffin]

That may depend on how solidly he goes by Ben, assuming that's his real first name. I go by both my nickname and my full name pretty interchangeably, with a slight preference that strangers/acquaintances use my full name. I'd never sign something as my nickname, wouldn't even occur to me.

Meanwhile, my brother's name is Will and the few occasions I've been around when he needed to sign his full name, he had to be reminded that they wanted William. This could be generational though, we are younger.

For as long as I can remember, I've always signed my signature using only the initial of my first name. Doesn't matter if I'm signing my passport or my driver's license, that's my official signature.

 

[lonewanderer]

Why does that name Ben Bilemy sound so familiar? Is there a similar name or phrase i am thinking of?

Where are you from?

There was a teen murder victim in the UK named Ben Bellamy.

 

[Canaille]

I spent some time down some rabbit holes a few days ago. One thing led to another and I don’t know how I managed to find myself looking at the actor Jared Leto. But, you know how some of us can’t understand how no one has recognized MH? His weight, maybe. If I’m not mistaken, I think he mentioned to another hiker that he was “body heavy” before the hike. Here are some pics that have me bothered about it. The guy on the left is Jared Leto. He’s also the same guy on the right after he gained almost 70 pounds for a movie role. It blows my mind just how much weight loss or weight gain can change someone’s looks.

Something else that nags at me... the composite of MH was based on how he looked when he was found. I wonder why the sheriffs dept hasn’t had a composite done of what he might have looked like with extra weight on before his hike?

 

[TobyWong*]

It's interesting to me that he signed it "Ben" instead of "Benjamin" in the cursive part. Most people I know may write their nickname in a name section but always sign their full name.

I sign my name a T with a circle around it. That's the first letter of my real name as well as the first letter of my nickname. Its literally my legal signature on Drivers license\court\bank documents which I started using because my legal married name was to dang long to spell out. That what I sign on everything. For 20 yrs. I wouldn't want to write out or document my legal name cuz I'm anti anyone keeping track of me. But I could b tracked w the T w the circle around it cause that's my norm. Just saying.

 

[iamnotagolem]

I spent some time down some rabbit holes a few days ago. One thing led to another and I don’t know how I managed to find myself looking at the actor Jared Leto. But, you know how some of us can’t understand how no one has recognized MH? His weight, maybe. If I’m not mistaken, I think he mentioned to another hiker that he was “body heavy” before the hike. Here are some pics that have me bothered about it. The guy on the left is Jared Leto. He’s also the same guy on the right after he gained almost 70 pounds for a movie role. It blows my mind just how much weight loss or weight gain can change someone’s looks.

Something else that nags at me... the composite of MH was based on how he looked when he was found. I wonder why the sheriffs dept hasn’t had a composite done of what he might have looked like with extra weight on before his hike?

I think people underestimate how weight effects appearance. I lost 20 lbs between times of seeing a friend and she was shocked and asked me if I’d had surgery.

MH could have looked completely different with more weight on.

 

[acutename]

Here's a comparison of a notebook page with the sign-in. I'm not a handwriting expert, but it certainly looks to my untrained eye that the same person wrote both documents. The "B"'s especially look similar but also the "i"'s and "e"s.

View attachment 273213

does anyone think that he might have been left handed? the overall slant and the t and f crossings make me think he was, but that is not a huge identifier if no one has a clue who he was with all the other info we have.

 

[lonewanderer]

does anyone think that he might have been left handed? the overall slant and the t and f crossings make me think he was, but that is not a huge identifier if no one has a clue who he was with all the other info we have.

I don't think so. In the spaghetti dinner pic he has a fork in his right hand, and he wears his watch on his left hand.

Pure speculation.

 

[lsutoomaha]

I really wish we could get a general DNA update from @othram. This case is basically dead without it. I'm mostly curious if they have found an ancestor yet.

 

[GatorFL]

I really wish we could get a general DNA update from @othram. This case is basically dead without it. I'm mostly curious if they have found an ancestor yet.

Well it might be dead to the public but I doubt it is dead to those working on solving it. Patience!

 

[lonewanderer]

I don't think so. In the spaghetti dinner pic he has a fork in his right hand, and he wears his watch on his left hand.

Pure speculation.

Also, he spreads the peanut butter on the pita bread with his right hand.

 

[othram]

Well it might be dead to the public but I doubt it is dead to those working on solving it. Patience!

The case means alot to alot of people. Totally understand the desire for updates. We are in the records-research phase, building trees and so on. No exciting update yet. This is not going to be a quick solve, but that's ok. Some cases take longer than others. We will get it done and update as we can.

 

[nannymo]

Thank you Othram for the update. I was so hoping for a fast connection. Just knowing you are still here and working on this case is reassuring!

 

[luulabobss]

The case means alot to alot of people. Totally understand the desire for updates. We are in the records-research phase, building trees and so on. No exciting update yet. This is not going to be a quick solve, but that's ok. Some cases take longer than others. We will get it done and update as we can.

Thank you for the incredible work that you do.