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

[Gardener1850]

Looking through new comments on old threads....Is this him?? (Apparently) taken at Christ Lutheran Church in Duncannon, PA. Can't find the original source. The church does "hiker meal ministries"

Bringing this forward. I believe the above photo may be the earliest photo we have of Denim on the AT. That was either June or July 2017 in Duncannon, PA. We only have claims that others met him in Unionville, NY before that and stories of him supposedly telling hikers that he started in Bear Mountain Park in NY. There are no photos of him at Unionville or Bear Mountain Park.

The claims about when he started in Bear Mountain vary depending on the source. There are various claims that he started his hike in Apr, May or June 2017. One story is that he lived in the park for a couple weeks before deciding to start hiking South on the AT. Another version of the story is that he started out only doing a 2 week hike on the AT that goes through the park and decided to keep going sometime after that hike. It's unclear to me if maybe he hiked for a couple weeks wearing jeans and then went home and got more appropriate clothing and equipment between that hike and starting his long hike on the AT. If he started in Apr then there was a very big gap in time before he got to Unionville and Duncannon in June or July. It makes more sense if he started at Bear Mountain in late May or early June.

This may be a case of hikers not recalling correctly what he told them. Or it could indicate that he told a different start date and slightly different story of where he started to different people. I think we need to try to find evidence of him at Bear Mountain. If he was really camping or hiking around there for 2 weeks in Apr May or June 2017 then someone should have noticed. But we do not have ANY hikers (AFAIK) who claimed to have met him in Bear Mountain Park. MOO.

 

[carbuff]

Thanks, @Gardener1850. I couldn't remember whether the Bear Mountain dates had ever been confirmed. Sounds like not.

Mr. Carbuff has hiked in this area a couple of times. He and his group were in Duncannon at roughly the same time as Denim, but I don't think their paths quiet crossed.

Bear Mountain/Harriman park area is a place where a lot of homeless people camp in the woods or other unauthorized places, as well as hikers making both licit and illicit camps. There's transportation to/from NYC available at the Bear Mountain State Park headquarters, and a pretty good sized city (Peekskill) just across the Hudson. You can cross by foot via the bridge at Fort Clinton, which is where the AT crosses. So it's pretty common for hikers to stop there for a week or so to rest, resupply, get a shower and a good meal, etc. The ones with money will stay at one of the motels in the area (there's a nice inn right at the Bear Mountain Park headquarters), the ones with some money will stay in one of the improved campgrounds, and the others will camp wherever.

 

[Gardener1850]

I may have a new lead! But I need someone willing to do a little sleuthing and reach out to a stranger to send Denim's unidentified flyer/photos. Look at the reviews of the Bear Mountain Trail at the link below. There is a review from May 2017 by a CM:
Appalachian Trail: Bear Mountain to Harriman State Park
Googling the reviewer's name and New York City I found a CM that has worked for Microsoft for over a decade. Denim said he worked in IT for over a decade as well. I'm certain that CM is NOT Denim. But here's my idea-- could CM possibly know Denim? What if they went on a 2 week hike together on the Bear Mountain trail in May 2017? And then what if after that hike Denim decided to quit his job and start hiking the AT? Could it be a complete coincidence that a Microsoft Computer Programmer from NYC (which is where Denim said he was from) hiked the park around the same time that Denim claimed to have been there? What are the chances that they don't know each other? All we need is for someone to find CM's current contact info and send him Denim's flyer. Please don't post CM's personal info here or sleuth him openly. I may be breaking the rules by even requesting someone else contact the trail reviewer, I'm not sure, but I don't know how else to share this possible lead. I feel like this could be huge!

 

[carbuff]

Or they met, and the person known as Denim "borrowed" CM's back story?

 

[Gardener1850]

Or they met, and the person known as Denim "borrowed" CM's back story?

Ooh, that's possible too, Carbuff. But Denim had actual programming code in his notebook for a game he was writing. Did he "borrow" the notebooks with code already in them from CM? Or was Denim a wannabe computer programmer only and perhaps never really worked in the industry? Maybe he only dabbled in writing code in his spare time? He could have met CM and decided to embellish his story after that, I suppose. I tend to think that either he told people the complete truth, just being careful not to reveal his name for security reasons, OR that he made up a believable backstory from the start and kept to that story for some reason. I go back and forth on which I believe. So far we don't have any reason to doubt he was an IT guy from NYC so that's what I'm leaning towards.

MOO.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

I may have a new lead! But I need someone willing to do a little sleuthing and reach out to a stranger to send Denim's unidentified flyer/photos. Look at the reviews of the Bear Mountain Trail at the link below. There is a review from May 2017 by a CM:
Appalachian Trail: Bear Mountain to Harriman State Park
Googling the reviewer's name and New York City I found a CM that has worked for Microsoft for over a decade. Denim said he worked in IT for over a decade as well. I'm certain that CM is NOT Denim. But here's my idea-- could CM possibly know Denim? What if they went on a 2 week hike together on the Bear Mountain trail in May 2017? And then what if after that hike Denim decided to quit his job and start hiking the AT? Could it be a complete coincidence that a Microsoft Computer Programmer from NYC (which is where Denim said he was from) hiked the park around the same time that Denim claimed to have been there? What are the chances that they don't know each other? All we need is for someone to find CM's current contact info and send him Denim's flyer. Please don't post CM's personal info here or sleuth him openly. I may be breaking the rules by even requesting someone else contact the trail reviewer, I'm not sure, but I don't know how else to share this possible lead. I feel like this could be huge!

CM is an extremely common name, and NY is a large city. We don't know that the CM who works for Microsoft is the same one who hiked the trail

 

[carbuff]

I know a CM who works for Microsoft but he's been in the Redmond/Seattle area for his entire career.

 

[Gardener1850]

CM is an extremely common name, and NY is a large city. We don't know that the CM who works for Microsoft is the same one who hiked the trail

That's true... Perhaps I was too hasty to assume he was the same one since he was the first that came up in a search of that name and NYC.

 

[Gardener1850]

I know a CM who works for Microsoft but he's been in the Redmond/Seattle area for his entire career.

I don't think that is the right one.

 

[crazyrabbitlady]

This may be a stupid question, I don't remember seeing it in the thread, but if I missed over it I appologize. Has the Appalachian Trail Conservancy been helping with this case?

 

[UnlicensedPI]

That's true... Perhaps I was too hasty to assume he was the same one since he was the first that came up in a search of that name and NYC.

I still think CM is worth contacting, if we can figure out which one he is!

 

[Gardener1850]

This may be a stupid question, I don't remember seeing it in the thread, but if I missed over it I appologize. Has the Appalachian Trail Conservancy been helping with this case?

What do you mean by helping? I think they may have posted it to their blog or fb page but the ATC is a volunteer group that maintains the trails. Not a lot they could do to help other than share the poster on their social media pages. MOO.

 

[crazyrabbitlady]

Yes, I knew they are a group of volunteers but they would have the network or connections to reach out to people and locations (hostels, etc) that may of come in contact with him. There may be a ton of hikers that came in contact with him anf know more information about him, but aren't local to the area, so would never hear that he died.

 

[Gardener1850]

Yes, I knew they are a group of volunteers but they would have the network or connections to reach out to people and locations (hostels, etc) that may of come in contact with him. There may be a ton of hikers that came in contact with him anf know more information about him, but aren't local to the area, so would never hear that he died.

It was posted all over several different AT hiker forums and social media. Many people who met him did come forward. That's how we have so many photos of him and know his approximate timeline of when he hiked the trail. No one who met him learned his real name (which is not uncommon on the trail).

 

[carbuff]

I don't think that is the right one.

I'm sure it's not

 

[Laughing]

I know a CM who works for Microsoft but he's been in the Redmond/Seattle area for his entire career.

Sure, the CM you know is not the 'right' one. But -- even though Microsoft is a large organization, the CM you know may be aware of the New York CM.

OR be able to contact the New York CM.

Of course not everyone is willing to jump into the crime-following rabbit hole that we share.

JMHO YMMV

 

[carbuff]

That's a thought. I haven't talked to him in like 15 years...but maybe I'll drop him a line to see if he remembers me.

 

[Classito]

Stephen Jewell had not been heard or seen for over 18 months when his dad reported him missing in Dec 15 2018-
30 yrs old, 5'11, brown hair, blue eyes about 170lbs. The photo below appears to be Stephen when he was younger. The second photo is from his FB page and is dated Feb 2017..There is a photo that shows a tattoo on his wrist. (probably rules him out although they are comparing profiles with tattoos) There is also a warrant out on him. On Dec 18, 2018 it was updated that he had contacted family. However, it was a phone call not in person. Family did not know where he was but believe it was his voice. Chances are he is not in any data base...The DEEMI (Down East Emergency Medicine Institute) page is still reporting him missing as of 11/27/2019 --Not sure if they are mistaken or if he is still considered missing
Police Looking for Houlton Man Missing for 18 Months [PHOTOS]
Houlton Police Department
https://deemi.org/wordpress/?page_id=1494

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Stephen Jewell had not been heard or seen for over 18 months when his dad reported him missing in Dec 15 2018-
30 yrs old, 5'11, brown hair, blue eyes about 170lbs. The photo below appears to be Stephen when he was younger. The second photo is from his FB page and is dated Feb 2017..There is a photo that shows a tattoo on his wrist. (probably rules him out although they are comparing profiles with tattoos) There is also a warrant out on him. On Dec 18, 2018 it was updated that he had contacted family. However, it was a phone call not in person. Family did not know where he was but believe it was his voice. Chances are he is not in any data base...The DEEMI (Down East Emergency Medicine Institute) page is still reporting him missing as of 11/27/2019 --Not sure if they are mistaken or if he is still considered missing
Police Looking for Houlton Man Missing for 18 Months [PHOTOS]
Houlton Police Department
https://deemi.org/wordpress/?page_id=1494

The Aroostook County Sheriff's Office Facebook page posted him missing on 11/26/2019. They updated it on 11/27 saying he had been located. People in the comments were saying they gave him a ride in July or August. He also has a big tattoo on his hand and an eyebrow piercing. So, we can rule him out.

 

[Classito]

The Aroostook County Sheriff's Office Facebook page posted him missing on 11/26/2019. They updated it on 11/27 saying he had been located. People in the comments were saying they gave him a ride in July or August. He also has a big tattoo on his hand and an eyebrow piercing. So, we can rule him out.

Thank you UnlicensedPI. Yes. I stated about his allegedly being heard from and about the tattoo..He was reported missing Dec 2018 according to the Houlton Police Department Facebook page...Interestingly the comparisons being done on Harmless, for the most part, have tattoos.

Houlton Police Department
December 15, 2018 ·
***UPDATE***

Stephen has made contact with his family. Thank you all.

The Houlton Police Department is seeking your assistance in locating Stephen Jewell of Houlton. He has not been seen or heard from in over 18 months. His father is concerned for his safety and welfare. If anyone knows where he is please let us know 207 532 2287 or have him call his father. Stephen is 5' 11" tall, 170 lbs., slender build, blue eyes and brown hair.