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

[Bellaplutt]

BBM

Anecdotal, but back when my son played traveling soccer it was obvious that some people just do smell worse then others. When a car pool of athletes take their off cleats in the mini-van....

And, I come from a long line of serious Laundro-philes. My son's uniforms did not smell because I found a pre-treat & wash method to remove sweat, grass stains, mud, turf fibers, and (most of the time) blood from the athletic fabric and no fading, either. Probably Denim/MH didn't take 2 days and multiple products to do his laundry -- rinse in the rain, more likely.

(Further, when a teenager who is naturally smellier does not live with a Laundro-phile, olfactory disaster can result. )

In this image -- what is the rectangle on Denim's right chest under his shirt?

Imgur

Did we talk about this & I missed it?

I also just looked at this photo for the first time and thougbt of a few things:

His left arm looks a bit weird in the bend in the arm, some kind of vein or something? looking like a ”3” above it?

His knees also look a bit strange to me especially the right one.

And this photo is taken in Feb 2018, and his clothes look very clean here! So he must have gotten them laundered close to that photo at least.

 

[carbuff]

I agree.

I don't think it was intended to be stored inside the shirt the whole time. He has that massive pack and hiking poles out, as well as some other essentials. It indicates to me that this picture was taken right before he stepped off for a hike.

If this is the case, tucking it into his shirt for the picture makes sense to me. His shorts have no pockets, and he looks like he is about to start hiking. I doubted he wanted to take his pack off and stuff the contents inside for the photo op, or take it off to place the contents in his shirt behind his back.

I imagine him taking the picture, walking a bit, and then pulling out the contents as he hiked. There is one picture of him standing, resting on his poles and smiling. In his hands is a Ziploc bag.

This is just my speculative observation.

Good catch. Yeah, that is exactly the scenario I was picturing.

I have seen Mr. Carbuff do something similar at the beginning of a hike when he needs both hands but doesn't want to take his pack off.

 

[MaryFromFla]

Ketosis can give you Very Strong body odor. He was obviously was losing weight. So maybe prolonged ketosis played in the strong b.o.

 

[branmuffin]

Is there any possibility that parts of the autopsy report were withheld and not released to the public?

It looked fairly complete to me. At the time of autopsy I think the assumption was that MH was a homeless person initially thought much older than what he obviously was in life. It may have been cursory just to do due diligence.

 

[neesaki]

It looked fairly complete to me. At the time of autopsy I think the assumption was that MH was a homeless person initially thought much older than what he obviously was in life. It may have been cursory just to do due diligence.

Fairly complete? Why do you assume he was a homeless person? Odd. IMO. As an educated human being in the med. field, I can't imagine a reputable forensic physician doing an autopsy, thinking... Oh, this is just a "homeless person" or, whatever..... " so, I will only bother myself with doing a half *advertiser censored* autopsy"....

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your comment. Or, maybe I expect too much from our forensic pathologists. Ha, at this point in life, that's certainly a possibility. Sad, but true.

 

[branmuffin]

Fairly complete? Why do you assume he was a homeless person? Odd. IMO. As an educated human being in the med. field, I can't imagine a reputable forensic physician doing an autopsy, thinking... Oh, this is just a "homeless person" or, whatever..... " so, I will only bother myself with doing a half *advertiser censored* autopsy"....

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your comment. Or, maybe I expect too much from our forensic pathologists. Ha, at this point in life, that's certainly a possibility. Sad, but true.

I didn't say he was a homeless person. There was some discussion regarding the completeness of the autopsy because MH may have been considered a homeless person by LE. I think that's how he was initially described. Homeless living in the park.

 

[gfinale]

I originally wrote out a ton of cryptic babble.

Its really hard for me to narrow down a solid, solid theory.

One theory says I think he may have been heartbroken, and did not feel loved. He may have set foot on the trail thinking no one cared what happened to him. Seeking comfort in "Disposal friends" (Chuck Pahlaniuk) along the trail. Somewhere he did not have to let anyone see his insecurities, somewhere where he could meet lots of different people but never have to get to know them well enough for them to form a negative opinion of him. I don't think it was suicidal, I just think he was going where the tide took him.

I have to fight another theory very hard, as part of me wants to think that maybe he is not quite as innocent as we think he is. Part of this is influenced by stories like Pheonix Coldon. Like MH, she was highly intelligent and talented. I would not be surprised at all if she was able to create a new life for herself. So, the thought is that MH may have been using prepaid cards, cash, no phone or GPS, and other identifiers in order to protect his assets for whatever reason. The reasons do not have to be evil, it could be something as simple as going through a divorce and hitting the trail with his savings before his ex-wife could wipe him out. He could have just wanted to escape this crazy world, and he is kinda lucky to have done so before 2020.

Good stuff. I did have a similar thought about protecting his assets that I posted "way" back now as one theory of why he would not carry any ID. In this way, he could only be robbed of the money he had on him. Nobody would know his "worth" and he didn't have anything on him that would indicate it.

 

[gfinale]

I think the hiker who claims he stayed with his sister is not being truthful. She claims they met at Sand Pond, he stayed a night or two and left on February 24th. However, we KNOW he was in Aucilla, over 100 miles away, on February 22nd because other hikers saw him and wrote about him in their online trail journals before his death. Her claim doesn't fit the known timeline. IMO this myth of him staying with a sister before starting the FT, as told by the Sand Pond camper, can be easily dispelled through firsthand accounts of other hikers, which can be proven true due to the fact they were detailed before his death (in other words, these accounts are not from bandwagoners who churned the rumor mill after his case generated interest).

Interesting. Are you suggesting he may not have had a sister or that he may not have stayed with her before the FT? I was under the impression that he told multiple people who met him that he had a sister. Also, can it be verified that the hiker you mention is the only person to say he stayed with his sister?

 

[gfinale]

Regarding the bolded:

The why is as big a mystery as who he is. I think he could have been heartbroken, alone, and
so the trail was his escape. This is also a reason I like the ED theory because feeling worthless is a trigger for anorexia. It takes some time to develop too. On the podcast the detective was clear he could have been running from a crime.

I hope that identifying who he is brings some reasons for why he was on the trail and why he starved to death.

The thought of disillusionment comes to my mind. While nothing should be ruled out that we don't know, this guy just really doesn't seem at all like a criminal. Possibly white collar, got caught up by mistake in something all of a sudden, maybe DUI, hit and run where he hit and killed someone, if he did do a crime.

 

[gfinale]

Police: Hiker who died in Florida may be Lake George-area man; ID sought

I'm guessing from this they have been able to narrow down the area he was originally from maybe this is where his sister lives? I remember reading an article that others had said he told them of a sister in Florida so maybe they are closing in on his identity. As for why he would be out on the trails like he was that's a big part of the mystery. He doesn't fit the typical homeless image clearly he had money from some means and was going out of his way to keep anyone from finding out his identity. I don't think he was a wanted man if he was they would have found a hit on his prints when they ran them so that leaves was he running from something that no one knew he did? Or was he running from someone that was threatening him for something he knew or saw? We may not ever know those answers but I do feel like with the genealogy people working on this we will eventually be able to give him his identity back and return him to his family.

It's a good point about Lake George because I haven't seen anywhere why they think he's from there. To the best of my knowledge, he never said his sister lived in Florida, just that he stayed there with her and we're not sure if the staying with her can be counted on. If so, it could have been her vacation spot, timeshare, cottage, whatever, in which case her permanent residence could be anywhere starting with where he is most likely to have lived. If he did have considerable wealth then he must have been fairly close to his sister, if he did stay with her because he could have paid to stay other places. Maybe his sister was even supportive of his anonymous trail adventure. Possibly she is even concerned people will think the worst of her, considering what happened, if his identity is found out.

 

[gfinale]

Any other programmer types look at that notebook and think its someone learning to code, but not a developer that wrote it?

I am one and, beyond the code, it's a needs analysis and spec so he knew what he was doing beyond rookie and probably had some education in it. Enough others have said similar as well. There's also enough out there to declare his main writings were about a customization / addition / mod for Screeps.

 

[gfinale]

I had to take a drug for an infection and I smelled vile. It was embarrassing but I had no choice but to take it. It's not always about lack of proper hygiene. There could be a number of health issues that change body chemistry.

For some years in the distant past, I was very uncomfortable with my work situations and it seems I developed stomach problems, IBS and emitted uncontrollable foul odor (gas) that was around me basically always. I showered every day and went to other extents but I'm sure people figured I never showered. I changed my life for the better in many ways and it went away. There are reasons people smell when they shouldn't.

 

[gfinale]

I didn't say he was a homeless person. There was some discussion regarding the completeness of the autopsy because MH may have been considered a homeless person by LE. I think that's how he was initially described. Homeless living in the park.

Possibly but with almost $4,000 on him, they should have wondered beyond that.

 

[gfinale]

Deleted

 

[gfinale]

Look at his shirt to the right of his hat. It looks to me that whatever that is goes all the way across. You can see a point jutting out on his t-shirt about where I think it ends.

You are correct! It not only sticks out on the left but the right as well.

 

[gfinale]

That would make sense for sure, though that rectangle shape could also be caused by the way his pack straps are pinching his shirt, creating the illusion of a rectangular object when there may not have been one.

No because it sticks out past the straps on both sides enough that, in the pic, it is covering part of the straps. Besides, I have found a pic of him in his winter purple coat, all ready to go hiking with backpack on and a large ziplock with paper-looking square objects inside between his coat and shirt with his coat unzipped enough to see. It is from Dec 29, 2017, Salem Church road Tallapoosa GA and is on the cool map with trail marked and pics that someone here made. I also found another pic with same coat where he's just pulled that ziplock out and it's in his hands just outside the coat. When it was warmer, he didn't wear a coat so it went under his shirt. Some people on long distance races such as orienteering where they need a map handy will use ziplocks but others will buy map covers/cases that can look like ziplocks or can be fancier with edges that allow it to be more easily secured to canoe/kayak, cord and hung to something, etc. If it's a map case, you don't get them too many places.

 

[gfinale]

No because it sticks out past the strap enough that, in the pic, it is covering part of the strap.

I also just looked at this photo for the first time and thougbt of a few things:

His left arm looks a bit weird in the bend in the arm, some kind of vein or something? looking like a ”3” above it?

His knees also look a bit strange to me especially the right one.

And this photo is taken in Feb 2018, and his clothes look very clean here! So he must have gotten them laundered close to that photo at least.

It is unusual around the elbow. If I allow my imagination, I could see an E and a possible V before it with possibly a fancy U underneath as in, Love U. Contrary to what I would think, I have confirmed people actually do get elbow tattoos!

 

[Laughing]

For some years in the distant past, I was very uncomfortable with my work situations and it seems I developed stomach problems, IBS and emitted uncontrollable foul odor (gas) that was around me basically always. I showered every day and went to other extents but I'm sure people figured I never showered. I changed my life for the better in many ways and it went away. There are reasons people smell when they shouldn't.

We're still mammals! Glad that you paid attention to your body's signals & took steps toward a healthier lifestyle!

Was Denim stressed by developing an exit plan? If he planned to thru-hike the Appalachian, see this mystery sister, and then hike the Florida Trail, was he stressed about his next steps? If he didn't want to return to a tech-office job, didn't really want to live in that park forever, did the weight of choosing a life path get the better of him?

Once he decided to thru-hike, his daily decisions were comparatively simple -- enough water, enough calories, keep feet/joints intact. Follow the path on the map.

What to do after -- complex decision. No path, no map.

(Fellow survivor of a toxic workplace, here.)

JMHO YMMV LRR

 

[GatorFL]

The thought of disillusionment comes to my mind. While nothing should be ruled out that we don't know, this guy just really doesn't seem at all like a criminal. Possibly white collar, got caught up by mistake in something all of a sudden, maybe DUI, hit and run where he hit and killed someone, if he did do a crime.

On the podcast the detective wondered if he was running from some kind of a crime. He wasn't arrested for it or we would know who he is. It is an interesting theory because he was definitely concealing his identity.

 

[nannymo]

I am one and, beyond the code, it's a needs analysis and spec so he knew what he was doing beyond rookie and probably had some education in it. Enough others have said similar as well. There's also enough out there to declare his main writings were about a customization / addition / mod for Screeps.

I asked a programmer friend to look at it. He said it was a game about hiking.