Identified! FL - Big Cypress Natl Preserve, Male Hiker, Denim & “Mostly Harmless” July 2018 - Vance Rodriguez #3

[Narkj]

One of the biggest Issues with studying the autopsy is that it’s so puzzling. I don’t think it ultimately will be helpful to the main cause of trying to figure out who he was. No tattoos. A pretty generic scar. No dental work. Just makes the haystack larger.

 

[Narkj]

Hey all, I had a correspondence with Dr. Borges after I received the autopsy. It didn’t really make it into the story but figured I would share it.

The liver showed no signs of cirrhosis: would that be the same for non-alcoholic cirrhosis? Could the liver with cirrhosis improve over time, into the state in which you found it, which seemed to be relatively healthy? No. Cirrhosis would be cirrhosis if it was alcoholic or not.


If someone had type-2 diabetes, would that reveal itself in any way during an autopsy? It is a possibility. The liver had some fatty changes.



The scar seemed to coincide with internal scar tissue: what type of surgery would generally result in that scar? I do not know. I did not see anything during the autopsy that indicated reason for it.


This seems like a silly question, but does a body lose any height in decomposition? It might to a significant degree, but not appreciably. The decomposition was in the early stages


Would anything about the deceased body suggest that he had once been overweight? I cannot state this one way or the other.



Cachexia, according to what I found, results from a chronic illness. Though I didn't see any specific illness, could this also result from chronic malnutrition, limited eating? Cachexia also results from not consuming nutrition; not eating.



If the deceased had drank contaminated water, or ate something that sickened him, would that reveal in an autopsy? It is a possibility that something like that happened, but I cannot say that it did.

 

[Podengo]

I think that if you’re looking at possible health problems you have to take the small testicles into consideration. I think if it had been normal shrinking they would have stated that. However, I would think his testosterone level was decent judging by his beard. The doctor felt it abnormal enough to mention in three times...

 

[JustACatMom]

As someone who is related to an AVID hiker, there are several things that are REALLY bothering me about this. My mother and stepfather were hiking the AT at the same time as him, never crossed paths though. Where is his pack? Cooking supplies? Food? From what I have gathered they found some hiking supplies but that's not all he would have needed out there. Also, if he was the experienced hiker he is perceived to be, why was he so thin? Yes, hiking over 2,000 miles of difficult terrain you will lose some weight. But any experienced hiker knows you need to consume high-calorie counts to replenish your body while out on the trail. Also, why did it take him so long to hike the trail? He is a decently young guy, who appeared to be in pretty good shape from earlier photos, but it took him 16 months to hike the trail. My mother is in her late 50s and it took 252 days for them to hike at a leisurely pace. It makes me wonder if he left wherever he was from because he was hiding from someone or something. And the trail name Mostly Harmless makes me wonder if maybe he doesn't have such the clean past he made people believe.

 

[Ursamajr]

And the trail name Mostly Harmless makes me wonder if maybe he doesn't have such the clean past he made people believe.

I imagine if this were true, it would have had to be something that he wasn't in trouble for - yet. His fingerprints don't seem to have been in any system or else he would have been identified - I assume.

 

[JustACatMom]

I imagine if this were true, it would have had to be something that he wasn't in trouble for - yet. His fingerprints don't seem to have been in any system or else he would have been identified - I assume.

I completely agree. Just something about it bothers me. It seems either some of his things are missing, not reported, or he wasn't well prepared which makes me think it was a very spur of the moment decision. He also had no cell phone, credit cards, or personal identification. It just makes me think he may have been on the run. He could have also been suffering a mental disorder that made him paranoid.

 

[deadfoot13]

As someone who is related to an AVID hiker, there are several things that are REALLY bothering me about this. My mother and stepfather were hiking the AT at the same time as him, never crossed paths though. Where is his pack? Cooking supplies? Food? From what I have gathered they found some hiking supplies but that's not all he would have needed out there. Also, if he was the experienced hiker he is perceived to be, why was he so thin? Yes, hiking over 2,000 miles of difficult terrain you will lose some weight. But any experienced hiker knows you need to consume high-calorie counts to replenish your body while out on the trail. Also, why did it take him so long to hike the trail? He is a decently young guy, who appeared to be in pretty good shape from earlier photos, but it took him 16 months to hike the trail. My mother is in her late 50s and it took 252 days for them to hike at a leisurely pace. It makes me wonder if he left wherever he was from because he was hiding from someone or something. And the trail name Mostly Harmless makes me wonder if maybe he doesn't have such the clean past he made people believe.

If you read all of the threads on here, you will learn that he was not hiking the AT for 16 months. He began in April and wrapped up at the end of 2017, that's roughly 8 months or 240 days +/-. Not everyone hikes at a dead run; based on photos showing him wearing knee braces it's pretty likely that he had issues with knee pain and apparently adjusted his pace to accommodate his physical limitations.

 

[CCJD]

Also, if he was the experienced hiker he is perceived to be, why was he so thin? Yes, hiking over 2,000 miles of difficult terrain you will lose some weight. But any experienced hiker knows you need to consume high-calorie counts to replenish your body while out on the trail.

rs&bbm

"He originally went by a trail name "denim" because he was wearing jeans on the trail, he was not very experienced when he first started hiking,” says Gill.
Hiker found dead in Florida may have Brooklyn ties

 

[CCJD]

"You're hoping somewhere along the line, somebody has reported him missing or he has some sort of background which we can check through his fingerprints," O'Neill says. "All checks came back negative."
--------------------------
Fairbanks worried about Mostly Harmless, who told at least two other angels he hailed from Brooklyn, because he seemed new to hiking, didn't have a phone and was carrying a needlessly enormous tent – a rookie mistake.

"To go through the trail blind was naive," she said. "I thought that was a bad decision."

Mysterious Hiker Found Dead On Florida Trail May Be From Brooklyn

 

[Laughing]

As for the abdominal scar, that sounds like an exploratory laparotomy. Maybe he had a hx of abd pain and so further investigation was needed. I feel like if something was found during that procedure, it would have also been noted on autopsy. Clearly no abd organs had been removed. And if a mass or cyst was removed from them, I would assume, that scarring would have been seen on autopsy. Another possibility would be a car accident or some kind of trauma. Some times a laparotomy is used to find and stop internal bleeding. But, again, I feel like healed organ damage would have been noted on autopsy.

That autopsy is extremely frustrating.

How about a pyloric stenosis repair in infancy???

JMHO YMMV

 

[neesaki]

I completely agree. Just something about it bothers me. It seems either some of his things are missing, not reported, or he wasn't well prepared which makes me think it was a very spur of the moment decision. He also had no cell phone, credit cards, or personal identification. It just makes me think he may have been on the run. He could have also been suffering a mental disorder that made him paranoid.

Good points. Or, it could have been similar to a Chris McCandless situation. An adventurous, energetic young man who wanted to get away from a toxic family with parents who were emotionally / physically abusive.

I’m just trying to look at this from every viewpoint possible. Wish we had more to go on.

 

[neesaki]

"You're hoping somewhere along the line, somebody has reported him missing or he has some sort of background which we can check through his fingerprints," O'Neill says. "All checks came back negative."
--------------------------
Fairbanks worried about Mostly Harmless, who told at least two other angels he hailed from Brooklyn, because he seemed new to hiking, didn't have a phone and was carrying a needlessly enormous tent – a rookie mistake.

"To go through the trail blind was naive," she said. "I thought that was a bad decision."

Mysterious Hiker Found Dead On Florida Trail May Be From Brooklyn

It is interesting though that he made it all the way down the AT. He survived it, until his death in Florida.

Interesting how he allegedly told someone he had been visiting a sister in Florida.... Sarasota or Fort Myers area.... and then he died in Florida. Is that telling?
I keep thinking we’re missing something , something obscure, yet right in front of us.

 

[Armalita]

My opinion is he lived a hermit lifestyle like maybe he was a caretaker for someone and they passed. So many possibilities

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Adam Christopher Patterson and Adam Arthur Hecht have been added to the NamUs rule-out list:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Adam Patterson’s NamUs profile: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
His thread here on WS: ME - ME - Adam Patterson 30, Portland, 10 November 2015

Adam Hecht’s NamUs profile:
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
His thread here on WS: CA - CA - Adam Hecht, 23, Beverly Hills, 7 June 1989

 

[Laughing]

My opinion is he lived a hermit lifestyle like maybe he was a caretaker for someone and they passed. So many possibilities

How odd, I know just one thru-hiker, who afterwards -- lived with an elderly relative in that person's last year & a half!

(Can we recruit more medical professionals to read the autopsy report?)

 

[Laughing]

Hey all, I heard from my publisher and as I imagined, they don’t want me to paste my story into a web site. Here’s a link to the autopsy. You’ll find it pretty frustrating like I did. He had over the counter drugs in his system, no signs of tumors, heart disease, just emaciated. Good luck.

Dropbox - 2018-358 autopsy report.pdf - Simplify your life

@meanmaryjean @LaborDayRN would you mind helping us with this autopsy report?

Was there an anesthesiologist around here a while back? Missy Bevers threads, perhaps?

Thank you!

 

[meanmaryjean]

@meanmaryjean @LaborDayRN would you mind helping us with this autopsy report?

Was there an anesthesiologist around here a while back? Missy Bevers threads, perhaps?

Thank you!

Happy to lend a hand to this interesting sad case. Honestly, there's not much there. The toxicology report looks like non-lethal amounts of diphenhydramine (benadryl) and ibuprofen (motrin). Those are both OTC and actually available as a combination product in the US.

The scar seems far too big for pyloric stenosis. My dad and my youngest sister had it- and neither has a scar more than a couple inches long- and neither of their scars came anywhere near the xiphoid process (bottom end of the sternum). And my Dad's was done in 1929* long before sophisticated specialized instrumentation.

And while he was severely malnourished- he did have abundant stool in the intestine, so he was eating some. To me the telling thing is the brown urine in the bladder. Classic sign of dehydration- and in Florida he may very well have succumbed to the heat. That would be my best guess. Unfortunately nothing to really give any clue to who he might be save by exception. No healed fractures, no real anatomical defects, no obviously specific previous surgeries. I am wondering is the scar is from an accident- but there's really no way to tell. Hopefully DNA will give this man his identity back.

*(Totally off topic: He told us when we were kids that the scar was from when he was stabbed by a pirate while he was in the service. I was FIFTEEN before my aunt told me the real story!)

 

[neesaki]

Happy to lend a hand to this interesting sad case. Honestly, there's not much there. The toxicology report looks like non-lethal amounts of diphenhydramine (benadryl) and ibuprofen (motrin). Those are both OTC and actually available as a combination product in the US.

The scar seems far too big for pyloric stenosis. My dad and my youngest sister had it- and neither has a scar more than a couple inches long- and neither of their scars came anywhere near the xiphoid process (bottom end of the sternum). And my Dad's was done in 1929* long before sophisticated specialized instrumentation.

And while he was severely malnourished- he did have abundant stool in the intestine, so he was eating some. To me the telling thing is the brown urine in the bladder. Classic sign of dehydration- and in Florida he may very well have succumbed to the heat. That would be my best guess. Unfortunately nothing to really give any clue to who he might be save by exception. No healed fractures, no real anatomical defects, no obviously specific previous surgeries. I am wondering is the scar is from an accident- but there's really no way to tell. Hopefully DNA will give this man his identity back.

*(Totally off topic: He told us when we were kids that the scar was from when he was stabbed by a pirate while he was in the service. I was FIFTEEN before my aunt told me the real story!)

Dehydration definitely makes sense. Any thoughts on the cachexia? It seems in a person his age muscle wasting would develop over a considerable period of time.
I keep thinking back to a photo of him in which his thigh muscles appeared to be quite emaciated. (IMO)
Maybe he had a chronic disease that caused that, then drank contaminated water, causing him to be sick and then dehydrated as a result. I wonder if his water filter / purification device stopped working properly.... surely he had one.
Or perhaps with the degree of water contamination that far south and in such a low, swampy area it just wasn’t effective enough. And as you say the Florida heat would be a big contributing factor.

I now don’t recall if there was any water among his supplies when they found him.
Thank you very much for weighing in !

 

[meanmaryjean]

I'm guessing the cachexia is just plain lack of calories. When you don't consume enough calories your body begins to break down fat to get fuel. Once the fat is gone then it starts to use muscle. Literally this is what starvation mode is.

 

[Coffee56]

I was hoping with the pandemic that someone would have tried to reach out to him. Make sure he was ok. Think it’s very possible there is no one to reach out.