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

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The moles are a concern...I only see one on Harmless--I too think he is too young but brought him up because a lot does fit If he has been living off grid for a while this could make him appear older than he was...(rougher life). The 4 inch height difference is also a huge difference. Not sure if his height is estimated or a measured height.

Someone like Robert Mayer is a good potential in my opinion--Especially the circumstances-Again the height is off by 4 inches..the crease is there, the teeth and hairline fit. I've seen missing posters saying he is 6ft and 6.1 and some say green eyes some say hazel. He lived in NY left work early and disappeared 2013. All his actions that day point to someone who was planning to leave. He was a union Electrician--Had money to make it for a while--Appears to have just walked out (planned) left wallet, phone etc. His known habits/lifestyle are completely opposite of Harmless (which is what a person that wanted to disappear would strive for).
 
Classito said:
Harmless's eyes look like Colin Gillis's---Not much else fits except left hiking/camping when he disappeared (2012), hairline, eyes and being in NY..Colin is 24-6ft and is has blond hair..but the eyes

Collin-Gillis-Missing-Person.png
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Hmmm, I never heard that Colin was hiking/ camping. There's a thread here on him. I don't think he's our unidentified hiker, I think he died the night he disappeared. I followed Colin's case because I live in Vermont and it's local enough that it was in the news.

My understanding of Colin's case is he was home on spring break, went to a party, and left after an altercation. He was seen by a motorist acting strangely while walking alongside the road, the motorist stopped at a nearby police station but when police got to the area, Colin was nowhere to be found. They did find his license, and I think some of his other belongings, on the side of the road. Extensive searches were done (river, nearby woods, etc.). They don't know if he fell in the river, wandered off into the woods and died of hypothermia, was possibly hit by a car and his body hidden, or was perhaps forced into someone's car.
 
Use to be a NEK'er myself...Rough living--I learned the meaning of cabin fever in Vermont... 2 days of summer (if it doesn't rain those two days) and the rest of the time you prepare for winter..Taught me survival skills and how to live in isolation for sure.

On one of the sites he was called a hiker...maybe just the backpack and the Adirondacks made me think that..He was walking away from the direction of his home and allegedly refused a ride home from people he knew--His driver permit was found in the area. There was no evidence of him falling in the river and no evidence of him being forced into a car, hit and run, etc.

From his brothers blog
What's left to write? It's been two years and 5 months since my brother's disappearance, nothing has developed since. Only rumors and speculations about how he was murdered or how he is living in Louisiana, I've imagined them all.
 
I can certainly understand why Colin's family won't give up hope that he is still alive. Since by all reports he was a smart kid (wanted to be a doctor) and had a great relationship with his family, I don't think he simply disappeared and is living his life without letting them know he's alive. But that's easy for me to say because I'm an outside observer, not a desperate loved one hanging on to hope. Until he's found, they have so many unanswered questions. Just a terrible situation.
 
I don’t think his hairline matches up. He seems to have a receeding hairline whereas Denim doesn’t.

Before this case, I never realised that something as simple as a hairline could be so identifying.
 
I agree...He was mentioned way earlier in the thread and the hairline was mentioned as well..But observing the drawing they did of Harmless he does seem to have a receding hairline, at least on the side we see...not sure of the proportionate accuracy of the features. Other than that drawing we have nothing else to go by.
Harmless Hairline.png

What if Harmless was not missing until later..What if he was hiking off and on before he actually disappeared. What if his eyes are brown as they first stated instead of blue. Would they be able to tell his eye color after he had been deceased for 3 days? In one of the photos his eyes look brown...Lighting and even the color of clothing can change the color we see in hazel eyes. But what if his eyes were brown...

Harmless eyes.JPG

"For starters, people describe this magnificent eye color in many different ways. Some say it looks like hazelnut, while others call it golden or brownish green. One of the reasons it's so hard to describe hazel-colored eyes is that the hue itself seems to change, depending on what you wear and the type of lighting you are in.To complicate matters further, although hazel eyes appear to contain hues of green, amber and even blue, these color pigments don't exist in the human eye'
Hazel Eye Color: What Causes Hazel Eyes

Harmless 1.jpg Thomas Nigro.png
Thomas Nigro

Molly Randall
August 2, 2018
Ochopee, Florida

Unidentified white Male

NamUs #UP51453
Date Found July 23, 2018
Estimated Age Group Adult - Pre 50
Condition of Remains Recognizable face

Physical Description

Hair Color Gray or Partially Gray
Head Hair Description Dark Brown with Gray Hair
Facial Hair Description Long black and gray beard.
Eye Color Brown
Height 5' 8"(68 inches) , Measured
Weight 83 lbs, Measured

Scar/markPossible indistinct fine linear scar across abdomen. Very faint.
 
Last edited:
LeenC said:
Good find! However, I think Gillis is too young to be our UID.
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Possibly too young. I've had male friends who started going gray at 18.

Also, Question:
If Denim (or any UID) was sick (something contributing to cause of death, like something possibly degenerative?) could it make his body "age" faster?

I know that's verrryyyyy unlikely, but its just something I was wondering.
 
I believe I mentioned Kevin Mitchell before and felt he should be looked at again. He disappeared in 2015, was presumed dead in 2016, however his wife had stated he may not want to be found right now. He is no longer being looked for. His find me facebook page is gone..all searches ended. He had been searching remote areas prior to disappearing which sounds as he was planning ahead (either actually planning to go to these areas or throwing off his destination), had health issues, was an avid outdoorsman, had the money for the expensive equipment and his wife felt he did not want to be found. His missing poster states his appearance may have changed.

5'8
41
Brown hair
Blue eyes

I am going back to him as I believe he is the best match...he attended Oregon Institute of Technology and received a degree in Mechanical Engineer and was a power plant superintendent at Municipal Light and Power where he obtained his Mechanical Professional Engineering license. .
Memorial to Kevin Mitchell, 1977 - 2015.

The age, height, eye color, hairline and teeth fit, even the smile and occupation seem to fit. He health problems that could be the reason he left and it appears Harmless had health issues. He and family vacationed every year in FL. On the day he disappeared he came home around noon, switched from the company vehicle to his private vehicle and left, leaving his wallet, ID, credit cards in the work vehicle. He was considered smart, kind, focused and adventurous.. His wife said he was a good husband and father. He enjoyed hiking, paragliding and an seemed to be an all around outdoorsman.
On the eve of their anniversary, Anchorage woman searches for missing husband

Mitchell’s wife told Alaska Dispatch News she believes her husband was wearing blue jeans, a black fleece jacket, a gray T-shirt and a baseball cap with the word “Alaska” on it.
https://www.peninsulaclarion.com/news/search-resumes-for-missing-anchorage-man

"He hadn't been feeling well lately; he had been having some medical issues," Nicole Mitchell said. "He was having some anxiety about his health issues. I think maybe he was not in a clear state of mind."
"He loved the outdoors, so that would be my best guess," Nicole Mitchell said.
On the eve of their anniversary, Anchorage woman searches for missing husband
Missing man's truck found near Girdwood; search turns up unrelated body

His wife, Nicole Mitchell, says their web history shows he spent hours searching remote locations on Google Maps.
I'm not sure he really wants to be found right now, she said
He's a very healthy young man and he's been known to climb mountains like this and think nothing of it said Rambur
AK - AK - Kevin Mitchell, 38, Anchorage, 22 Sept 2015
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/34156
Missing Person Case


Kevin Alaska.JPG kevi.jpg Kevin Mitchell.jpg Kevin-Harmless.JPG original.jpg
 
I think we have so many pictures of MH that we'll instantly know him when we see him. I have pretty keen facial recognition skills and IMO, I don't think any of the suggested missing persons are a match yet. I also don't personally believe he had health issues as the autopsy would have revealed them.

My personal opinion is that MH was telling the truth about his story. He worked in tech, probably had a desk job and didn't get much exercise. He got fed up with his life for whatever reason - divorce, loneliness, disillusionment, general malcontent - and decided to do something he maybe had always wanted to do one day. Maybe his lease was up so he packed a few belongings and headed out to the trails. Some have speculated he lived in a park/campground in NY before starting the trail. I think if he was so disillusioned with society that he decided to quit his tech job, give up all electronics and live off the grid, he probably had reservations about returning to society. Maybe he didn't want to do tech work anymore but didn't have another skill or any hopes for a future. This very well could have been a suicide mission - do it until you run out of resources kind of thing. Or as some in the hiking groups have suggested, he didn't account for the second half of the trip and didn't bring enough money. Or, as some here have speculated, maybe he ate something that made him sick.

By all accounts, he was new to hiking. I don't think the person we're looking for is going to be an outdoorsman, or sick, or surrounded by people who loved him before he disappeared. I think we're looking for a nerd who spent much of his life staring at a computer screen and wanted to experience something else.
 
UnlicensedPI said:
I think we have so many pictures of MH that we'll instantly know him when we see him. I have pretty keen facial recognition skills and IMO, I don't think any of the suggested missing persons are a match yet. I also don't personally believe he had health issues as the autopsy would have revealed them.

My personal opinion is that MH was telling the truth about his story. He worked in tech, probably had a desk job and didn't get much exercise. He got fed up with his life for whatever reason - divorce, loneliness, disillusionment, general malcontent - and decided to do something he maybe had always wanted to do one day. Maybe his lease was up so he packed a few belongings and headed out to the trails. Some have speculated he lived in a park/campground in NY before starting the trail. I think if he was so disillusioned with society that he decided to quit his tech job, give up all electronics and live off the grid, he probably had reservations about returning to society. Maybe he didn't want to do tech work anymore but didn't have another skill or any hopes for a future. This very well could have been a suicide mission - do it until you run out of resources kind of thing. Or as some in the hiking groups have suggested, he didn't account for the second half of the trip and didn't bring enough money. Or, as some here have speculated, maybe he ate something that made him sick.

By all accounts, he was new to hiking. I don't think the person we're looking for is going to be an outdoorsman, or sick, or surrounded by people who loved him before he disappeared. I think we're looking for a nerd who spent much of his life staring at a computer screen and wanted to experience something else.
Click to expand...

Glad you mentioned that even a nerd has feelings...I really don't know what to think of this UID. About eating something that could have killed him...I remember a story of a Belgium couple wanting to live of the land and they ate the wrong plant/leaf and dyed...unidentified for a long time but a sharp lady got them home. They were lying for a long time in a fridge in Milan....
 
UnlicensedPI said:
I think we have so many pictures of MH that we'll instantly know him when we see him. I have pretty keen facial recognition skills and IMO, I don't think any of the suggested missing persons are a match yet. I also don't personally believe he had health issues as the autopsy would have revealed them.

My personal opinion is that MH was telling the truth about his story. He worked in tech, probably had a desk job and didn't get much exercise. He got fed up with his life for whatever reason - divorce, loneliness, disillusionment, general malcontent - and decided to do something he maybe had always wanted to do one day. Maybe his lease was up so he packed a few belongings and headed out to the trails. Some have speculated he lived in a park/campground in NY before starting the trail. I think if he was so disillusioned with society that he decided to quit his tech job, give up all electronics and live off the grid, he probably had reservations about returning to society. Maybe he didn't want to do tech work anymore but didn't have another skill or any hopes for a future. This very well could have been a suicide mission - do it until you run out of resources kind of thing. Or as some in the hiking groups have suggested, he didn't account for the second half of the trip and didn't bring enough money. Or, as some here have speculated, maybe he ate something that made him sick.

By all accounts, he was new to hiking. I don't think the person we're looking for is going to be an outdoorsman, or sick, or surrounded by people who loved him before he disappeared. I think we're looking for a nerd who spent much of his life staring at a computer screen and wanted to experience something else.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with you that we haven’t found him yet. Like you said, we have so many pictures of him. When we eventually find him, he will be the person in the pictures and not just someone whom we feel looks like him. We’re not just working with a recon here but actual pictures of someone.

I’m not sure about him not having been ill. For one, I don’t know if authorities are giving us all the information they have (yet). Secondly, he definitely doesn’t look healthy in some of the later pics that were taken for him. Other hikers have also stated that he was hiking really slowly, only doing short distances at a time. I think it’s possible he may have had an illness. I also wanted to point out that authorities have never stated a cause of death.

Another thing I agree with is the overall picture you’ve painted of his life. I don’t think anyone is looking for him either because I think he didn’t really have anyone around who would miss him. I wish people who hiked with him could tell us more about his personality.
 
I found this really interesting thread on WhiteBlaze. It reminded me of MH. Started in NYC, out of shape, willing to walk away from his life. I think it's a year before he started hiking but it's still an interesting look into potential motivations and planning from someone in similar circumstances:
Starting a thru-hike as an out-of-shape beginner?
 
UnlicensedPI said:
I think we have so many pictures of MH that we'll instantly know him when we see him. I have pretty keen facial recognition skills and IMO, I don't think any of the suggested missing persons are a match yet. I also don't personally believe he had health issues as the autopsy would have revealed them.

My personal opinion is that MH was telling the truth about his story. He worked in tech, probably had a desk job and didn't get much exercise. He got fed up with his life for whatever reason - divorce, loneliness, disillusionment, general malcontent - and decided to do something he maybe had always wanted to do one day. Maybe his lease was up so he packed a few belongings and headed out to the trails. Some have speculated he lived in a park/campground in NY before starting the trail. I think if he was so disillusioned with society that he decided to quit his tech job, give up all electronics and live off the grid, he probably had reservations about returning to society. Maybe he didn't want to do tech work anymore but didn't have another skill or any hopes for a future. This very well could have been a suicide mission - do it until you run out of resources kind of thing. Or as some in the hiking groups have suggested, he didn't account for the second half of the trip and didn't bring enough money. Or, as some here have speculated, maybe he ate something that made him sick.

By all accounts, he was new to hiking. I don't think the person we're looking for is going to be an outdoorsman, or sick, or surrounded by people who loved him before he disappeared. I think we're looking for a nerd who spent much of his life staring at a computer screen and wanted to experience something else.
Click to expand...

Most of what your thoughts of who Harmless would be is exactly what Kevin Mitchell was...except for not being into the outdoors and being ill. Everything else is almost a perfect match to Kevin. Even down to the possible suicide mission. If Kevin was Harmless, he probably thought he would die before he ran out of money

One hiker that met harmless said his name was Devin...close enough to Kevin for me to give it consideration especially given the other circumstances that make it possible.

Even if they ended up not being a match..I have seen some really good potentials posted on this thread that were worth looking into. And while none of them may be Harmless, we are keeping his case alive and bringing attention to other missing persons
 
Classito said:
Most of what your thoughts of who Harmless would be is exactly what Kevin Mitchell was...except for not being into the outdoors and being ill. Everything else is almost a perfect match to Kevin. Even down to the possible suicide mission. If Kevin was Harmless, he probably thought he would die before he ran out of money

One hiker that met harmless said his name was Devin...close enough to Kevin for me to give it consideration especially given the other circumstances that make it possible.

Even if they ended up not being a match..I have seen some really good potentials posted on this thread that were worth looking into. And while none of them may be Harmless, we are keeping his case alive and bringing attention to other missing persons
Click to expand...
I agree their personalities sound similar. Facially, they're completely different. It's great to keep the case alive and bring attention to the missing, but I don't think it's necessarily helpful to solving the case to keep bringing up "potentials" who are clearly not MH. I know so many of us are used to trying to match a composite sketch and vague circumstances with MPs, but I think we need to approach this one from a different angle given all we know about him.
 
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