In 2018, hikers discovered a yellow tent at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. Inside the tent: A useless man with no ID. For the next two years, nobody knew who he was once. That thriller is the subject of the 2024 Max true crime documentary They Called Him Mostly Harmless.

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No one knew the true identity of the man discovered useless at Big Cypress, with a grey-flecked beard and sort eyes, however that didn’t mean no person identified him. A girl named Kelly Fairbanks had noticed the person prior to, alongside the Appalachian Trail, near where the frame was discovered. As the authorities sought his real name, they released a composite comic strip of what he appeared like, which spread extensively all through the climbing neighborhood.

Fairbanks noticed the image and advised the police she once encountered the person and was once struck by his “type aura … [H]e was joking and guffawing with me … Had a good looking smile. And he had gorgeous eyes — different from any other hiker,” Fairbanks mentioned.

Fairbanks used to be so taken that she snapped a couple of footage. And what used to be his title? According to Fairbanks, when requested the query, whomever the person used to be spoke back, “Mostly innocuous,” Naples Daily News reported.

“Mostly harmless” was once recognized two years later

via Max/YouTube

Although Kelly Fairbanks reported she noticed “Mostly Harmless” — additionally once in a while called “Denim” —investigators didn’t have much to cross on. While there used to be no ID inside the tent, there was hiking gear, about $4,000, and a couple of notebooks filled with computer code, but no cell phone or credit cards. He was once between 35 and 50 years old and about 5-foot-8, however he most effective weighed round eighty three kilos. There were no signs of foul play.

Through pointers and leads, the Florida investigation determined that whoever it used to be have been on the path for roughly a year, and he had likely originated in New York state, with possible ties to Louisiana. Even though the John Doe case was widely publicized within the media, Mostly Harmless’ id remained a thriller, however in any case, more than two years after he used to be found, there was a spoil within the case.

What happened to Vance Rodriguez?

As detailed in the Max documentary, about two years after Mostly Harmless was found, an old faculty roommate named Randall Godso came across a picture of the unidentified hiker and advised the police his name was once Vance Rodriguez. According to CBS News, Godso stated, “As quickly as I noticed the pictures, I knew straight away — it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s Vance!’ … A tingle ran down my spine.” Forensic DNA family tree confirmed Godso was proper.

Rodriquez was reportedly a New York tech skilled from Louisiana with a bothered previous, who selected to go away all of it behind and vanish on the Appalachian Trail. Rodriquez’s precise reason behind death was never determined, although he was critically underweight, according to the autopsy.

They Called Him Mostly Harmless is about to move on Feb. 8, 2024 on Max.

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