An upcoming documentary will unravel the twisted story of a mysterious hiker named ‘Mostly Harmless’ who was found dead in the woods.
The unnamed man’s 6-foot-2 body was discovered in a yellow tent in Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, on July 23, 2018, emaciated and weighing just 33 pounds.
He was found without a wallet, phone or ID and it took more than two years for Collier County detectives and amateur internet sleuths to solve the case.
The hiker was subsequently unmasked as Vance Rodriguez, a 44-year-old originally from Louisiana who was described by friends as “wickedly smart,” withdrawn and struggling with personal relationships.
Here, FEMAIL has uncovered the chilling details of the case as Max is on the verge of release They mostly called him harmless.
The unnamed man’s body was discovered on July 23, 2018, in a yellow tent in Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, emaciated and weighing just 33 pounds.
He was found without a wallet, phone or ID and it took more than two years for Collier County detectives and amateur internet sleuths to solve the case.
The case began when a group of hikers came across the body less than five miles from a busy highway noticing a foul odor coming from his tent.
The man was found with $3,500 in cash, notebooks filled with computer code and copious supplies of food.
But commentators told the latest documentary: ‘There was nothing with a name on it – no wallet, no credit cards, no photo ID – we don’t really know who he is.’
Police initially released a composite rendering of what he likely looked like before he died.
Soon after, other hikers began sharing photos of a man — who never provided his real name and instead went by “Denim” or “Ben Bilemy” — they met on their hikes that seemed to match the portrayal.
The most terrifying name he gave himself was ‘Mostly Harmless’ – as one researcher said: ‘If you are mostly harmless, you are also partly harmful.’
The case confounded police and detectives for years when investigators determined he had no underlying health problems and police ruled out any foul play after the money was found in his tent.
Additionally, there were no missing persons reports matching the man’s description, and his DNA and fingerprints yielded no results in database searches, stumping investigators.
But soon thousands of internet sleuths came up with the answer.
The most terrifying nickname he gave himself was ‘Mostly Harmless’ – as one researcher said: ‘If you are mostly harmless, you are also partly harmful’
He was eventually identified as Vance Rodriguez, who was first seen in the woods in the spring of 2017 near Harriman State Park in New York before continuing south along the Appalachian Trail, Pinhoti and Florida trails.
The new documentary puts a spotlight on some of the amateur detectives who helped unravel the case
The sleuths began collecting evidence, recording observations and connecting “little bits of information he would reveal”
The new documentary puts a spotlight on some of the amateur detectives who helped crack the case, as one woman explained: ‘This is my first case.
“During the day I’m a mild-mannered delivery boy and at night I get unidentified people identified.
“I went to Facebook. I felt like maybe I could help… The group blew up.”
The Facebook group dedicated to finding Mostly Harmless’ real identity grew to nearly 7,000 members worldwide.
Another member told the documentary: ‘I don’t know anything about quests, but this was a member of my community – we look out for each other.
“The hikers were the only people we knew who had actually spoken to this person.”
Natasha Teasley, the group’s administrator, had built a website about the case and created a timeline of every recorded stop or encounter with other hikers that Mostly Harmless had made.
She also organized a fundraiser to bring Othram, a Texas-based DNA lab, into the case that revealed he had Cajun ancestry, which originated in the bayou areas of southern Louisiana.
Mostly Harmless told a hiker in Pennsylvania that he went to the woods because he was “depressed about his life and needed a complete change.”
When his identity was finally released, friends from Louisiana made a series of revelations about him: He was very intelligent, but struggled with personal relationships, especially with his family.
The sleuths began collecting evidence, recording observations and connecting “little bits of information he would reveal.”
But most agreed that he was “absolutely trying to remain anonymous.”
He was eventually identified as former technical employee Vance Rodriguez – who was first spotted in the woods in the spring of 2017 near New York’s Harriman State Park before continuing south along the Appalachian Trail, Pinhoti and Florida trails.
When his identity was finally released, friends from Louisiana made a series of revelations about him: He was very intelligent, but struggled with personal relationships, especially with his family.
A friend from Baton Rouge named Marie described him as “hot and cold” and said he had “breakdowns” or depressive episodes in which he could be mean and exclude people from his life.
“He was very kind and caring and a bit ad***,” Marie said.
He had attempted suicide at the age of 15, after suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the abdomen, from which he still had the scar.
The revelations about Rodriguez’s true identity led many to speculate that he had made the deliberate decision to die – with some pointing out that he was seriously underweight, despite having food on him and being near a busy highway found.
An autopsy report found his cause of death was “undetermined.”
They Called Him Mostly Harmless premieres February 8 on Max.