Vance Rodriguez

Vance John "Vaejor" Rodriguez, previously known as "Mostly Harmless", Denim, and Ben Bilemy was an American hiker whose body was found on July23, 2018 in Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, then remained unidentified for two years. He was identified when a previous coworker recognized photos of him in December 2020, and his identity was released in January 2021. The story came to prominence because of two viral articles written in Wired by the journalist Nicholas Thompson. It was later turned into a documentary, "They Called Him Mostly Harmless," which aired on HBO Max.

Background Rodriguez started his journey on the Appalachian Trail in April 2017, from Harriman State Park, about 30 miles north of New York City. On the way, he met several people who took pictures of him. Witnesses reported that he liked ketchup and sticky buns, that he said he came from Baton Rouge, that he was hiking to Key West, and that he claimed to have a sister living in Sarasota or Saratoga.

Discovery of body and investigation He was last observed alive after his arrival in the southwestern region of Florida in April 2018. The location was near Interstate 75. He was last known to reside in New York and worked in the field of information technology.