The Strangest Death in the History of Backpacking

[@dewilew2137]

That composite photo is absolutely frightening.

[@boolranch6755]

Bro did not have to keep showing it

[@muddydog6605]

Yeah that one's coming into my dreams I'm sure

[@the_gilded_age_phoenix8717]

Prolly derived from what his corpse looked like. They said he was found relatively soon after he perished.

[@CateVeidt]

@@the_gilded_age_phoenix8717 looks like they took a photo of his face, fixed his hair and eyes in photoshop, and published it

[@UnicornSpoonie]

I felt bad for thinking that but it’s super true! That is damn terrifying! And I agree that it seems like they used the shape/state of his corpse to configure the photo. I guess probably at the time, since they had zero clues about anything to do with him, that’s likely the only way they could create a photo…but it’s still fing creepy!

[@umbyone4651]

My daughter and I met Mostly Harmless as we were long distance canoeing the Suwanee River at one of the river campsites that is also along the Florida Trail. We spent the night at the site with him and talked quit a bit. He told us about his adventure along the AT and said he was trying to make his way to the Keys to find a part time job for a while until he figured out what to do next. We were under the impression he was from the New York or another northern state close to where he started on the AT. Having hiked the entire Florida Trail myself and being a former trail leader with the Florida Trail Association I could tell he was very unprepared for this hike. He had no maps, gps, or phone and had done no research on the Florida Trail. He told me that he likes to just head out and stop at places to work for food along the way. He was currently on his second day at that campsite cleaning it for the site volunteer and she would cook him meals. I told him that there were very limited and sparce resources once he headed south of Orlando, but he said he’d make it work. He seemed to think that the FT would have as many resources and towns as the AT, but I assured him that he would have a hard time finding them in south Florida. When I met him, he still appeared to have a healthy weight and I believe that he starved as did not sufficiently resupply for south Florida. I imagine that he got weaker and weaker and had no idea how close he was to I-75 along Alligator Alley and the rest stop it crosses just 5 miles south of his final campsite and his body shut down as he slept. Whatever food he still had left he may have been trying to ration until he found another resupply point. It saddened me to see the inquiry post after his discovery and I contacted the detectives in south Florida to provide what little information I had and your video is the first that I learned of his real name and hometown. From what the detectives told me, I think all of us thought he was from up north so the original efforts to identify him were focused along the FT and AT. I wish he would have at least picked up a trail map somewhere along the way and I think he would have made it to the Keys then off to other adventures.

[@Mastordant]

Thank you for sharing this

[@SourRazberry]

This should be pinned this is important info, thank you!

[@lisas8244]

This guy was done with tech and was a lost soul looking for a way to restart his life and another career path. He was independent to a fault and wouldn't accept more experienced hiker's advice to be better prepared. At 83 lbs. he obviously starved to death and probably didn't feel that hungry in the intense Florida heat. There may have been some mental issues in play such as depression due to his disillusionment and alienation with the tech industry. It's not that big of a mystery what could have happened here.

[@johnanon6938]

Hopefully there's a part 2 with this information and info that others have provided here too. In the video Vance stated he wanted to do the hike before he couldn't because of a medical condition, wish we knew more about that because some people simply don't feel hungry when in pain.

[@dianaott2662]

I was thinking he had a diagnosis of cancer. That would explain the weight. ❤

[@NoelSchively]

My friend attempted to bike across the US. Got to the Rockies and suddenly got really ill. Holed up in a hotel just feeling awful. Called a friend back on the East Coast who was a doctor. They flew out to meet him and realized the problem right away. While he was eating right along, he wasnt eating ENOUGH for the near constant energy he was expending. He was starving to death slowly. Still eating, but his body was feasting on itself. I can see something similar here, only without the call to a friend atudying medicine. Vance hikes the AT as a first timer, gets done, but is in pretty bad shape, decides to continue on regardless, still eating, but still dropping weight. Sets up camp, feels awful, and just decides hes gotten sick and he'll rest for a few days, continues eating not enough, cant get out, and eventually his body just gives out.

[@GreedyPuppy7]

You theory is the most plausible to me. Along with his apparent depression it would make the most sense.

[@kristyb3714]

This really is the most logical.

[@sheenadees2701]

My thought is about the plants around. Similar to Chris McCandless he could have ingested some toxic berries or plants and he could have starved that way too. But the photos of him do show him losing weight over the time he was hiking.

[@venomshot2815]

The issue is, when you hike you might need to burn over 6000 calories to maintain bodyweight but when you rest that number drops to around 1500 at his bodyweight. So he could've gotten skinny that way but i find it very hard to believe he starved to death like that

[@wellhowthehellareya]

@venomshot2815​​⁠ it’s definitely plausible. If you’re burning that many calories each day and eating your usual amount and not taking your activity into account you could definitely starve yourself but it won’t happen right away. Also when you’re resting you’re still burning a significant amount of calories from your body’s efforts to repair itself. Those trails are crazy hard and you’re out there for months on the Appalachian Trail and remember he decided to continue hiking even beyond that without resting for a couple weeks in between trails. I think that was most definitely his fatal mistake. You gotta let your body bounce back and that doesn’t mean a couple days.

[@ralphralpherson9441]

That composite photo from the Florida authorities is freaking terrifying. Gaddamn, what did they do? Photoshop nice hair and eyes on a corpse photo? That one had me shook.

[@lindashaw3796]

It's totally creepy!! Finding it difficult to imagine someone coming up with that. Shudder.....

[@catscanhavelittleasalami]

yeah, they didn't really try hard. Just grabbed a pic of his corpse and added more lively eyes on it.

[@Trollgernautt]

That is actually a technique they use to make features more noticeable, it's like a caricature, but realistic.

[@sykoteddy]

Exactly my thought! I thought it was a meme of some kind at first, and seriously, almost any of the other photos were better! It kinda odd how someone can die with a stare and not have any obvious marks or something that explain his death.

[@sykoteddy]

@@Trollgernautt did you say realistic?

[@ElizabethT45]

Vance having no phone or GPS and eventually starving to death in a remote area reminds me of Christopher McCandless. Maybe Vance was just tired of his life. Hearing that his ex-girlfriends said he was abusive makes his trail name "Mostly Harmless" disturbing.

[@Lrkjdk]

First thought that came to my mind as well. It definitely reminds me of McCandless. A loss of life is always a shame but cmon man, what are you gaining by not being prepared for an absolute emergency.

[@kimpeater1]

The name "mostly harmless" implies that he is "sometimes harmful"

[@DogmadawgMAMR]

Every ex girlfriend says their ex was violent

[@theopulentone1650]

@@DogmadawgMAMR Because a lot of men are violent.

[@Jonesnihil]

​@@DogmadawgMAMR straight up not true bro

[@juliafernandez1699]

You note that he told other hikers he had health problems. What about the possibility that he knew he had a terminal illness and decided that he wanted to spend the limited time he had left hiking and die doing what he loved? I figure the coroner would check for conditions like cancer but if he had a rare disease, that could easily get missed.

[@I-_.-S--_._--D07]

what about a heart attack?

[@homelesszombieapocalypse6622]

That's what I was thinking, too.

[@mrsdoyle6828]

​@@I-_.-S--_._--D07 but why was he emaciated? He seems to have had bad personal relationships. I feel like he got to where he wanted to and then decided to just give up.

[@Chris-ov4zc]

@@mrsdoyle6828 I wonder if the weight loss could have been through dehydration after he died? Assuming summer temps in FL, along with being in a closed tent for many days, I would imagine a significant weight loss from water loss after he died. I would have expected a coroner's report to have addressed that, though, if that was the case.

[@natatron]

I agree. He probably had terminal cancer and knew he only had a few months or a year to live. You become emaciated at the end no matter how much you try to eat. However, it would have spread all through his body before death and wouldn't the autopsy pick this up?

[@johnwyoder]

Gotta say, someone traveling/hiking without any electronics sounds like someone who doesn't want to be tracked or located.

[@generationdink]

And that could mean someone trying to hide, avoiding depts, being blackmailed, or even someone suffered from anxiety and paranoia?

[@daakrolb]

Exactly. “On the run” maybe.

[@christianb8228]

Maybe he’s a time traveller

[@burningchrome70]

It's even worse than you thought. He was accomplished in "information technology " and when he was found he had a notebook of code he had been writing for the next time he had access to a computer.

[@cagneybillingsley2165]

but he lets his photo get taken by everyone and posted on facebook? doubtful. he's just another guy who died in the wilderness. lol he's no a secret agent or ex mafia. that's just what people want to think so this story would be more interesting

[@Ellie-rx3jt]

A quote from his ex girlfriend, given for a Wired article: "I know that when he had to deal with anything, he would just lay down and sleep,” K told me. “I feel like that's what happened. He would ignore problems and ‘sleep until it was gone.'" Calling the case of a man who suffered with major depression for seemingly his entire life, had previously attempted suicide, only ate once a day according to his ex roommate, and was known to go without food for days on end when depression struck (according to both the ex GF and the ex roomie) who died while extremely emaciated a "mystery" is a bit of a stretch. He almost certainly died due to those "health conditions" he spoke of, but it wasn't a physical illness.

[@ericbutler739]

I agree. What I also wondered at was his suicide attempt with a gun that "failed". Did he pull the trigger but not die from the head wound? Brain damage that altered his personality? Pure speculation on my part, would be interested to know what happened in that "failed" attempt.

[@TheErockaustin]

@@ericbutler739 It was in his teens... shot himself in the stomach in a field, but then waved at a truck driver for help. His parents institutionalized him after then, then he left home at age 17

[@frakismaximus3052]

This channel should be called "Kyle hates disclosing the full story"

[@freeheel748]

@@frakismaximus3052 I wonder if he had an older brother...damn you Kyle!

[@Ellie-rx3jt]

​@@andrewg3196 "Health conditions" is in quotation marks because it's a quote. That's literally the purpose of quotation marks 🤦🏻‍♀️ My pointing out that his condition was a mental health one is in response to the many people speculating that he must have had cancer, which we can be pretty sure he didn't since that would show up on an autopsy. What part of my comment pointing out that he almost certainly died from the crippling mental health issues that had plagued him his entire life is minimising them?

[@ALittleFree]

What struck me is that He wanted to but didn't want to... disappear.It's unusual to allow people to take your photos so willingly if you want to be unseen. And his friendliness " at a distance "

[@yFxLvPvrrEaEzoPlPOLIVWsQxNFdQM]

That that composite photo is freakin nightmare fuel

[@dehavillandcanadatwinotter9621]

When I watched this video it was about 2 AM, took me a while to fall asleep after seeing that photo

[@jxmai7687]

I did have a heart attack at the end of my last hiking, when I sat down in my car I had a cardiac arrest， lucky my wife was there and performed a CPR with help from friends, after almost an hour the ambulance emergency team arrived and spend other hours got to the hospital, I was in the ICU for 3 day, late on I woke up with my wife beside me, that moment I knew I am the luckiest man, now I had a pacemaker implanted to my heart.

[@hopegold883]

Thanks! I just watched two of these videos in a row, and that was the antidote I needed.

[@storm-jk1rf]

Glad you are still with us!

[@jayinla228]

Did your heart stop that whole hour? Wow!

[@jakeremington9332]

What a crock of shit if I've ever heard it.

[@Jaidritz9285]

My Partner died at the age of 43 due to a major heart attack, sadly I wasn't with him. It was late and he decided to drive a friend home who lived in out of town. He was found beside the car. I miss him everyday and I don't wish on anybody the knock on the door, telling you that your loved Partner has died.😞💔

[@mrwhirly0358]

Is it just me or is that police rendering they made of Mostly Harmless absolutely heinous? I’m shocked anyone recognized him from that, but glad they did.

[@emilyisthepants]

I learned recently that this is actually done on purpose most times. When trying to identify a missing or deceased individual, composite sketches are done to exaggerate certain features (large eyes, crooked teeth, birth marks, etc). Somehow it's more likely to jog someone's memory. Still weird looking though for sure :)

[@kaitmarie6505]

It looks way too much like a corpse, it's kinda gruesome and hard to look at

[@Robert-un3cf]

Uncanny valley type stuff. Awful

[@hyperboreanforeskin]

@@emilyisthepants I think its more the fact that they obviously took a picture of his dead face, mouth agape, and slapped it on a poster and called it a composite sketch.

[@priceisalr1ght]

I can only imagine that this open-eyed gaped-mouth pose was how they found him and they just made him look less dead for the poster image.

[@TaylortheNahamshaHiker]

I'm laying in my tent on the AT wondering if it's a good idea to watch this right now or not lol

[@knowyourrights9793]

Wow that's awesome please be safe out there!! I clicked on your profile and Subbed!!

[@chrisclark4183]

Literally same

[@johnwyoder]

Me too. So I guess it was a good choice? 😅

[@TooTall_hikes]

😂😂

[@lotstodo]

Still here? You ok?

[@Saffron-sugar]

Sounds very familiar! “The Sound of Insects” Is a 2009 ‧ Documentary/Indie film in which hikers find a corpse of a man in a tent and a diary is found near the body, detailing the man's thoughts as he commits suicide through self-imposed starvation. This film is actually based on the 1990 true story/novella 'Until I am a Mummy' by Shimada Masahiko. As a hiker, I’m sure you’re aware of this story. Maybe Vance Rodriguez was too?

[@uppercut147]

Yeah, my thought was "eating disorder" and the mummy story certainly qualifies as an eating disorder.

[@Saffron-sugar]

@@uppercut147 and eating disorder or an unusual method of suicide. Vance looked so ill and he was aging at an absurdly accelerated rate. He looked very sick. Something was up.

[@jasonbernard9012]

I give you props: the small things that you do, such as pausing your background music at certain moments in the video only captivate me more and more. It’s all about the small details. Well done Kyle

[@thisbeem2714]

I wish he’d leave that music out completely.

[@jasonbernard9012]

@@thisbeem2714 I can’t disagree, but it’s mixer’s choice when making videos: I just think it should’ve been toned down a bit, however, it definitely coulda thrived without the music

[@thisbeem2714]

@@jasonbernard9012 fair enough. I find background music behind speaking very annoying and will stop watching a channel if they do that. Kyle doesn’t do that in all of his videos and I’m grateful because I LOVE his videos. I don’t think my preference means they shouldn’t do it however they want. it does affect my viewership, but I am one viewer and not a vital part of any channel.

[@purplevelvet69]

I'm in the UK and there is no background music how odd

[@travisr2222]

Starving people hoard food but don’t eat it, it’s weird but true. I saw it happen on Alone season 3, dude had enough smoked fish to survive the winter but was pulled out of the show for starvation. I guess when you strongly believe food is rare the drive to save it is stronger than your diminished awareness (due to starvation) of how desperately you need to eat it.

[@BlueCyann]

I feel like that must be an unusual reaction to starvation, however possible it is to happen to some people. Almost every story I've read about starvation or near-starvation the result has been the opposite, with people eating whatever and whenever they are able to.

[@israelizzyyarrashamiaak766]

@@BlueCyannI saw some videos about hoarding while starving. It’s like the stripping when hyperthermic . The body breaks the brain I guess… Other guy- I saw that season of alone. Bonkers. I like that show.

[@isomeme]

I'm an occasional desert hiker. The irrational urge to not drink from your canteen even though you're very thirsty can be strong. There's a comfort in feeling the weight of the water. Drinking it feels like wasting it. Apparently it's not uncommon for desert hikers to die from dehydration-related causes while they're carrying plenty of water. I would guess that the same syndrome can happen with food.

[@fleadoggreen9062]

Maybe he didn’t like fish 😊

[@fleadoggreen9062]

The starved guy must’ve had a stroke or couldn’t move for some reason

[@KristopherMilland]

5’8, 83lbs plus hiking, he was probably extremely dehydrated. Mix that some rhabdo from hiking all day everyday plus taking ibuprofen for his aches and pains-> renal failure -> elevated potassium -> life threatening dysrhythmia -> death. This seems the most likely in my opinion. I don’t think they could test for this at autopsy given the advanced decomposition of the body suggested by the foul smell from his tent.

[@edwhatshisname3562]

Sounds legit. I mean, Florida is a pretty hot and sticky place for most of the year anyway, definitely the kind of place that tries to drink all the water out of you in the form of sweat. He was probably really delirious towards the end and decided to set up camp for a short rest, but the short rest ended up turning into a dirt nap.

[@BikePractice]

Bingo

[@Gizziiusa]

wow, are you an M.E. ?

[@brendagreen4132]

His body shut down

[@aftersexhighfives]

He literally had cancer.

[@maxmcgraw3571]

I think he simply wanted to die. He felt unloved, unwanted, alone and felt he had no purpose in life. Going into depression, (and masking it when around others) he didn't care to eat. So he starved himself to death.

[@alexandersnider734]

Would have taken a lot longer to get to that weight from simple starvation. More likely cancer was actively wasting away his body.

[@Ellie-rx3jt]

Yeah he apparently had a long history of eating one meal a day at the best of times, and going days without food when depression struck. Doesn't seem like it was any surprise to hos ex girlfriend, she suggested that was probably what happened.

[@Ellie-rx3jt]

​@@alexandersnider734 Cancer is almost always identifiable in an autopsy.

[@nicolasmaximus2286]

@@Ellie-rx3jt The coroner might not of been interested to find out more.Mal nutrition was very obvious.You can't have proper nutrition by having 1meal a day unless you eat a huge load of good food.

[@arguchik]

@@alexandersnider734 Or, as someone posted above, he drank bad water. "Beaver fever." Giardia can waste a person away pretty quickly, and it can be deadly.

[@TheBestEverEverEver]

Depression can be bad enough that people just lay down- quit eating/drinking and eventually die.

[@jbug13158]

I found one way that Mr. Rodriguez may have died. Apparently if it goes untreated it can kill within days. Starvation ketoacidosis (SKA) is an uncommon form of ketoacidosis. It occurs when a person does not consume enough food on a regular basis or cannot absorb nutrients correctly. 3 main causes are diabetes 1&2, excessive alcohol consumption, and fasting for 12 to 24 hours. I thought of it only because you said one person who talked with Mostly Harmless, mentioned that he said he had some health issues. Since we don't know what that illness was, I just looked up what illnesses can starve someone to death.

[@Whatsahandle-j1y]

I've experienced deep depressions that were so deep, I simply could not get out of bed to eat. If he suffered from depression, he may have been unwilling to get out of his tent to get to the food at his camp site. Depression is disabling, physically and psychologically, and could be what led to Mr. Rodriguez death.

[@DickWalz]

no water would have got him before no food

[@baraclude]

He hiked a thousand miles. If someone is depressed, they would not have motivation for that.

[@Lucy-yc4bc]

@@deborahgonzalezknight168 yeah, that’s really unhelpful advice. Where did you get your psychology degree?

[@KaliKali-hv9bt]

@@deborahgonzalezknight168 no

[@rgh622]

@@deborahgonzalezknight168 That is literally the worst advice anyone could give! Do you think that people with deep debilitating depression haven't prayed for help? And, of the millions who have, do you know how many of them it has truly helped? Absolutely zero! It's a fairy tale told to keep ignorant people behaving and following the carrot on the stick...

[@JakotsuTheOne]

Vance had such sad and tired eyes, I hope he has found his peace.

[@johnfortuna4190]

Reading the comments this was the best in my humble opinion 🙏🍀

[@JJPaulson777]

It turns out 'mostly harmless' wasn't harmless at all and abused his ex-girlfriend's til they were scared of him and his family n friends weren't talking to him..which I doubt he's found much peace... Sounds like he died a horrible death- probably drank some of the nasty water without boiling and got sick.. prolly couldn't eat what he did have left cuz he couldn't

[@TheBestEverEverEver]

@@JJPaulson777he probably had a depressive episode and laid down, quit eating and drinking until he passed away. Without anyone around to force him to move or eat it would’ve been easy for him to pass away. Depression can be deadly in more ways than one. And honestly if he really was abusive then I commend him for secluding himself in nature. He probably knew that the best thing he could do was be alone.

[@marysanders9461]

​@@TheBestEverEverEverMy thoughts exactly. Depression is a killer, even without obvious means (weapons, a noose etc) present. People who feel completely hopeless have literally willed themselves to die; I'm sure that's how my very strong-willed father brought an end to his battle with Alzheimer's.

[@Dan__S]

The take away is that you never know what other people are struggling with in their lives, and how important it is to be kind to one another. He sounds like he had a lot of troubles that he needed to deal with in his life.

[@jasonprintz3909]

Amen brother !! You couldn't have said exactly how I feel any better!! Right on the money

[@cubanhunter1]

Good thing is the whole trip he encountered good people and had what seemed to have a genuine smile in some of the pictures.

[@villagelightsmith4375]

It doesn't cost much to wrap someone in the courage they need at some point in their lives. A few kind words and some wise listening can make all the difference. And we all need that, from time to time.

[@kendra6280]

❤😊

[@Keyser___Soze]

Maybe he should have taken your advice and not abused all of his significant others then

[@jam-etc]

that "reconstruction" of his face at about 1:17 that was very obviously taken from a photo of a dead body scared the shit out of me, I was really dreading a photo being shown of that... whoof. I guess I should've expected it, but I need to take a walk after that one, lol

[@vampirecount3880]

well it serve its purpose. Thanks to it, the man was identified But yeah, that will give me nightmares for sure.

[@dianahart8614]

"Mostly Harmless" is kind of a huge hint right there. It sounds like he had a lot of personal problems from home, I think he made the decision to hike to help clear his body, mind and soul. It sounds like he was a friendly person to all the "strangers" he came across, to the point he would allow his photo to be taken. He looks like he's a man at peace, but the underlining looks on his face say something totally different. It speaks volumes, and that he carried no cell phone or GPS.all that says is he did not want his family or friends to call him.. He was dying of a broken heart. I bet money on it. Something happened at home that got out of hand, and he left. Tried to "find himself" on the trail, but it seems like he knew his time on this earth was short. Sad story.

[@TheRisenPeopleEire]

He was dying, both mentally and physically so you're kind of right. As stated in the video he had health problems and wished to complete the trail before he was unable to. Sad story indeed.

[@chart6454]

Or he just liked Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

[@stressedbigjess]

I agree but i genuinely think he had Cancer

[@brendatomlinson]

@@chart6454Yes. That fact is mentioned in the documentary, “They Call Him Mostly Harmless”.

[@mallarieluvsgirls]

and the fact he made a point to tell other people he didn’t have these things

[@coradelaney4936]

This reminds me of something that happened to a close coworker of mine. We had similar not-great childhoods and knew a bit about each other. Also, I worked directly under her. One day she got a call that her father had passed away. To her this was incredibly complicated because she was not too broke up about it, and there were many reasons. However the last people to know him were a family of campers who encountered him in Florida doing basically what Mostly Harmless had done. He was a gentle old guy who concerned them with his vulnerability and loneliness. I guess they were the first to learn he died? My coworker tried to get on with her life, but this family kept calling. After a couple of times the calls were routed to me. I spoke with them, they were just some kind people who met another kind person and wanted to do good, they wanted to talk about him, things he’d said about his daughter (my friend), and kind of “remember him” to her. And I could see myself doing the same thing if I were them. But I had to communicate without telling them any real info that no, their intentions while great were not going to bring positivity here. And again, without telling you info, she definitely had her reasons. I felt bad for the campers whose time with him was far more innocent, they couldn’t understand.

[@cailin5309]

I feel for your friend.. the trauma of whatever her childhood brought her into, the trauma of making the decision to move on leaving it behind cutting all ties, then now the trauma of knowing someone who caused you so much pain was “such a delight” to others… I’ve been there too and it sucks. I truly feel for her ❤️

[@musheopeaus4125]

What th f are you going on about ?

[@reesedaniel5835]

@@cailin5309 Most abusers, especially narcissists are always "street angels and home devils"....

[@FacelessMan777]

​@@reesedaniel5835 Absolutely!

[@annatanneberger1]

@@cailin5309 cailin: Now that struck deeply home. I'm quoting Laura Knight- Jadczyk: “Have you ever, as a child, been accused of something you didn’t do, either by your parents, teachers or other “authorities?” And if so, were you punished unfairly for something you didn’t do? Do you remember how it felt?“ “As you remember, can you feel the frustration, the helpless anger and resentment that you told the truth and no one believed you? YOU know what you did or did not do, and no one can take that away from you. But they have taken away from you the right for that truth to be known by others. And someone else has taken away THEIR right to know the truth. You have been slandered and punished, and there is NO WAY you can ever prove that it was wrong and unjust, and all the other people will have a “history” of you that is false. In fact, this knowledge that others will have false memories of you, will have false ideas about what you did until they die, hurts almost worse than the punishment. What is more, in a vague way, you can perceive that those who believe the lie have been deprived of something valuable about you: the truth that you did not do what you were accused of doing, and that you did tell the truth. A barrier has been erected between you and the others-the barrier of a lie.” Laura Knight- Jadczyk

[@dane1808]

When they were still trying to find out who he was, I remember people who hiked with him a stretch talking about how he had some Douglas Adams books and liked talking about them with other Hitchhiker fans. My family's done Search and Rescue for three generations now, but out in the desert mountains, where it was (relative to other places) common for people to wander out to die. It's passive suicide. The stories from his past loved ones made me think he might have had a mental illness or personality disorder, which could make it more likely for him to have adopted this aesthetic/hermit/wandering lifestyle and abstain from eating as part of that. It clicks in a few ways for me, not just the fact that he had food with him in the tent, but also some of the stories told about him in the past as being a control freak. idk. That's my gut intuition, which is formed from experience and many hours of "So what was the weirdest thing you saw out there?" stories over the fire. RIP anyway, and peace to those he hurt in the past. Sad story all around.

[@concettaworkman5895]

Yep, sounds like my ex, wandering around homeless, with a mental illness, refusing help, fearful he'll be locked up, but just needs some meds. My children will probably not care when he dies, either. They can't understand.

[@LizardSkin]

Well said and I just wanna add, he had the eyes of someone in pain. I recognize those eyes. Maybe he loved the trail because its where he found peace. Very heavy eyes.

[@dane1808]

@@concettaworkman5895 I'm sorry, that's awful sad. There are a lot of people out there like that and you can't really do anything but watch.

[@dane1808]

@@LizardSkin Agreed, he always looks like he's thinking about something in these pictures, he's not just a guy hanging out with new trail buddies.

[@Justin.Martyr]

@@concettaworkman5895 *Lack of Water & Heat Stroke!!!!* *I've Thought of Doing that MySeLf!!! I am 75!!!* *& I have NO EX nor Kids!!!!*

[@PKAdventures]

you said that "something must have felt off to the hikers" when talking about when his body was found. i can tell you exactly what caused them to look in the tent, the smell. even if you have never smelt it before, you instantly know it when you smell it. you might not know exactly what the smell is, but you will know it's bad, and you will feel sick, uneasy, scared, or just like on edge. it's like that smell is hardwired into us so we know that we are somewhere we shouldn't be and there's danger near by

[@litrick5471]

He explicitly mentioned that it was off because of the smell in the video

[@chrisg4305]

Yep that sickly sweet-pungent, awful smell of decomposition

[@PKAdventures]

@@chrisg4305 here in the desert there usually isn't a sweet smell, it's just fully rotten. kinda hard to describe, but melted person definitely doesn't smell sweet. maybe in cooler climates there's some time for some other type of gasses or something to build up? actually, that's an interesting question, does death smell different based on the climate where it happens?

[@chrisg4305]

@@PKAdventures Its sweet in the way that all rotten meat has a sickly sweet smell. It's not sweet in the way you're probably thinking. I'm from the southeast so its hot and humid here I imagine that contributes to the awfulness.

[@PKAdventures]

@@chrisg4305 ahhh ok, i get ya now. ya, im in the desert south west. so almost no moisture, but very hot

[@cynthiahowell4756]

Enjoying your channel very much. I am not a hiker....except for extremely short jaunts in the past. I am 65 so I doubt I ever will hike extensively. I just cannot imagine going on a lengthy trail alone....some of the stories you tell.are bone chilling. I subscribed tonight, but have been listening for quite awhile. I wish you much success in your venture.

[@missshroom5512]

So happy you were in my feed…been binge watching and subscribed. Very good🌎☀️💙

[@justasimpleguy7211]

There was a hiker that went missing on the Northville-Placid Trail a while back. He went missing early in summer and wasn't found until hunting season, about 100 feet off the trail and face down in a blueberry patch. He had drank unfiltered water that had the parasite Giardia and apparently became weak, dehydrated and probably disoriented. For whatever reason he wandered off the trail, collapsed and never got back up.

[@concettaworkman5895]

By saying he was mostly harmless meant he wasn't entirely harmless, he knew, probably suffered from undiagnosed mental illness, wouldn't get help, some men are like that. They would rather die than be weak.

[@justasimpleguy7211]

@@concettaworkman5895 Hard to say but it's also hard to conceive of someone starving themselves to death when food is readily available.

[@elonever.2.071]

@@concettaworkman5895 It isnt so much that men would rather die than appear weak. There is a lot of culturism around a man being stoic and strong against all odds. It is instilled in a lot of men that 'men don't cry' and they learn to suck it up and move on. It appears he did have a mental illness where he shut down and slept for days when under stress until the cause of the stress went away. And the article I read on him said people who knew him said sometimes he didnt eat for days at a time. If he ate very little while burning a lot of calories hiking the trail eventually his body would feel the stress that he burned all available fat reserves and his default mode would be to sleep until he felt better. To me that sounds like an extreme example of having an avoidant personality disorder which if true was a deadly combination for him.

[@riftvallance2087]

​@@concettaworkman5895Like Kyle pointed out mostly harmless is just because he's a Douglas adams fan. It's really a reference to a lifetime of work that ultimately was pointless and had no meaning. Looking at the man's photos he looked pretty world weary to me. So while I do think bad water did him in it is also possible that he went onto the trail to die.

[@annegrey3780]

as someone who is a recovered anorexic (nervosa), I wonder about bradycardia related to a form of anorexia. While obviously people usually use the term "anorexia" to mean "anorexia nervosa", a mental illness in which a person has a psychological or emotional impairment that prevents them from being able to maintain a healthy weight, the actual term "anorexia" itself just means any time a person seemingly refuses to eat enough to maintain a healthy weight despite having food available (so a hunger strike would technically be an anorexic state) and people in that state usually die of cardiac arrest (well, actually usually suicide...but second to that is cardiac arrest). And with his age, height, and weight he was definitely in the danger zone. Also, people who starve themselves also tend to be, for lack of better way to put this, control freaks, and while for the vast, vast majority of them are not abusive (and are actually survivors) and seeking to gain a sense of control over themselves, it's not completely unheard of for those with it to be abusive (including people refusing to eat as a way to guilt others similar to attempting suicide to get someone to stay./accept them back...again, need to stress this is SUPER rare, but it's a thing)

[@merrywalsh2809]

Yes, I think he starved himself, or could not swallow food any longer, for some terminal medical reason such as throat cancer or ALS. He was able to drink water. That kept him alive while the weight came off over a period of weeks. Not all coroners are created equal. This one might have missed a tumor, or else it was a neurological or mental problem.

[@debse.7286]

Perhaps such people are genuinely not wanting to eat, until the person reunites with them, rather than just using this as a story. It doesn't mean the other person should give in to blackmail even if it is kind of not deliberate. You must deal with the original issue.

[@-alpenglow-]

An eating disorder was my thought also. People think of this more commonly with women and girls but it happens to men and boys, too. It would explain the low weight and why someone with food might not be eating enough.

[@dewilew2137]

A reach.

[@dewilew2137]

@@-alpenglow- he was a normal weight before the hike and in all of the pictures throughout the hike. It makes no sense that he suddenly developed an eating disorder during his hike. Absolutely none.

[@emilywilson4225]

As a lifetime Florida hiker and familiarity with the Florida Trail, I wonder if he didn't have heat stroke hiking in mid summer in that area. Much of the story points to the fact that he was very disconnected from any close personal relationships. Very sad.

[@scottbaron121]

Same here. Living here my entire life and hiking that trail...non-residents often underestimate exactly what a Florida summer is. Especially hiking the FT in summer. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "It get's really hot in Minnesota, Maryland, Iowa" etc. A Florida summer is not to be trifled with. Especially south of Orlando on the FT...you start getting inland in South Florida? You'd best be prepared. This in-experienced, FT hiker stroked out or dehydrated/both. I'm mid-50's now and even as an experienced FT hiker...I won't do it any longer. Just too physically taxing.

[@kstein4628]

My guess- and PLEASE do not take this offensively as it is absolutely not my intention-the black circles under the eyes in the earlier pictures coupled with his extremely low weight and his mention of terminal illness - leads me to believe he either had an untreatable type of HIV or leukemia. Both of these diseases can be treated, but there are always cases that simply cannot be cured, for various reasons. Also, both diseases cause the haunted, black circles under the eyes, gaunt faced look he displayed as far back as the picture of him, the co worker provided, of harmless in the white shirt and tie. Also both diseases rob you of the ability to retain/gain weight- for various reasons. Having had food in his tent, plenty of money to buy food,, and others in the area willing to help leads me to believe it was a medical condition leading to his low weight. Just IMHO- this guy knew he was dying and wanted one last great journey..

[@SearchingNewAdventures]

This simply is a man walking and hiking and enjoying his life, he wanted to stay anonymous and secluded, he cut ties with friends and did say he had health issues, it's sad he died alone, but if that's something he loved to do, I can't think of a better way to go. RIP I think it's always going to be human nature to wonder what happened but sometimes we just don't know and there are no answers for us, let his life be remembered for his love of hiking.

[@DeathMetalDerf]

I love how the trail name was a Douglas Adams reference. Really sad story though. Thanks for sharing it with us. I hope everyone is doing well, and having a great day.

[@riftvallance2087]

Sad when you think of the meaning of" mostly harmless " a life time of pointless work.

[@garyblack2858]

This indeed was a strange story. Kyle think you have found your youtube nitch. You are a natural at telling these kinds of stories. Congrats on 139k subs!

[@jimcraig8566]

I think it’s spelled niche.

[@gaypreator8547]

Dec. ‘23. +291K subs channel definitely upward bound.

[@musingwithreba9667]

I remember seeing this on the news about the time he was found . It's just very disturbing that he was probably there, and a bunch of people hiked right on by and didn't think twice about looking in the tent. The stuff of nightmares. Thanks, Kyle! Geez...😉

[@robertjames4953]

Most wouldn't think much of it unless they smelled it going by and if the rainy season too.

[@alphakakcmeddlakadoofahkii3362]

There seems to be a lot of trail etiquette, it would be awesome if you could make a video about it

[@elbaestridge6503]

Glad to find your channel , and as a backpacker myself, this story spooks me out just to think about find a tent with someone dead inside, and continuing the trek with that vision in my mind😮.

[@MountainParameters]

As a Canadian Park Warden for 27 years, it was my job to look in tents for various reasons. Mostly to make sure there were no wildlife attractants left inside. However on off-duty hikes, it would never occur to me to unzip a tent flap. Perhaps to smell of death would have changed that.

[@speedfreak8200]

Canadian Law States No Wildlife Attractant Shall be Stored in or Around a Tent. Big Problem They've Got Up North There Eh?

[@deauthorsadeptus6920]

Less work on investigating another bear attack.

[@MountainParameters]

@@speedfreak8200 Indeed, just like Glacier NP in Montana, a few predatory attacks in the middle of the night resulting in fatalities have occurred over the years. Ironically, there was no food in the tent with the victims at the time, just lots of grey water that had been poured into the ground all over the campground over the weeks preceeding.

[@Elkski84]

That's a bullshit job

[@davidjackson574]

Grey water?

[@LooseChili]

I absolutely love these murder/mystery thru-hiker videos man! Keep up the great work dude, cheers from an NCT hiker in Michigan!

[@jimmylarge1148]

I live near the nct and hike it often (day hikes with dog) is there ever any cool stuff on that trail? Just seems like trees with little to no scenery along trail. Valley of the giants is the coolest part I’ve seen so far and it’s just a valley with a creek lol

[@montyollie]

Right up until the end, I kept thinking he was a mostly HARMLESS hiker, and then it hit me. He was MOSTLY harmless. He caused harm to those girlfriends who said he was violent towards them so the lightbulb went off. He had no friends or family who cared about him, which leads me to believe he alienated himself from them before he left. When you have no friends and no one likes you and in fact, people (ie ex girlfriends) actually hate you, you've got nothing to lose. Sounds like he went on a walkabout to maybe find himself or get away from a life where he had nothing. But his violent temper and history of suicide attempts are HUGE markers. He may well have calorie reduced over several months (anorexia) to the point of emaciation, and then died in the tent after months of mostly starving himself. What a way to go.

[@haggis525]

Innocent until proven guilty... or don't you believe in that? Easy for anyone to make negative claims about a dead guy with no evidence but you buy it. Naive.

[@Suzanne1999]

I was thinking along those same lines. I thought his trail name was spooky. If he was"mostly" harmless, he must have caused SOME harm. If I had met him along the trail, I'd feel unnerved after he told me his trail name. Anyhow, I agree with what you're saying.

[@Tom_Bee_]

​@@Suzanne1999 nobody is "harmless" It doesn't take more than five minutes of honest reflection for an intelligent person to discover the harm that they have caused.

[@matthewbentley3122]

Mostly Harmless is a book. Seriously, the man is deceased and you're on here spreading lies about him. Cmon get a life.

[@montyollie]

@@matthewbentley3122 Sorry what lies? The KZbinr asked for opinions of how he may have died. Speculation is not "lying". No one is saying THIS IS HOW HE DIED. We are speculating what might have happened.

[@nicolenunes9196]

Such a sad story! I'm a professional genealogist with over 20 years of experience and I've been working with DNA results for several years so I'm happy to answer any questions you have about the genetic genealogy process!

[@stationshelter]

I'm curious about a few things, How much of a factor is coincidental resemblance when attributing dna results to relation to a specific group of people? And I always hear about forensics cats running tests against a database of people's dna to id them (like in this story) so where did this database come from? How does someone end up in the dna bank? How many people are in it? Am I in it?

[@nicolenunes9196]

Hi@@stationshelter . I'm not sure of the specifics for this case but for most cases of genetic genealogy, a sample from a deceased person is usually compared to a known family member (such as if a mother knows her son has gone missing and has volunteered a DNA sample of her own to compare against any remains later found) or they are comparing the deceased person against the consumer companies databases such as Ancestry, 23 and Me, Gedmatch, etc. These databases have millions of users. Those are people who have willingly taken a DNA test in order to further their genealogical research. The deceased persons DNA is entered into those databases and a genetic genealogist will see all the people that sample has matched. Most people will have tens of thousands of DNA matches upon receiving their results. It could be a close match such as a parent/child relationship, or a distant match, say 4th cousins or more. It's up to the genetic genealogist to build out the family trees of those matches and find there that deceased person could fit in based on the DNA they share, then they can target a specific family member to get a confirmed match for the deceased person. You would not be in these kinds of databases unless you have taken a DNA test at a consumer company and opted in for law enforcement to use your results for cases such as this. Someone would also be in the police database if they have been convicted of a serious crime and DNA of a deceased person could be checked against that database as well which could show a family member relation. DNA is incredibly specific to each individual. It can differentiate between full siblings with great certainty. The only time it cannot determine who a sample belongs to is in the case of an identical twin because they share the exact same DNA. I hope this answers some of your questons.

[@meredithaherntamilio4553]

Thank u so much for sharing all these story's, your doing a great service to all of us !! Location device and a satellite phone are vital ... PS- thank god he ran into the 1st woman who noticed this about him not being prepared for a trip like that!& all the other people, he let himself be photographed ,thank you to all our fellow hikers who help out others ,be safe always ❤

[@garyblack2858]

Kyle congrats on 126k subs! I followed your 2022 PCT hike from beginning to end. I remember how you were under 40k and really pushing for 50k. You've found a format that really works.

[@BurroGirl]

You're doing a great job Kyle with these stories, boiling them down to a short enough video that stays interesting yet keeping the most important info in them. I think MH died from severe untreated depression and starved himself to death. Very depressed people can have no interest in eating. It's very sad cause he seemed to be a better person than what some people from his past described him as. I think it was clear from all that came out that he definitely had issues with some sort of mental disease and severe depression can be deadly.

[@henrymackay6724]

I was going to mention starvation is more common with suicides that you might think

[@tjanderson5892]

Isn’t it crazy how from some DNA samples or w/e that lab was able to pinpoint the state and area he was from. Super interesting

[@Because-rt8qs]

In assumption parish, being named Rodriguez, they were Canary Islanders who immigrated there in a small group, and they all marry each other. So ALL his relatives will be found in the same small area.

[@airadaimagery692]

You answered the question to the big “mystery” earlier on in the video. Vance had health issues and he knew what was in store for him, especially since he decided not to see a doctor on a regular basis. Perhaps that could have made a difference, but maybe it wouldn’t had. Nonetheless, the man was aware of his own sickness, and so he chose how he wanted to spend the last days of his life. It’s also important to note that just because an autopsy was performed and death was ruled inconclusive, doesn’t mean anything, because for whatever sad reason that this takes place in this day and age, it’s still happens all of the time.

[@shyguy54321]

1:16 that has got to be the creepiest recreation i have ever seen in my entire life

[@frisk151]

BTW Kyle... You are exceptional story teller... I could probably dig up most of the details that are publicly accessible but there is NO WAY I could present it as well as you do!! I'll be on your patreon list shortly....

[@kevinmanhart3100]

Yes. My experience has been most people and animals die with eyes wide open. I can’t think of an example where they didn’t. Personally, I hope to die with my eyes closed in peaceful sleep, like my grandma. Not screaming like the people who were in the car with her when she drove off of that cliff.😉

[@hermanmunster4949]

I'll take a guess that he died of heat exhaustion (heat stroke). The heat and humidity are deadly to those that are exposed to it and hiking in the Florida summer in the swampy area is a sure way to succumb to it. One of the effects is dementia which causes the victim to lose the sense of them being in trouble from the heat. The internal body temperature rises, the brain swells, organs overheat and they stop functioning followed by coma and then death.

[@lindsaydelyon3363]

It’s so heartbreaking that this man was so friendly to people and he was traveling on his own and he passed away alone. I wonder if his family ever thought of him and worried about him. It breaks my heart that he died all alone in his last moments of his life. So sad 😢

[@glenncalkins4764]

I don't understand why people think dying alone is so awful. Personally I think I'd just like to crawl into a corner, maybe with a blanket and pillow, and die in peace.

[@sterlingmatsui154]

@@glenncalkins4764 Same~No Drama Equals Gentle Peace...♡☆♡:)

[@rhondab9792]

​@@glenncalkins4764 It's what our animal friends do.

[@k2a2l2]

i would recommend putting a warning before that image of him. idk about anyone else but for some reason something about it genuinely terrified me more than anything in my life, and i don’t even get scared that easily

[@shrimpflea]

Didn't scare me at all. A little weird maybe but grow up.

[@AngelWest58]

calm down

[@wfjhDUI]

I'm amazed by how much detailed documentation there was of this guy from other hikers.

[@anon2234]

Hikers are usually really cool people. They'll help you out. Give you food and advice, some will even camp with you if you're alone.

[@heather0928]

I don't hike but I find your stories intriguing. After watching so many of your videos, it makes me want to pursue hiking some smaller trails.

[@srrfounder1]

He clearly wanted to die alone undetected. I know the feeling. RIP Vance.

[@lawaincooley6788]

Praying for you ~ I hope you can find a reason to live and live well.

[@sabijoli]

Kyle you’re really a great story teller, pleased to see you’ve found a way to share this with us. 💜

[@Justin.Martyr]

*How do you DO IT, withOUT a User Name????*

[@evilpandakillabzonattkoccu4879]

15:13 another note: when cancer patients hit a certian state, their body knows they are dying and it stops the person from having an appetite or the desire to drink. I watched that with my grandma and my aunt. I thought, originally, that they "were done fighting and gave up" .....however, I was corrected by a hospice nurse who showed me the science behind it.

[@sdtimeless]

Composite photos are meant to be vague and sometimes shocking to get the attention and trigger the memory of viewers

[@DBT-Basics]

Kyle, more of these stories to bring awareness! These are very interesting, my thoughts and prayers to this man and his family.

[@THX..1138]

He probably died of Heat Stroke. In the Florida summer you get temperatures in the 90s and humidity up over 90% at the same time. When this happens your body can't cool itself. Doing anything outside, even just walking around or sitting in the sun is enough to develop heat stroke. If he started to feel symptoms and went laydown in his tent, especially if the tent was in the sun it likely wouldn't have saved him.

[@nathantrest2345]

Reminds me of that young guy that starved to death in Alaska. He ate some kind of plant that was the wrong kind that hastened his starving to death because it was toxic & shut down his ability to digest food. They made a movie about him. Wonder if he ate something toxic foraging.

[@WouldntULikeToKnow.]

Christopher McCandless

[@vampirecount3880]

Toxicological tests would probably detect something like this

[@mustangkarrie]

I am surprised that no one reached out to doctors in his hometown area. He mentioned he had health issues. You would think somebody with a step forward in the medical profession, and said they knew him, because he had been diagnosed with such and such.

[@Cloudancer2024]

Doctors can't do that because it would be a HIPAA violation (violation of privacy regarding someone's personal health information). HIPAA applies for 50 years after the person dies.

[@anthonyp6755]

Sometimes ppl just want to “go away”. Maybe he had some personal issues(it seems like he did) and just wanted to fade away. Perhaps this extended hiking trip was his “swan song” and he got everything he wanted out of this journey then give up on living in this harsh world.

[@wht-rabt-obj]

He went out there to die on his own terms. He had a health issue that wasn't detected due to the amount of decomposition, it wasn't found during autopsy. Maybe a heart problem or something like that.

[@ChristyCarrillo-cj7xd]

Most likely

[@emilyslater9951]

So sad. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be 100% estranged from all family and friends and be alone in the world. I pray for his soul. ❤ Thanks Kyle very interesting story. Wow, some very intriguing characters that end up in the Trail life. 😮

[@bobbeezel2593]

Welcome to my world

[@blanchdubois398]

it is heaven! he was not alone he had himself and he preferred that what does it mean that you pray for his soul? "god " will do what he wants dont take strangers "prayers into consideration

[@Tom-uv7ry]

He was wrongen thats why none of his family or former friends liked him he was bad person they all said so

[@Tom-uv7ry]

​@@blanchdubois398 religious nonsense GROW up

[@keyannaangel]

It sucks not having anyone. Ive been on my own since i was 14 years old. I have no family they have all passed away. Thats why you shouldn't have just 1 kid. I am so lonely id give anything to have family. People take the simple things for granted without even having a single thought about what it would be like if they didnt have what they have now. Nothing in life is permanent.. everything is temporary. Nothing lasts forever.

[@JA-ks7kf]

wow, I can't believe so much discussing about his trail name. I'm curious about the comment regarding his health in a state of decline and he wanted to hike while he still could, perhaps a more inquiring pathology exam.might have shed light. All in all, I appreciate that a man knew what he wanted and how he chose to live. RIP mostly harmless.

[@smilingsun581]

Two things are a possibility: Either he intentionally starved himself or He did state that he had a health issue, it's quite possible he died of a heart attack or stroke and it couldn't be determined because the body may have been too decomposed. RIP

[@MatthewSaville]

OK, in all seriousness, with food and $3K in cash on him, at 83 lbs, there seems to be only one likely conclusion: some obscure type of cancer, brain tumor, etc that they didn't look for. Maybe just a subtle hint of genetic predisposition to heart attack/stroke, and he had a nice gentle one in his sleep. He dropped a hint about health issues, just once, and that was it. Sounds like he knew this was his last hurrah. What an incredible "Last Holiday"...

[@matthewmosier8439]

Correct. Sadly, autopsies are not perfect. He likely died due to heart issues from the lack of weight when whatever it was that was killing him left him without proper nutrition. He seemed to be very private. He probably didn't want to tell anybody about it and simply set off without much concern for the future (no phone or GPS because what did it matter if he got lost, basically)

[@emmabenson2546]

Fully agree, except his eyes being open makes me think he didn't go gently, unfortunately..

[@Supernaut11506]

Yeah sounds like a seizure or a stroke to me

[@alexandersnider734]

The cancer wouldn't have to be obscure, it could be any cancer. They would need to know to look for it.

[@katemorgan3775]

Possibly digestive issues, inability to eat as a side effect of the gunshot wound. Maybe something that got progressively worse.

[@minraja]

Mostly harmless was the label earth was given before it's destruction for a better highway or some such. It came from the book described in the video. The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams is a good and funny read. Check it out. When you do. Don't forget your towel.

[@auburnkim1989]

And Don't Panic!

[@jamesbell7696]

Generally speaking, genetic geneology takes the genetic code of the unknown person and runs it against known geneological databases to find whether there are any known relatives in the system. Once some relatives are identified, they have people to track down and ask, for example, "Do you have a cousin around age X that you haven't heard from in awhile?" This is a massive simplification of the process but in general how it works.

[@humanmerelybeing1966]

It's worth noting that those databases get that genetic data from services such as 23andMe. This is why they're more robust than what the police or FBI have on file, as far more people use these services compared to being involved in an investigation that would require them to give up their genetic information. As you said, accessing these databases allow police to find relatives who used one of these services. This raises a major ethical issue as to whether state authorities should have access to that database of private data, especially when the people who submitted their DNA didn't consent to, and often weren't explicitly informed about, the state accessing that information. Obviously, in this case it was towards a morally righteous end. But the ethics remain questionable about its use in other forms of investigation.

[@jamesbell7696]

@@humanmerelybeing1966 agreed that it can be a slippery slope. I don't know about the commercial sites like 23andMe but GEDMatch allows users to opt out of law enforcement access, which I think is a good thing.

[@missmee7210]

I wonder if the autopsy showed any preexisting conditions like he mentioned to that one lady. Maybe he was dying from something and just chose to hike until he couldn't. I don't think it's that mysterious, but it's incredibly sad.

[@Tru_G.R.I.T]

It surely would have shown up in an autopsy or his medical records after he was identified. I mean if he knew he had a terminal disease it would have to have been diagnosed.

[@missmee7210]

@jamiedollar1617 Yeah, with most things that would be the case but neurological conditions that are only detected through mri scans wouldn't be seen after a certain point of decomposition. It's the only thing that makes sense for him to have starved despite having food with him. Some condition that caused him to have no appetite and, in turn, no energy. Idk I just hate things that don't make sense. This doesn't make sense, and it's heartbreaking.

[@beanz239]

I'm from and live in Assumption Parish but I've never heard this story before. My heart dropped when you mentioned Assumption because we're such a small group of rural towns. After looking into it, he was from the Lafayette area.

[@bigacorn6062]

I guess heat stroke. March 1 of this year, I suffered heat stroke a few miles near camp. Ended up 6 days at hospital. I was very lucky.

[@cubanhunter1]

I think he was lost and drank bad swamp water making him sick. Losing weight and not eating the food he did have. Sad story

[@freeheel748]

Very possible.

[@user-qc7hr4my7r]

That makes sense or possibly heat stroke and he got confused.

[@eric-de4uv]

The site he was found on the Florida trail. It's the Northern part of Big Cypress. I used to hump it when I lived in Weston FL. Not too far from Nobles is a water source so maybe he didn't treat that water?

[@joeypaisano9235]

Had a feeling it was some sort of poisoning or bad water

[@eric-de4uv]

@@joeypaisano9235 weather I'm not sure? The storms can be crazy but Beaver fever? Maybe? I had a buddy I severed with in the Corps that got that. We joke with him til this day about being the fastest way to lose weight. He lost 25lbs in 7 days

[@ichangedmynameforyoutube]

He did say he had some health issues, maybe that was the COD? Interesting that they didn’t mention any substantial medical diagnoses in the autopsy? If he was so thin and had good did he have dysentery?? Quite interesting. Love your channel! Only found you a week or so ago, subscribed immediately.

[@oliviahancock7492]

I totally dig your videos, they’re so well researched and your delivery is great. My only criticism is to maybe consider different background music. The trap beats just kinda seem inappropriate for the subject sometimes lol. Or at least they just detract from what is overall really high quality! You don’t need ~sick beats~ to keep us engaged!

[@DigitalNomadOnFIRE]

That photo is terrifying

[@peakbagger7682]

It is interesting he carried no identification and that he had used an alias. The large sum of money suggests he was out of work and taking off knowing he might not be be coming back. The loss of weight suggests he may have had a bug from drinking bad water and was dehydrated from diarrhea. He could have just died from sudden cardiac arrest. Legendary Thru Hiker Warren Doyle says "the trail provides." At least the trial provided a place for him to die with some dignity despite his bad turns in life.

[@cailin5309]

Evidence of a heart attack would be found on autopsy though.. I was thinking maybe a poisonous spider bite or other insect? From the time I’ve spent in the woods of Florida I know the spiders are everywhere

[@elonever.2.071]

@@cailin5309 That was initially my opinion. After reading the investigative article on him it appears he had some mental illness issues that caused him to not eat and completely shut down when under stress.

[@markmayhew7893]

Great episode, as always Kyle. We may never know the cause of death, but it did make me think of a rare event called commotio cordis, although this is normally caused by a blow to the chest. Anyway, keep up the good work!

[@78suntan]

I saw him on the FT in polk county about 10 miles off trail from river ranch. Figured he was doing a Walmart re-supply. Huge pack jeans pretty thin.

[@melanieschwartz1227]

Forensic genealogy is how they caught golden state killer- sooo interesting! This is a great video, I hope Mostly Harmless gets more attention one day and we find out why he truly died 😔

[@Ladyofdeath777Weaversoftheweb]

Did you find anything in the reports about disease? It's really hard to tell if someone died of dehydration, especially if the body was found a while after they died. However, an autopsy would have looked at stomach contents and intestinal tract. It could have been a parasite or bacterial infection leading to diarrhea and death by dehydration/chemical imbalance due to purging.

[@jaymontgomery3330]

Giardia

[@sarahbell8886]

As a person with poor health, I can see just wanting to take off and live life the best you can with the time you have left . My appetite is crap right now, and despite being surrounded by food . Being weak from not eating .....a 5 mile hike might as well be 100. He could have been sick and weak , and having a lifestyle that is extremely active could have caused him to just lay down in exhaustion and that was the end .

[@lilyotvalley21]

I followed this story from very early on! It's so bizarre! Thanks for covering it.

[@georgesouthwick7000]

While the video mentions that he had food, there is no mention of water. Hiking that part of Florida at that time of year, due to the heat and humidity, it is absolutely essential to drink large amounts of water to avoid heat stroke. The combination of being malnourished along with possible dehydration could have resulted in him falling victim to heat stroke causing a shutdown of his organs and ultimately his death…..just a thought.

[@LisaGarrison-s4d]

I don’t know why I watch these videos but it takes my mind off the day to day work and stress. I’ve always had fear of being in the woods

[@tavi9598]

My assumption given the evidence is that he got sick somehow. Drank bad water maybe. Got into a condition where he wasn't retaining nutrients from food. It would explain the low weight despite the presence of food. From the sound of his story, it seems he was on a journey of an introspective type. He left behind a life that he was clearly unhappy with, and perhaps a life full of regrets. Perhaps he learned he had some sort of degenerative disease and thought he should try something different. To live anew, however briefly.

[@jonathantessier429]

Maybe the sickness he talked about was that he was going to lose motor functions 😢

[@alexandersnider734]

ALS is a possibility.

[@homelesszombieapocalypse6622]

Having no cellphone or credit cards, and not using his real name anywhere, as well as doing something like hiking the AT and beyond, all are indicative of someone who wants to make a big break from their life as lived til now. He wanted to leave his old life behind. Sometimes people confuse wanting to leave their old life behind, with wanting to die. These two things can intersect and overlap. What people may not realize, when they take some action or big change or adventure, in hopes of starting life over, is that you can't leave yourself behind. You always bring your history with you, you can't leave behind who you are. At some point, when this reality sets in, people can potentially get quite depressed. At first maybe he hoped to start a new life, symbolized by going on a long long hike. But as he was in Florida, and had gone nearly as far as he could go (from his starting point), I get the sense he was facing the facts that his attempt to start a new life was winding down. This could have been very depressing, if at that point, he realized he had not found what he hoped to find when he set out. If someone has lost the will to live, they can die without anything actually wrong with their body.

[@CIC-qm9zt]

Wise words.

[@elonever.2.071]

This makes a lot of sense especially when you consider he started the AT trail in New York and ended it in Florida. His childhood home was Alabama which isnt far away from where he died.

[@billbombshiggy9254]

1:20 idk why that startled me but eff you for putting it there.

[@DeannaSt]

My theory is that this guy had no intention to kill himself because you don’t carry lots of food with you up a mountain if you intend to kill yourself; you don’t put your boots outside your tent because if you want to kill yourself you cannot care less if they will find your remains with boots on or boots off. My theory is that the guy exhausted himself hiking one day, put up his tent and went straight to sleep perhaps even without eating that evening and he probably had an underlying medical condition he was aware or not aware of that caused him to paralyse overnight. People can paralyse completely to the point that only their eyes are left moving and sometimes not even those but just the eyelids. It was a common occurrence in the Middle Ages that a lot of people got buried alive because they appeared to be dead when in fact they were just temporarily paralysed or in a temporary coma and they woke up in a coffin, so in several countries laws were put in place so that a bell was installed above the grave and tied up from with a rope to the hand of the deceased, so if he or she waked up in a coffin could ring the bell for help. Hence the expression “saved by the bell”. That would explain why he was emaciated because most people can live on the reserve of their own body , off their own muscle mass and their little bit of fat reserves under the skin for about a week. Now if you have plenty of food but you cannot reach and you can’t reach for water either, you are losing body weight quite fast especially to dehydration and that would explain why he was extremely skinny with open eyes towards the the tent exit where he hoped probably till the last minute that somebody would come and find him. By the smell of the corpse out in fresh air he must’ve been dead for at least a week when he was found, so I don’t think after that long the forensics could tell if he was paralysed or not when he died. Because I don’t believe that would show at any autopsy after a body starts decomposing . Trauma yes, heart attacks probably as well but many other things related to the nervous system probably not quite.

[@DamianMaisano]

Genetic Genealogy: It’s using DNA to narrow down and then confirm identity by the same type of genetic markers used by things like Ancestry. Indeed, it even uses the data bases made by that type of company, finding usually first distant family members who have DNA in the system and they approximate the relation by the amount of DNA shared. There often has to be some amount of investigation into things, like it won’t say which sibling between a group it is. But it is a huge advantage in narrowing things down

[@emily7195]

There was an episode of Alone where this guy starved himself so bad he got pulled off the show. He had so much food but was hoarding it so he could stay out there as long as possible. He kind of lost his mind from his love of the wilderness. A possibility for Almost Harmless x

[@eileennavarrete9459]

He had medical problems, living his dream. Went out with his boots on. Rest in Peace.

[@jstone247]

Actually, his boots were outside his tent.

[@Justin.Martyr]

@@jstone247 *GOOD ONE!!!!*

[@K1NG_Darkly]

You got good content. I subscribed. You got the facts and you keep the stories interesting. Keep it up!

[@johnhendrickson300]

I recently went on what was supposed to be a weeklong backpacking trip to get myself away from my doc so I could detox. Day three came around and I felt like I was dying, constantly collapsing on the trail. If some very nice cyclists hadn’t come by I probably would have. I had plenty of food and water on me but could not eat without throwing up. MH was “estranged” from family members and friends, something that can happen after developing an unhealthy drug addiction. So that’s my guess. He went out there to get off serious drugs, that’s why they didn’t find any in his system, they had already left. He had the pain relievers and antihistamines to help get through withdrawals, but that level of intense workout and heat from backpacking was too much and instead of calling for help he thought he could just rest it off

[@MiddleOutdoorsman]

It's the tragic stories that have my attention. For one, their morbidly fascinating. For two, I like to learn from other peoples mistakes so I don't do the same. Hiking by itself, to me, has only become a means to an ends and holds little interest.

[@speedfreak8200]

You're Wacko in Waco, Ain't No Doubt About It 🎵 🎶 🎶

[@scottredding2719]

His health problem might have been throat or stomach cancer you would not want to/could not eat depending on how advanced it was

[@alexandersnider734]

Any type of cancer will leave you at 85 pounds near the end. Doesn't have to be throat/stomach. Near the end, cancer patients all appear very emaciated.

[@randymcphink3924]

Yes, all cancer leaves you with no appetite. I can literally see myself doing something of this sort as a last bucket list. I seriously wouldn't think of letting my children know anything except the basic details of my journey. They have always known me to be a strong man, so I'm sure their worries would be little

[@sunincognito2]

The autopsy would show that though

[@speedfreak8200]

@Sun Incognito I'm from Oregon, and there ain't no way I'm walking through, let alone pitching my tent next to Alligator Infested Waters. The Gators Got Yer Granny 🎵 🎶 Chomp Chomp

[@jackabean3080]

@@sunincognito2 Exactly !! There would be proof but autopsy found nothing.