Why was Vance John Rodriguez called 'Mostly Harmless'? HBO Max documentary's subject, explored

HBO Max released a true crime documentary titled They Call Him Mostly Harmless, on Thursday, February 8, 2024. The documentary will shed light on the delay in the identification of the body of a hiker, Vance John Rodriguez, who was found in a park in Florida in July 2018. Directed by Patricia E Gillespie, the story highlights how online sleuths helped law enforcement authorities identify the hiker. It is produced by Investigation Discovery and Anchor Entertainment.

Vance went by the name "Mostly Harmless," besides other aliases such as Ben Bilemy and Denim. He had introduced himself by that name to Kelly Fairbanks, who posted a photo of him that she had taken on a Florida trail Facebook group. The name stuck and the documentary was also named They Call Him Mostly Harmless from this alias. It features interviews with many hikers who met Vance in the outdoors.

Disclaimer: This article contains some spoilers and suggests the reader’s discretion.

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Vance John Rodriguez was identified by the name Mostly Harmless

As online investigations for identification of the dead hiker's body took flight, a “trail angel” named Kelly Fairbanks posted a photograph of a hiker she had met. The man in the picture looked similar to the dead man. Kelly claimed the hiker in the photo had introduced himself as “Mostly Harmless”.

Kelly also revealed that she had encountered the hiker on the Appalachian Trail and had claimed not to have a phone on himself which struck her as odd. However, this photograph along with the name was widely circulated and the unidentified dead hiker was universally referred to as “Mostly Harmless”.

Meanwhile, as the information began doing rounds in various groups, online sleuths started investigating the case. Another pair of hikers, Brandon Dowell and Marge “MJ” Creech recognized the hiker from the photograph. They had spent some time with him and knew him by another hiker's alias “Denim”.

The authorities found it difficult to identify the corpse of the hiker (Image via Max)

Identifying the same person by different monikers, none of which come out as a proper name may sound unusual. However, interviews with many hikers brought to the fore that this is acceptable in the hikers’ community. Many hikers looking for an escape, embark on a personal journey in their own fashion. Most people from the hiking community felt the freshly-identified hiker belonged to that group.

As the investigations and sharing on digital media showed, hikers remembered Mostly Harmless as a friendly guy looking for some peace. They also recalled that he wished to keep his real identity a secret.

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According to the documentary, how did the investigation go?

While various Facebook groups went into a frenzy trying to put a name to the unidentified hiker, something of a tussle started blowing out among the groups. On one side was a group headed by Virginia-based Christie Harris and on the other was an outdoors woman, Natasha Teasley.

While a nasty animosity presented distraction from the actual investigation, numerous tips and leads flooded the net with some of them absurd. The documentary managed to expose the good and bad of the digital world where things can go wrong as much as they can be of help.

The breakthrough in the probe came from three almost simultaneous events. The first was a tip that Christie received to put a name to the face of the unidentified dead hiker. The other two were an article in Wired that caught attention and a DNA profile from Othram Genetics company that pointed towards Louisiana, the place where Mostly Harmless had said he belonged.

With the clues put together, the dead hiker was identified as Vance John Rodriguez, the documentary shows.

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Who was Mostly Harmless and where was he found?

Vance hid his identity behind different monikers (Image via Max)

As the HBO Max documentary presents, it all began on July 23, 2018, when a hiker discovered a body inside a tent in the Big Cypress National Preserve in South Florida. Authorities, including Detective David Hurm, found the emaciated body of a man with food, water, and money available inside his tent.

There were no signs of injuries, struggle, or drugs in the bloodstream, and neither were there any identification documents. The corpse did not have a wallet, ID, or any other clue to a name or address. Even the hiker’s journal contained indecipherable computer codes.

Mostly Harmless was exposed as not-really-harmless (Image via Max)

After two years of struggle, when the online hikers’ community identified him as Mostly Harmless, he was identified as Vance John Rodriguez in December 2020. His identity was officially revealed in January 2021. It was also found that Vance was a loner due to his mental health issues and is believed to be an alleged woman abuser.

They Call Him Mostly Harmless reveals the difference between the romantic image of an unidentified hiker and the harsh reality of the true person behind it. The documentary owned by Warner Bros. Discovery is available to stream on HBO Max.