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  1. #1
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    Nameless Mystery Hiker

    Just read this story today about an unnamed hiker who started in NY and went south on the AT only to die on a trail in FL without leaving a single clue as to who he was despite interacting with loads of people along the way:

    https://www.wired.com/story/nameless...ernet-mystery/

    Apparently it's been a source of mystery and internet sleuthing for a while but news to me. Found it interesting and thought I'd share it with this band of kooks to get your thoughts.
    I still call it The Jake.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by BmillsSkier View Post
    Just read this story today about an unnamed hiker who started in NY and went south on the AT only to die on a trail in FL without leaving a single clue as to who he was despite interacting with loads of people along the way:

    https://www.wired.com/story/nameless...ernet-mystery/

    Apparently it's been a source of mystery and internet sleuthing for a while but news to me. Found it interesting and thought I'd share it with this band of kooks to get your thoughts.
    I read the same earlier this week. Fascinating.

    Things like this are usually an easy answer, but why is this still unsolved?

    For the hiker to have several thousand in cash, on-hand, at the time of death tells me he had some sort of meaningful career or income. That tells me there's record of him somewhere, somehow.

    His cause of death is also weird; he just died. There has to be something else...

  3. #3
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    interesting. thanks for posting.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bobcat Sig View Post
    I read the same earlier this week. Fascinating.

    Things like this are usually an easy answer, but why is this still unsolved?

    For the hiker to have several thousand in cash, on-hand, at the time of death tells me he had some sort of meaningful career or income. That tells me there's record of him somewhere, somehow.

    His cause of death is also weird; he just died. There has to be something else...
    83 pounds at 5'8 might have had something to do with it?

  5. #5
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    Poor bastard, meth and a love the outdoors can be tricky.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  6. #6
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    Mostly Harmless
    swing your fucking sword.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by skiballs View Post
    Poor bastard, meth and a love the outdoors can be tricky.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I thought drugs for sure but none in his system. But I hear ya, if I had a dime for every methhead I ran into on the trail.
    I still call it The Jake.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by JayPowHound View Post
    83 pounds at 5'8 might have had something to do with it?
    RIght, but why? What would emaciate him that badly devoid of any chemicals or narcotics?

    I thought maybe an insect or reptile bite, but the toxicology report was negative. I wonder if there was a parasite or something that could take him down that bad?

    Quote Originally Posted by BmillsSkier View Post
    I thought drugs for sure but none in his system. But I hear ya, if I had a dime for every methhead I ran into on the trail.
    Is that a thing on the AT? Or on any of the big through-hike routes?

  9. #9
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    anyone heard from drew lately?

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bobcat Sig View Post
    RIght, but why? What would emaciate him that badly devoid of any chemicals or narcotics?

    I thought maybe an insect or reptile bite, but the toxicology report was negative. I wonder if there was a parasite or something that could take him down that bad?


    Is that a thing on the AT? Or on any of the big through-hike routes?
    Nah, at least not to my knowledge, I was being a snarky ass with that last post.

    I'm on the AT at least once a month in my corner of the world and it's full of friendly people, families with kids, thru hikers of all stripes, weekend backpackers, day hikers with more Pattagucci than you can shake a stick at but I've never come across any tweakers. I'm sure they're out there as the trail can be a place for people to run away from things, but I'm not seeing em.



    Quote Originally Posted by m2711c View Post
    anyone heard from drew lately?
    This is probably the most relevant post yet.
    I still call it The Jake.

  11. #11
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    They should be able to find someone in his family tree via dna and zero in from there....even a single cousin or 2nd cousin or something could get the ball rolling.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/s...ogy-study.html

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/s...old-cases.html

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by ill-advised strategy View Post
    They should be able to find someone in his family tree via dna and zero in from there....even a single cousin or 2nd cousin or something could get the ball rolling.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/s...ogy-study.html

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/s...old-cases.html
    They're trying that approach, but the article states no results yet.
    I still call it The Jake.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmcrawfo View Post
    negative drug screen doesn't necessarily mean no drugs.
    I'm no toxicologist, but if drugs were the cause of death, wouldn't they be in enough quantity to turn up in post-mortem forensics tests?

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bobcat Sig View Post
    I'm no toxicologist, but if drugs were the cause of death, wouldn't they be in enough quantity to turn up in post-mortem forensics tests?
    Clearly you've never come-to after a whopper of a meth bender only to find yourself deep in the wilderness with no idea how to get home.
    "All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring."

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bobcat Sig View Post
    RIght, but why? What would emaciate him that badly devoid of any chemicals or narcotics?
    Not eating combined with long-distance hiking will do that just fine on their own. Dude could very well have been into spiritual fasting as well and/or had other mental health problems. Anorexics are proof that people can and do starve themselves to death voluntarily.

  16. #16
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    poor guy got stood up on a trail date from some blue eyed chick named Holly from the LA area

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by BmillsSkier View Post
    But I hear ya, if I had a dime for every methhead I ran into on the trail...
    ...you’d be able to buy a lot of meth?

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Star View Post
    poor guy got stood up on a trail date from some blue eyed chick named Holly from the LA area
    fucking lolllll

    the prevailing theory is that he had a neurodegenerative disease which caused paranoia and an eating disorder. i read he told people on trail that he was from nyc and previously worked in the tech industry.
    swing your fucking sword.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by BmillsSkier View Post
    Nah, at least not to my knowledge, I was being a snarky ass with that last post.

    I'm on the AT at least once a month in my corner of the world and it's full of friendly people, families with kids, thru hikers of all stripes, weekend backpackers, day hikers with more Pattagucci than you can shake a stick at but I've never come across any tweakers. I'm sure they're out there as the trail can be a place for people to run away from things, but I'm not seeing em.
    Bmills what section are you hiking? I've definitely come across a few over here along the parkway and even up at max patch.
    swing your fucking sword.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by m2711c View Post
    anyone heard from drew lately?
    If he had $37 not $3,500 you'd be on to something.
    "timberridge is terminally vapid" -- a fortune cookie in Yueyang

  21. #21
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    Darling daughter said there's good number of sketch pass thrus at her bucolic NH town during the summer. From what I saw during a visit, she's right.

    Some people want to disappear, and some are pretty good at it. It's getting more rare, but there's still some people out there with no digital or mainstream financial footprint, and I don't mean your typical hobo or homeless tweeker.

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by stealurface831 View Post
    Bmills what section are you hiking? I've definitely come across a few over here along the parkway and even up at max patch.
    Mostly I play on the 50 mile section between Woody Gap and Dicks Creek Gap in the N. Ga Mountains. I've done sections around Clingmans Dome as well. Always pleasant.
    I still call it The Jake.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by BmillsSkier View Post
    Mostly I play on the 50 mile section between Woody Gap and Dicks Creek Gap in the N. Ga Mountains. I've done sections around Clingmans Dome as well. Always pleasant.
    right on. love it down there near clingman's. let me know if you ever want to do a section.
    swing your fucking sword.

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by BmillsSkier View Post
    Mostly I play on the 50 mile section between Woody Gap and Dicks Creek Gap in the N. Ga Mountains. I've done sections around Clingmans Dome as well. Always pleasant.
    Woody's and Dick's and Clingons, where you from?

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Timberridge View Post
    If he had $37 not $3,500 you'd be on to something.
    True. But now I'm thinking I should got to be on the lookout for some kid with AMG grips on his hiking poles clutching $37.

    Quote Originally Posted by stealurface831 View Post
    right on. love it down there near clingman's. let me know if you ever want to do a section.
    Word. I know a few of my buddies and I are planning on doing a winter hike there sometime this coming season.
    I still call it The Jake.

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