Hiker found dead in Florida could
be a Brooklynite, witness claims
For your Spe cial Occasion & Banquet Aff air
Parties start at $36 per person
Showers Rehearsal Dinners Bachelorette Parties
Boutique Weddings with many packages and options to choose from
Brunch, Lunch, Dinner Parties Buffet Style or Formal Table Service Full Bar/Open Bar
Call our Catering Managers Peter, John, Bobby & Lorraine
718-989-8952
7717 3rdwww.GreenHouseCafe.com
COURIER L 6 IFE, MARCH 8–14, 2019 PS
SAVE THIS AD, YOU MAY NEED US!
WE MAKE THE OLD LOOK LIKE NEW!
BEFORE AFTER
WE SPECIALIZE IN:
Kitchen & Dining Room Seats Recovered
Foam Cushions Refilled • Re-Upholstery
Plastic and Fabric Slipcovers • Pillows
Window Treatments • Blinds • Draperies
Re-cane, Re-Glue, Re-Rush
Celebrating ver 66 Years of Serving Our Community!
!"#$
BY COLIN MIXSON
A hiker who died under mysterious
circumstances in Florida
last summer may have
been a Brooklyn resident, according
to a Sunshine State
woman trying to locate his
family.
“Two different hikers, who
weren’t talking to each other,
mentioned separately that he
lived in Brooklyn,” said Kelly
Fairbanks, a trail angel who
assists travelers on the Florida
National Scenic Trail.
The hiker, whose name is
unknown and is generally referred
to by his trail names
“Denim” and “Mostly Harmless,”
died last July on a trail
near the Nobels Camp Site
in the Big Cyprus National
Preserve, amid an epic crosscountry
walk to Key West, according
to Fairbanks.
The angel met and photographed
the late traveler
on another Florida trail
roughly one month before he
passed, she said.
Two other hikers found
Mostly Harmless dead inside
his tent, according to
Fairbanks, and the wanderers
discovered his emaciated
body about two days after he
died, according to information
released by the out-ofstate
offi cials with the Collier
County Sheriff’s Offi ce.
“They were doing a day
hike, found the camp site, and
wanted to take a rest,” Fairbanks
said of the hikers who
allegedly discovered Mostly
Harmless’s body. “They kept
hollering out, but nobody answered,
and there were shoes
outside, so they assumed he
was there. Then one of them
peeked in the tent, and that’s
how they found him.”
Local investigators believe
Mostly Harmless had
ties to both Louisiana and
New York State, and authorities
with the Florida sheriff’s
offi ce in August disseminated
posters to New York City media
outlets hoping to fi nd anyone
in the fi ve boroughs who
knew the hiker.
Sunshine State investigators
are still waiting for the
local medical examiner to determine
the hiker’s cause of
death, but detectives believe
he may have died of starvation,
or succumbed to a preexisting,
fatal condition that
compelled him to embark on
the interstate trek, according
to a podcast the Collier
County Sheriff’s Offi ce released
last month.
But there are mitigating
facts that undermine those
theories, including an abundance
of food sources near
Mostly Harmless’s place of
death, and the testimony
of fellow hikers he met on
his journey, including Fairbanks,
who said the deceased
spoke optimistically of his
plans for the future, such as
his intention to settle in Key
West.
“He sounded like he had
plans,” she said.
Anyone with information
regarding Mostly Harmless
should call the Collier County
Sheriff’s Offi ce at (239) 774—
4434.
MOSTLY HARMLESS: Florida police are seeking any information regarding
the identify of this man, who perished under mysterious circumstances
while hiking through the Sunshine State last year. Kelly Fairbanks
/www.GreenHouseCafe.com