. His car had gotten stuck in the snow, and pushing it out by himself brought it on. Shones had gone outside to try to push his car out of the snow. Kilka dni pniej ich Find us on Elle Crime and Mo Tibbs comin' in hot with another unsolved crime. To the Los Angeles Times, she said it was impossible for her to believe Madruga would ever drive his car, which he prized, into an area where it might be damaged. Were they forced to go up the Bucks Lane on the way to Palmetto City, did they decide themselves to take a detour or did they take a wrong turn? In 1975, with a short stint at Yuba College proving unsuccessful, Mathias abruptly left school and moved to Oregon to stay with his grandmother. Their clothes had been laid out the evening of the 24th, before they left for Chico with "Gateway Gators" on them, from the Yuba City vocational rehabilitation center for the handicapped where they all played basketball. He called to them for help, but they stopped talking and turned their headlights out. The last time any of these people were seen was at a college basketball game at California State University. A forest service Snowcat ran up the road to the trailer on February 23rd, leaving a packed path in the snow that the men might have followed. 1971 Press Photo Yuba City, CA Reporters at J.L. All five piled back into the Mercury and took off. They put out alerts for Matthias and searched nearby psychiatric hospitals to see if maybe he had wandered away from the cabin and ended up hospitalized, but they found nothing. The Yuba County 5 remains one of the most baffling puzzles within the true crime community. To add to the mystery, a man was stopped nearby, his car was stuck in the snow. He saw a group of men, a woman, and a baby walking together, but they ignored him calling for help. In this week's episode, Emilie and Shannon discuss the unsettling and still unsolved case of the Could the "boys" from Yuba County have been targeted by a stranger? "They might have seen it and didn't even realize they seen it.". What had brought them to the middle of nowhere and why had Shones seen them with a woman and a baby? NEW! Madruga had held on to the keys to the car. A California Highway Patrol officer fatally shot a man in Yuba County after being dragged by a vehicle that crashed through a fence, reports state. In the process of trying to free it, he realized he was beginning to experience the early symptoms of a heart attack and went back in, keeping the engine running to provide heat. (KTXL) A vigil is planned Thursday for the 10-year-old boy who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Yuba County. 12 min ago Aaron Tobias Quinn, an Oroville man who was involved in a police chase and shooting with a California Highway Patrol officer, was sentenced Friday morning in a Yuba County. [6] He was wearing a velour shirt and lightweight pants, but his shoes could not be found. The family identified the 10-year-old as Frankie Rosiles. No one even covered the window they had smashed to get inside of the trailer. When you hear of the Yuba County 5, they tend to be collectively referred to as the boys by those that knew them. Itsweird. If authorities couldnt make any sense of how the group's day had ended on February 24, they at least had some idea of how it began. They decided to drive to Chico that night to cheer on the UC Davis basketball team in an away game against Chico State. When the game ended at the California State University at around 10 pm, they stopped three blocks away at Behr's Market, mildly annoying the clerk (who was trying to close up), and bought one Hostess cherry pie, one Langendorf lemon pie, one Snickers bar, one Marathon bar, two Pepsis and a quart and a half of milk. He Hello and welcome to your favorite podcast that goes bump in the night. The next day when they failed to return from Chico, their families became concerned and called the police. There was never any accounting for their strange decision to turn toward unfamiliar territory. The two cars stopped about 20 feet from him. What's so unbelievable about all of this is that Archie actually convinced a group of friends that killing 7 people would bring baby Craig back from the dead! It was a straight shot on the hiway from Chico to Yuba. Why do that unless something more frightening was right behind them? They found no sign of Gary Mathias. It was suggesting someone create a video on the Yuba County 5 based on some new information. If youre interested in the Dyatlov Pass that the other name for this case refers to, then you might want to check out the horror movie. New as of February 2022, the "Yuba County Five" podcast is made up of seven episodes, each averaging about 35 minutes long. Yuba County 5. [2] The keys were not present, suggesting at first that the car had been abandoned because it might not have been functioning properly, with the intention of returning later with help; when police hot-wired the car, the engine started immediately, and the fuel gauge indicated the gasoline tank was one quarter full. This proved to be the last time any of them were seen . And they traveled for a very long time. Turns out I totally missed a book that was published last December full of exclusive new interviews with family . Most likely, Madruga and Sterling died of hypothermia about halfway through the long walk to the trailer. They still had found no explanation for why the men were there, although they learned that Mathias had friends in the small town of Forbestown, and police believed it was possible that, in an attempt to visit them on the way back home, the men may have taken a wrong turn near Oroville that put them on the mountain road. Inside the trailer, he found the body of Ted Weiher. Purposeful motion like that is not consistent with the circular patterns traveled by those who genuinely believe themselves lost. The Yuba County Sheriff's Office says 44-year-old Christine Adams of Visalia was found with obvious physical trauma in a guest room at a residence in the 17000 block of Indiana Ranch Road around 8 . We can't visualize someone getting the upper hand on those five men, but we know it must have been." About Us. Despite finding evidence that Matthias was in the trailer with Weiher at some point, they never found Matthias. He was schizophrenic, a condition controlled by medication he hadnt bothered to bring along. An anthology of True Crime headlined by the strange disappearance of the Yuba County Five.When Joe Shones left his house on February 24, 1978, he seemed to be in good health. This week were going to be covering a very strange story. The men wore only light coats against the cool temperatures in the upper Sacramento Valley at night that time of year. [4] Madruga, the only member of the group besides Mathias who had a driver's license, drove the group 50 miles (80km) north to Chico in his turquoise and white 1969 Mercury Montego. The mother of Aaron Carter shared photographs on social media from what she claims is the death scene from the pop singer's home in November. His tennis sneakers were in the trailer and the cans seemed to have been opened by the kind of military issue P-38 can opener Matthias might have been familiar with, but there was no Matthias. It had enough gas to continue on, but a snowbank had likely caused its tires to spin out. The Yuba County Five Case (Mathias Group) Background On February 24, 1978, a group of friends from Yuba City in California; Gary Dale Mathias, Jack Madruga, Jackie Huett, Theodore (Ted) Weiher, and William Sterling; set out on a trip to watch a basketball game. Did Prince Andrew fly on Jeffrey Epsteins plane Lolita Express? yuba county 5 crime scene photos Instead, immediately call the Sutter County Sheriff's Department at 530-822-7300. It was a man named Joe Shones who alerted them about it. They had set out on what should've been a quick road trip to watch their favorite basketball team in a neighboring town. [6], Efforts to search the vicinity were hampered by a severe snowstorm that day. The next day, they found remains that were later identified as those of Madruga and Sterling on opposite sides of the road 11.4 miles (18.3km) from where the car had been. Maybe something supernatural did happen to the boys of Americas Dyatlov Pass. The Mercury Montego was slightly stuck in the snow, but it wasnt anything five healthy young men couldnt have handled pushing out. Serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades stalked the highways of Texas in his mobile torture and death chamber. Hours later, back inside his car, he saw what he thought were flashlights. Police and the families never ruled out foul play. But instead of driving south toward their homes roughly 50 miles away, they inexplicably drove east. 19 miles in heavy snow is quite a hike without proper equipment. En 1978, un grupo de amigos con diferentes Los 5 de Yuba CIty, El Dyatlov Americano - Parte 2. Why did they abandon the trip to Yuba? Valerie Lane and Doris Derryberry [Photo Credit: Yuba County Sheriff's Department] Valerie Lane and Doris Derryberry were two young girls who were murdered by Larry Don Patterson and William Lloyd, and their bodies were found in a wooded area in Yuba County, California, more than 45 years ago. [5], The other notable report was from a woman who worked at a store in the small town of Brownsville, 30 miles (48km) from the point where the car had been abandoned, which they would have reached had they continued down the road from where the car had been found. In June of that year, a small group of weekend motorcyclists came across an abandoned forest service trailer on a campground site. The driver had either used astonishing care and precision, the investigators figured, or else he knew the road well enough to anticipate every rut. The Sutter County Sheriff's Office is responsible for crime prevention, law enforcement, and criminal investigation in the unincorporated areas of the County and in the City of Live Oak. While scientists today believe that it was likely an avalanche that killed the hikers, others are not quite sure. But all five friends wound up missing or dead. There was no obvious damage to the car, despite the bumpy unmade road, it had around a quarter tank of gas and it was not stuck in the snow. These are questions that may never be answered. Mathias's body has never turned up. Besides, who knows. The keys were gone and there was evidence of the boys having stopped at a convenience store for snacks. "We know good and well somebody made them do it," she said. Its players were in their 20s or early 30s and suffered from some form of . A propane tank connected to the trailer, which could have provided a ready source of heat and cooking fuel, was untouched. 12A 43-year-old man was detained on a warrant this week for allegedly murdering his wife who was found dead inside a residence in the 17000 block of Indiana Ranch Road, Challenge . Their names were Ted Weiher, Gary Mathias, Jack Madruga, Jack Huett, and Bill Sterling. The wrappers and empty cartons and cans they had purchased in Chico were present, along with programs from the basketball game they had watched and a neatly folded road map of California. In this episode, Zack tells us about a very creepy one that is available on Netflix. Weiher seemingly walked nearly 20 miles to the trailer in frigid conditions, despite having left his coat at home. The suspect . Is Ice Spices new boyfriend Pete Davidson? At that time, no trace of the men was found. Did they somehow leave the car and lose the keys. Our groundbreaking Augmented Reality technology accurately recreates crime scenes and allows users to experience and investigate them just as detectives at the actual crime scenes did. The plan was for them to watch the game and then come back home to get a good nights rest before their own basketball game the next day. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1971 Juan Corona arraigned at Yuba City California 9X8 Vintage Press Photo at the best online prices at eBay! Police began to speculate that if Matthias had gone off his medication he might have gone on a psychotic break that led him to bring his somewhat docile friends there. LINDA, California A Linda mother accused of drowning her two children in a bathtub is facing murder charges, according to Yuba Superior Court. An assistant sheriff from Plumas County found a skull the next day, about 100 yards downhill from the rest of the bones which the family dentist used to identify the remains. Well, that part is a little less clear. [2][4], None of the men were seen alive again after that point. Afterwards, they stopped at a local market for snacks and drinks. Joseph spent the rest of the night in his car before walking back down the mountain in the morning. The Strange Disappearance Of The Yuba County 5 - America's Dyatlov Pass Incident From the true crime case The Yuba County Five. February 24, 1978. Off the job, outside of his family, he was close friends with four slightly older men who either had slight intellectual disabilities (Sterling and Huett) or were informally considered "slow learners" (Weiher and Madruga, also an Army veteran). In addition, there was a huge supply of freeze-dried meals. Not much remained of Huett. A still-unsolved mystery, the Yuba County Five . He had left his tennis shoes behind in the trailer with Weihers body and had taken the mans leather shoes. The more you learn about this night out-gone-wrong, the more questions youll have. The initial investigation by Yuba County police was frustrated by the snowfall in the region that winter. The five would either play sports together or watch them. [2][4], The five men's favorite leisure activity was sports. You see, Shones had been stuck in a snowdrift the night of the boys basketball outing. Madruga's body had been partially consumed by scavenging animals; only bones remained of Sterling, scattered over a small area. The junk food had been consumed, save for one half of a candy bar. Neil Blake | nblake1@mlive.com. Today, Yuba City Police Department still has the investigation while the prosecution was left with the state Attorney General's office. but hadnt been diagnosed as mentally disabled and both he and Gary had served in the U.S. Army and had drivers licenses. This conspiracy theory will surely tug on your heart strings and have you asking, "What One freezing night in 1978, five young men mysteriously disappear. The case of the Yuba County Five is one of mystery, intrigue, bewilderment, and most of all, tragedy and sadness. Not until the thaw came. From Zero to Hero: Write Your Short in 30 days, Did the Island Boys break up? "All they had to do was turn that gas on," says Yuba County Lt. Lance Ayers, "and they'd have had gas to the trailer, and heat.". Helicopters surveyed the area from above. Five men went to a basketball game in Chico, California to watch their favorite college basketball team play. The internet is divided on whether it was an outside force, Matthias himself, or some sort of accident that led the Yuba County 5 to their deaths & disappearance. Debris recovered from the scene indicated the vehicle was a white Mercedes, and the Yuba County Sheriff's Office was able to identify the car using a license plate reader system, according to. He weighed just 120 pounds at the time of his death. This about the unsolved case of the Yuba County Five, and how five men disappeared and died, leaving no trace: read to find out more. Four of themBill Sterling,29; Jack Huett,24; Ted Weiher,32; and Jack Madruga,30were later found dead; the fifth, Gary Mathias, 25,[1] has never been found.[2]. They entertained a number of eyewitness sightings of the men, including one where they were driving the pickup Shones had mentioned, but none seemed plausible. The whole case is weird. Read more Print length 152 pages Language English Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe Publication date After the investigation details had been released, Joseph Schons came forward. Crime Junkie. How these five men came to be on an inhospitable mountain road more than 50 miles from their homes in and around Marysville and Yuba City, California, was just one of the mysteries surrounding. The store owner corroborated her account. There was no news for months as the spring snows melted on the mountains. It still remains one of the most baffling cases within the US. Why didnt they attempt to move the car once it got stuck, instead of walking to nowhere in the middle of the night? [6], Even knowing that four of the five men had died in the Sierra, investigators still could not completely explain what had led to their deaths. . This witness told police that he had seen and heard people around the car that night, and twice called for help, only for them to grow silent and turn off their flashlights. How did the men die? I think we've finally sorted out our audio issues! Sterling and Madruga, an Army veteran, wereanother set of best friends. Miles away from help, Shones thought he could flag down help. What puzzled them most was how Weiher was found emaciated, despite the fact that the trailer been stocked with plenty of canned and dried food and a can opener. Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Some of them even laid out their uniforms for the team and asked their parents to make sure they woke up on time for the game. [2] Only bones were left of the three bodies in the woods, a result of scavenging animals; but the one in the trailer, Ted Weiher, had apparently lived for as long as three months after the men were last seen, starving to death despite an ample supply of food and heating materials nearby. They appeared to have died from exposure perhaps before reaching the trailer. [2][5], Weiher's mother said ignoring someone's pleas for help was not like her son, if indeed he had been present. Luego de la desaparicin de los chicos el 25 CrimeDoor is the first app of its kind. [6], Two days later, as part of one of the other search parties, Jack Huett's father found his son's backbone[2] under a manzanita bush[6] 2 miles (3.2km) northeast of the trailer. Search and rescue teams then began combing the area around the trailer.  Months later the remains of 4 Join us as we discuss the Yuba County Five and their mysterious disappearance. As he sat in his car wondering what to do, he noticed two sets of headlights, one belonging to a pickup truck. Marduga still had the keys to the Mercury. One of the crime scenes from the John Collins murder series. In her free time, Bianca enjoys stabilizing dangling modifiers and walking her cat. Listen Now For our friends in the Deaf and Signing community, you can view an ASL version of this episode HERE. For months and months, they searched for signs of Matthias. None of them were dressed warmly enough to go through the rugged dense forest. How did the group end up around a trailer 19 miles from the car? Almost certainly, he had taken Weihers leather shoes, though police had no real idea why. 2017's British wilderness horror The Ritual, directed by David Bruckner and written by Joe Barton, has not been officially attributed to any particular true story. There was a half moon that night, a winter moon in a cloudless sky. The five men had prepared the night before, some even laying out their uniforms and asking their parents to wake them up on time. Madruga's parents said he did not like the cold weather and had never been up into the mountains. There was a whole shed full of canned food but it appeared only a dozen had been opened and eaten. On February 24, 1978, five men from the Yuba County, California-area vanished in the wilderness of Northern California. Weiher's brother told the Los Angeles Times that while driving to Brownsville in a different car in apparent ignorance of the basketball game seemed completely out of character for them, the owner's description of the two men's behavior seemed consistent with them, as Weiher would "eat anything he could get his hands on" and was often accompanied by Huett more than any of the other four. More baffling, Weiher was emaciated. They lay on opposite sides of the road to the trailer, 11.4 miles from the car. Police found no evidence of foul play at the site of the car, but the car was unlocked, one window was down and the keys were nowhere to be seen. It was about an hour away from their homes, but it was a pretty straight shot there and back. WASHINGTON The mother of late singer Aaron Carter is publicly calling on police to do more to investigate her son's death, accusing authorities of focusing . The next day, their car was discovered in a lonely mountain road. Four of them would, in the warmer months, be found dead. reply | flag message 3: by Fishface (new) Sep 28, 2019 10:01AM In the second part of this double-feature, we detail the infamous Yuba County Five, and compare All week, Gary Mathias told his mom "We got a big game Saturday, Don't you let me oversleep." The police said she was "a credible witness" and they took her account seriously. It was shortly before the store's 10 p.m. closing time; the clerk later remembered the men because she was annoyed that such a large group had come in and delayed her from beginning the process of closing the store for the night. yuba county 5 crime scene photos. Several paperback booksperfect for fireswere also left untouched. [5], The woman said she immediately realized that the men were not from the area because of their "big eyes and facial expressions". Not only were they stoked to spend a night out, they were also super excited to play in a basketball match themselves the very next day. Shones would admit he was very ill at the time of the sighting and could have hallucinated some of the details, but that didnt explain why the men bothered to abandon the car at all, or why they didnt acknowledge Shoness cries for helpunless he had somehow imagined the whole thing. "You need . One of the strangest things about Shones encounter was that he said a little he saw a group of five men. He had even left a window rolled down, something he would never normally do. However, in 2017 David Bruckner directed a movie that seems to be largely based on the Yuba County Five. It was the fact that Shones had likely wound up being the last person to see Ted Weiher, Gary Mathias, Jack Madruga, Jack Huett, and Bill Sterling alive. [2], Most puzzling to the investigators was how Weiher had come to his fate. [2], Searchers returned to Plumas, following the road between the trailer and the site of the Montego. Yuba County, California. Ortega, 55, is charged . On February 24th, 1978, five men from Yuba County, California, vanished into the night on their way home from a college Let's start from the beginning The five men, often referred to as the boys by their loved ones were all very good friends. Although the mens bodies were heavily decomposed, autopsy results determined that they had likely died from exposure. Why? 15 ratings1 review. The men lived in Yuba City and nearby Marysville. When he went back outside to yell into the darkness, no one responded to the sound of his voice. The trailer was over 19 miles from the Mercury. [2], In response to local media coverage of the case, police received several reports of some or all of the men being sighted after they had left Chico, including some reports of them being seen elsewhere in California or the country. Their families said that when they got together, it was usually to play a game or to watch one. Weiher had asked his mother to wash his new white high-topped sneakers for the tournament saying "We got a big game Saturday. They found no sign of them, but a few days later, a Plumas National Forest ranger told investigators that he had seen the Montego parked along Oroville-Quincy Road in the forest on February 25. Ashley talks about a case that is still unsolved to this day-- the Yuba County Five, also February 24, 1978 Five friends drove 50 miles from their homes in Yuba City California to cheer ** Viewer discretion is advised. There was nothing left of him but bones. [5], Additional details came from the store owner, who told investigators that men whom he believed to be Weiher and Huett came in and bought burritos, chocolate milk and soft drinks. When Shones spotted their abandoned Mercury, the car had been driven roughly 70 miles away from the Chico basketball game. The Yuba County sheriff's office said they wouldn't resume the ground search unless new evidence came forward that indicated that the five men were still in the dense forest. Doctors later confirmed that he had indeed experienced a mild heart attack. Talking to Shones proved even more frustrating. Everyone is welcome to attend. He was pretty sick. a mild heart attack. This week we cover the bizarre case of the Yuba County Five.  "Oh, Grandma, I won't need a coat," Ted said. His shoes and jeans nearby helped identify the body. Jack Antone Madruga, a high school graduate, and Army veteran was laid off in November 1977 from his job as a busboy for Sunsweet Growers. This could explain the strange story told by Joseph Schons where he said he saw flashlights around a car. On Tuesday, February 28th, a forest ranger found Jack Madrugas car abandoned the car on an unpaved road near Oroville, in the Rogers Cow camp area, past Elke Retreat, at an elevation of 4,500 feet. Similarly, another shed nearby held a butane tank with a valve that, had it been opened, would have fed the trailer's heating system. Joe Shones was having a heart attack. When he got out to push his car, the exertion brought on a searing pain in his chest. Curious, they went inside. When they opened the door, they were overcome by the odor of what turned out to be a decaying body inside. Rating: R (Sexual Content|Language|Some Nudity|Violence . There was no sign of the men and no indication of why they had abandoned their operable car. It appeared that Ted had lived 8-13 weeks after his disappearance based on the length of his beard and around 100-pound weight loss. ), A night out creeps into true crime territory, The cabin in the woods, a mysterious fate, However, in 2017 David Bruckner directed a movie that seems to be largely based on the Yuba County Five. The five friends decided to go to a basketball game together to cheer on the UC Davis team. It was about an hour away from their homes, but it was a pretty straight shot there and back. Every day you've got a thousand leads. , and although in this horror movie things turn supernatural, the parallels between it and the Yuba County Five story are strong. This wasnt something any of them were going to miss. Madruga, who owned the Mercury, drove his four friends to a collegiate basketball game at the California State University, Chico. "Bizarre as hell" was Beechams summary. His tennis shoes were inside the forest service trailer, which suggested to investigators that he might have taken them off to put on Weiher's leather shoes - particularly since Weiher had bigger feet, and Mathias' feet might have swollen with frostbite. Several months later, in June, the body of Ted Weiher was found in a trailer with missing shoes and badly frostbitten feet. But that did not mean that they were unable to function in society, quite the opposite. Gary Dale Mathias was an assistant in his stepfather's gardening business and an army veteran with psychiatric discharge after drug problems that developed in Germany five years before. Thats why when the late hours of the night turned into the wee hours of the morning, and none of the boys returned home, their parents started to get worried. 5 'Boys' Who Never Come Back. We know he was in the trailer where he left his shoes, and it's assumed he took Weiher's, which would have fit his frostbitten feet a bit better, but his remains have not been found after 47 years. This, and the considerable distance from the car to where the bodies were found, has led to suspicions of foul play. Twitter reacts. VIEW and share photos of real crime scenes. Public Corruption. As mentioned before, they were homebodies. Ronald Charles Trapp, 34, of Marysville, died around 9:35 a.m. Tuesday after being shot while driving a Honda Accord on Dunning Avenue, south of Hammonton-Smartville Road, in Linda, a news release .