The next day, their car was Five men from Yuba City, California, disappeared in 1978 after a trip to a nearby town. [2] For whatever reason, the men had left the Montego; they had, instead of going back down the road (where they had passed the lodge that Schons later returned to), continued along the road in the direction they were originally going. Its players were in their 20s or early 30s and suffered from some form of . [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. Were the group together and then decided to separate after Ted's death to try and find help? Ted apparently had a slow and agonizing death from starvation having lost over half his body weight. "Bizarre," says John Thompson, the special agent from the California Department of Justice who had joined the investigation. The area in which the incident took place was named Dyatlov Pass in honor of the group's leader, Igor Dyatlov. Inside the trailer, he found the body of Ted Weiher. [2], Most puzzling to the investigators was how Weiher had come to his fate. Shones said he cried for help but got no reply. What had brought them to the middle of nowhere and why had Shones seen them with a woman and a baby? Marduga still had the keys to the Mercury. Huetts bones were found not long after. Your favorite mother-daughter podcast explains the freaky similarities of 1959's Russian Dyatlov Robin and Adam proudly present Episode 141 of Scary(ish)! Crime Junkie. This wasnt something any of them were going to miss. When morning came and they had not, the police were notified. It was reasonable enough that he had seen the men strike out from a car they believed to be stuck, but who was the woman and the child? In her free time, Bianca enjoys stabilizing dangling modifiers and walking her cat. It was later identified as Weiher's. In this week's episode, we revisit two of our favorite Patreon episodes. New as of February 2022, the "Yuba County Five" podcast is made up of seven episodes, each averaging about 35 minutes long. This week on Loose Units, Four months after the disappearance of the Yuba County Five, the thaw came. Her mother had been recently widowed and it's a fair question to ask how much one person can stand. A dozen C-ration cans from a storage shed outside had been opened and their contents consumed, but a locker in the same shed that held an even greater assortment of dehydrated foods, enough to keep all five men fed for a year if that had been necessary, had not even been opened. Since it was locked, they may have believed it was private property, and may have feared arrest for theft if they used anything else they found there. [5], Six hours later, lying in the car and experiencing severe pain, he saw headlights coming up behind him. (They changed her name to "Dale Harum" in Michigan Murders .) Curious, they went inside. In 1978 five friends with intellectual disabilities ended up driving into the wilderness for no apparent reason and four of their remains were later found there. A woman reported seeing the five men in a red pickup truck on Saturday and Sunday, about an hours drive from the site of their abandoned car. Why did the Yuba City men get lost that night and end up on the mountain? . On February 24, 1978, five men from the Yuba County, California-area vanished in the wilderness of Northern California. Why did Ted Weiher apparently starve to death? "Not tonight." [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. If police and the families of the men were expecting closure from the discovery of their bodies, they werent about to get it. It was getting cold after he wasnt able to keep the cars AC heat running anymore, but to his relief he saw headlights in the distance. A day after search parties were sent out, Madruga and Sterlings bodies were found about 11 miles from the Mercury Montego. The five men had prepared the night before, some even laying out their uniforms and asking their parents to wake them up on time. They found a body tucked into a bed, draped in sheets from head to toe. The Yuba County 5 remains one of the most baffling puzzles within the true crime community. [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. He made it home safely that night, but when the police found Madrugas Mercury Montego it only left them more confused. Could be violent to some. [2], One question was its location, 70 miles (110km) from Chico, far off any direct route to Yuba City or Marysville. This time the victim was a 14-year-old girl named Dawn Basom. [2], Mathias supplemented his Army disability pay by working in his stepfather's gardening business. Twitter reacts. in which some students try to find out what happened to the Russian hikers who died in Dyatlov Pass. Jane Carter, who goes by Jane Schneck on Facebook . 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. He got out of his car to flag them down. But all five friends wound up missing or dead. More baffling, Weiher was emaciated. He felt fine, especially for 55, and he'd decided that day to venture up a lonely road through the Plumas National Forest, close to Rogers Cow Camp . " Yuba County 5 or the Yuba incident that has been called the American Dyatlov pass. This week on Five men attend a basketball game together, only to never be seen again. [2][5], Weiher's mother said ignoring someone's pleas for help was not like her son, if indeed he had been present. The group's car was left open, with gas in the tank and in working order. Then Colusa County District Attorney John Poyner authorized needed search warrants for the investigation and said he would prosecute the crime if it occurred in his county. 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. Also on the table was a gold watch, without its crystal, which Weiher's family said was not his,[2] and a partially melted candle. In the first part of this double-feature, we discuss the Dyatlov Pass incident of 1959. A still-unsolved mystery, the Yuba County Five . Most likely, Madruga and Sterling died of hypothermia about halfway through the long walk to the trailer. Mar. This team was supported by a local program for people with mental disabilities. As a result of their varying conditions, they each lived at home with their parents. Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. She owned a store there, where two of the men came in to buy food. "I'm positive he never went up there on his own," she told the paper. The Yuba County Five were a group of young men from Yuba City, California, with mild intellectual disabilities or psychiatric conditions, who attended a college basketball game at California State University, Chico, on the night of February 24, 1978.Four of themBill Sterling, 29; Jack Huett, 24; Ted Weiher, 32; and Jack Madruga, 30were later found dead; the fifth, Gary Mathias, 25, has . Yuba County Five Case Analysis | Unexplained Disappearance and Deaths - YouTube This video answers the question: Can I analyze the case of "Yuba County Five?"Support Dr. Grande on. Shones later came forward with his story when the news broke about the disappearances, making him the last person to see the five alive. Police never ruled out foul play, nor did the families. OR, could one of them have Sean brings us the story of five men from Yuba City, California who went missing under unusual February 24, 1978. But instead of driving south toward their homes roughly 50 miles away, they inexplicably drove east. By. In a second more mysterious version, whilst inside the car he heard whistling noises and saw what he thought were a group of men and a woman with a baby, walking in the light of another vehicles headlights. From his beard growth, they knew Weiher had been living there anywhere between eight and 13 weeks. Of the group, Gary Mathias had the most severe mental health He was suffering from schizophrenia and was on medication to control his symptoms. 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. And a thousand leads. The evening before, the five decided to make the 50 mile drive to the city of Chico to watch a college basketball game. He Hello and welcome to your favorite podcast that goes bump in the night. [2] His death, too, was attributed to hypothermia. This, and the considerable distance from the car to where the bodies were found, has led to suspicions of foul play. Eventually . 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. The case has been called the Mathias Group Incident, the Yuba City Five Case and the American Dyatlov Pass incident. 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. [6], In an area to the northwest of the trailer, roughly a quarter-mile (400m) from it, searchers found three Forest Service blankets and a rusted flashlight by the road. All were either mildly developmentally disabled or had other severe psychiatric conditions. [9], It also seemed that Weiher had not been alone in the trailer, and that Mathias and possibly Huett had been there with him. Authorities would later discover that a Snowcat vehicle had pushed snow aside to cut a path toward the trailer on February 23, which may have given the men some hope they were in an area where Forest Service employees might soon return. The fifth, however, remains missing to this day. Despite finding evidence that Matthias was in the trailer with Weiher at some point, they never found Matthias. Ted Weiher's sister-in-law has theorized that the men may have seen something take place at the basketball game that prompted someone to chase them. This Sutter County California Most Wanted List posts the top 50-100 fugitive criminals on the run. He didnt think much about what hed seen until he heard about the disappearances. Twitter reacts. None of the men thought to walk downhill, from where they came, and instead faced the treacherous and unfamiliar path ahead. Either the driver had been extremely careful, or it was someone familiar with the road, a familiarity Madruga was not known to have; his family said that Madruga would not have let someone else drive the car. There was a half moon that night, a winter moon in a cloudless sky. "He was either tricked or threatened.". Why did they abandon the trip to Yuba? Four of themBill Sterling, 29 . Tickets from the UC Davis game were also there so it was clear they had at least made it to the game to cheer on the team. They were competing to qualify for the paralympics and this next regional tournament would not only get them closer to that goal but closer to winning a week-long trip to Los Angeles. This proved to be the last time any of them were seen . 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. None of them were dressed warmly enough to go through the rugged dense forest. When Shones tried to get their attention one more they continued to ignore him. Erin covers the Yuba We're back! Happy Sunday! "They wouldn't have fled off in the wood like a bunch of quail. Not much remained of Huett. Inside the trailer, authorities found heavy clothing, matches, playing cards, books, wooden furniture, and other materials which could have easily been used to start a fire. They came across a strong stench emanating from some trailers maintained by the Forest Service. They never returned home. In addition, there was a huge supply of freeze-dried meals. 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. No fire had been set in the trailer's fireplace, despite an ample supply of matches and paperback novels to use as kindling. At the time, he had not considered it significant, since many residents often drove up that road into the Sierra Nevada on winter weekends to go cross-country skiing on the extensive trail system, but after he read the missing persons bulletin, he recognized the car and led the deputies to it on February 28. 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. The five were on a team for the mentally handicapped called the Gateway Gators, who were set to participate in a week-long tournament sponsored by the Special Olympics. A propane tank connected to the trailer, which could have provided a ready source of heat and cooking fuel, was untouched. Don't you let me oversleep". The next night, Archie and his buddies went out in search of victim number one. 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. reply | flag message 3: by Fishface (new) Sep 28, 2019 10:01AM The Yuba County Five were young men from Yuba City, California, all with mild intellectual disabilities or psychiatric conditions, who attended a college basketball game at California State University, Chico on the night of February 24, 1978. While scientists today believe that it was likely an avalanche that killed the hikers, others are not quite sure. The turquoise and white 1969 Mercury Montego was located around a 2.5-hour drive from Chico, in the opposite direction from the route they would have been expected to drive home and way up in the mountains in the Plumas National Forest. All five either had slight intellectual disabilities or psychiatric disorders. 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. ), 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. 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! Police believed their bodies had simply given up before they found shelter while Weiher and others marched on. Not until the thaw came. Search and rescue teams then began combing the area around the trailer. The trailer was 19.4 miles away from where the Mercury Montego was found. Sterling's father had once taken his son to the area near where the car was found for a fishing weekend, but the younger man had not enjoyed it and remained at home when his father took later trips there. She relishes raving about her favorite shows and turning peoples drafted darlings into polished finished products. The front window of the trailer had been broken. [3] The eventual discovery of four of the five men's bodies seemed to suggest otherwise, but raised even more questions about what had happened that night, and whether at least one of them might have been rescued. February 24, 1978. All the conspiracies surrounding Nicola Bulleys disappearance and death, Who killed Jeffrey Epstein? Check out our sponsors! With so much food close by why wasn't he eating. Weiher had lost nearly half his 200 pounds (91kg); the growth of his beard suggested he had lived as long as thirteen weeks from when he had last shaved. NOTE: This is an update to my original report found here So while getting pictures together for the page on the Yuba County 5, I stumbled across a Reddit post that had been made 18 days ago. Deputies think that one of them may have given in to the need to sleep that comes with the last stages of hypothermia, while the other stayed by his side and died the same way. A table by the bed held his nickel ring with "Ted" engraved on it, his gold necklace, his wallet (with cash inside), and a gold Waltham watch, its crystal missing, which the families say had not belonged to any of the five men. [3], While he was stationed in West Germany as part of his United States Army service in the early 1970s, Gary Mathias, a native of Yuba City, California, developed drug problems. Updated: 10:05 AM PDT April 8, 2022 YUBA COUNTY, Calif. A Linda mother is accused of drowning her two young boys in their home, the Yuba County Sheriff's Office said Thursday afternoon.. How did a fun night out with the boys turn into a death sentence in some remote snowy mountains? They soon started to discover some very strange facts. . On the ground, officers tried to use horses to get around on the rocky roads. Most of the reports were easily dismissed, but two of the sightings stood out. Later, he saw what he believed were flashlights. Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury: Who made the most money from their fight? 1971 Press Photo Bridgeport Covered Bridge S Yuba River Nevada County CA. These were individual canned, pre-cooked, and prepared meals issued to the U.S. military. Posted on December 5, 2021. How did they walk in normal shoes without outdoor clothing so far in snow several feet thick? Weiher seemingly walked nearly 20 miles to the trailer in frigid conditions, despite having left his coat at home. Gary Matthias was one of the five who didnt have a mental disability. It was a straight shot on the hiway from Chico to Yuba. For the families of these young men, the sense of heartbreak and loss is just as strong today as it was over forty years ago. Talking to Shones proved even more frustrating. What did they find Mystery True Crime und wahre Verbrechen aus Deutschland

Kalifornien, Februar 1978: Am ! There they bought snacks along with sodas and cartons of milk to drink. Heres what you need to know. We can't visualize someone getting the upper hand on those five men, but we know it must have been." But that did not mean that they were unable to function in society, quite the opposite. Besides, who knows. Is Ice Spices new boyfriend Pete Davidson? It was suggesting someone create a video on the Yuba County 5 based on some new information. Looking out, he saw a car parked behind him, headlights on, with a group of people around it, one of which seemed to him to be a woman holding a baby. It was a man named Joe Shones who alerted them about it. There are so many strange things about this true crime case which is sometimes called Americas Dyatlov Pass, that its hard to compact into one article. Chico, California. "They seen something at that game, at the parking lot," says Ted Weiher's sister-in-law. [2], Searchers returned to Plumas, following the road between the trailer and the site of the Montego. tips for grilling chicken. All five lived at home with their parents and were bound together by a love of sports. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The fireplace looked to have never been lit despite the availability of matches and kindling. Madruga, who owned the Mercury, drove his four friends to a collegiate basketball game at the California State University, Chico. Today, we're covering the true crime story of the Yuba County 5. 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 . The next day when they failed to return from Chico, their families became concerned and called the police. They werent the type to stay out very late or make spontaneous plans. (KTXL) A vigil is planned Thursday for the 10-year-old boy who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Yuba County. Well, the last sighting of the Yuba County 5 wasdecidedly not. Photo via Pinterest. 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. berkshire pigs for sale in georgia; southern oregon wind direction map; texas judicial candidates 2022; three dog night tour dates 1973; are rubber bullets legal in canada . "Went haywire," is how Bob, his stepfather, put it. Up in the mountains above the Feather River, the snow-drifts sometimes rose to 15 feet. Afterwards, they stopped at a local market for snacks and drinks. The flashlight was slightly rusted and had been turned off. It was Weiher who had died under the most mysterious circumstances. According to the Daily Mail, the District Attorney publicized the gruesome photos a week after they were presented to a jury. There was no sign of Mathias, aside from his tennis shoes, which had been left in the trailer. Well, that part is a little less clear. [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. The suspect . Ted Weiher was found in a trailer 19 miles from the car and Madruga, Sterling and Huett were found in the locality but several miles away. The boys stopped at a convenience store for junk food: Hostess pies, soda, candy bars. As for getting a real answer in the case, we may never know unless someone talks or, maybe, Mathais is found. 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. In 1978, five friends set out for home from a basketball game. The Yuba County Sheriff's Department said 10-year-old Frankie Rosiles [] They lay on opposite sides of the road to the trailer, 11.4 miles from the car. 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. Helicopters surveyed the area from above.