The county sheriffs department began searching for the men. ", "There was some force that made em go up there." [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. Shones staggered back in his car while he let the heart attack pass and then wondered what on Earth he would do to get himself out of the mess he was in. 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. We're working to give you the tools, stories, and technology that will help shine a spotlight on victims and their stories. No one even covered the window they had smashed to get inside of the trailer. We also service a large portion of incorporated Yuba City under contract. [2], Police in Butte and Yuba counties began searching along the route the men took to Chico. Did Prince Andrew fly on Jeffrey Epsteins plane Lolita Express? They were supposed to play a basketball game of their own on February 25, part of a tournament, with a free week in Los Angeles if they won. For most of them, their fate was to die in snow-capped mountains. Premium Powerups . However, police discovered that Mathias friends hadnt seen or heard from him in over a year. Whoever drove the car into the forest drove incredibly cautiously or knew the area well. 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. Happy Sunday! How did five men coming home from a college basketball game travel in the wrong direction and become lost in the woods in the mountains of California? 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. However, the discovery of the car raised more questions than it answered. The more you learn about this night out-gone-wrong, the more questions youll have. In one version, whilst he lay in his car, at about 11:30, he saw two sets of headlights coming up behind him - one was a car, and the other a pickup truck. rent to own phones no credit check australia; atherton to herberton rail trail; ark magmasaur smelting; what is tamra judge doing now 2021; average height of lpga golfers; lake thunderbird waterfront homes for sale. In February of 1978, an unsolved incident occurred to five young men from Yuba County that is On the night of February 24, 1978, a group of five young men from Yuba City, California, all Today we take a look at a Civil War sniper who took the law into his own hands! Madruga's parents said he did not like the cold weather and had never been up into the mountains. 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. Joe Shones was having a heart attack. Winners receive a trip to Los Angeles for a week. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/07/06/5-boys-who-never-come-back/f8b30b11-baeb-4351-89f3-26456a76a4fb/, Lakshmi, S. 2021. The police said she was "a credible witness" and they took her account seriously. She enjoys playing the clarinet, taking ballet classes, textile art, and listening to an unhealthy amount of true crime podcasts. He didnt think much about what hed seen until he heard about the disappearances. Some were able to work side jobs, while others couldnt. Erin covers the Yuba We're back! The Washington Post. The men consumed 36 of the meals but left the majority of them untouched. Almost certainly, he had taken Weihers leather shoes, though police had no real idea why. - Yuba County Undersheriff Jack Beecham, February 1978 The Yuba County Undersheriff simply could not think of a better choice of words to describe how five grown men, who had attended a basketball game an hour's drive from their homes on a Friday night . ), 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. Will the missing member of the Yuba County 5 ever be found? To date, there hasnt been any evidence to contradict him. Your favorite mother-daughter podcast explains the freaky similarities of 1959's Russian Dyatlov Robin and Adam proudly present Episode 141 of Scary(ish)! ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yuba_County_Five&oldid=1149219330, February 1978 events in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Disappearance in unusual incident where four of his traveling companions died, This page was last edited on 10 April 2023, at 21:37. Most of the reports were easily dismissed, but two of the sightings stood out. 19 miles in heavy snow is quite a hike without proper equipment. Search and rescue teams then began combing the area around the trailer. He would later say he saw a group of men, one woman, and a baby. These were individual canned, pre-cooked, and prepared meals issued to the U.S. military. It was possible that Madruga had missed the turn-off and gotten lost, driving deeper into darkness until the snow ground the Mercury to a halt. One of them made a phone call from a nearby phone booth, and the other two stayed in the truck. This week, Georgia and Karen cover the disappearance of the Yuba County Five and the tragic Is there a rational explanation for what happened to the Yuba County Five? The Willow Glen corridor from Timothy L Joe Shones, age 55, was having car trouble and a mild heart attack. [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. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The game ended around 10 p.m. Why was that odd? True crime memes: Your strange obsession in a nutshell, 'The Kalief Browder Story': Most insane true-crime show ever. Shones said he cried for help but got no reply. Jake Paul The Mercury would be found last where Shones saw it with enough gas for the five to return home. However, the police felt that the five men, who were in good health, could have easily pushed the car out of the drift. What Caused The Patomskiy Crater in Siberia? Could they have been searching in the snow and been freaked out by his cars for help in this isolated area? samochd Los 5 de Yuba City, El Dyatlov Americano - Parte 1. Total. This case is bizarre as hell, Yuba County undersheriff Jack Beecham told reporters. The next day, their car was Five men from Yuba City, California, disappeared in 1978 after a trip to a nearby town. 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. Their favorite? Hours later, Shones felt well enough to walk to get help. Interesting history topics are just a click away. The fifth, however, remains missing to this day. Chico, California. There was never any accounting for their strange decision to turn toward unfamiliar territory. 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. Several bed sheets in a shroud were tightly tucked over his body, indicating that someone else had been with him in the trailer as he could not have bundled himself up in this manner. Several days after their initial disappearance, the group's car, a Mercury Montego, was found abandoned in a remote area of Plumas National Forest, California, on a high mountain dirt road that was far out of their way back to Yuba City. [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. When the boys parents noticed their sons had not come home, the police were called. Bianca Myrtil is a writer and freelance editor. Police backtracked and started searching along a road that led from the Montego to the trailer and found the scattered remains of Madruga and Sterling. 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. They had reached 4,400 feet (1,300m) in elevation along the road, about where the snow line was at that time of year, just short of where the road was closed for the winter. Bill Sterling was 29 years old and intellectually disabled. Several paperback booksperfect for fireswere also left untouched. [2], Weiher's body was on a bed with eight sheets wrapped around it, including the head. 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. 1978 deaths and disappearances in California, Image of Mathias around the time of his disappearance, distributed to help find him, "Mystery of 5 Men Lost in Sierra Deepens", "Missing 5: Foul Play suspected: 5 May Have Met Foul Play", "Cold case: Why did 5 Northern California men disappear in 1978? Bizarre as Hell: The Disappearance of the Yuba County Five. Mathias took Stellazine and Cogentin, both used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Shones had gone outside to try to push his car out of the snow. [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. Months later, four of them would be found. The Yuba County Five were young men from Yuba City, California, United States, all with mild mental or psychiatric issues, who attended a college basketball game at California State University, Chico on the night of February 24, 1978. Jack Madruga was also an army vet with a drivers license and a beloved turquoise and white 1969 Mercury Montego. But what happened to the fifth? Why did Ted Weiher apparently starve to death? Mar. Were the group together and then decided to separate after Ted's death to try and find help? The store owner corroborated her account. Marduga still had the keys to the Mercury. yuba county five crime scene photos Lausd Middle School Electives , Articles Y In February of 1978, a group of five men went to a basketball game and didn't come home. We know he was in the trailer where he left his shoes, and its assumed he took Weihers, which would have fit his frostbitten feet a bit better, but his remains have not been found after 47 years. Huetts skeletonized remains were found shortly after. Egel, B. We can't visualize someone getting the upper hand on those five men, but we know it must have been." Updated on: December 14, 2022 / 7:40 AM / CBS San Francisco YUBA COUNTY -- Tennessee state authorities were trying to unravel a possible murder-for-hire plot that led to the shooting deaths of. Jeffrey Epsteins unredacted flight log finally uncovered. Months passed and no progress was made on the boys case. Apr. The boys had used Madrugas 1969 Mercury Montego to drive to the UC Davis game in Chico, California on February 24, 1978. While it had been difficult at firsthe was nearly arrested for assault twice and often experienced psychotic episodes that landed him in a local Veterans Administration hospitalby 1978, Mathias was being treated on an outpatient basis with Stelazine and Cogentin and was considered by his physicians to be "one of our sterling success cases". We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. In 1978, a Mercury Montego was found abandoned in the Plumas National Forest, and the remains of four men found 20 miles away. This video answers the question: Can I analyze the case of "Yuba County Five?"Support Dr. Grande on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/drgrandeSubscribe to the. Besides, who knows. Two days later, just off the same road but much closer to the trailer, Jackie Huett's father found his son's backbone along with a pair of Levis and ripple-soled "Get Theres" shoes. Another image, right, taken by detectives shows a wound on. This is when this whole case takes a strange and puzzling turn. 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. The Montego was examined, and the undercarriage had zero dents or scratches, even though the terrain was rough. To this day, Gary Mathais remains the only person missing. Read More. Available at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article226777394.html, Gorney, C. 1978. Miles away from help, Shones thought he could flag down help. Their families said that when they got together, it was usually to play a game or to watch one. spencer brown runner letsrun 0. newcastle exhibition beer advert. He was pretty sick. They were lost and caught in a snowstorm without adequate clothing. Yet there was evidence that Weiher was not alone in the trailer the whole time.