Could they have been searching in the snow and been freaked out by his cars for help in this isolated area? Where is Matthias? Four of them would, in the warmer months, be found dead. christ church at grove farm events; peter magaddino obituary; montana academy student death Accept Read More. Some, including Weihers family say this could have been a result of Weihers mental state and the fact that he sometimes lacked common sense, but others think this is a thin explanation. The atmosphere was jubilant. 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. Jackie Charles Huett, who had a slight droop to the head, was sometimes slow to respond and a loving shadow to Weiher, who looked after Huett in a protective sort of way and would dial the phone for him when Hyett had to make a call. 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. The flashlight was slightly rusted and had been turned off. Four decades later, the fifth man from the car has never been found. It was impossible to tell just how long it had been there. They came across a strong stench emanating from some trailers maintained by the Forest Service. The five were going to see a UC Davis basketball game and come straight home. The group aged between 24 and 32 years of age, had developmental disabilities and were all enrolled in a day program for mentally handicapped adults. There was no reason to mention having seen the Mercury until newspapers began to blare out notices about the five men who had gone missing that Friday. 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. To this day, Gary Mathais remains the only person missing. [2], After the Davis team won the game, the group got back into Madruga's car and drove a short distance from the Chico State campus to Behr's Market in downtown Chico. About five miles from Weihers remains, the remains of Sterling & Marduga were found. 0 coins. 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. What had brought them to the middle of nowhere and why had Shones seen them with a woman and a baby? Home. Did Prince Andrew fly on Jeffrey Epsteins plane Lolita Express? The whole case is weird. Why did the men turn east in the first place? Mathias had been in the Army, too, but was discharged because of psychiatric problems. Mathias's tennis sneakers were in the trailer, and the C-rations had been opened with a P-38 can opener, with which only Mathias or Madruga would have been familiar from their military service. Bill Sterling was 29 years old and intellectually disabled. Find us on Elle Crime and Mo Tibbs comin' in hot with another unsolved crime. [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. Joseph Schons of Sacramento told police he inadvertently wound up spending the night of February 2425 near where the Montego was found. However, in 2017 David Bruckner directed a movie that seems to be largely based on the Yuba County Five. Happy Sunday! Whoever drove the car into the forest drove incredibly cautiously or knew the area well. On Friday, February 24th, the five men drove about 50 miles north from Yuba to Chico to attend a college basketball game. https://bit.ly/2J4kzJENew Merch Drops.. [2][5], Weiher's mother said ignoring someone's pleas for help was not like her son, if indeed he had been present. 19 miles in heavy snow is quite a hike without proper equipment. The county sheriffs department began searching for the men. 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. But what happened to the fifth? [2] The car was unlocked and had a window rolled down when it was found; his family indicated it was unlike him to leave the car so unsecured. Why did they abandon the trip to Yuba? February 24, 1978. The route home wasnt a difficult one, and since the map police also found inside of the Mercury Montego was neatly folded up, they didnt seem to have been lost. Their families raised a $2600 reward for information, petitioned psychics, and waited by their phones, but heard nothing. [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. 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. 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. 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. At that time, no trace of the men was found. The police said she was "a credible witness" and they took her account seriously. A man called Joseph Schons contacted the police after he heard about the disappearance to say he had seen the men between 11-12 pm on the Friday that the group disappeared. [6] On a table next to the bed were some of Weiher's personal effects, including his wallet (with cash), a nickel ring with "Ted" engraved on it, and a gold necklace he also wore. A car riddled with six bullet holes sits on the property where a shooting occurred early on Sunday, April 30, 2023, in Bay St. Louis killing two teenagers and . After Weiher died, or after the others thought he had died, they may have decided to try to get back to civilization by different ways, such as walking overland.[6]. She owned a store there, where two of the men came in to buy food. The Mercury would be found last where Shones saw it with enough gas for the five to return home. This team was supported by a local program for people with mental disabilities. 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. Zodiac Killer Facts An undated photo of Zodiac Killer suspect Arthur Leigh Allen. Premium Powerups . The thought was that Madruga took a wrong turn and kept going straight ahead instead of turning around. 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. There was a whole shed full of canned food but it appeared only a dozen had been opened and eaten. This week, Emma teaches Brian about the Yuba County Five and their mysterious deaths. Why were only four men found, and what happened to the fifth? 'America's Most Wanted': Behind the most tragic true-crime story ever. Mathias was a paranoid schizophrenic and did not have his medication with him which would have meant he began hallucinating and might have led the boys from the car in a deluded state. [2], Most puzzling to the investigators was how Weiher had come to his fate. Police have no idea. Not until the thaw came. Schons called for help and the lights turned off and the whistling sounds stopped. 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? [5], The woman said she immediately realized that the men were not from the area because of their "big eyes and facial expressions". Purposeful motion like that is not consistent with the circular patterns traveled by those who genuinely believe themselves lost. There was no reason to believe he wouldnt be home in time for his next dose. They made it to the game, but none of these "boys," as they came to be called, ever returned home.. In February of 1978, a group of five men went to a basketball game and didn't come home. About Us. After his return from Army service in Germany, he would fail to take his drugs and lapse into a disoriented psychosis that usually landed him in a Veterans Administration hospital. Of the group, Gary Mathias had the most severe mental health He was suffering from schizophrenia and was on medication to control his symptoms. ", 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. The day after Weiher's body was discovered, searchers found the remains of Madruga and Sterling. Juan Corona is seen in this Jan. 23, 1987, photo, 16 years after a mass murder case began unfolding in Sutter County. This, and the considerable distance from the car to where the bodies were found, has led to suspicions of foul play. Doctors later confirmed that he had indeed experienced a mild heart attack. yuba county five crime scene photos. Thats the question people who learn about the Yuba County Five ask themselves when they hear this bizarre true crime story. The autopsy showed that he had died of a combination of starvation and hypothermia. While scientists today believe that it was likely an avalanche that killed the hikers, others are not quite sure. The boys were so excited about their game that they would not have missed the game unless something had happened to them. Soon, police found two other corpsesthose of Sterling and Madruga4.5 miles away from Weiher's remains. He was schizophrenic, a condition controlled by medication he hadnt bothered to bring along. It was later identified as Weiher's. Sterling was in a wooded area, scattered over about 50 feet. [2], Police in Butte and Yuba counties began searching along the route the men took to Chico. Almost 50 years after they disappeared, what happened to the Yuba County Five is just as confusing as it was back in the 1970s. Hours later, back inside his car, he saw what he thought were flashlights. He got out of his car to flag them down. Crime Drunk driver who killed neighbor in Yuba County gets 10 years in prison Yuba County officials said then-21-year-old Kaitlyn Vansant was drunk when she got behind the wheel and. 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. On the ground, officers tried to use horses to get around on the rocky roads. Dyatlov Pass refers to the unsolved deaths of nine hikers in the northern Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union (now Russia) between 1 February and 2 February 1959. To date, there hasnt been any evidence to contradict him. Weiher had asked his mother to wash his new white high-topped sneakers for the tournament saying "We got a big game Saturday. He passed a 1969 Mercury Montego, but the vehicle had no occupants. Since Mathias had presumably not taken his medication, pictures of him were distributed to mental institutions all over California. When they opened the door, they were overcome by the odor of what turned out to be a decaying body inside. 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. Five young men ended up where they should not have been and most likely never intended to be. They might have seen it and didnt even realize they seen it., Mathiass stepfather believed that the only reason why the men in the trailer didnt build a fire was that they were afraid of being found. Hoping he could flag down the passerby, he exited his vehicle and began screaming for help. [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. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. The front window of the trailer had been broken. 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. On Tuesday, February 28, authorities found the Mercury on the same mountain road where Shones had last seen it, and where a park ranger had reported its location after hearing the missing persons bulletin. 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? 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? Later, he saw what he believed were flashlights. The cause of death for Weiher was determined to be hypothermia and starvation. 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. Learn more on The Deck Investigates.Now available to binge wherever you get your podcasts. All rights reserved. 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. 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 Strange Disappearance Of The Yuba County 5 - America's Dyatlov Pass Incident From the true crime case The Yuba County Five. The Reykjavik Confessions: Why Admit to a Murder that Never Happened? [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. Is there any crime scene photos of the Yuba County Five? This was puzzling because the cabin had a lot of matches, books for kindling, a butane tank for heat, and heavy forestry clothing. No one even covered the window they had smashed to get inside of the trailer. This wasnt something any of them were going to miss. In February 1978, five young men headed from their home in Yuba County, California to catch a Yuba County, California. Weiher was concluded to have died from a mixture of starvation and exposure, but both a heating system and food were readily available. Months later, four of them would be found. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. Out in the Cold: Four mentally disabled men died in the woods. Around them, police saw nothing but rugged, dense forest, hardly an appealing option for the lightly dressed young men. 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. His leather shoes were off and missing. He could have survived there, but only a couple cans had been opened. The story from here is a little confusing. But authorities would later realize the biggest story to emerge from that dark, desolate road wasn't his brush with death. Police never ruled out foul play, nor did the families. [9], It also seemed that Weiher had not been alone in the trailer, and that Mathias and possibly Huett had been there with him. How did the group end up around a trailer 19 miles from the car? 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. As of late, his condition had greatly improved though, and he was able to work in his stepfathers gardening business. Out of the five, the one man who stuck out a bit was Gary. Have you noticed theres been no mention of Matthiass body? Madruga had never been to Plumas, and a search began. Jake Paul Rockyeah T-shirt best clothing in the world. Apr. 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 February24, 1978. 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. The fifth, however, remains missing to this day. 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. They werent missing this game. After the UC Davis team won their game, the five men went to pick up snacks & drinks, Joe Shones, age 55, was having car trouble. true crime, documentary film | 29K views, 534 likes, 15 loves, 7 comments, 40 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Androidgamerz Gunz: Snapped New Season. , and although in this horror movie things turn supernatural, the parallels between it and the Yuba County Five story are strong. Hours later, Shones felt well enough to walk to get help. Madruga had held on to the keys to the car. He made it home safely that night, but when the police found Madrugas Mercury Montego it only left them more confused. [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. We know good and well that somebody made them do it. While Weihers sister-in-law was quoted saying, They seen something at that game, at the parking lot.
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