| Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA Notice, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Months passed and no progress was made on the boys case. Why were only four men found, and what happened to the fifth? They knew something was very wrong. Gary was in the army, and while in West Germany, he used drugs heavily. Months later the remains of 4 Join us as we discuss the Yuba County Five and their mysterious disappearance. Have you noticed theres been no mention of Matthiass body? An impromptu road trip was definitely out of character. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after being honorably discharged from the army following a drug related incident. [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. 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. When Weiher and Sterling didnt come home, their mothers began calling the parents of the others, and soon the police were involved. There was no sign of Mathias, aside from his tennis shoes, which had been left in the trailer. 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. The reason that we bring it up is because there is an incident largely called the American Dyatlov Pass, which is the case of the Yuba County 5. Police and the families never ruled out foul play. The eldest of the boys, as their parents called them, were Ted Weiher, 32 years old who was described as showing signs of Autism, and Jack Madruga, 30 years old, who was described as a slow learner.. We also service a large portion of incorporated Yuba City under contract. All five piled back into the Mercury and took off. [6], With the evidence not pointing to any clear conclusion about what happened the night the five men disappeared, police and the families were not ruling out the possibility that they had met with foul play. "And no explanations. Their favorite? [2][4], The five men's favorite leisure activity was sports. It's not perfect, but Dim the lights and strap in for a doozy, folks. They would have to have gone east for a long time from Chico, instead of south towards their homes. The so-called "Zodiac Killer" murdered at least five people between 1968 and 1969, taunted journalists and the police with complicated ciphers, and seemingly disappeared without a trace. 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. 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. 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 Devils Pass in which some students try to find out what happened to the Russian hikers who died in Dyatlov Pass. "Bizarre as hell" was Beechams summary. The keys were gone and there was evidence of the boys having stopped at a convenience store for snacks. Schons stayed in his car until it ran out of gas, then walked eight miles down to get help, passing Madrugas car on the way. She went on to earn her Masters Degree in Museum Studies in 2019 from the University of San Francisco. Were the group together and then decided to separate after Ted's death to try and find help? Several paperback booksperfect for fireswere also left untouched. The search teams nearly lost men themselves two days later, as their Snow-cats struggled through the drifts. In addition, there was a huge supply of freeze-dried meals. 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. He made it home safely that night, but when the police found Madrugas Mercury Montego it only left them more confused. No one even covered the window they had smashed to get inside of the trailer. They even seemed to be trying to conceal their presence since they momentarily shut off the flashlights they had been shining. What had brought them to the middle of nowhere and why had Shones seen them with a woman and a baby? 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. When Shones spotted their abandoned Mercury, the car had been driven roughly 70 miles away from the Chico basketball game. Check out my podcast! "Went haywire," is how Bob, his stepfather, put it. 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. Out of the five, the one man who stuck out a bit was Gary. Medium. Home. Candy wrappers, milk cartons and basketball programs were in the car but maps were left in the glove compartment. A Net Inceptions project. 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. [REQ_ERR: COULDNT_RESOLVE_HOST] [KTrafficClient] Something is wrong. The Mathias Group from Yuba City Strange deaths on U.S. mountains, Reading Eagle: Five retarded men vanish without a trace, Galveston Daily News: Disappearance of 5 men keeps police frustrated, Marysville Appeal Democrat: Search team enlarged in hunt for last two, Marysville Appeal Democrat: One man still missing after Jack Huett found, Marysville Appeal Democrat: Forest service said it told about bunkhouse, Democrat and Chronicle: Final journey of 5 leaves a mystery, LA Times: Mystery of 5 men lost in Sierra deepens, The Sacramento Bee: Yuba alert is out for five slightly handicapped men, Lets talk about it: Gary Mathias and his four friends, The Sacramento Bee: Discovery of car spurs hunt for 5. The more you learn about this night out-gone-wrong, the more questions youll have. Why was a common question for investigators and the relatives of the men, but no answers were forthcoming. Basketball. In her free time, Bianca enjoys stabilizing dangling modifiers and walking her cat. Unfortunately, snowstorms caused the search to be closed two days later, but the police asked the public for any information related to the missing Yuba County Five. Nobody could figure out why the boys were there. At 32, Weiher was the oldest, a former janitor who was closest to the youngest of the group, 24-year-old Huett. [6], It is assumed that once they found the trailer, the other three broke the window to enter. In 1978, in Yuba County California, five young men vanish. However, in 2017 David Bruckner directed a movie that seems to be largely based on the Yuba County Five. Your favorite mother-daughter podcast explains the freaky similarities of 1959's Russian Dyatlov Robin and Adam proudly present Episode 141 of Scary(ish)! Madruga had held on to the keys to the car. Curious, they went inside. THE YUBA COUNTY FIVE "Yuba County 5 or the Yuba incident that has been called the American Dyatlov pass . The Strange Disappearance of The Yuba County Five An article by: Emily G. Thompson 13th January 2019 5 min read In 1978, five mentally disabled men abandoned their car in the Yuba County wilderness & vanished without a trace. 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. Later, he saw what he believed were flashlights. true crime, documentary film | 29K views, 534 likes, 15 loves, 7 comments, 40 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Androidgamerz Gunz: Snapped New Season. They lay on opposite sides of the road to the trailer, 11.4 miles from the car. [2][5], Weiher's mother said ignoring someone's pleas for help was not like her son, if indeed he had been present. Weiher had asked his mother to wash his new white high-topped sneakers for the tournament saying "We got a big game Saturday. Open discussion about the Crime Junkie podcast. The trailer was over 19 miles from the Mercury. The flashlight was slightly rusted and had been turned off. 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. Unfortunately, as he did, he started suffering a heart attack. She recalled how he and Sterling had helped someone they knew get to the hospital after overdosing on Valium. He Hello and welcome to your favorite podcast that goes bump in the night. Around nine inches of snow dropped on the upper mountain. When morning came and they had not, the police were notified. All were fervent basketball fans, and even had a game of their own scheduled for the following day, playing on a team representing the rehabilitation center they all frequented. 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. The Yuba County 5 remains one of the most baffling puzzles within the true crime community. This could explain the strange story told by Joseph Schons where he said he saw flashlights around a car. Why did the Yuba City men get lost that night and end up on the mountain? Jack Madruga's mother Mabel says firmly. Why? Besides, who knows. Sadly, these men were able to cheer on UC Davis, but they never made it to their own basketball match. They played basketball together on a team called the Gateway Gators. The five friends decided to go to a basketball game together to cheer on the UC Davis team. How did a murder in a small town with eye witnesses go unsolved for nearly four decades? Hoping he could flag down the passerby, he exited his vehicle and began screaming for help. We're working to give you the tools, stories, and technology that will help shine a spotlight on victims and their stories. These were individual canned, pre-cooked, and prepared meals issued to the U.S. military. It had enough gas to continue on, but a snowbank had likely caused its tires to spin out. Investigators could not determine why the car was abandoned, as it was in good working order and could easily have been pushed out of the snowpack it was in. Afterwards, they stopped at a local market for snacks and drinks. ), 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. But what happened to the fifth? Weiher seemingly walked nearly 20 miles to the trailer in frigid conditions, despite having left his coat at home. No fire had been set in the trailer's fireplace, despite an ample supply of matches and paperback novels to use as kindling. No keys were found in the car; when it was hotwired, it worked without a problem and had a quarter tank of gas. Police have no idea. Heavy forestry clothing, which could have kept the men warm, also remained where it had been stored. [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. How did the group end up around a trailer 19 miles from the car? There was a whole shed full of canned food but it appeared only a dozen had been opened and eaten. ", "There was some force that made em go up there." Mathias returned to his parents' home in Yuba City and began treatment at a local mental hospital. Most of the reports were easily dismissed, but two of the sightings stood out. vanished while driving home from a basketball game. No trace of the men was found other than the car. No one had even bothered to cover the broken window they had smashed in to get inside. . To date, there hasnt been any evidence to contradict him. Two of the men, whom she identified as Huett and Sterling, were in a telephone booth outside the store, while the other two went inside. Shones had gone outside to try to push his car out of the snow. 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. "They wouldn't have fled off in the wood like a bunch of quail. [2][5], After that, Schons said at first, he recalled a pickup truck parking 20 feet (6m) behind him briefly, and then continuing on down the road. Chico to Yuba City is a straight down Highway 70 through the Central Valley in low-lying land with no snow at this time of the year. Maybe something supernatural did happen to the boys of Americas Dyatlov Pass. Weihers decaying body was found lying on a bed wrapped in eight sheets. In February 1978, five young men drove from Yuba City to Chico to watch a basketball game. Missing Three Flannan Isles Lighthouse Keepers. She owned a store there, where two of the men came in to buy food. In 1978, a Mercury Montego was found abandoned in the Plumas National Forest, and the remains of four men found 20 miles away. We now know these men must have been the boys because of Madrugas Montego just down the road, but they werent the only people Shones reported to have seen. Soon, police found two other corpsesthose of Sterling and Madruga4.5 miles away from Weiher's remains. The Yuba County 5 remains one of the most baffling puzzles within the true crime community. 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? None of the men's families could speculate as to why they might have driven up a long and winding dirt road[a] on a winter night deep into a high-elevation remote forest, without any extra clothing and on the night before a basketball game they had been discussing excitedly for several weeks. Why was that odd? [5], The woman said she immediately realized that the men were not from the area because of their "big eyes and facial expressions". When not talking and writing about pop culture (especially superheroes or any show with a paranormal bent), freelance writer Bec Heim is usually tackling her mountain of books, writing scripts or stories, or listening to podcasts. On the evening of February 24, the boys drove 50 miles (80 km) north to Chico, California, to watch a basketball game between UC Davis and Chico State. [2], Police in Butte and Yuba counties began searching along the route the men took to Chico. 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. He was discharged from the army because he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. This week, Carter tells the guys about the strange case of the Yuba County 5. The five were going to see a UC Davis basketball game and come straight home. It was February 24, 1978, and Shones was miles from help. The men wore only light coats against the cool temperatures in the upper Sacramento Valley at night that time of year. Why did the men turn east in the first place? Also known as America's Dyatlov Pass, this missing persons case is incredibly bizarre and cr. He didnt think much about what hed seen until he heard about the disappearances. 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. All rights reserved, Privacy Policy|Online Content Agreement. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. 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. [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. Out in the Cold: Four mentally disabled men died in woods. But authorities would later realize the biggest story to emerge from that dark, desolate road wasn't his brush with death. Our library is built with an all-inclusive goal: providing trustworthy resources for our community of advocates and experts. Two days after Madruga and Sterlins remains were found, they found the remains of Jackie Huett. [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. Some were able to work side jobs, while others couldnt. She enjoys playing the clarinet, taking ballet classes, textile art, and listening to an unhealthy amount of true crime podcasts. 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. Total. He had left his tennis shoes behind in the trailer with Weihers body and had taken the mans leather shoes. Weihers body was wrapped up in sheets on a bed, and his feet were frostbitten and gangrenous. The area in which the incident took place was named Dyatlov Pass in honor of the group's leader, Igor Dyatlov. Five young men ended up where they should not have been and most likely never intended to be. Well, the last sighting of the Yuba County 5 wasdecidedly not. 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. 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. But there had been no apparent attempt to start a fire despite the freezing temperature on the mountain. Based on the length of his beard had grown, the coroner was able to determine that Weiher had lived as long as 13 weeks after he last shaved. 19 miles in heavy snow is quite a hike without proper equipment. Out in the Cold: Four mentally disabled men died in the woods. As for getting a real answer in the case, we may never know unless someone talks or, maybe, Mathais is found. Jack Madrugas mother had told reporters, There was some force that made em go up there. Perhaps, Shones thought, it belonged to the group he had seen earlier. Apr. 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. We know good and well that somebody made them do it. Joe Shones was having a heart attack. To this day, no one knows why these four young men died in snowy mountains that were so far from home. Don't you let me oversleep". There was no news for months as the spring snows melted on the mountains. Like Mathias, each man lived with his parents, all of whom referred to them collectively as "the boys". We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. It would have been a feat to walk all that way in the snow. All rights reserved. but hadnt been diagnosed as mentally disabled and both he and Gary had served in the U.S. Army and had drivers licenses. Today in our daily look back at odd occurrences in history takes us to California taking a quick l. Most likely, Madruga and Sterling died of hypothermia about halfway through the long walk to the trailer.
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