1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: Hello, I'm Richard McClain smith, and you're listening to Unexplained. Sadly, 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: due to my being completely flawed by the flu this week, 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: there's no new episode, so huge apologies for that. The 4 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: show will resume as per usual next week. In place 5 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: of the scheduled episode, I'm going to replay one of 6 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: my favorites from season four, which I think is one 7 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: of the stories that has touched me the most. In 8 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: February nineteen seventy eight, five young men from the Ubasutter 9 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: area in northern California, took a short trip to watch 10 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: their favorite basketball team. But the men never returned home. 11 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: It's a tragic and beguiling mystery that to this day 12 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: remains unexplained. This is season four, episode seven, called to 13 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: the Forest. Look closely into the daily goings on of 14 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: any town or city, and soon enough you'll come across 15 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: something a little unsavory or unsettling. A strange paradox when 16 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: you consider that such places are often held up as 17 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: examples of our superior sense of civility. We need not 18 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: be so hard on ourselves, however, considering the number of 19 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: different people and ideas all crammed in together in these places, 20 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: It's a wonder they function at all. That said, when 21 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: things happen there that aren't to our liking, we have 22 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: only ourselves to blame, and it is only through ourselves 23 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: alone that we can rectify such unwonted situations. The same 24 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: cannot be said for the town of Castle Rock, the 25 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: principal location and title of the recent Hulu TV series 26 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: based on the works of Stephen King. Without wanting to 27 00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:00,120 Speaker 1: give anything away, the show essentially details the life of 28 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: a seemingly quaint and quiet town in which darkness, in 29 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: one form or another appears especially drawn to it. I 30 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: was reminded of this show when researching this week's story. 31 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: Though I would never suggest an entire town, or in 32 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: this case, a whole region, was preternaturally susceptible to unfortunate things. 33 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: If I were to believe that such things were possible, however, 34 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: this place would certainly provide a compelling case study. The 35 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: Uber Sutter area, of which Yuba City is the principal city, 36 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 1: begins ten miles to the north of Sacramento and stretches 37 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: northwestwards toward the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. 38 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,079 Speaker 1: In the early eighteenth century, Much of the land, which 39 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: would eventually encompass most of Yuba County, including the Yuba 40 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: City area, was sold to a highly controversial individual named 41 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: John Sutter around one hundred and fifty years later, the 42 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: county's name would become synonymous with one of the United 43 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: states most enduring and tragic mysteries. You're listening to Unexplained 44 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: and I'm Richard McLean Smith. In the early nineteenth century, 45 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: Johann Sutter had been wanted for fraud in his home 46 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: country of Switzerland before deciding to change his name to 47 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: John and take his chances in the fledgling United States. 48 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: Leaving behind a wife and five children, He arrived in 49 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: New York in eighteen thirty four and spent the next 50 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: five years exhaustively touring the continent to get the measure 51 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: of it. After managing to ingratiate himself with a number 52 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: of prominent Euro American dignitaries, he eventually settled in what 53 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: was then Alta, California in the summer of eighteen thirty nine. 54 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: At the time, Alta California was a relatively undeveloped province 55 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: of Mexico. Having so far managed to resist the clutches 56 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: of the ever expanding United States. Realizing the area's potential, 57 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 1: Sutter succeeded in convincing the local governor to sell him 58 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: almost fifty thousand acres of land along the Sacramento River. 59 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: The following year, he established a trading colony there, which 60 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: he named New Helvetia. Rarely is such a story of 61 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: land purchase complete without some form of Native American displacement 62 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: or indeed slaughter, and Sutter's was no different. Local tribes 63 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: that were unwilling to recognize these self appointed owners of 64 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: the lands that they lived on were dispensed with swiftly, 65 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: being either forcibly moved or exterminated entirely. Any tribes adopted 66 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: to co operate with the Euro American or Mexican settlers 67 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,279 Speaker 1: would invariably be put to work as little more than slaves. 68 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: The exact number of Native Americans that were killed in 69 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: the establishing of New Helvetia is unknown. It is thought, however, 70 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 1: that Sutter kept as many as six to eight hundred 71 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: of them as slaves, often locking them up in squalid 72 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: pens and placing their food in troughs, forcing them to 73 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: eat like farm animals. It is also speculated that he 74 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: raped Native American girls as young as twelve years old. 75 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty eight, gold was discovered on Sutter's land. However, 76 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,799 Speaker 1: any hope he had of profiting from it was swiftly 77 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: dashed when his efforts to keep its secret failed miserably. 78 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: Within months, Sutter's land was overrun with swaves of prospectors 79 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: feverishly clawing at the earth in search of the shiny metal. 80 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: Such was the speed with which the gold rush unfolded, 81 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: there as little that Sutter could do to stop them. 82 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: Having bought more land in a bid to claim ownership 83 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,720 Speaker 1: of any gold found on it, Sutter soon found himself 84 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: in major debt. With no other options, he was forced 85 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: to sell off his land, transferring any deeds he had 86 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: left into the name of his son. His land owning 87 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: ambitions were finished. A comic come upance. Perhaps if you 88 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:43,359 Speaker 1: believe in such things, perhaps two. If you believe in 89 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: such things, you might say the series of events that 90 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: would befall the region in subsequent years were inevitable given 91 00:06:52,480 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: what many would consider to be such rotten beginnings. Part 92 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: of the land that Sutter was forced to sell was 93 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: located just forty miles north of New Helvetia and centered 94 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: around the confluence of the Uber and Feather Rivers. The 95 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: land was sold in eighteen forty nine to a small 96 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: consortium of men headed by Samuel Brannan, who quickly established 97 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: Uber City in the middle of it. Almost immediately, the 98 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: fledgling city was overshadowed by Marysville, the town on the 99 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: opposite bank of the Feather River, which newcomers found much 100 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: easier to access, But soon it began to prosper, and 101 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: over the next one hundred years the city grew steadily 102 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: from a population of three hundred to seven and a 103 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: half thousand. Then, in December nineteen fifty five, a series 104 00:07:54,400 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: of devastating storms battered northern California. After days of relentless rain, 105 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: at just after midnight on December twenty fourth, a levee 106 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: broke on the west bank of the Feather River, sending 107 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: a wall of water twenty one feet high, cascading into 108 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: the county and flooding ninety percent of Yuba City. Seventy 109 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: four people were killed. Five years later, a Bowing fifty 110 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:29,239 Speaker 1: two bomber plane carrying two three point eight megaton thermonuclear 111 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: bombs flying into the vicinity of Uber County experienced a 112 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: sudden and inexplicable loss of pressure in the fuselage. After 113 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: ordering the rest of the crew to bail out, the 114 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: heroic pilot managed to stay in the cockpit just long 115 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:49,080 Speaker 1: enough to steer the plane away from Uber City before 116 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: bailing out himself. At only four thousand feet the plaine 117 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: would eventually crash into a barley field just eleven miles 118 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: to the west of the city. Miraculously, no radioactive material 119 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: was released as a result. In late spring nineteen seventy one, 120 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: a Uber County peach farmer noticed a large, freshly dug 121 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: hole on his land that had no apparent purpose. When 122 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,720 Speaker 1: he found it filled in the next day, he became 123 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: suspicious and called the police to investigate it. Digging away 124 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 1: the fresh dirt, they found a man's body underneath, riddled 125 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: with stab wounds. The man was just one of at 126 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 1: least twenty five migrant farm workers from around the Yuba 127 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: County area that serial killer and Yuber City resident Juan 128 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: Corona was eventually convicted of murdering. Corona had been previously 129 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: diagnosed with schizophrenia, which some believe was triggered by the 130 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 1: trauma he suffered. As a witness to the worst effects 131 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: of the nineteen fifty five flood. Another five years later, 132 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: a school bus carrying the Yuba City High School choir 133 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,239 Speaker 1: broke through a guard rail just outside the city of Martinez, 134 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:15,679 Speaker 1: plunging thirty feet to the ground. Twenty eight teenagers from 135 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 1: the city and their chaperone were killed instantly in what 136 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:23,760 Speaker 1: was the worst school bus accident ever recorded in the 137 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:30,560 Speaker 1: United States at the time. And yet, incredibly, despite this 138 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:34,080 Speaker 1: litany of tragedy, the one for which the area would 139 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: become most well known had yet to pass. The story, 140 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: most often referred to as the Uber County five, is 141 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: a bizarre and heartbreaking mystery that remains to this day unexplained. Ma'am, 142 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: have you seen my Gaiters T shirt? Cried Gary from 143 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,560 Speaker 1: the laundry room. I need it for the game tomorrow. 144 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 1: Gary's mum Ida appeared a moment later, holding the beige 145 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,840 Speaker 1: T shirt, complete with its gateway Gaiter's logo emblazoned across it. 146 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 1: All washed and ready to go, thanks, said Gary, taking 147 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: it before running to place it with the rest of 148 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: his kit that he'd laid out in preparation for the 149 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: next day. Just then, the sound of a car horn 150 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: could be heard coming from the turquoise Mercury Montego that 151 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: had just pulled up outside the front of the house. 152 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,439 Speaker 1: They're here, said Gary excitedly as he grabbed his jacket 153 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: and headed toward the door. Remember I've got a big 154 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: game tomorrow. Don't let me sleep in, he said. Yes, 155 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: I know, said Ida, before kissing her son good bye 156 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 1: and seeing him out the door. It was February twenty fourth, 157 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight, in the small district of Olivehurst, just 158 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: to the south of Eubers. Far off in the distance, 159 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: the northern tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains could be seen, 160 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 1: its pine covered ranges still capped with snow. Down in 161 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: the valley, however, it was barely jacket weather, as a 162 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: pale sun was slowly beginning its final descent toward the horizon. 163 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: Waiting for Gary outside in the montago was thirty year 164 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:27,679 Speaker 1: old driver and owner of the vehicle, Jack Madruga, accompanied 165 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 1: by thirty two year old Ted Weir and the twenty 166 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 1: four year old Jack Hewitt. The others shouted for Gary 167 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:37,680 Speaker 1: to hurry up as he raced to the car and 168 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 1: jumped into the front seat. Moments later, they pulled away 169 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:46,960 Speaker 1: as Ida waved them off from her front door. A 170 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: few minutes later, they were parking up outside a small 171 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 1: house on Talleda Street in Yuba City to collect the 172 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,720 Speaker 1: fifth and final member of the group, twenty nine year 173 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:01,679 Speaker 1: old Bill Sterling. With Bill finally settled in the back seat, 174 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: they were on their way once more. The five men 175 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: were friends from around the Yuba County area who had 176 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:21,079 Speaker 1: met at the Gateways Project, a local organization that helped 177 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:27,199 Speaker 1: adults with intellectual disabilities to better navigate their lives. Driver 178 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:31,239 Speaker 1: Jack Madruga was perhaps the least affected by his disability. 179 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: Although he had never been diagnosed with anything specific, his 180 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 1: thought processes were considered to be slower than average. An 181 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: Army veteran, Jack had served two years in Vietnam as 182 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: a truck driver and had recently started a job as 183 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: a dishwasher at a local dried fruit company. Ted and 184 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: Bill were perhaps the closest in the group, having known 185 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 1: each other for almost eight years. Had been doing especially 186 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 1: well recently, gaining employment through the Gateway Project repairing cables 187 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: for a local gas and electricity company. Just like the others, 188 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 1: Ted was not thought capable of fending for himself, so 189 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:18,600 Speaker 1: lived at home with his parents. In his case, this 190 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 1: was due to what some considered to be a basic 191 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: lack of common sense. One time, when Ted's parents' house 192 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,000 Speaker 1: caught fire, Ted had been more concerned about getting a 193 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,320 Speaker 1: good night's sleep than the flames that had begun raging 194 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: above his bed. His brother had to forcibly pull him 195 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: out of the house to save him. When Ted tried 196 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: to make friends with strangers, he could never understand why 197 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: they seemed so intimidated by him, or why they wouldn't 198 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: simply wave back when he waved at them. Bill Sterling 199 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: had also done well to gain employment working as a 200 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: dishwasher at the nearby Beal Air Force. Bill enjoyed the position, 201 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: especially the sense of independence it had given him. However, 202 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: he was instructed by his parents to quit the job 203 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 1: not long after taking it, after they discovered that some 204 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: of the air men there had been plying him with 205 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: alcohol and stealing his wages. Bill had spent much of 206 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: his youth in Napa State Psychiatric Hospital, being generally misdiagnosed 207 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 1: and misunderstood. Of all of them, twenty four year old Jack, 208 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: who could not read, write, or use a telephone, was 209 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: generally thought to be the most severely affected by his disabilities. 210 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:44,920 Speaker 1: Having met Ted back when he was sixteen, Jack, who 211 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: was also deeply shy, had come to rely heavily on him, 212 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: and the pair had become firm friends as a result. 213 00:15:53,480 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: And then there was Garry. Unlike the other four who 214 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: often went everywhere together and had known each other for 215 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: an extended period of time, twenty five year old Gary 216 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: Matthias was a fairly new addition to the group. Gary 217 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: was also an Army veteran stationed for a few years 218 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: in Germany. After suffering a psychiatric episode brought on by 219 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: hallucinogenic drug use, Gary was discharged and sent home. For 220 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: the past two years, however, Gary had been well and 221 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: successfully holding down a job at his stepfather, Robert Clock's 222 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: gardening business. Gary had been introduced to the Gateway Project 223 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: as a way of finding new friends, and had bonded 224 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: with the others over their mutual love of basketball. All 225 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: of them played for the Gateway Gaiters, the project's basketball team, 226 00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: and were looking forward to a big tournament they were 227 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: due to play in the following morning, which promised an 228 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,679 Speaker 1: all expenses paid trip to Los Angeles for the winning 229 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: team that night. However, their excitement was for a different game. 230 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: The friends were heading up to Chico, an hour's drive 231 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:21,120 Speaker 1: to the north, to watch their favorite team, University California Davis, 232 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: take on Chico State. Despite their disabilities, such a trip 233 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: wasn't unusual, since the boys regularly traveled together to watch 234 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: them play at their home stadium in Davis or anywhere 235 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 1: else that wasn't too far to drive before returning straight home. 236 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:51,359 Speaker 1: That night shouldn't have been any different. After picking up Bill, 237 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: the men made a quick stop at Mico's service station 238 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: on Caloosa Avenue. The others stayed in the car as 239 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: Bill ran inside to pick up his fifteen dollar allowance 240 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 1: from his parents, who ran the place. Bill's mother, Juanita, 241 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,560 Speaker 1: who was concerned about the men making the trip the 242 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: night before their tournament, tried again to dissuade her son 243 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 1: from going. As Bill explained, however, tonight was the last 244 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 1: chance they'd get to watch their team this season, and 245 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: there was no way they were going to pass that up. 246 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,159 Speaker 1: Realizing it was a lost cause, Juanita warned Bill not 247 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,640 Speaker 1: to be back too late before sending him on his way. 248 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:38,719 Speaker 1: Later that night, the men watched with delight as UC 249 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,399 Speaker 1: Davis picked up their seventeenth win of the season, beating 250 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: Chico ninety eight to eighty six. Shortly after ten pm, 251 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: the men left the Chico University Stadium and piled back 252 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:57,400 Speaker 1: into Jack's Montago. Soon after leaving the parking lot, one 253 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:00,159 Speaker 1: of the men suggested they make a quick stop to 254 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:04,920 Speaker 1: get some supplies for the return journey. Pulling up outside 255 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: a convenience store moments later, they were disappointed to find 256 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:12,399 Speaker 1: the shop clerk closing the place up. After taking pity 257 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: on them, however, she agreed to stay open just long 258 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,399 Speaker 1: enough for them to get what they needed. A short 259 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,200 Speaker 1: time later, the men were back in the car, loaded 260 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 1: with some fruit pies and chocolate bath as Jack slowly 261 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:30,400 Speaker 1: eased onto the road before heading off into the night. 262 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: Juanita Sterling hadn't taken her eyes off the clock since midnight. 263 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: All things going to plan, her son should have been 264 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 1: home by then by two a m. She couldn't hold 265 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,760 Speaker 1: out any longer. It wasn't the first time that Bill 266 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: hadn't come home on time, or had even gone missing completely. 267 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,119 Speaker 1: Often he would go and stay with friends and just 268 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: simply forget to call home. Each previous occasion, he had 269 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: never been more than a quick phone call away. Trying 270 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 1: not to panic, Juanita picked up the phone and dialed 271 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: for Melbourgh, Jack Madrugu's mother with whom he lived in 272 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:23,920 Speaker 1: nearby Linda, but Jack was also yet to come home. 273 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 1: It was a few hours later that Ted's mother, Imogun Weir, 274 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,120 Speaker 1: who had slept through the earlier phone calls, woke up 275 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: to find her son's bed empty, having not been slept 276 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: in the night before. Calling Juanita immediately, she was shocked 277 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,439 Speaker 1: to find that both Bill and Jack were also still missing. 278 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:51,680 Speaker 1: Calling Jack Hewitt's mother soon after, Imogun got the same response. 279 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: Their last hope was that the boys had all gone 280 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 1: to Garry Matthias's family home. Since the Weirs lived just 281 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: down the street from them, Imagon's daughter in law volunteered 282 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,720 Speaker 1: to go and check if they were there. The look 283 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,119 Speaker 1: on her face when she returned was all Imogen needed 284 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 1: to know. The men were due to meet the rest 285 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:20,159 Speaker 1: of their Gateway Gaiters team later that morning outside a 286 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: store in Marysville. Knowing the five wouldn't have missed their 287 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: tournament for the world, a few of the family members 288 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 1: traveled to the store in hope that their sons and 289 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: brothers might yet be there, but the men never appeared. 290 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: By eight p m. Having still heard nothing from them, 291 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:44,120 Speaker 1: Melbourne Madruga informed the Uber County Sheriff's office that her 292 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 1: son and his four best friends were missing. That weekend, 293 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: the various families spent the days in a complete haze, 294 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 1: anxiously looking out for any mention of a car crash 295 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 1: or sighting of the missing men, but nothing came. On Monday, 296 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,399 Speaker 1: having heard nothing from the police, Juanita took it on 297 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: herself to drive to Chico, where she handed out pictures 298 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: of the five friends to the various ticket sellers and 299 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: security officers at the University basketball stadium. None, however, recognized 300 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,359 Speaker 1: the faces that had been sat in the venue for 301 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:31,879 Speaker 1: over two hours only a few nights before. In the meantime, 302 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,960 Speaker 1: the Sheriff's office had released a statement to the local 303 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: press giving a detailed description of the missing men and 304 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: the vehicle they were traveling, in, urging anyone to come 305 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: forward who might have important information as to their whereabouts. 306 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: Having been given a brief description of the personalities he 307 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,879 Speaker 1: was looking for and taking into account their intellectual disabilities, 308 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 1: Yuba County under Sheriff Jack Beecham was stumped as to 309 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:03,679 Speaker 1: what might have happened to them. Certainly, no crashes with 310 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: that type of vehicle had been reported, and judging by 311 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: how the parents described it, there was no reason to 312 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: suggest that the men had struck out on an impromptu 313 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:18,880 Speaker 1: road trip. The following day, Beecham received an unexpected call 314 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: from Plumus National Forest ranger Willard Burris. Buris had been 315 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,640 Speaker 1: making his way along a forest road when he came 316 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 1: across an abandoned car. He hadn't thought anything about it 317 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,160 Speaker 1: at the time, but having seen a news report about 318 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: the missing men later that day, he thought to call 319 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:45,199 Speaker 1: it in. Beecham was confused, however, Plumus Forest covered the 320 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:48,880 Speaker 1: northern tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and was located 321 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: about seventy miles east of Chico, in the complete opposite 322 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: direction to where the men were supposed to have been heading. Moreover, 323 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: the point at which Burris claimed to have seen the 324 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 1: car was four thousand feet high into them, but Burris 325 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:10,840 Speaker 1: was adamant the vehicle he had seen was a turquoise 326 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:18,840 Speaker 1: mercury Montego. The following day, Wednesday, March first, under Sheriff, 327 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,000 Speaker 1: Beecham with a handful of Deputies made his way to 328 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: the spot detailed by forest ranger Burris. An hour later, 329 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,359 Speaker 1: the officers found themselves leaving the mild flats of the 330 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: Euber Shutter area and heading up into the Sierra Nevada 331 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 1: Mountains toward the snow covered pines of Plumus National Forest. 332 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: With the temperature steadily dropping the higher they climbed, they 333 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: were soon approaching the snow line at an altitude of 334 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:53,400 Speaker 1: roughly four thousand feet. The road was known locally as 335 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: the Oraville to Quincy Road, running from the foothill town 336 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 1: of Oroville at the western edge of the mountains, snaking 337 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: east via the town of Quincy all the way through 338 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,399 Speaker 1: to the other side. During the summer months, the roads 339 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: would be jammed with day trippers and holiday makers heading 340 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:12,760 Speaker 1: out to one of the many cabins that dotted the 341 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,919 Speaker 1: surrounding area, with Bucks Lake, located in the middle of 342 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: the forest about fifty miles from Oraville, being the biggest draw. 343 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,720 Speaker 1: During the winter months, however, by the time you had 344 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,440 Speaker 1: reached the snow line, the road would quickly become impassable 345 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,399 Speaker 1: to all but the most hardy of vehicles. It was 346 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 1: at this point with the unpaved forest road becoming ever 347 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:41,159 Speaker 1: narrower and more rugged. That Beecham spotted the car that 348 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: Willard Burris had come across. Although by now it was 349 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:49,640 Speaker 1: carrying a light dusting of snow, Beecham could see clearly 350 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: that it was indeed a turquoise nineteen sixty nine Mercury Montego. 351 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: Beecham wrapped his jacket a little tighter about himself as 352 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:10,959 Speaker 1: he made his way through the slush towards the vehicle. 353 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:16,959 Speaker 1: Brushing away the snow from the window, he looked inside. 354 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: Empty food wrappers were strewn about on the back seat, 355 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,680 Speaker 1: along with a couple of basketball programs, but the vehicle 356 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 1: was otherwise empty. Trying the door, he was surprised to 357 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:34,919 Speaker 1: find it unlocked, but the keys were gone. Pulling a 358 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: panel from under the steering wheel, Beecham fiddled with the 359 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:43,280 Speaker 1: wires until the car's engine roared into life. The under 360 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: sheriff watched as the needle on the dashboard moved up 361 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: to reveal at least a quarter tank of gas left 362 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:54,560 Speaker 1: in it. Stepping out of the car, Beecham took in 363 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,679 Speaker 1: the scene around him, staring off into the trees that 364 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,440 Speaker 1: backed away from the road. The ground covered in fresh 365 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: snow from the night before, All was completely silent, and 366 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: there was no sign of track marks anywhere leading down 367 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:15,280 Speaker 1: or off the road. Looking at the front wheels, he 368 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: could see that they were a little stuck in the snow, 369 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: but it was nothing that a quick push couldn't have dislodged. 370 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 1: None of it seemed to make sense. Why on earth 371 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: would the five friends have driven up into the mountains 372 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: and then abandoned the car like this with absolutely no 373 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:37,520 Speaker 1: reason to unless, of course, it hadn't been them at 374 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,159 Speaker 1: all that had brought it there in the first place. 375 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,560 Speaker 1: Could it be? Beecham thought that it had been stolen 376 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 1: and merely dumped there Where that might put the five 377 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 1: missing men would be anyone's guess at this point. After 378 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,960 Speaker 1: calling it in, Beecham was promptly appointed to lead the 379 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 1: search for the missing men. Forty personnel from Euba, Plumus 380 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: and Butte County, along with snowmobiles and a highway patrol helicopter, 381 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 1: were drafted in. For the rest of the day, they 382 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,600 Speaker 1: searched every inch of the surrounding forest within a five 383 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:19,000 Speaker 1: mile radius of the abandoned car for any sign of 384 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: the two Jacks Hewitt and Madruga, Bill Stirling, ted Weir, 385 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: and Gary Matthias, but no clue to their possible whereabouts 386 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:34,840 Speaker 1: was found. Beecham knew only too well that if the 387 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,280 Speaker 1: five men had driven into the mountains after all, only 388 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:42,840 Speaker 1: to abandon their vehicle, their survival would depend on finding 389 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:48,040 Speaker 1: shelter very quickly. Failure to do so, stumbling blindly in 390 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 1: the dark in sub zero temperatures, dressed as they were 391 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: for a mild evening, would most likely be fatal. Whats More, 392 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: it had now been almost a week since they had disappeared, 393 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: and no one in the immediate area had seen them, 394 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 1: nor were they found in any of the nearby cabins 395 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: that they might have sought as a place of refuge. 396 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:17,280 Speaker 1: Later that day, under Sheriff, Beecham had the unenviable task 397 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 1: of informing the families of just what they had discovered. 398 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 1: It was hard to gauge which scenario offered them the 399 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: most hope, Whether the vehicle had been stolen and the 400 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: men possibly assaulted and left stranded elsewhere, or whether they themselves, 401 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 1: for reasons unknown, had abandoned the car high up in 402 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:44,080 Speaker 1: a mountain, late at night in minus zero temperatures. What 403 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: Beecham did know, however, was that neither scenario looked good. 404 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,760 Speaker 1: After scouring everywhere within a five mile radius of the 405 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:08,840 Speaker 1: abandoned Mercury Montego, the Yuber County Sheriff's Office had found nothing. 406 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: By the end of the day. However, they would have 407 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 1: their first significant lead. It came from a man named 408 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:23,720 Speaker 1: Joseph Schones. Around five fifty p m. On Friday, February 409 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:28,120 Speaker 1: twenty fourth, the night the five men went missing. Shones 410 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:31,360 Speaker 1: was making his way into Plumus National Forest along to 411 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:36,080 Speaker 1: Aureville to Quincy Road. Fifty five year old Shons had 412 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 1: been checking to see if the road would be accessible 413 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,720 Speaker 1: for a trip he planned to take that weekend when 414 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: his Volkswagen bug got suddenly stuck in the snow. After 415 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,640 Speaker 1: trying unsuccessfully to push it out, Schones felt a painful 416 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,080 Speaker 1: tightening in his chest and immediately got back inside the 417 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,320 Speaker 1: vehicle to catch his breath. Unbeknownst to him at the time, 418 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: he had suffered my heart attack. Being in such discomfort, 419 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 1: he decided his best hope was to keep the engine 420 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,960 Speaker 1: running and try to stay warm until it passed, or 421 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:14,600 Speaker 1: until someone else came by who could help. Drifting in 422 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: and out of consciousness as the pain in his chest intensified. 423 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: It was about eleven thirty pm when Schons were startled 424 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 1: awake by what he took to be two sets of 425 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 1: headlights driving in from behind him, one belonging to a 426 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 1: car and the other to a pickup truck by. Now 427 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:38,440 Speaker 1: unable to move, he could only watch in desperation as 428 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 1: the lights passed him by and disappeared around the next bend. 429 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 1: Thirty minutes later, after hearing what he thought were people 430 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:54,760 Speaker 1: whistling nearby, Schons gathered the strength to investigate. Stumbling along 431 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,200 Speaker 1: in the dark, he followed what he now took to 432 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:01,440 Speaker 1: be voices until he came across a car seemingly parked 433 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,720 Speaker 1: up by the road and a number of silhouetted figures 434 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: moving about in front of its headlights. Schons later described 435 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 1: one of them as possibly being a woman who was 436 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,400 Speaker 1: carrying a baby, with all the other figures being men. 437 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:20,720 Speaker 1: When Shons called out for help, the talking ceased immediately. 438 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 1: Moments later, the headlights switched off plunged into complete darkness. 439 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 1: Shones angrily called out again for help, but got no response. 440 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 1: Suddenly feeling a little exposed, he swiftly turned around and 441 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: headed back to his car. A short time later, he 442 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:46,360 Speaker 1: caught sight of what he assumed to be the beams 443 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:50,640 Speaker 1: of flashlights moving about in the forest around him. Calling 444 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,440 Speaker 1: out once more for help, he could only watch in 445 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,719 Speaker 1: desperation as one by one the beams of light were 446 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: switched off in response. When shons Its engine eventually cut 447 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,240 Speaker 1: out at four am, he had little choice but to 448 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 1: strike out for the nearest inhabited place that he could find. 449 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: Remembering the vehicle he had seen from the night before, 450 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 1: he decided first to check if it was still there. 451 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 1: Sure enough, just where it had been the night before, 452 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 1: he found What he could see then was a turquoise 453 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:28,760 Speaker 1: Mercury Montego, but no sign of its previous occupants anywhere. 454 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 1: Despite suffering from a heart attack at the time, Joseph 455 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:38,120 Speaker 1: Schones eventually walked five miles to a nearby lodge house, 456 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,360 Speaker 1: from where he was later taken home by its manager. 457 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 1: When explaining all this to the police later, although there 458 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,600 Speaker 1: was little doubt he had seen the abandoned car, Shons 459 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,520 Speaker 1: cautioned that since he wasn't entirely lucid at the time, 460 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:00,800 Speaker 1: not everything he s thund though what he had seen 461 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:05,840 Speaker 1: could be trusted either way, it was certainly something to 462 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,799 Speaker 1: go on. What's more, if a fifty five year old 463 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:12,919 Speaker 1: man suffering a heart attack was able to walk five 464 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:16,080 Speaker 1: miles down the road to safety, there was reason to 465 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:20,240 Speaker 1: hope that the five men from Uber County, Bill Stirling, 466 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:26,600 Speaker 1: Jack Madruger, Jack Hewitt, Ted Weeher and Gary Mathias could 467 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:30,600 Speaker 1: have done the same, provided they were indeed the men 468 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 1: that Seans had seen. Under Sheriff Jack Beecham received another 469 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 1: break shortly after, when a print dusting of the car 470 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:43,000 Speaker 1: revealed no other marks inside apart from those belonging to 471 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:47,080 Speaker 1: the missing men. Though it wasn't conclusive, it seemed to 472 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:50,000 Speaker 1: suggest at least that the car had not been stolen. 473 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:54,880 Speaker 1: By the end of that first day, nine inches of 474 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: snow fell across the Plumous National Forest region, further complicating 475 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:05,040 Speaker 1: the sur Buoyed by Schonz's witness statement. However, the various 476 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,680 Speaker 1: local sheriff's departments expanded their search to as far as 477 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 1: Buck's Lake, some twenty miles up the road from where 478 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 1: the car was found, having discovered that Bill Sterling's family 479 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:19,440 Speaker 1: owned a cabin near the lake, there was a chance 480 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 1: that the men might have tried to reach it, but 481 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:28,000 Speaker 1: again no footprints, clothing, or any other sign of them 482 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:32,759 Speaker 1: could be found. Back in the Uber City area, the 483 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:36,799 Speaker 1: families of the missing, crippled by worry, continued to wait 484 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 1: helplessly for any sign of their sons and brothers. With 485 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,480 Speaker 1: the police continuing to draw a blank, some of the 486 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:48,759 Speaker 1: parents suggested contacting a psychic, in the expectation that even 487 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,359 Speaker 1: if they couldn't give them any clues, it might at 488 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:56,960 Speaker 1: least give them some hope. Doctor Gloria Daniel was a 489 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:01,240 Speaker 1: member of the Church of Zadi, an organization that claimed 490 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:05,520 Speaker 1: to teach its members how to become psychic. Although Daniel 491 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: had not come officially recommended by the Uber County Police, 492 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 1: it is said that she had successfully helped them with 493 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:16,280 Speaker 1: similar cases in the past. On the morning of Friday, 494 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,120 Speaker 1: March third, a handful of family members gathered together with 495 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:24,240 Speaker 1: doctor Daniel and watched expectantly as she ran her hands 496 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: through a series of clothes belonging to the missing men. 497 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:32,960 Speaker 1: Then she sat back and closed her eyes. After a 498 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:37,320 Speaker 1: short pause, with the relatives in wrapt silence, Daniel began 499 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:41,400 Speaker 1: to speak. She could see people gathered together in a 500 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:46,440 Speaker 1: shack or a cabin in a wooded hilly area, somewhere 501 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:50,880 Speaker 1: near a body of water, she said. And something else, 502 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:55,840 Speaker 1: a small detail, a row of men tucked into what 503 00:36:55,960 --> 00:37:03,560 Speaker 1: looked like green sacks made of canvas bags. Perhaps, she thought, so, 504 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:08,080 Speaker 1: they're still alive, asked one of the relatives. Hopefully. Doctor 505 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:14,799 Speaker 1: Daniel hesitated, then opened her eyes. I'm afraid that is 506 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:25,960 Speaker 1: all I can tell you, she said. By Saturday, March fourth, 507 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:29,279 Speaker 1: as the search entered its second week, the Butte and 508 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,759 Speaker 1: Plumers County sheriffs began to question the merits of continuing. 509 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:37,000 Speaker 1: With the recent storms showing no sign of letting up 510 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,160 Speaker 1: and the snow continuing to fall heavily, they decided to 511 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 1: pull back their resources for under Sheriff Jack Beecham, who 512 00:37:46,239 --> 00:37:50,600 Speaker 1: was supervising the entire search, and his superior Sheriff Grant. However, 513 00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:54,120 Speaker 1: there was no question of calling it off anytime soon. 514 00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:58,239 Speaker 1: Not only did the men's lives depend on it, but 515 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:01,799 Speaker 1: the entire reputation of the Up County Police Department was 516 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:06,120 Speaker 1: resting on it too. It was only the year before 517 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,840 Speaker 1: that then under Sheriff Lloyd Finley was arrested on charges 518 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:14,880 Speaker 1: of corruption, having been accused of stealing weapons, money, and 519 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:19,840 Speaker 1: other valuable articles from the county evidence room. The DA 520 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:23,719 Speaker 1: who had prosecuted him, believed the crimes were merely symptomatic 521 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:27,120 Speaker 1: of a corrupt undercurrent in local police practices which had 522 00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:31,759 Speaker 1: been left unchallenged for too long. The case had been 523 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,560 Speaker 1: dragging on for almost a year by now, with it 524 00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:39,759 Speaker 1: looking increasingly lightly that Finley was indeed guilty, finding the 525 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:43,520 Speaker 1: five missing men alive was the perfect opportunity to win 526 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:48,359 Speaker 1: back the community's trust for under Sheriff Beecham, who had 527 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:51,760 Speaker 1: been drafted in to replace Lloyd Finley, and Sheriff Grant 528 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,959 Speaker 1: facing re election later that year. The personal stakes could 529 00:38:55,960 --> 00:39:00,279 Speaker 1: barely have been any higher. At the beginning of that 530 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,239 Speaker 1: second week, having put posters up of the missing men 531 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,080 Speaker 1: all across the Uber and Sutter area, and with reports 532 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:10,520 Speaker 1: of their disappearance a daily feature in the local news, 533 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:15,880 Speaker 1: the pair finally had another lead to follow up. Carol 534 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:19,239 Speaker 1: Waltz was the owner of a local store in Brownsville, 535 00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:24,600 Speaker 1: another foothill town of the Sierra Nevada just south of Oraville. 536 00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:28,480 Speaker 1: Waltz had been working on Saturday, February twenty fifth, the 537 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:31,560 Speaker 1: day after the men had last been seen, when two 538 00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:36,120 Speaker 1: men matching the descriptions of Jack Hewitt and Gary Mathias 539 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:40,319 Speaker 1: came into her store. The pair was said to have 540 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:43,759 Speaker 1: bought a variety of snack foods before heading back outside 541 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:49,080 Speaker 1: to eat. A second witness also called that same day, 542 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:51,759 Speaker 1: claiming to have seen at least four of the men 543 00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:56,239 Speaker 1: at the same store. The day after, two of them, 544 00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:58,920 Speaker 1: who she took to be Bill Stirling and Ted Weer, 545 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:02,600 Speaker 1: were sitting in a red pickup truck, while two others, 546 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,160 Speaker 1: who she assumed to be Jack Madruger and Jack Hewitt, 547 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:21,080 Speaker 1: were seen at a telephone booth nearby. Having previously focused 548 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:24,400 Speaker 1: their search to no avail on the immediate vicinity of 549 00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:28,360 Speaker 1: the abandoned car, Beecham now feared that he had missed 550 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:32,680 Speaker 1: a trick. In response to the possible sighting in Brownsville, 551 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:37,799 Speaker 1: who promptly split the investigation into four parts, with the 552 00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:41,600 Speaker 1: mountain search still continuing. One unit was instructed to go 553 00:40:41,719 --> 00:40:44,920 Speaker 1: back over all the evidence they had, tracing the men's 554 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:49,399 Speaker 1: movements up to the night that they disappeared. Another would 555 00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:53,240 Speaker 1: focus on reinterviewing the family and friends, while the fourth 556 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:57,080 Speaker 1: focused its energies on trying to locate any more witnesses 557 00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:02,520 Speaker 1: from Brownsville of immediate interest was the description of the 558 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:07,959 Speaker 1: pickup truck, now mentioned by two separate witnesses. A short 559 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,719 Speaker 1: time later, one friend of Gary Matthias's suggested he might 560 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:15,280 Speaker 1: have taken the men to visit friends in nearby Forbestown, 561 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,120 Speaker 1: but when the police contacted them, they claimed not to 562 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:23,239 Speaker 1: have heard from Gary for months. A fund set up 563 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:26,920 Speaker 1: by the desperate families for any vital information raised almost 564 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:29,880 Speaker 1: three and a half thousand dollars, but failed to yield 565 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:35,160 Speaker 1: any significant leads. On and on, the exhaustive search continued, 566 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:39,400 Speaker 1: entering a third and then a fourth week, but still 567 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:44,000 Speaker 1: the men could not be found. The police also failed 568 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:48,640 Speaker 1: to find any trace of the apparent pickup truck. On 569 00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:53,759 Speaker 1: March twenty first, nineteen seventy eight, under Sheriff Beecham had 570 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:56,759 Speaker 1: no choice but to make the painful decision to call 571 00:41:56,800 --> 00:42:02,520 Speaker 1: off the search. After hundreds of hours, having used almost 572 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:08,440 Speaker 1: one hundred personnel, sniffer dogs, helicopters and snowmobiles, the five 573 00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:11,719 Speaker 1: friends who had supposedly left home merely to watch a 574 00:42:11,719 --> 00:42:15,840 Speaker 1: game of basketball, had completely vanished off the face of 575 00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:27,719 Speaker 1: the earth. With the search having wound down, one deputy 576 00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:30,640 Speaker 1: was put in place of collecting any further information that 577 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:34,520 Speaker 1: might come to light. Having gone to Marysville High School 578 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:38,239 Speaker 1: with Ted Weer and his brothers, Deputy Lance Heirs had 579 00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:41,720 Speaker 1: been affected by the men's disappearance, perhaps more than most, 580 00:42:43,239 --> 00:42:45,800 Speaker 1: taking it as his personal mission to bring closure to 581 00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:49,440 Speaker 1: the families, in whatever shape that may take. For the 582 00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:53,600 Speaker 1: next few months, Heirs spiritedly followed up on each and 583 00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:58,120 Speaker 1: every piece of information that came in, from apparent sightings 584 00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:01,279 Speaker 1: of the men in Sacramento to as far as Ontario 585 00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:06,000 Speaker 1: and Tampa in Florida. He chased them all to no avail. 586 00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,440 Speaker 1: When one local psychic claimed that the men had been 587 00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:14,200 Speaker 1: murdered in Oroville in a two story house numbered either 588 00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:19,000 Speaker 1: four seven two three or four seven five three, Airs 589 00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:22,040 Speaker 1: spent two days driving the streets for any sign of it, 590 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:28,960 Speaker 1: but no such house existed. On some nights, Deputy Heirs, 591 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:32,480 Speaker 1: dreaming that he had found them, would find himself walking 592 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:36,120 Speaker 1: toward them with open arms, only to wake up alone 593 00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:40,040 Speaker 1: in the cold darkness of his bedroom, his arms still 594 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:45,600 Speaker 1: outstretched before him. By the end of May, even the 595 00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:48,640 Speaker 1: families had begun to lose hope of ever finding out 596 00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:52,840 Speaker 1: what had happened to their children, But high up on 597 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:57,560 Speaker 1: the mountain. The snow was steadily beginning to thaw, and 598 00:43:57,719 --> 00:44:00,319 Speaker 1: soon it would be time to begin letting out up 599 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:11,600 Speaker 1: some of its secrets. On the afternoon of June fourth, 600 00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:15,640 Speaker 1: three bikers went for a weekend ride through Plumus Forest. 601 00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:20,360 Speaker 1: Heading along the Oureville to Quincy road, they decided to 602 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:23,600 Speaker 1: take a turn eastwards onto one of the narrower forest 603 00:44:23,719 --> 00:44:28,280 Speaker 1: roads that headed higher up into the mountain. A short 604 00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:32,160 Speaker 1: time later, the group pulled into the Daniel Zinc Campground, 605 00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:36,120 Speaker 1: located about three miles deeper into the forest off the 606 00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:40,439 Speaker 1: main road. The bikers pulled over and made their way 607 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:43,400 Speaker 1: to a large forest service cabin at the back of 608 00:44:43,440 --> 00:44:47,440 Speaker 1: the site, hoping to find a map of the local area. 609 00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:51,160 Speaker 1: Approaching the building, having just noticed a window that had 610 00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:54,760 Speaker 1: been smashed in, the riders were hit by a sweet, 611 00:44:55,040 --> 00:45:00,920 Speaker 1: putrid stench coming from inside. Going in to investigate further, 612 00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:06,720 Speaker 1: the bikers soon located the source of the smell. There, 613 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:09,960 Speaker 1: stretched out on a camp bed before them, lying under 614 00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:14,200 Speaker 1: multiple layers of darkly stained sheets, they could clearly see 615 00:45:14,239 --> 00:45:20,560 Speaker 1: the outline of a steadily decomposing body. When the call 616 00:45:20,719 --> 00:45:23,759 Speaker 1: came into the Euber County Sheriff's office later that day 617 00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:28,200 Speaker 1: under sheriff, Beecham grabbed his hat and made his way 618 00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:33,680 Speaker 1: to the nearest patrol car, arriving to find forensics and 619 00:45:33,760 --> 00:45:38,240 Speaker 1: deputies from the Plumers County Sheriff's Office already there. Beecham 620 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:40,960 Speaker 1: could tell by the look on their faces that they 621 00:45:41,000 --> 00:45:45,360 Speaker 1: had found. One of them covering his nose from the stench. 622 00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:49,280 Speaker 1: Beecham made his way into the cabin and approached the body. 623 00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:53,640 Speaker 1: With the sheets now rolled back, he could see the 624 00:45:53,680 --> 00:45:58,440 Speaker 1: emaciated figure lying underneath the way the cordroy trousers had 625 00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:01,560 Speaker 1: been rolled up to reveal clear signs of gangrene on 626 00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:06,879 Speaker 1: the legs. Next to it, on a side table lay 627 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:12,400 Speaker 1: a brown wallet, a bead necklace, and a ring. Beecham 628 00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:15,600 Speaker 1: picked it up and examined the engraving on the inside, 629 00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:28,000 Speaker 1: which read simply ted. The body would later be formally 630 00:46:28,040 --> 00:46:31,520 Speaker 1: identified as that of thirty two year old Ted Weir, 631 00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:37,799 Speaker 1: last seen alive almost one hundred days before. The pathologist 632 00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:40,240 Speaker 1: ruled the cause of his death to be the result 633 00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:44,480 Speaker 1: of a pulmonary edema brought on by exposure, having survived 634 00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:47,280 Speaker 1: for up to six weeks after he had first gone missing. 635 00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:51,160 Speaker 1: To get to the cabin, Weir would have to have 636 00:46:51,239 --> 00:46:55,319 Speaker 1: trackt almost twenty miles up hill in minus temperatures through 637 00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:59,040 Speaker 1: six foot snowdrifts in the middle of the night. The 638 00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:02,239 Speaker 1: shirt and cord trousers found on his body, with the 639 00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:06,799 Speaker 1: only clothes he had been wearing. What's more, he had 640 00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:10,520 Speaker 1: most likely been sheltering in the cabin, alive and reasonably 641 00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:15,760 Speaker 1: well throughout the entirety of the original search, but Beecham 642 00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:20,520 Speaker 1: couldn't understand it. A cursory look around the service cabin 643 00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:23,880 Speaker 1: revealed thirty one cans of food that had been taken 644 00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:27,560 Speaker 1: from a storage locker and eaten, but an entire other 645 00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:32,799 Speaker 1: locker's worth that had been left untouched. Propane gas linked 646 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:35,920 Speaker 1: to a heating system was also discovered, as well as 647 00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:40,200 Speaker 1: stoves and matches, but also books and furniture that could 648 00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:44,239 Speaker 1: easily have been used as fuel for a fire. None 649 00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:48,960 Speaker 1: of it had been utilized. And then there were the 650 00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:54,200 Speaker 1: missing shoes. Weir had been wearing a pair of sturdy 651 00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:57,400 Speaker 1: leather shoes the night he went missing, but when they 652 00:47:57,440 --> 00:48:02,360 Speaker 1: found his body, his shoes had gone. They did, however, 653 00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:05,960 Speaker 1: find another pair of shoes left in the cabin, a 654 00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:10,760 Speaker 1: pair of tennis shoes that had belonged to Gary Matthias. 655 00:48:11,719 --> 00:48:15,319 Speaker 1: A recently burned out candle suggested that perhaps someone else 656 00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:18,840 Speaker 1: had also been there too, long after Weir had died, 657 00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:30,880 Speaker 1: but had since left. The discovery of Weir's body prompted 658 00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:34,200 Speaker 1: an immediate response from the Plumus and Uber County police, 659 00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:38,000 Speaker 1: reconvening the search they had called off three months previously. 660 00:48:39,600 --> 00:48:43,400 Speaker 1: Two days later, tracing likely lines from the service cabin 661 00:48:43,680 --> 00:48:47,399 Speaker 1: back to where the Montago had been abandoned, officers soon 662 00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:53,160 Speaker 1: uncovered another body, or what was left of it. It 663 00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:56,920 Speaker 1: was found roughly halfway between the cabin and the abandoned car, 664 00:48:57,520 --> 00:49:01,799 Speaker 1: lying face up next to a small star dream. The 665 00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:05,160 Speaker 1: face and extremities had been eaten away by forest animals 666 00:49:05,480 --> 00:49:09,760 Speaker 1: some time after death. Car Keys found in the trouser 667 00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:12,960 Speaker 1: pockets revealed it to be the body of thirty year 668 00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:19,680 Speaker 1: old Jack Madruga. Later that day, not far from Madruger's body, 669 00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:24,279 Speaker 1: more human bones were discovered scattered across an area of 670 00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:28,080 Speaker 1: roughly fifty feet. It was all that was left of 671 00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:33,080 Speaker 1: twenty nine year old Bill Stirling. That those three had 672 00:49:33,120 --> 00:49:37,320 Speaker 1: now been discovered was understandably devastating for the relevant families, 673 00:49:37,800 --> 00:49:41,680 Speaker 1: but equally so for those of Gary Matthias. And Jack Hewitt, 674 00:49:43,040 --> 00:49:45,720 Speaker 1: with neither having been heard from in over one hundred days. 675 00:49:46,239 --> 00:49:48,960 Speaker 1: In all likelihood, they hadn't made it out of the 676 00:49:48,960 --> 00:49:54,080 Speaker 1: forest alive either. Believing it to be only a matter 677 00:49:54,120 --> 00:49:57,080 Speaker 1: of time before the others would be found, scores of 678 00:49:57,160 --> 00:49:59,920 Speaker 1: volunteers joined the police to help speed up the ser 679 00:50:01,920 --> 00:50:04,800 Speaker 1: On the morning of June the eighth, Jack Hewitt's father, 680 00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:11,120 Speaker 1: also named Jack, arrived to help. Deputy Lance Heyres, who 681 00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:13,720 Speaker 1: had been entrusted with the case after the initial search 682 00:50:13,719 --> 00:50:16,719 Speaker 1: had been ended, did his best to discourage him from 683 00:50:16,800 --> 00:50:21,560 Speaker 1: joining in, but Jack would not be dissuaded. A few 684 00:50:21,560 --> 00:50:25,000 Speaker 1: hours later, searching an area roughly five miles from the 685 00:50:25,040 --> 00:50:28,960 Speaker 1: cabin where Weir had been found, Jack spotted something out 686 00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:33,040 Speaker 1: of place in the undergrowth. It was a faded Levi's 687 00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:39,279 Speaker 1: denim jacket. He immediately recognized it as his son's. When 688 00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:42,280 Speaker 1: he picked it up from the ground, a human spine 689 00:50:42,600 --> 00:50:47,480 Speaker 1: fell out of it. Jack recoiled in horror as police 690 00:50:47,560 --> 00:50:51,920 Speaker 1: quickly gathered round to take it from him. Hewitt's skull 691 00:50:52,040 --> 00:50:54,520 Speaker 1: was found a further one hundred yards down the hill, 692 00:50:56,320 --> 00:50:59,760 Speaker 1: barely a quarter of a mile away. Investigators also found 693 00:51:00,080 --> 00:51:04,200 Speaker 1: three woolled blankets and flashlights, which had likely been taken 694 00:51:04,280 --> 00:51:09,080 Speaker 1: from the service cabin. But no matter how hard they looked, 695 00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:14,720 Speaker 1: they found no sign of Gary Matthias. After two further 696 00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:18,840 Speaker 1: weeks under Sheriff Jack Beecham called off the search for 697 00:51:18,880 --> 00:51:23,880 Speaker 1: a second time. The bodies, or rather remains of the 698 00:51:23,920 --> 00:51:27,480 Speaker 1: four men that had so far been found had been 699 00:51:27,520 --> 00:51:31,840 Speaker 1: placed into green canvas bags after all, just as supposed 700 00:51:31,880 --> 00:51:36,920 Speaker 1: psychic doctor Daniel had apparently seen, only they weren't sleeping 701 00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:45,040 Speaker 1: bags but body bags. Bill Stirling, Jack Madruger, and Jack 702 00:51:45,080 --> 00:51:47,840 Speaker 1: Hewitt's deaths were all found to have been the result 703 00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:53,120 Speaker 1: of hypothermia, with no apparent signs of foul play. That 704 00:51:53,160 --> 00:51:55,319 Speaker 1: their bones and bodies were in the state that they 705 00:51:55,320 --> 00:51:57,920 Speaker 1: were was thought merely to have been down to the 706 00:51:57,920 --> 00:52:03,040 Speaker 1: animals that got to them after they died. All that 707 00:52:03,200 --> 00:52:05,960 Speaker 1: was left for Beecham was to try and piece together 708 00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:16,600 Speaker 1: exactly what happened, and he knew just where to start. 709 00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:21,640 Speaker 1: Beacham had his doubts about the twenty five year old 710 00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:26,160 Speaker 1: Gary Matthias from the beginning. Where the others had intellectual 711 00:52:26,160 --> 00:52:30,399 Speaker 1: disabilities of one form or another, Matthias had no such thing. 712 00:52:32,120 --> 00:52:36,080 Speaker 1: Early on in the investigation, Beacham learned from Matthias's family 713 00:52:36,440 --> 00:52:39,359 Speaker 1: that his involvement with the Gateway project and how he 714 00:52:39,400 --> 00:52:42,120 Speaker 1: met the others in the first place, was due to 715 00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:47,920 Speaker 1: his struggles with schizophrenia. What Beacham also discovered, however, was 716 00:52:47,960 --> 00:52:50,799 Speaker 1: that his history was a little more complicated than that. 717 00:52:53,280 --> 00:52:55,920 Speaker 1: Matthias had in fact been in and out of psychiatric 718 00:52:55,960 --> 00:53:00,600 Speaker 1: hospitals since the age of fifteen, first being committed after 719 00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:05,640 Speaker 1: seemingly having suffered an adverse reaction from taking hallucinogenic drugs. 720 00:53:06,440 --> 00:53:09,200 Speaker 1: After being drafted into the army at the age of eighteen, 721 00:53:09,840 --> 00:53:13,400 Speaker 1: despite his clear medical records, Matthias is said to have 722 00:53:13,440 --> 00:53:17,120 Speaker 1: suffered another psychiatric breakdown as the result of his continued 723 00:53:17,200 --> 00:53:21,919 Speaker 1: drug use. At one point, Matthias was arrested after going 724 00:53:21,960 --> 00:53:26,200 Speaker 1: a wall while waiting in his cell. He demanded to 725 00:53:26,200 --> 00:53:29,120 Speaker 1: speak to the officers on duty, only to attack them 726 00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:33,640 Speaker 1: when they opened his door. Matthias had stripped completely naked 727 00:53:33,800 --> 00:53:38,680 Speaker 1: before carrying out the attack. Around the same time, the 728 00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:42,359 Speaker 1: nineteen year old Matthias, now living back home in Olivehurst, 729 00:53:42,880 --> 00:53:46,160 Speaker 1: went to visit his cousin. At some point in the night, 730 00:53:46,520 --> 00:53:51,120 Speaker 1: Matthias was discovered sexually assaulting his cousin's wife, while she slept. 731 00:53:52,520 --> 00:53:55,720 Speaker 1: After being charged with assaulting a police officer and intent 732 00:53:55,840 --> 00:53:59,280 Speaker 1: to rape, Matthias was facing up to twelve years in prison, 733 00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:03,760 Speaker 1: but eventually accepted a plea deal and served only eight months. 734 00:54:05,400 --> 00:54:10,440 Speaker 1: After his release, Matthias's behaviour became ever more erratic. With 735 00:54:10,520 --> 00:54:14,239 Speaker 1: his drug use escalating, he found himself increasingly on the 736 00:54:14,239 --> 00:54:17,279 Speaker 1: wrong side of the law. There were a number of 737 00:54:17,320 --> 00:54:20,280 Speaker 1: bar fights, as well as complaints of disturbing the peace. 738 00:54:22,120 --> 00:54:24,799 Speaker 1: One time, Matthias is even said to have turned up 739 00:54:24,920 --> 00:54:27,600 Speaker 1: high at the house of a couple he knew, telling 740 00:54:27,640 --> 00:54:29,799 Speaker 1: them he was going to stab a woman in the jaw. 741 00:54:31,360 --> 00:54:34,680 Speaker 1: Two subsequent attempts to have him committed ended in failure 742 00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:38,400 Speaker 1: when Matthias managed to escape on one account by crawling 743 00:54:38,440 --> 00:54:43,160 Speaker 1: out of a storm drain. In nineteen seventy five, Gary 744 00:54:43,200 --> 00:54:46,960 Speaker 1: Matthias enrolled at Eyuber College, but struggled with both its 745 00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:51,640 Speaker 1: conventions and fitting in with other students. Eventually he moved 746 00:54:51,640 --> 00:54:54,800 Speaker 1: out to Oregon in Washington State to live with his grandmother, 747 00:54:55,400 --> 00:54:57,799 Speaker 1: only to turn up at his mother and stepfather's house 748 00:54:57,840 --> 00:55:02,600 Speaker 1: weeks later, tired into chevel. He had apparently worked the 749 00:55:02,640 --> 00:55:06,360 Speaker 1: five hundred and forty mile journey home eating food he 750 00:55:06,400 --> 00:55:10,799 Speaker 1: found along the way to stay alive, all of which, 751 00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:14,520 Speaker 1: for Beecham, made Matthias not only a potential candidate for 752 00:55:14,560 --> 00:55:17,120 Speaker 1: the murder of the other men, or at least to 753 00:55:17,160 --> 00:55:21,000 Speaker 1: have led them astray, but also one who might even 754 00:55:21,080 --> 00:55:24,360 Speaker 1: have been capable of getting out at the forest alive. 755 00:55:25,960 --> 00:55:29,480 Speaker 1: That Gary Matthias has never been found only serves to 756 00:55:29,520 --> 00:55:34,840 Speaker 1: heighten this theory. It has also been speculated that at 757 00:55:34,960 --> 00:55:38,440 Speaker 1: least Matthias and possibly Jack Hewitt had made it to 758 00:55:38,480 --> 00:55:42,040 Speaker 1: the service cabin with Ted Weir, only to leave soon after, 759 00:55:42,640 --> 00:55:45,440 Speaker 1: with Matthias being the one most likely to have taken 760 00:55:45,480 --> 00:55:57,040 Speaker 1: Weir's shoes. Unless Gary Matthias is found to have survived 761 00:55:57,080 --> 00:55:59,759 Speaker 1: after all, it is unlikely there will ever be an 762 00:55:59,800 --> 00:56:03,080 Speaker 1: arts as to what exactly happened on that mysterious night 763 00:56:03,280 --> 00:56:08,360 Speaker 1: in February nineteen seventy eight, while five men found themselves 764 00:56:08,440 --> 00:56:12,400 Speaker 1: driving high up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains seventy miles 765 00:56:12,440 --> 00:56:16,440 Speaker 1: in the wrong direction. Why Having gone as far as 766 00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:20,480 Speaker 1: they could, the men then seemingly abandoned their car and 767 00:56:20,640 --> 00:56:25,399 Speaker 1: undertook a treacherous journey through thick forest and six foot snowdrifts, 768 00:56:26,040 --> 00:56:29,680 Speaker 1: reaching ever higher into the mountains, only to find death 769 00:56:29,920 --> 00:56:33,640 Speaker 1: waiting for them at the end of it. Much has 770 00:56:33,680 --> 00:56:37,719 Speaker 1: been made about the men's intellectual capacities, suggesting this may 771 00:56:37,719 --> 00:56:40,239 Speaker 1: have been a significant factor in what could have been 772 00:56:40,360 --> 00:56:45,640 Speaker 1: little more than a horrifically wrong turn. Some have suggested 773 00:56:45,680 --> 00:56:48,040 Speaker 1: this might also account for why those who made it 774 00:56:48,080 --> 00:56:50,680 Speaker 1: to the forest to serve his cabin didn't eat the 775 00:56:50,719 --> 00:56:56,360 Speaker 1: food and engage the heating apparatus to survive. Others suggest that, 776 00:56:56,440 --> 00:56:59,480 Speaker 1: due to their innocence with such things, are worried that 777 00:56:59,480 --> 00:57:02,359 Speaker 1: they will break the law made them too afraid to 778 00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:08,719 Speaker 1: do so. As for Gary Matthias, despite under Sheriff Beecham's 779 00:57:08,719 --> 00:57:12,600 Speaker 1: reservations in the time leading up to his disappearance, he 780 00:57:12,640 --> 00:57:16,200 Speaker 1: appeared to have turned his life around. Not only was 781 00:57:16,240 --> 00:57:19,320 Speaker 1: he holding down a steady job, but having finally been 782 00:57:19,360 --> 00:57:22,600 Speaker 1: treated properly for his schizophrenia, of which most of his 783 00:57:22,720 --> 00:57:26,720 Speaker 1: erratic behavior was likely just a symptom, he hadn't suffered 784 00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:31,000 Speaker 1: any negative effects from it for over two years. Once 785 00:57:31,040 --> 00:57:34,360 Speaker 1: lost in the forest, however, we can only speculate how 786 00:57:34,440 --> 00:57:40,600 Speaker 1: quickly he may have deteriorated without his medication. Certainly, for 787 00:57:40,680 --> 00:57:45,800 Speaker 1: Gary's mother and stepfather, theirs was an especially difficult anguish. 788 00:57:46,320 --> 00:57:48,840 Speaker 1: Not only did they never get closure, but in the 789 00:57:48,880 --> 00:57:51,640 Speaker 1: absence of it, they were also forced to endure the 790 00:57:51,640 --> 00:57:55,720 Speaker 1: inevitable suspicions that arose once Gary's passed came to the 791 00:57:55,760 --> 00:58:00,760 Speaker 1: attention of the public. Like many of the other parents, 792 00:58:01,280 --> 00:58:04,160 Speaker 1: Gary's mother and stepfather had also joined in with the 793 00:58:04,200 --> 00:58:08,439 Speaker 1: search for the missing men. His stepfather, Robert, had spent 794 00:58:08,520 --> 00:58:11,919 Speaker 1: most of his time hunting for Gary's distinctive thick, black 795 00:58:12,000 --> 00:58:15,800 Speaker 1: rimmed glasses, reasoning that if a bear had taken him, 796 00:58:16,320 --> 00:58:20,920 Speaker 1: it would have at least left those uneaten. In all 797 00:58:20,960 --> 00:58:23,840 Speaker 1: the time spent waiting for news of her son's whereabouts, 798 00:58:24,200 --> 00:58:27,920 Speaker 1: Gary's mother, Ida, refused to turn on her television to 799 00:58:28,000 --> 00:58:31,720 Speaker 1: afraid of what she might find out. But no news 800 00:58:32,040 --> 00:58:35,800 Speaker 1: ever came. She would spend the rest of her life 801 00:58:36,240 --> 00:58:43,320 Speaker 1: looking for him. I'd like to thank Ryan Vaughns in 802 00:58:43,400 --> 00:58:46,680 Speaker 1: New York for bringing this extraordinary story to my attention. 803 00:58:50,480 --> 00:58:55,080 Speaker 1: This episode was written by Richard McLain Smith unexplained as 804 00:58:55,120 --> 00:58:59,440 Speaker 1: an Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard McLain Smith. 805 00:59:00,160 --> 00:59:03,400 Speaker 1: All other elements of the podcast, including the music, are 806 00:59:03,440 --> 00:59:08,080 Speaker 1: also produced by me. Richard McClean smith unexplained the book 807 00:59:08,120 --> 00:59:11,560 Speaker 1: and audiobook with stories never before featured on the show, 808 00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:16,080 Speaker 1: is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, 809 00:59:16,360 --> 00:59:21,160 Speaker 1: Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and other bookstores. 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