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Speaker 1: Look closely into the daily goings on of any town

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Speaker 1: or city, and soon enough you'll come across something a

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Speaker 1: little unsavory or unsettling. A strange paradox when you consider

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Speaker 1: that such places are often held up as examples of

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Speaker 1: our superior sense of civility, we need not be so

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Speaker 1: hard in ourselves, however, considering the number of different people

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Speaker 1: and ideas all crammed in together in these places, it's

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Speaker 1: a wander they function at all. That said, when things

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Speaker 1: happen there that aren't to our liking, we have only

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Speaker 1: ourselves to blame, and it is only through ourselves alone

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Speaker 1: that we can rectify such unwanted situations. The same cannot

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Speaker 1: be said for the town of Castle Rock, the principal

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Speaker 1: location and title of the recent Huluu TV series based

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Speaker 1: on the works of Stephen King. Without wanting to give

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Speaker 1: anything away, the show essentially details the life of a

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Speaker 1: seemingly quaint and quiet town in which darkness, in one

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Speaker 1: form or another appears especially drawn to it. I was

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Speaker 1: reminded of this show when researching this week's story, though

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Speaker 1: I would never suggest an entire town, or in this case,

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Speaker 1: a whole region, was preternaturally susceptible to unfortunate things. If

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Speaker 1: I were to believe that such things were possible. However,

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Speaker 1: this place would certainly provide a compelling case study. The

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Speaker 1: Uba Sutter area, of which Yuba City is the principal city,

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Speaker 1: begins ten miles to the north of Sacramento and stretches

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Speaker 1: northwestwards toward the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

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Speaker 1: In the early eighteenth century, much of the land, which

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Speaker 1: would eventually encompass most of Uba County, including the Yuba

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Speaker 1: City area, was sold to a highly controversial individual named

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Speaker 1: John Sutter. Around a hundred and fifty years later, the

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Speaker 1: county's name would become synonymous with one of the United

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Speaker 1: States's most enduring and tragic mysteries. You're listening to Unexplained,

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Speaker 1: and I'm Richard McClean smith. In the early nineteenth century,

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Speaker 1: Johann Sutter had been wanted for fraud in his home

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Speaker 1: country of Switzerland before deciding to change his name to

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Speaker 1: John and take his chances in the fledgling United States.

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Speaker 1: Leaving behind a wife and five children. He arrived in

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Speaker 1: New York in eighteen thirty four and spent the next

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Speaker 1: five years exhaustively touring the continent to get the measure

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Speaker 1: of it. After managing to ingratiate himself with a number

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Speaker 1: of prominent Euro American dignitaries, he eventually settled in what

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Speaker 1: was then Alta, California, in the summer of eighteen thirty nine.

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Speaker 1: At the time, Alta California was a relatively undeveloped province

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Speaker 1: of Mexico, having so far managed to resist the clutches

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Speaker 1: of the ever expanding United States. Realizing the area's potential,

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Speaker 1: Sutter succeeded in convincing the local governor to sell him

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Speaker 1: almost fifty thousand acres of land along the Sacramento River.

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Speaker 1: The following year, he established a trading colony there, which

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Speaker 1: he named New Helvetia. Rarely as such a story of

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Speaker 1: land purchase complete without some form of Native American displacement

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Speaker 1: or indeed slaughter, and Sutters was no different. Local tribes

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Speaker 1: that were unwilling to recognize these self appointed owners of

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Speaker 1: the lands that they lived on were dispensed with, swiftly,

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Speaker 1: being either forcibly moved or exterminated entirely. Any tribes adopted

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Speaker 1: to cooperate with the euro American or Mexican settlers would

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Speaker 1: invariably be put to work as little more than slaves.

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Speaker 1: The exact number of Native Americans that were killed in

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Speaker 1: the establishing of New Helvetia is unknown. It is thought, however,

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Speaker 1: that Suttter kept as many as six to eight hundred

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Speaker 1: of them as slaves, often locking them up in squalid

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Speaker 1: pens and placing their food in troughs, forcing them to

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Speaker 1: eat like farm animals. It is also speculated that he

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Speaker 1: raped Native American girls as young as twelve years old.

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Speaker 1: In eighteen forty y eight, gold was discovered on Sutter's land. However,

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Speaker 1: any hope he had of profiting from it was swiftly

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Speaker 1: dashed when his efforts to keep it secret failed miserably.

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Speaker 1: Within months, Sutter's land was overrun with swaves of prospectors

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Speaker 1: feverishly clawing at the earth in search of the shiny metal.

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Speaker 1: Such was the speed with which the gold rush unfolded,

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Speaker 1: there was little that Sutter could do to stop them.

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Speaker 1: Having brought more land in a bid to claim ownership

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Speaker 1: of any gold found on it, Sutter soon found himself

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Speaker 1: in major debt. With no other options, he was forced

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Speaker 1: to sell off his land, transferring any deeds he had

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Speaker 1: left into the name of his son. His land owning

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Speaker 1: ambitions were finished. A carmic come up once. Perhaps if

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Speaker 1: you believe in such things, perhaps too, if you believe

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Speaker 1: in such things, I'd say the series of events that

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Speaker 1: would befall the region in subsequent years were inevitable, given

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Speaker 1: what many would consider to be such rotten beginnings. Part

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Speaker 1: of the land that Sutter was forced to sell was

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Speaker 1: located just forty miles north of New Helvetia and centered

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Speaker 1: around the confluence of the Yuba and Feather Rivers. The

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Speaker 1: land was sold in eighteen forty nine to a small

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Speaker 1: consortium of men headed by Samuel Brannan, who quickly established

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Speaker 1: Yuba City in the middle of it. Almost immediately, the

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Speaker 1: fledgling city was overshadowed by Marysville, the town on the

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Speaker 1: opposite bank of the Feather River, which newcomers found much

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Speaker 1: easier to access, But soon it began to prosper, and

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Speaker 1: over the next one hundred years the city grew steadily

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Speaker 1: from a population of three hundred to seven and a

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Speaker 1: half thousand. Then, in December nineteen fifty five, a series

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Speaker 1: of devastating storms battered northern California. After days of relentless rain,

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Speaker 1: just after midnight on December twenty fourth, a levee broke

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Speaker 1: on the west bank of the Feather River, sending a

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Speaker 1: wall of water twenty one feet high, cascading into the

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Speaker 1: county and flooding ninety percent of Yuba City. Seventy four

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Speaker 1: people were killed. Five years later, a Bowing fifty two

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Speaker 1: bomber plane carrying two three point eight megaton thermonuclear bombs

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Speaker 1: flying into the vicinity of Yuba County experienced a sudden

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Speaker 1: and inexplicable loss of pressure in the fuselage. After ordering

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Speaker 1: the rest of the crew to bail out, the heroic

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Speaker 1: pilot managed to stay in the cockpit just enough to

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Speaker 1: steer the plane away from Uba City before baling out himself.

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Speaker 1: At only four thousand feet, the plane would eventually crash

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Speaker 1: into a barley field just eleven miles to the west

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Speaker 1: of the city. Miraculously, no radioactive material was released as

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Speaker 1: a result. In late spring nineteen seventy one, a Uba

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Speaker 1: County peach farmer noticed a large, freshly dug hole on

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Speaker 1: his land that had no apparent purpose. When he found

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Speaker 1: it filled in the next day, he became suspicious and

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Speaker 1: called the police to investigate it. Digging away the fresh dirt,

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Speaker 1: they found a man's body underneath, riddled with stab wounds.

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Speaker 1: The man was just one of at least twenty five

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Speaker 1: migrant farm workers from around the Yuba County area that

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Speaker 1: serial killer and Uba City resident Juan Corona was avent

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Speaker 1: convicted of murdering. Corona had been previously diagnosed with schizophrenia,

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Speaker 1: which some believe was triggered by the trauma he suffered

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Speaker 1: as a witness to the worst effects of the nineteen

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Speaker 1: fifty five flood. Another five years later, a school bus

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Speaker 1: carrying the Yuba City High School choir broke through a

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Speaker 1: guardrail just outside the city of Martinez, plunging thirty feet

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Speaker 1: to the ground. Twenty eight teenagers from the city and

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Speaker 1: their chaperone were killed instantly in what was the worst

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Speaker 1: school bus accident ever recorded in the United States at

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Speaker 1: the time. And yet, incredibly, despite this litany of tragedy,

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Speaker 1: the one for which the area would become most well

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Speaker 1: known had yet to pass. The story, most often referred

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Speaker 1: to as the Uba County five, is a bizarre and

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Speaker 1: heartbreaking mister that remains to this day unexplained. Mum, have

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Speaker 1: you seen my gaiter's T shirt? Cried Gary from the

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Speaker 1: laundry room. I need it for the game tomorrow. Gary's mum,

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Speaker 1: Ida appeared a moment later, holding the beige T shirt,

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Speaker 1: complete with its gateway Gaiter's logo emblazoned across it. All

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Speaker 1: washed and ready to go. Thanks, said Garry, taking it

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Speaker 1: before running to place it with the rest of his

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Speaker 1: kit that he'd laid out in preparation for the next day.

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Speaker 1: Just then, the sound of a car horn could be

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Speaker 1: heard coming from the turquoise Mercury Montego that had just

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Speaker 1: pulled up outside the front of the house. They're here,

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Speaker 1: said Gary excitedly as he grabbed his jacket and headed

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Speaker 1: toward the door. Remember I've got a big game tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: Don't let me sleep in, he said. Yes, I know,

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Speaker 1: said Ida, before kissing her son good bye and seeing

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Speaker 1: him out the door. It was February twenty fourth, nineteen

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Speaker 1: seventy eight, in the small district of Olivehurst, just to

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Speaker 1: the south of Yuba City. Far off in the distance,

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Speaker 1: the northern tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains could be seen,

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Speaker 1: its pine covered ranges still capped with snow. Down in

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Speaker 1: the valley, However, it was barely jacket weather. As a

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Speaker 1: pale sun was slowly beginning its final descent toward the horizon.

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Speaker 1: Waiting for Garry outside in the montago was thirty year

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Speaker 1: old driver and owner of the vehicle, Jack Madruga, accompanied

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Speaker 1: by thirty two year old Ted Weer and the twenty

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Speaker 1: four year old Jack Hewett. The others shouted for Garry

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Speaker 1: to hurry up as he raced to the car and

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Speaker 1: jumped into the front seat. Moments later, they pulled away

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Speaker 1: as Ida waved them off from her front door. A

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Speaker 1: few minutes later, they were parking up outside a small

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Speaker 1: house on to Leda Street in Uba City to collect

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Speaker 1: the fifth and final member of the group, twenty nine

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Speaker 1: year old Bill Sterling. With Bill finally settled in the

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Speaker 1: back seat, they were on their way once more. The

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Speaker 1: five men were friends from around the Uba County area

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Speaker 1: who had met at the Gateway's Project, a local organization

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Speaker 1: that helped adults with intellectual disabilities to better navigate their lives.

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Speaker 1: Driver Jack Madruga was perhaps the least affected by his disability.

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Speaker 1: Although he had never been diagnosed with anything specific, his

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Speaker 1: thought processes were considered to be slower than average. An

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Speaker 1: Army veteran, Jack had served two years in Vietnam as

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Speaker 1: a truck driver, and had recently started a job as

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Speaker 1: a dishwasher at a local dried fruit company. Ted and

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Speaker 1: Bill were perhaps the closest in the group, having known

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Speaker 1: each other for almost eight years. Ted had been doing

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Speaker 1: especially well recently, gaining employment through the Gateway Project repairing

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Speaker 1: cables for a local gas and electricity company. Just like

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Speaker 1: the others, Ted was not thought capable of fending for himself,

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Speaker 1: so lived at home with his parents. In his case,

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Speaker 1: this was due to what some considered to be a

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Speaker 1: basic lack of common sense. One time, when Ted's parents

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Speaker 1: house caught fire, Ted had been more concerned about getting

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Speaker 1: a good night's sleep than the flames that had begun

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Speaker 1: raging above his bed. His brother had to forcibly pull

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Speaker 1: him out of the house to save him. When Ted

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Speaker 1: tried to make friends with strangers, he could never understand

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Speaker 1: why they seemed so intimidated by him, or why they

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Speaker 1: wouldn't simply wave back when he waved at them. Bill

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Speaker 1: Sterling had also done well to gain employment working as

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Speaker 1: a dishwasher at the nearby Beal Air Force Base. Bill

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Speaker 1: enjoyed the position, especially the sense of independence it had

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Speaker 1: given him. However, he was instructed by his parents to

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Speaker 1: quit the job not long after taking it, after they

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Speaker 1: discovered that some of the air men there had been

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Speaker 1: plying him with alcohol and stealing his wages. Bill had

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Speaker 1: spent much of his youth in Napa State Psychiatric Hospital,

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Speaker 1: being generally misdiagnosed and misunderstood. Of all of them, twenty

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Speaker 1: four year old Jack, who could not read, write, or

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Speaker 1: use a telephone, was generally thought to be the most

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Speaker 1: severely affected by his disabilities. Having met Ted back when

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Speaker 1: he was sixteen, Jack, who was so deeply shy, would

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Speaker 1: come to rely heavily on him, and a pair had

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Speaker 1: become firm friends as a result. And then there was Gary.

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Speaker 1: Are you always taking care of your family? Do you

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Speaker 1: often take care of others and not yourself? Now it's

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Speaker 1: time to take care of yourself, to make time for you.

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Speaker 1: You deserve it. Tele Adoc gives you access to a

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Speaker 1: licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your

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Speaker 1: best to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc, you can

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Speaker 1: speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video. Therapy

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Speaker 1: Appointments are available seven days a week from seven am

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Speaker 1: to nine pm local time. If you feel overwhelmed. Sometimes

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Speaker 1: maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely, or

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Speaker 1: you might be struggling with a personal or family issue.

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Speaker 1: Teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches,

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Speaker 1: so they make it easy to change counts as if needed.

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Speaker 1: For free. Teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers.

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Speaker 1: Download the app or visit teledoc dot com forward slash

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Speaker 1: unexplained podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot com

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Speaker 1: slash unexplained podcast. Unlike the other four who often went

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Speaker 1: everywhere together and had known each other for an extended

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Speaker 1: period of time, twenty five year old Gary Matthias was

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Speaker 1: a fairly new addition to the group. Gary was also

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Speaker 1: an Army veteran stationed for a few years in Germany.

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Speaker 1: After suffering a psychiatric episode brought on by hallucinogenic drug youth,

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Speaker 1: Gary was discharged and sent home. For the past two years, however,

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Speaker 1: Gary had been well and successfully holding down a job

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Speaker 1: at his stepfather, Robert Clock's gardening business. Garry had been

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Speaker 1: introduced to the Gateway Project as a way of finding

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Speaker 1: new friends and had bonded with the others over their

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Speaker 1: mutual love of basketball. All of them played for the

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Speaker 1: Gateway Gators, the Project's basketball team, and were looking forward

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Speaker 1: to a big tournament they were due to play in

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Speaker 1: the following morning, which promised an all expenses paid trip

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Speaker 1: to Los Angeles for the winning team. That night, however,

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Speaker 1: their excitement was for a different game. The friends were

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Speaker 1: heading up to Chico, an hour's drive to the north,

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Speaker 1: to watch their favorite team, University California Davis, take on

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Speaker 1: Chico State. Despite their disabilities, such a trip wasn't unusual,

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Speaker 1: since the boys regularly traveled together to watch them play

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Speaker 1: at their home stadium in Davis or anywhere else that

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Speaker 1: wasn't too far to drive before returning straight home that

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Speaker 1: night shouldn't have been any After picking up Bill, the

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Speaker 1: men made a quick stop at Mico's service station on

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Speaker 1: Caloosa Avenue. The others stayed in the car as Bill

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Speaker 1: ran inside to pick up his fifteen dollar allowance from

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Speaker 1: his parents, who ran the place. Bill's mother, Juanita, who

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Speaker 1: was concerned about the men making the trip the night

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Speaker 1: before their tournament, tried again to dissuade her son from going.

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Speaker 1: As Bill explained, however, to night was the last chance

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Speaker 1: they'd get to watch their team this season, and there

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Speaker 1: was no way they were going to pass that up.

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Speaker 1: Realizing it was a lost cause, Juanita warned Bill not

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Speaker 1: to be back too late before sending him on his way.

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Speaker 1: Later that night, the men watched with delight as U. C.

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Speaker 1: Davis picked up their seventeenth win of the season, beating

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Speaker 1: Chico ninety eight to eighty six. Shortly after ten p m.

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Speaker 1: The men left the Chico University Stadium and piled back

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Speaker 1: into Jack's Montego. Soon after leaving the parking lot, one

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Speaker 1: of the men suggested they make a quick stop to

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Speaker 1: get some supplies for the return journey. Pulling up outside

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Speaker 1: a convenience store moments later, they were disappointed to find

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Speaker 1: the shop clerk closing the place up. After taking pity

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Speaker 1: on them, however, she agreed to stay open just long

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Speaker 1: enough for them to get what they needed. A short

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Speaker 1: time later, the men were back in the car, loaded

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Speaker 1: with some fruit pies and chocolate bath as Jack slowly

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Speaker 1: eased onto the road before heading off into the night.

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Speaker 1: Juanita Stirling hadn't taken her eyes off the clock since midnight.

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Speaker 1: All things going to plan, her son should have been

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Speaker 1: home by then by two am, she couldn't hold out

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Speaker 1: any longer. It wasn't the first time that Bill hadn't

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Speaker 1: come home on time or had even gone missing completely.

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Speaker 1: Often he would go and stay with friends and just

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Speaker 1: simply forget to call home. Each previous occasion, he had

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Speaker 1: never been more than a quick phone call away. Trying

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Speaker 1: not to panic, Juanita picked up the phone and dialed

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Speaker 1: for Melbourne, Jack Madruga's mother with whom he lived in

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Speaker 1: nearby Linda, but Jack was also yet to come home.

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Speaker 1: It was a few hours later that Ted's mother, Image

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Speaker 1: and Weier, who had slept through the earlier phone calls,

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Speaker 1: woke up to find her son's bed empty, having not

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Speaker 1: been slept in the night before. Calling Juanita immediately to

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Speaker 1: find that both Bill and Jack were also still missing.

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Speaker 1: Calling Jack Hewett's mother soon after, Imogen got the same response.

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Speaker 1: Their last hope was that the boys had all gone

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Speaker 1: to Gary Matthias's family home. Since the Weirs lived just

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Speaker 1: down the street from them, Imogen's daughter in law volunteered

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Speaker 1: to go and check if they were there. The look

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Speaker 1: on her face when she returned was all Imogen needed

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Speaker 1: to know. The men, would you to meet the rest

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Speaker 1: of their Gateway Gator's team later that morning outside a

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Speaker 1: store in Marysville. Knowing the five wouldn't have missed their

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Speaker 1: tournament for the world, a few of the family members

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Speaker 1: traveled to the store in hope that their sons and

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Speaker 1: brothers might yet be there, but the men never appeared.

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Speaker 1: By eight pm, having still heard nothing from them, Melbourne

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Speaker 1: Madruga informed the the county Sheriff's office that her son

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Speaker 1: and his four best friends were missing. That weekend, the

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Speaker 1: various families spent the days in a complete haze, anxiously

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Speaker 1: looking out for any mention of a car crash or

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Speaker 1: sighting of the missing men, but nothing came. On Monday,

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Speaker 1: having heard nothing from the police, Juanita took it on

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Speaker 1: herself to drive to Chico, where she handed out pictures

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Speaker 1: of the five friends to the various ticket sellers and

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Speaker 1: security officers at the University basketball stadium. None, however, recognized

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Speaker 1: the faces that had been sat in the venue for

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Speaker 1: over two hours only a few nights before. In the meantime,

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00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,119
Speaker 1: the sheriff's office had released a statement to the local

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Speaker 1: press giving a detailed description of the missing men and

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Speaker 1: the vehicle they were traveling in urging anyone to come

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Speaker 1: forward who might have important information as to their whereabouts.

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Speaker 1: Having been given a brief description of the personalities he

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Speaker 1: was looking for, and taking into account their intellectual disabilities,

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Speaker 1: Yuba County under Sheriff Jack Beecham was stumped as to

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Speaker 1: what might have happened to them. Certainly, no crashes with

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Speaker 1: that type of vehicle had been reported, and judging by

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Speaker 1: how the parents described it, there was no reason to

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Speaker 1: suggest that the men had struck out on an impromptu

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Speaker 1: road trip. The following day, Beecham received an unexpected call

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Speaker 1: from Plumus National Forest Ranger Willard Burris. Buris had been

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Speaker 1: making his way along a forest road when he came

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Speaker 1: across an abandoned car. He hadn't thought anything about it

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Speaker 1: at the time, but having seen a news report about

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Speaker 1: the missing men later that day, he thought to call

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Speaker 1: it in. Beecham was confused, however, Plumas Forest covered the

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Speaker 1: northern tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and was located

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Speaker 1: about seventy miles east of Chico, in the complete opposite

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Speaker 1: direction to where the men were supposed to have been heading. Moreover,

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Speaker 1: the point at which Boris claimed to have seen the

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00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:24,920
Speaker 1: car was four thousand feet high into them, but Buris

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Speaker 1: was adamant the vehicle he had seen was a turquoise

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Speaker 1: mercury Montego. The following day, Wednesday, March first, under Sheriff

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Speaker 1: Beecham with a handful of deputies, made his way to

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Speaker 1: the spot, detailed by forest Ranger Boris. An hour later,

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00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,520
Speaker 1: the officers found themselves leaving the mild flats of the

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Speaker 1: Yuba Shutter area and heading up into the Sierra Nevarda

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Speaker 1: Mountains toward the snow covered pines of Plumus National Forest.

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Speaker 1: With the temperature deadily dropping the higher they climbed, They

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00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 1: were soon approaching the snow line at an altitude of

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Speaker 1: roughly four thousand feet. The road was known locally as

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Speaker 1: the Oraville to Quincy Road, running from the foothill town

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00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,720
Speaker 1: of Oraville at the western edge of the mountains, snaking

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00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,600
Speaker 1: east via the town of Quincy all the way through

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Speaker 1: to the other side. During the summer months, the roads

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Speaker 1: would be jammed with daytrippers and holidaymakers heading out to

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Speaker 1: one of the many cabins that dotted the surrounding area,

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Speaker 1: with Bucks Lake, located in the middle of the forest

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00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:41,160
Speaker 1: about fifty miles from Oraville, being the biggest draw during

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Speaker 1: the winter months. However, by the time you had reached

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Speaker 1: the snow line, the road would quickly become impassable to

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Speaker 1: all but the most hardy of vehicles. It was at

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Speaker 1: this point, with the unpaved forest road becoming ever narrower

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Speaker 1: and more rugged, that Beecham spotted the car that Willard

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Speaker 1: had come across. Although by now it was carrying a

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Speaker 1: light dusting of snow, Beecham could see clearly that it

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00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:23,040
Speaker 1: was indeed a turquoise nineteen sixty nine Mercury, Montego. Beacham

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00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,560
Speaker 1: wrapped his jacket a little tighter about himself as he

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Speaker 1: made his way through the slush toward the vehicle. Brushing

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Speaker 1: away the snow from the window, he looked inside. Empty

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00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,679
Speaker 1: food wrappers were strewn about on the back seat, along

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00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:43,240
Speaker 1: with a couple of basketball programs, but the vehicle was

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00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:48,440
Speaker 1: otherwise empty. Trying the door, he was surprised to find

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00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:53,439
Speaker 1: it unlocked, but the keys were gone. Pulling a panel

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00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,880
Speaker 1: from under the steering wheel, Beecham fiddled with the wires

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00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:01,840
Speaker 1: until the car's engine roared into life. The under sheriff

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00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,840
Speaker 1: watched as the needle on the dashboard moved up to

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00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,080
Speaker 1: reveal at least a quarter tank of gas left in it.

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00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,280
Speaker 1: Stepping out of the car, Beecham took in the scene

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00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,600
Speaker 1: around him, staring off into the trees that backed away

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00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,159
Speaker 1: from the road. The ground, covered in fresh snow from

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00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:25,240
Speaker 1: the night before, all was completely silent, and there was

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00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:29,119
Speaker 1: no sign of track marks anywhere leading down or off

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00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:33,920
Speaker 1: the road. Looking at the front wheels, he could see

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Speaker 1: that they were a little stuck in the snow, but

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Speaker 1: it was nothing that a quick push couldn't have dislodged.

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Speaker 1: None of it seemed to make sense. Why on earth

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00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,720
Speaker 1: would the five friends have driven up into the mountains

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00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,359
Speaker 1: and then abandoned the car like this with absolutely no

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00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:55,679
Speaker 1: reason to unless, of course, it hadn't been them at

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00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,359
Speaker 1: all that had brought it there in the first place.

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00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,720
Speaker 1: Could it be? Beacham thought that it had been stolen

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00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,920
Speaker 1: and merely dumped there Where that might put the five

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00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:12,879
Speaker 1: missing men would be anyone's guess at this point. After

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Speaker 1: calling it in, Beecham was promptly appointed to lead the

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Speaker 1: search for the missing men. Forty personnel from huber, Plumas

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00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:26,119
Speaker 1: and Butte County, along with snowmobiles and a highway patrol

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00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:30,240
Speaker 1: helicopter were drafted in For the rest of the day.

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00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,480
Speaker 1: They searched every inch of the surrounding forest within a

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Speaker 1: five mile radius of the abandoned car for any sign

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00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:42,200
Speaker 1: of the two Jacks Hewitt and Madruga, Bill Sterling, Ted Weier,

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00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:47,120
Speaker 1: and Gary Matthias, but no clue to their possible whereabouts

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00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:53,000
Speaker 1: was found. Beecham knew only too well that if the

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00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:56,440
Speaker 1: five men had driven into the mountains after all, only

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Speaker 1: to abandon their vehicle, their survival depend on finding shelter

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Speaker 1: very quickly. Failure to do so, stumbling blindly in the

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Speaker 1: dark in subzero temperatures, dressed as they were for a

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Speaker 1: mild evening, would most likely be fatal. What's more, it

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Speaker 1: had now been almost a week since they had disappeared,

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00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:24,400
Speaker 1: and no one in the immediate area had seen them,

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Speaker 1: nor were they found in any of the nearby cabins

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00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 1: that they might have sought as a place of refuge.

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00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 1: Later that day, under Sheriff, Beacham had the unenviable task

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00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,960
Speaker 1: of informing the families of just what they had discovered.

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00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,000
Speaker 1: It was hard to gauge which scenario offered them the

404
00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:46,960
Speaker 1: most hope whether the vehicle had been stolen and the

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00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:52,880
Speaker 1: men possibly assaulted and left stranded elsewhere, or whether they themselves,

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00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,760
Speaker 1: for reasons unknown, had abandoned the car high up in

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Speaker 1: a mountain, late at night in minus zero temperatures. What

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00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:07,160
Speaker 1: Beecham did know, however, was that neither scenario looked good.

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Speaker 1: That was the end of part one of Unexplained, Season four,

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00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:19,160
Speaker 1: episode seven, called to the Forest. You can hear the

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00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:25,840
Speaker 1: second and final part next Friday, April twenty six. If

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00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,560
Speaker 1: you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to help

413
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 1: support us, you can now go to Unexplained podcast dot

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00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 1: com Forward Slash Support. All donations, no matter how large

415
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 1: or small, are massively appreciated. All elements have Unexplained are

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00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:46,920
Speaker 1: produced by me Richard McClain Smith. Please subscribe and rate

417
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,640
Speaker 1: the show on iTunes, and feel free to get in

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00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 1: touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've

419
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 1: heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of

420
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,320
Speaker 1: your own you'd like to share. You can reach us

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00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:04,320
Speaker 1: online at Unexplained podcast dot com, or Twitter at Unexplained

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00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:09,760
Speaker 1: Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained.

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00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,680
Speaker 1: Now it's time to take care of yourself to make

424
00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,720
Speaker 1: time for you. Teledoc gives you access to a licensed

425
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,760
Speaker 1: therapist to help you get back to feeling your best.

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00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,960
Speaker 1: Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video any

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00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,000
Speaker 1: time between seven a m. To nine pm local time,

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Speaker 1: podcast