WEBVTT - S04 Episode 7: Called to the Forest (Pt. 1 of 2) 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:13.840 Look closely into the daily goings on of any town 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:17.480 or city, and soon enough you'll come across something a 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:23.320 little unsavory or unsettling. A strange paradox when you consider 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:26.760 that such places are often held up as examples of 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:30.880 our superior sense of civility, we need not be so 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:35.480 hard in ourselves, however, considering the number of different people 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:40.120 and ideas all crammed in together in these places, it's 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:45.240 a wander they function at all. That said, when things 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.640 happen there that aren't to our liking, we have only 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:53.159 ourselves to blame, and it is only through ourselves alone 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:59.080 that we can rectify such unwanted situations. The same cannot 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:02.520 be said for the town of Castle Rock, the principal 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:06.679 location and title of the recent Huluu TV series based 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:10.759 on the works of Stephen King. Without wanting to give 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:15.000 anything away, the show essentially details the life of a 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:19.520 seemingly quaint and quiet town in which darkness, in one 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:25.360 form or another appears especially drawn to it. I was 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:30.080 reminded of this show when researching this week's story, though 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.360 I would never suggest an entire town, or in this case, 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:39.319 a whole region, was preternaturally susceptible to unfortunate things. If 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:42.240 I were to believe that such things were possible. However, 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:48.120 this place would certainly provide a compelling case study. The 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:52.240 Uba Sutter area, of which Yuba City is the principal city, 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.560 begins ten miles to the north of Sacramento and stretches 0:01:56.640 --> 0:02:00.920 northwestwards toward the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:05.840 In the early eighteenth century, much of the land, which 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:09.600 would eventually encompass most of Uba County, including the Yuba 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:14.359 City area, was sold to a highly controversial individual named 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:18.960 John Sutter. Around a hundred and fifty years later, the 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:22.560 county's name would become synonymous with one of the United 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:28.600 States's most enduring and tragic mysteries. You're listening to Unexplained, 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:41.520 and I'm Richard McClean smith. In the early nineteenth century, 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.320 Johann Sutter had been wanted for fraud in his home 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.600 country of Switzerland before deciding to change his name to 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:52.600 John and take his chances in the fledgling United States. 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.679 Leaving behind a wife and five children. He arrived in 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:01.040 New York in eighteen thirty four and spent the next 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:05.120 five years exhaustively touring the continent to get the measure 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:09.720 of it. After managing to ingratiate himself with a number 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.920 of prominent Euro American dignitaries, he eventually settled in what 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:18.520 was then Alta, California, in the summer of eighteen thirty nine. 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:24.919 At the time, Alta California was a relatively undeveloped province 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:28.560 of Mexico, having so far managed to resist the clutches 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:34.359 of the ever expanding United States. Realizing the area's potential, 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:38.480 Sutter succeeded in convincing the local governor to sell him 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:42.640 almost fifty thousand acres of land along the Sacramento River. 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:48.400 The following year, he established a trading colony there, which 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:53.840 he named New Helvetia. Rarely as such a story of 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:58.279 land purchase complete without some form of Native American displacement 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:05.280 or indeed slaughter, and Sutters was no different. Local tribes 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.920 that were unwilling to recognize these self appointed owners of 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:12.040 the lands that they lived on were dispensed with, swiftly, 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:19.479 being either forcibly moved or exterminated entirely. Any tribes adopted 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:23.560 to cooperate with the euro American or Mexican settlers would 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:27.039 invariably be put to work as little more than slaves. 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:32.159 The exact number of Native Americans that were killed in 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:37.120 the establishing of New Helvetia is unknown. It is thought, however, 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:40.160 that Suttter kept as many as six to eight hundred 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:44.000 of them as slaves, often locking them up in squalid 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:47.920 pens and placing their food in troughs, forcing them to 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:52.599 eat like farm animals. It is also speculated that he 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.200 raped Native American girls as young as twelve years old. 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:04.080 In eighteen forty y eight, gold was discovered on Sutter's land. However, 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:07.560 any hope he had of profiting from it was swiftly 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:11.320 dashed when his efforts to keep it secret failed miserably. 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:18.000 Within months, Sutter's land was overrun with swaves of prospectors 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.599 feverishly clawing at the earth in search of the shiny metal. 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.880 Such was the speed with which the gold rush unfolded, 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:30.120 there was little that Sutter could do to stop them. 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.800 Having brought more land in a bid to claim ownership 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.480 of any gold found on it, Sutter soon found himself 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:40.520 in major debt. With no other options, he was forced 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:43.400 to sell off his land, transferring any deeds he had 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:47.599 left into the name of his son. His land owning 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:53.440 ambitions were finished. A carmic come up once. Perhaps if 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:58.000 you believe in such things, perhaps too, if you believe 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.919 in such things, I'd say the series of events that 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:07.200 would befall the region in subsequent years were inevitable, given 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:19.200 what many would consider to be such rotten beginnings. Part 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:21.760 of the land that Sutter was forced to sell was 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:26.080 located just forty miles north of New Helvetia and centered 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:30.440 around the confluence of the Yuba and Feather Rivers. The 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.400 land was sold in eighteen forty nine to a small 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:38.200 consortium of men headed by Samuel Brannan, who quickly established 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:43.039 Yuba City in the middle of it. Almost immediately, the 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:47.120 fledgling city was overshadowed by Marysville, the town on the 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:50.720 opposite bank of the Feather River, which newcomers found much 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:55.479 easier to access, But soon it began to prosper, and 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.880 over the next one hundred years the city grew steadily 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:01.840 from a population of three hundred to seven and a 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:09.160 half thousand. Then, in December nineteen fifty five, a series 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:15.640 of devastating storms battered northern California. After days of relentless rain, 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:20.440 just after midnight on December twenty fourth, a levee broke 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:23.240 on the west bank of the Feather River, sending a 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:26.880 wall of water twenty one feet high, cascading into the 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:32.400 county and flooding ninety percent of Yuba City. Seventy four 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:39.040 people were killed. Five years later, a Bowing fifty two 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:44.960 bomber plane carrying two three point eight megaton thermonuclear bombs 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:49.040 flying into the vicinity of Yuba County experienced a sudden 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:54.520 and inexplicable loss of pressure in the fuselage. After ordering 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:57.320 the rest of the crew to bail out, the heroic 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:01.000 pilot managed to stay in the cockpit just enough to 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:04.920 steer the plane away from Uba City before baling out himself. 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:10.320 At only four thousand feet, the plane would eventually crash 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:13.240 into a barley field just eleven miles to the west 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:19.240 of the city. Miraculously, no radioactive material was released as 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:24.840 a result. In late spring nineteen seventy one, a Uba 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:28.400 County peach farmer noticed a large, freshly dug hole on 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:33.000 his land that had no apparent purpose. When he found 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:36.640 it filled in the next day, he became suspicious and 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:41.160 called the police to investigate it. Digging away the fresh dirt, 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:46.199 they found a man's body underneath, riddled with stab wounds. 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:51.160 The man was just one of at least twenty five 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:55.200 migrant farm workers from around the Yuba County area that 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:59.840 serial killer and Uba City resident Juan Corona was avent 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:06.880 convicted of murdering. Corona had been previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:09.800 which some believe was triggered by the trauma he suffered 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:12.800 as a witness to the worst effects of the nineteen 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:18.800 fifty five flood. Another five years later, a school bus 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:22.320 carrying the Yuba City High School choir broke through a 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:26.880 guardrail just outside the city of Martinez, plunging thirty feet 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:31.400 to the ground. Twenty eight teenagers from the city and 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:35.880 their chaperone were killed instantly in what was the worst 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:39.520 school bus accident ever recorded in the United States at 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:46.520 the time. And yet, incredibly, despite this litany of tragedy, 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:49.760 the one for which the area would become most well 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:55.440 known had yet to pass. The story, most often referred 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.840 to as the Uba County five, is a bizarre and 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:11.240 heartbreaking mister that remains to this day unexplained. Mum, have 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:14.160 you seen my gaiter's T shirt? Cried Gary from the 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:19.480 laundry room. I need it for the game tomorrow. Gary's mum, 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:22.839 Ida appeared a moment later, holding the beige T shirt, 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:27.480 complete with its gateway Gaiter's logo emblazoned across it. All 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:31.559 washed and ready to go. Thanks, said Garry, taking it 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:33.800 before running to place it with the rest of his 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:36.880 kit that he'd laid out in preparation for the next day. 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:40.760 Just then, the sound of a car horn could be 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:45.000 heard coming from the turquoise Mercury Montego that had just 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:49.160 pulled up outside the front of the house. They're here, 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:52.920 said Gary excitedly as he grabbed his jacket and headed 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:57.240 toward the door. Remember I've got a big game tomorrow. 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:01.000 Don't let me sleep in, he said. Yes, I know, 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:05.280 said Ida, before kissing her son good bye and seeing 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:10.199 him out the door. It was February twenty fourth, nineteen 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.760 seventy eight, in the small district of Olivehurst, just to 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:17.240 the south of Yuba City. Far off in the distance, 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.640 the northern tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains could be seen, 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:25.680 its pine covered ranges still capped with snow. Down in 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:29.160 the valley, However, it was barely jacket weather. As a 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:32.920 pale sun was slowly beginning its final descent toward the horizon. 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:37.839 Waiting for Garry outside in the montago was thirty year 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:42.480 old driver and owner of the vehicle, Jack Madruga, accompanied 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:45.680 by thirty two year old Ted Weer and the twenty 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:50.000 four year old Jack Hewett. The others shouted for Garry 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:52.400 to hurry up as he raced to the car and 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:56.880 jumped into the front seat. Moments later, they pulled away 0:11:57.280 --> 0:12:01.680 as Ida waved them off from her front door. A 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:04.920 few minutes later, they were parking up outside a small 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:08.200 house on to Leda Street in Uba City to collect 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:11.280 the fifth and final member of the group, twenty nine 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:15.880 year old Bill Sterling. With Bill finally settled in the 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:27.800 back seat, they were on their way once more. The 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:31.360 five men were friends from around the Uba County area 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:35.239 who had met at the Gateway's Project, a local organization 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:39.959 that helped adults with intellectual disabilities to better navigate their lives. 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:45.960 Driver Jack Madruga was perhaps the least affected by his disability. 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:50.520 Although he had never been diagnosed with anything specific, his 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:55.240 thought processes were considered to be slower than average. An 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:59.160 Army veteran, Jack had served two years in Vietnam as 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:02.520 a truck driver, and had recently started a job as 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:07.160 a dishwasher at a local dried fruit company. Ted and 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:10.800 Bill were perhaps the closest in the group, having known 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:15.199 each other for almost eight years. Ted had been doing 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:19.960 especially well recently, gaining employment through the Gateway Project repairing 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:23.960 cables for a local gas and electricity company. Just like 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:27.840 the others, Ted was not thought capable of fending for himself, 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:32.839 so lived at home with his parents. In his case, 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:35.680 this was due to what some considered to be a 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:40.920 basic lack of common sense. One time, when Ted's parents 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.680 house caught fire, Ted had been more concerned about getting 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.640 a good night's sleep than the flames that had begun 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:51.960 raging above his bed. His brother had to forcibly pull 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:56.000 him out of the house to save him. When Ted 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.640 tried to make friends with strangers, he could never understand 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:03.080 why they seemed so intimidated by him, or why they 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:08.200 wouldn't simply wave back when he waved at them. Bill 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.800 Sterling had also done well to gain employment working as 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:16.360 a dishwasher at the nearby Beal Air Force Base. Bill 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:20.080 enjoyed the position, especially the sense of independence it had 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:24.360 given him. However, he was instructed by his parents to 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:27.720 quit the job not long after taking it, after they 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.080 discovered that some of the air men there had been 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:35.040 plying him with alcohol and stealing his wages. Bill had 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.440 spent much of his youth in Napa State Psychiatric Hospital, 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:45.520 being generally misdiagnosed and misunderstood. Of all of them, twenty 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:49.360 four year old Jack, who could not read, write, or 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.600 use a telephone, was generally thought to be the most 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:57.400 severely affected by his disabilities. Having met Ted back when 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:01.720 he was sixteen, Jack, who was so deeply shy, would 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.440 come to rely heavily on him, and a pair had 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:10.120 become firm friends as a result. And then there was Gary. 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:17.000 Are you always taking care of your family? Do you 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:20.160 often take care of others and not yourself? Now it's 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.680 time to take care of yourself, to make time for you. 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.600 You deserve it. Tele Adoc gives you access to a 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.640 licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:33.920 best to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc, you can 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.440 speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video. Therapy 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:40.760 Appointments are available seven days a week from seven am 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:44.800 to nine pm local time. If you feel overwhelmed. Sometimes 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:49.440 maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely, or 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:52.120 you might be struggling with a personal or family issue. 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:57.880 Teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches, 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:00.760 so they make it easy to change counts as if needed. 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:05.800 For free. Teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers. 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:10.120 Download the app or visit teledoc dot com forward slash 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:16.760 unexplained podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot com 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:25.360 slash unexplained podcast. Unlike the other four who often went 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:28.560 everywhere together and had known each other for an extended 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.800 period of time, twenty five year old Gary Matthias was 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:36.520 a fairly new addition to the group. Gary was also 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:40.160 an Army veteran stationed for a few years in Germany. 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:45.880 After suffering a psychiatric episode brought on by hallucinogenic drug youth, 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:51.200 Gary was discharged and sent home. For the past two years, however, 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.920 Gary had been well and successfully holding down a job 0:16:55.200 --> 0:17:00.680 at his stepfather, Robert Clock's gardening business. Garry had been 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.800 introduced to the Gateway Project as a way of finding 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.879 new friends and had bonded with the others over their 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:11.520 mutual love of basketball. All of them played for the 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:16.080 Gateway Gators, the Project's basketball team, and were looking forward 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.000 to a big tournament they were due to play in 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:21.760 the following morning, which promised an all expenses paid trip 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:27.160 to Los Angeles for the winning team. That night, however, 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:31.720 their excitement was for a different game. The friends were 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.000 heading up to Chico, an hour's drive to the north, 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:40.240 to watch their favorite team, University California Davis, take on 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:46.200 Chico State. Despite their disabilities, such a trip wasn't unusual, 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:49.560 since the boys regularly traveled together to watch them play 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.560 at their home stadium in Davis or anywhere else that 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:57.679 wasn't too far to drive before returning straight home that 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:10.240 night shouldn't have been any After picking up Bill, the 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.560 men made a quick stop at Mico's service station on 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:17.800 Caloosa Avenue. The others stayed in the car as Bill 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:21.359 ran inside to pick up his fifteen dollar allowance from 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:26.520 his parents, who ran the place. Bill's mother, Juanita, who 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:29.000 was concerned about the men making the trip the night 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:32.760 before their tournament, tried again to dissuade her son from going. 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.399 As Bill explained, however, to night was the last chance 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:40.200 they'd get to watch their team this season, and there 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.160 was no way they were going to pass that up. 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:47.320 Realizing it was a lost cause, Juanita warned Bill not 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:50.800 to be back too late before sending him on his way. 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.920 Later that night, the men watched with delight as U. C. 0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:00.560 Davis picked up their seventeenth win of the season, beating 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:06.159 Chico ninety eight to eighty six. Shortly after ten p m. 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:10.480 The men left the Chico University Stadium and piled back 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:15.560 into Jack's Montego. Soon after leaving the parking lot, one 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:18.240 of the men suggested they make a quick stop to 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:23.120 get some supplies for the return journey. Pulling up outside 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:26.680 a convenience store moments later, they were disappointed to find 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:30.560 the shop clerk closing the place up. After taking pity 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.600 on them, however, she agreed to stay open just long 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:37.560 enough for them to get what they needed. A short 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:41.360 time later, the men were back in the car, loaded 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:44.680 with some fruit pies and chocolate bath as Jack slowly 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:48.560 eased onto the road before heading off into the night. 0:19:56.560 --> 0:20:00.720 Juanita Stirling hadn't taken her eyes off the clock since midnight. 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:05.520 All things going to plan, her son should have been 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:10.159 home by then by two am, she couldn't hold out 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:14.320 any longer. It wasn't the first time that Bill hadn't 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:17.919 come home on time or had even gone missing completely. 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.240 Often he would go and stay with friends and just 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:25.760 simply forget to call home. Each previous occasion, he had 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:30.439 never been more than a quick phone call away. Trying 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.919 not to panic, Juanita picked up the phone and dialed 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:37.399 for Melbourne, Jack Madruga's mother with whom he lived in 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:42.080 nearby Linda, but Jack was also yet to come home. 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.200 It was a few hours later that Ted's mother, Image 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:50.200 and Weier, who had slept through the earlier phone calls, 0:20:50.800 --> 0:20:54.199 woke up to find her son's bed empty, having not 0:20:54.320 --> 0:21:00.280 been slept in the night before. Calling Juanita immediately to 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:03.560 find that both Bill and Jack were also still missing. 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:09.840 Calling Jack Hewett's mother soon after, Imogen got the same response. 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:14.440 Their last hope was that the boys had all gone 0:21:14.600 --> 0:21:19.639 to Gary Matthias's family home. Since the Weirs lived just 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:23.480 down the street from them, Imogen's daughter in law volunteered 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:26.920 to go and check if they were there. The look 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:30.240 on her face when she returned was all Imogen needed 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:34.560 to know. The men, would you to meet the rest 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:38.359 of their Gateway Gator's team later that morning outside a 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:42.199 store in Marysville. Knowing the five wouldn't have missed their 0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:45.240 tournament for the world, a few of the family members 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:48.040 traveled to the store in hope that their sons and 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:52.760 brothers might yet be there, but the men never appeared. 0:21:54.200 --> 0:21:58.200 By eight pm, having still heard nothing from them, Melbourne 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:02.600 Madruga informed the the county Sheriff's office that her son 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:14.480 and his four best friends were missing. That weekend, the 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:18.240 various families spent the days in a complete haze, anxiously 0:22:18.280 --> 0:22:20.840 looking out for any mention of a car crash or 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:25.840 sighting of the missing men, but nothing came. On Monday, 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:29.560 having heard nothing from the police, Juanita took it on 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:33.160 herself to drive to Chico, where she handed out pictures 0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:35.840 of the five friends to the various ticket sellers and 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:42.160 security officers at the University basketball stadium. None, however, recognized 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:44.520 the faces that had been sat in the venue for 0:22:44.560 --> 0:22:50.040 over two hours only a few nights before. In the meantime, 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:53.119 the sheriff's office had released a statement to the local 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:56.840 press giving a detailed description of the missing men and 0:22:56.960 --> 0:23:00.440 the vehicle they were traveling in urging anyone to come 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:04.160 forward who might have important information as to their whereabouts. 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:08.960 Having been given a brief description of the personalities he 0:23:09.040 --> 0:23:13.040 was looking for, and taking into account their intellectual disabilities, 0:23:13.880 --> 0:23:17.639 Yuba County under Sheriff Jack Beecham was stumped as to 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:21.800 what might have happened to them. Certainly, no crashes with 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:25.000 that type of vehicle had been reported, and judging by 0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:27.919 how the parents described it, there was no reason to 0:23:27.960 --> 0:23:31.080 suggest that the men had struck out on an impromptu 0:23:31.200 --> 0:23:37.040 road trip. The following day, Beecham received an unexpected call 0:23:37.320 --> 0:23:42.920 from Plumus National Forest Ranger Willard Burris. Buris had been 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:45.800 making his way along a forest road when he came 0:23:45.840 --> 0:23:50.320 across an abandoned car. He hadn't thought anything about it 0:23:50.400 --> 0:23:53.359 at the time, but having seen a news report about 0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:56.720 the missing men later that day, he thought to call 0:23:56.760 --> 0:24:03.359 it in. Beecham was confused, however, Plumas Forest covered the 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:07.040 northern tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and was located 0:24:07.080 --> 0:24:11.120 about seventy miles east of Chico, in the complete opposite 0:24:11.119 --> 0:24:16.600 direction to where the men were supposed to have been heading. Moreover, 0:24:17.359 --> 0:24:19.560 the point at which Boris claimed to have seen the 0:24:19.600 --> 0:24:24.920 car was four thousand feet high into them, but Buris 0:24:25.000 --> 0:24:28.959 was adamant the vehicle he had seen was a turquoise 0:24:29.520 --> 0:24:37.000 mercury Montego. The following day, Wednesday, March first, under Sheriff 0:24:37.040 --> 0:24:40.159 Beecham with a handful of deputies, made his way to 0:24:40.200 --> 0:24:45.080 the spot, detailed by forest Ranger Boris. An hour later, 0:24:45.600 --> 0:24:48.520 the officers found themselves leaving the mild flats of the 0:24:48.600 --> 0:24:52.200 Yuba Shutter area and heading up into the Sierra Nevarda 0:24:52.280 --> 0:24:56.960 Mountains toward the snow covered pines of Plumus National Forest. 0:24:58.720 --> 0:25:02.720 With the temperature deadily dropping the higher they climbed, They 0:25:02.720 --> 0:25:05.760 were soon approaching the snow line at an altitude of 0:25:05.840 --> 0:25:11.560 roughly four thousand feet. The road was known locally as 0:25:11.560 --> 0:25:15.240 the Oraville to Quincy Road, running from the foothill town 0:25:15.280 --> 0:25:18.720 of Oraville at the western edge of the mountains, snaking 0:25:18.720 --> 0:25:21.600 east via the town of Quincy all the way through 0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:25.560 to the other side. During the summer months, the roads 0:25:25.600 --> 0:25:29.080 would be jammed with daytrippers and holidaymakers heading out to 0:25:29.160 --> 0:25:32.400 one of the many cabins that dotted the surrounding area, 0:25:32.440 --> 0:25:35.600 with Bucks Lake, located in the middle of the forest 0:25:35.640 --> 0:25:41.160 about fifty miles from Oraville, being the biggest draw during 0:25:41.160 --> 0:25:44.160 the winter months. However, by the time you had reached 0:25:44.160 --> 0:25:47.879 the snow line, the road would quickly become impassable to 0:25:47.960 --> 0:25:51.760 all but the most hardy of vehicles. It was at 0:25:51.800 --> 0:25:55.760 this point, with the unpaved forest road becoming ever narrower 0:25:55.960 --> 0:25:59.840 and more rugged, that Beecham spotted the car that Willard 0:26:00.400 --> 0:26:04.440 had come across. Although by now it was carrying a 0:26:04.560 --> 0:26:08.439 light dusting of snow, Beecham could see clearly that it 0:26:08.600 --> 0:26:23.040 was indeed a turquoise nineteen sixty nine Mercury, Montego. Beacham 0:26:23.320 --> 0:26:26.560 wrapped his jacket a little tighter about himself as he 0:26:26.640 --> 0:26:31.000 made his way through the slush toward the vehicle. Brushing 0:26:31.000 --> 0:26:36.479 away the snow from the window, he looked inside. Empty 0:26:36.480 --> 0:26:39.679 food wrappers were strewn about on the back seat, along 0:26:39.720 --> 0:26:43.240 with a couple of basketball programs, but the vehicle was 0:26:43.280 --> 0:26:48.440 otherwise empty. Trying the door, he was surprised to find 0:26:48.480 --> 0:26:53.439 it unlocked, but the keys were gone. Pulling a panel 0:26:53.520 --> 0:26:56.880 from under the steering wheel, Beecham fiddled with the wires 0:26:57.200 --> 0:27:01.840 until the car's engine roared into life. The under sheriff 0:27:01.920 --> 0:27:04.840 watched as the needle on the dashboard moved up to 0:27:04.920 --> 0:27:08.080 reveal at least a quarter tank of gas left in it. 0:27:09.800 --> 0:27:13.280 Stepping out of the car, Beecham took in the scene 0:27:13.320 --> 0:27:16.600 around him, staring off into the trees that backed away 0:27:16.640 --> 0:27:20.159 from the road. The ground, covered in fresh snow from 0:27:20.200 --> 0:27:25.240 the night before, all was completely silent, and there was 0:27:25.280 --> 0:27:29.119 no sign of track marks anywhere leading down or off 0:27:29.320 --> 0:27:33.920 the road. Looking at the front wheels, he could see 0:27:33.920 --> 0:27:36.320 that they were a little stuck in the snow, but 0:27:36.400 --> 0:27:39.000 it was nothing that a quick push couldn't have dislodged. 0:27:40.800 --> 0:27:45.080 None of it seemed to make sense. Why on earth 0:27:45.160 --> 0:27:47.720 would the five friends have driven up into the mountains 0:27:48.240 --> 0:27:51.359 and then abandoned the car like this with absolutely no 0:27:51.520 --> 0:27:55.679 reason to unless, of course, it hadn't been them at 0:27:55.720 --> 0:27:58.359 all that had brought it there in the first place. 0:27:59.280 --> 0:28:02.720 Could it be? Beacham thought that it had been stolen 0:28:03.000 --> 0:28:06.920 and merely dumped there Where that might put the five 0:28:06.960 --> 0:28:12.879 missing men would be anyone's guess at this point. After 0:28:12.960 --> 0:28:16.119 calling it in, Beecham was promptly appointed to lead the 0:28:16.160 --> 0:28:22.000 search for the missing men. Forty personnel from huber, Plumas 0:28:22.240 --> 0:28:26.119 and Butte County, along with snowmobiles and a highway patrol 0:28:26.200 --> 0:28:30.240 helicopter were drafted in For the rest of the day. 0:28:30.560 --> 0:28:33.480 They searched every inch of the surrounding forest within a 0:28:33.520 --> 0:28:36.840 five mile radius of the abandoned car for any sign 0:28:37.040 --> 0:28:42.200 of the two Jacks Hewitt and Madruga, Bill Sterling, Ted Weier, 0:28:42.760 --> 0:28:47.120 and Gary Matthias, but no clue to their possible whereabouts 0:28:47.680 --> 0:28:53.000 was found. Beecham knew only too well that if the 0:28:53.040 --> 0:28:56.440 five men had driven into the mountains after all, only 0:28:56.480 --> 0:29:01.400 to abandon their vehicle, their survival depend on finding shelter 0:29:01.760 --> 0:29:06.280 very quickly. Failure to do so, stumbling blindly in the 0:29:06.400 --> 0:29:10.080 dark in subzero temperatures, dressed as they were for a 0:29:10.160 --> 0:29:16.720 mild evening, would most likely be fatal. What's more, it 0:29:16.760 --> 0:29:19.560 had now been almost a week since they had disappeared, 0:29:20.360 --> 0:29:24.400 and no one in the immediate area had seen them, 0:29:24.560 --> 0:29:27.480 nor were they found in any of the nearby cabins 0:29:27.640 --> 0:29:30.040 that they might have sought as a place of refuge. 0:29:31.200 --> 0:29:35.440