The family identified the 10-year-old as Frankie Rosiles. 10 Robert Ben Rhoades. Then, in June 1978, a man riding his motorcycle through the area noticed a broken window on a forest service trailer. Why was a common question for investigators and the relatives of the men, but no answers were forthcoming. They appeared to have died from exposure perhaps before reaching the trailer. [2] Only bones were left of the three bodies in the woods, a result of scavenging animals; but the one in the trailer, Ted Weiher, had apparently lived for as long as three months after the men were last seen, starving to death despite an ample supply of food and heating materials nearby. About Us. [6], Even knowing that four of the five men had died in the Sierra, investigators still could not completely explain what had led to their deaths. In addition, there was a huge supply of freeze-dried meals. The men, panicking, may have believed their car was stuck and that they needed to get help. (KTXL) A vigil is planned Thursday for the 10-year-old boy who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Yuba County. Off the job, outside of his family, he was close friends with four slightly older men who either had slight intellectual disabilities (Sterling and Huett) or were informally considered "slow learners" (Weiher and Madruga, also an Army veteran). All five had intellectual disabilities or psychiatric issues to various degrees; all of them lived with family, who kept a close eye on them. Several bed sheets in a shroud were tightly tucked over his body, indicating that someone else had been with him in the trailer as he could not have bundled himself up in this manner. At 5:30p.m., about 150 feet (46m) up the road, he, too, had gotten stuck in the snow. Months later the remains of 4 Join us as we discuss the Yuba County Five and their mysterious disappearance. 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Several months later, in June, the body of Ted Weiher was found in a trailer with missing shoes and badly frostbitten feet. Posted on December 5, 2021. The next night, Archie and his buddies went out in search of victim number one. The trailer was located about 19 miles up the mountain from where the car was found. His leather shoes were off and missing. While scientists today believe that it was likely an avalanche that killed the hikers, others are not quite sure. When they opened the door, they were overcome by the odor of what turned out to be a decaying body inside. Two of the men, whom she identified as Huett and Sterling, were in a telephone booth outside the store, while the other two went inside. Had the group been abducted and the perpetrator was preventing access to food or was Ted suffering from gangrene caused by frostbite. But all five friends wound up missing or dead. Read more Print length 152 pages Language English Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe Publication date What had led them there? Either the driver had been extremely careful, or it was someone familiar with the road, a familiarity Madruga was not known to have; his family said that Madruga would not have let someone else drive the car. He passed a 1969 Mercury Montego, but the vehicle had no occupants. 1971 Press Photo Yuba City, CA Reporters at J.L. Rhoades, a long-haul trucker, converted the sleeper cab of his 18-wheel semi truck into a small, makeshift sex chamber where he would torture his victims and rape them for weeks on end. How did a fun night out with the boys turn into a death sentence in some remote snowy mountains? The passengers then left together in one car. All were fervent basketball fans, and even had a game of their own scheduled for the following day, playing on a team representing the rehabilitation center they all frequented. Joe Shones was having a heart attack. The men lived in Yuba City and nearby Marysville. This week were going to be covering a very strange story. reply | flag message 3: by Fishface (new) Sep 28, 2019 10:01AM However, in 2017 David Bruckner directed a movie that seems to be largely based on the Yuba County Five. Could be violent to some. After the UC Davis team won their game, the five men went to pick up snacks & drinks, Joe Shones, age 55, was having car trouble. If youre interested in the Dyatlov Pass that the other name for this case refers to, then you might want to check out the horror movie. Were going to be covering a story Let's discuss the strange disappearance of the Yuba County Five. Joseph Schons of Sacramento told police he inadvertently wound up spending the night of February 2425 near where the Montego was found. Luego de la desaparicin de los chicos el 25 CrimeDoor is the first app of its kind. The clerk remembers this as it was right before closing, so she was annoyed by having to get a large group checked out before closing and heading home herself. Its called. Serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades stalked the highways of Texas in his mobile torture and death chamber. [2] Weiher's family members said that he lacked common sense as a result of his mental disability. Crime Junkie. Our groundbreaking Augmented Reality technology accurately recreates crime scenes and allows users to experience and investigate them just as detectives at the actual crime scenes did. Is Ice Spices new boyfriend Pete Davidson? For example, he often asked why he should stop at a stop sign, and one night he had to be dragged out of bed while the ceiling of his bedroom was burning in a house fire because he was afraid he would miss his job if he got up. Breaking News in Yuba County is a 2021 American black comedy film directed and co-produced by Tate Taylor, from a screenplay written by Amanda Idoko.The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Awkwafina, Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes, Juliette Lewis, Samira Wiley, Jimmi Simpson, Clifton Collins Jr., Bridget Everett, Dominic Burgess, Keong Sim, Chris Lowell, Matthew . Chico to Yuba City is a straight down Highway 70 through the Central Valley in low-lying land with no snow at this time of the year. The next day, their car was discovered in a lonely mountain road. These are questions that may never be answered. Deputies think that one of them may have given in to the need to sleep that comes with the last stages of hypothermia, while the other stayed by his side and died the same way. The Montego's undercarriage had no dents, gouges, or even mud scrapes, not even on its low-hanging muffler, despite having been driven a long distance up a mountain road with many bumps and ruts. They would have to have gone east for a long time from Chico, instead of south towards their homes. Your favorite mother-daughter podcast explains the freaky similarities of 1959's Russian Dyatlov Robin and Adam proudly present Episode 141 of Scary(ish)! Why did they abandon the trip to Yuba? Gary had been on medication ever since to manage his condition, which his father said would make him go haywire if he was off of the medication. tips for grilling chicken. On the night of Feb. 24, 1978, five young men with mild intellectual disabilities or psychiatric conditions just . Selects: The Disappearance of the Yuba County Five. As for getting a real answer in the case, we may never know unless someone talks or, maybe, Mathais is found. This time the victim was a 14-year-old girl named Dawn Basom. It was February 24, 1978, and Shones was miles from help. Sterling and Madruga, an Army veteran, wereanother set of best friends. Wyoming Police this week released photos from the July 2014 case known as the Craiglist murders. I think we've finally sorted out our audio issues! They soon started to discover some very strange facts. Same when it comes to that woman and baby that Shones saw with the Yuba County 5, though Shones admitted he could have hallucinated everything. Allison Janney leads an all-star cast in the new film, "Breaking News in Yuba County.". Gary Mathias, 25; Bill Sterling, 29; Jack Huett, 24; Ted Weiher, 32; and Jack Madruga, 30 were all friends. All either had some sort of intellectual disability or a mental health issue. An anthology of True Crime headlined by the strange disappearance of the Yuba County Five.When Joe Shones left his house on February 24, 1978, he seemed to be in good health. [6], It is assumed that once they found the trailer, the other three broke the window to enter. Afterwards, they stopped at a local market for snacks and drinks. There was a half moon that night, a winter moon in a cloudless sky. No one even covered the window they had smashed to get inside of the trailer. Since it was locked, they may have believed it was private property, and may have feared arrest for theft if they used anything else they found there. All the conspiracies surrounding Nicola Bulleys disappearance and death, Who killed Jeffrey Epstein? By. If authorities couldnt make any sense of how the group's day had ended on February 24, they at least had some idea of how it began. He could have survived there, but only a couple cans had been opened. On the ground, officers tried to use horses to get around on the rocky roads. Some were able to work side jobs, while others couldnt. They left after it finished and then somehow drove up a mountain into the wilderness and were never seen alive again. [2], Police in Butte and Yuba counties began searching along the route the men took to Chico. . Gary Matthias was one of the five who didnt have a mental disability. This witness told police that he had seen and heard people around the car that night, and twice called for help, only for them to grow silent and turn off their flashlights. Hours later, Shones felt well enough to walk to get help. Two days later, after searchers in Snowcats nearly became lost themselves, further search efforts were called off due to continuing bad weather. After the snow melted in June 1978, four of the men's bodies were found in and near a trailer camp used by backpackers as shelter, deep in the forest, 20 miles (32km) from the car. This is a Mopac Audio podcast and is hosted by writer, producer, and podcaster Shannon McGarvey. The fireplace looked to have never been lit despite the availability of matches and kindling. The Gateway Gators was a collegiate basketball team at the rehabilitation center of Yuba City, California. [6], Two days later, as part of one of the other search parties, Jack Huett's father found his son's backbone[2] under a manzanita bush[6] 2 miles (3.2km) northeast of the trailer. NEW! Ashley talks about a case that is still unsolved to this day-- the Yuba County Five, also February 24, 1978 Five friends drove 50 miles from their homes in Yuba City California to cheer ** Viewer discretion is advised. In one version, whilst he lay in his car, at about 11:30, he saw two sets of headlights coming up behind him - one was a car, and the other a pickup truck. Weiher was concluded to have died from a mixture of starvation and exposure, but both a heating system and food were readily available. The Yuba County 5 remains one of the most baffling puzzles within the true crime community. The five men had prepared the night before, some even laying out their uniforms and asking their parents to wake them up on time. Weihers decaying body was found lying on a bed wrapped in eight sheets. They made it to the game, but none of these "boys," as they came to be called, ever returned home. The boys had used Madrugas 1969 Mercury Montego to drive to the UC Davis game in Chico, California on February 24, 1978. The five were going to see a UC Davis basketball game and come straight home. Sullivan Ranch Crime Scene. There was nothing left of him but bones. [2][4], None of the men were seen alive again after that point. [2], Weiher's body was on a bed with eight sheets wrapped around it, including the head. Twitter reacts. In February 1978, five young men headed from their home in Yuba County, California to catch a college basketball game - and never came home. Weiher's brother told the Los Angeles Times that while driving to Brownsville in a different car in apparent ignorance of the basketball game seemed completely out of character for them, the owner's description of the two men's behavior seemed consistent with them, as Weiher would "eat anything he could get his hands on" and was often accompanied by Huett more than any of the other four. But that did not mean that they were unable to function in society, quite the opposite. Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury: Who made the most money from their fight? This week, Emma teaches Brian about the Yuba County Five and their mysterious deaths. What's so unbelievable about all of this is that Archie actually convinced a group of friends that killing 7 people would bring baby Craig back from the dead! Mathias's tennis sneakers were in the trailer, and the C-rations had been opened with a P-38 can opener, with which only Mathias or Madruga would have been familiar from their military service. Why did the Yuba City men get lost that night and end up on the mountain? These five friends were part of a locally sponsored team for the mentally disabled called the Gateway Gators. As of late, his condition had greatly improved though, and he was able to work in his stepfathers gardening business. The group aged between 24 and 32 years of age, had developmental disabilities and were all enrolled in a day program for mentally handicapped adults. Why did the men turn east in the first place? It was a man named Joe Shones who alerted them about it. $19.99 + $4.99 . [2] For whatever reason, the men had left the Montego; they had, instead of going back down the road (where they had passed the lodge that Schons later returned to), continued along the road in the direction they were originally going. The trailer was 19.4 miles away from where the Mercury Montego was found. ", "There was some force that made em go up there." Kilka dni pniej ich Were they forced to go up the Bucks Lane on the way to Palmetto City, did they decide themselves to take a detour or did they take a wrong turn? Curious, they went inside. The photos on the slideshow above were taken on June 28, 2014. February 24, 1978. Eventually . In the second part of this double-feature, we detail the infamous Yuba County Five, and compare All week, Gary Mathias told his mom "We got a big game Saturday, Don't you let me oversleep." He saw a group of men, a woman, and a baby walking together, but they ignored him calling for help. The keys to the vehicle were gone. [6] He was wearing a velour shirt and lightweight pants, but his shoes could not be found. Some of them even laid out their uniforms for the team and asked their parents to make sure they woke up on time for the game. And a thousand leads. Their favorite? Well, the last sighting of the Yuba County 5 wasdecidedly not. Shones later came forward with his story when the news broke about the disappearances, making him the last person to see the five alive. These were individual canned, pre-cooked, and prepared meals issued to the U.S. military. Joseph spent the rest of the night in his car before walking back down the mountain in the morning. [7] On March 3, the woman, who saw fliers that had been distributed with the men's pictures and information about the $1,215 ($5,000 in 2021 dollars),[8] reward the families had put up, told deputies that four of them had stopped at the store in a red pickup truck, two days after the disappearance. Police and the families never ruled out foul play. Stars Tim Donahue Michael May Dominick Sherry We know he was in the trailer where he left his shoes, and it's assumed he took Weiher's, which would have fit his frostbitten feet a bit better, but his remains have not been found after 47 years. Wikipedia, Public Domain "The Boys" Go Missing Did they somehow leave the car and lose the keys. A witness later came forward, a local man who said he had spent the same night in his own car, a short distance away from where the Montego was found. He was schizophrenic, a condition controlled by medication he hadnt bothered to bring along. Unfortunately, as he did, he started suffering a heart attack. Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. [2], After the Davis team won the game, the group got back into Madruga's car and drove a short distance from the Chico State campus to Behr's Market in downtown Chico. How did they walk in normal shoes without outdoor clothing so far in snow several feet thick? Madruga had held on to the keys to the car. This was completely uncharacteristic behavior for the boys. A propane tank connected to the trailer, which could have provided a ready source of heat and cooking fuel, was untouched. When Shones spotted their abandoned Mercury, the car had been driven roughly 70 miles away from the Chico basketball game. New as of February 2022, the "Yuba County Five" podcast is made up of seven episodes, each averaging about 35 minutes long. What puzzled them most was how Weiher was found emaciated, despite the fact that the trailer been stocked with plenty of canned and dried food and a can opener. The men wore only light coats against the cool temperatures in the upper Sacramento Valley at night that time of year. Many, if not most should be considered armed and dangerous. The case has been called the Mathias Group Incident, the Yuba City Five Case and the American Dyatlov Pass incident. They still had found no explanation for why the men were there, although they learned that Mathias had friends in the small town of Forbestown, and police believed it was possible that, in an attempt to visit them on the way back home, the men may have taken a wrong turn near Oroville that put them on the mountain road. [5], The other notable report was from a woman who worked at a store in the small town of Brownsville, 30 miles (48km) from the point where the car had been abandoned, which they would have reached had they continued down the road from where the car had been found. When authorities lifted the veil, they found Weiher, his shoes missing and his feet badly frostbitten. , and although in this horror movie things turn supernatural, the parallels between it and the Yuba County Five story are strong. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1971 Juan Corona arraigned at Yuba City California 9X8 Vintage Press Photo at the best online prices at eBay! Have you noticed theres been no mention of Matthiass body? Maybe something supernatural did happen to the boys of Americas Dyatlov Pass. It wasnt until June when the snow in the mountainous area had mostly melted away that motorcyclists helped make a break in the case. While it had been difficult at firsthe was nearly arrested for assault twice and often experienced psychotic episodes that landed him in a local Veterans Administration hospitalby 1978, Mathias was being treated on an outpatient basis with Stelazine and Cogentin and was considered by his physicians to be "one of our sterling success cases". Published: 13:22 BST, 5 February 2019 Updated: 15:52 BST, 6 February 2019 Remains aptly named Corpsewood Manor have been abandoned since the owners were How did the men die? In 1978, five friends set out for home from a basketball game. It was later identified as Weiher's. In February of 1978, a group of five men went to a basketball game and didn't come home. At the time, Shones was preoccupied with his own emergency. The driver had either used astonishing care and precision, the investigators figured, or else he knew the road well enough to anticipate every rut. Tickets from the UC Davis game were also there so it was clear they had at least made it to the game to cheer on the team. Four days later their car was found on a Plumas National Forest access road. Candy wrappers, milk cartons and basketball programs were in the car but maps were left in the glove compartment. Huetts skeletonized remains were found shortly after. She owned a store there, where two of the men came in to buy food. The keys were gone and there was evidence of the boys having stopped at a convenience store for snacks. Police never ruled out foul play, nor did the families. When he got out to push his car, the exertion brought on a searing pain in his chest. Weiher seemingly walked nearly 20 miles to the trailer in frigid conditions, despite having left his coat at home. As he sat in his car wondering what to do, he noticed two sets of headlights, one belonging to a pickup truck. Huetts bones were found not long after. The trailer was over 19 miles from the Mercury. Around them, police saw nothing but rugged, dense forest, hardly an appealing option for the lightly dressed young men. Maybe something supernatural did happen to the boys of Americas Dyatlov Pass. A 46-mile drive, around one hour. Investigators could not determine why the car was abandoned, as it was in good working order and could easily have been pushed out of the snowpack it was in. All five lived at home with their parents and were bound together by a love of sports. All five either had slight intellectual disabilities or psychiatric disorders. The next day, they found remains that were later identified as those of Madruga and Sterling on opposite sides of the road 11.4 miles (18.3km) from where the car had been. Updated: 1:41 PM MST March 2, 2023. The search teams nearly lost men themselves two days later, as their Snow-cats struggled through the drifts. Madruga's body had been partially consumed by scavenging animals; only bones remained of Sterling, scattered over a small area. Yuba County, California. The families of the boys ultimately believed that they were forced or frightened into the wilderness. According to the Daily Mail, the District Attorney publicized the gruesome photos a week after they were presented to a jury. Out of the five, the one man who stuck out a bit was Gary. In 1978, five young men disappeared after seeing a basketball game, never to be seen alive February 24, 1978. If you come across them, do not attempt to apprehend them yourself. VIEW and share photos of real crime scenes. This proved to be the last time any of them were seen . Many people knew this group of friends around town. This wasnt something any of them were going to miss. It was possible that Madruga had missed the turn-off and gotten lost, driving deeper into darkness until the snow ground the Mercury to a halt. In February 1978, five young men drove from Yuba City to Chico to watch a basketball game. Not until the thaw came. But then the story takes an even stranger turn. A day after search parties were sent out, Madruga and Sterlings bodies were found about 11 miles from the Mercury Montego. He had lost almost half his body weight and his feet were badly frostbitten. This week on Loose Units, Four months after the disappearance of the Yuba County Five, the thaw came. The Russian case is as mysterious as the Mathias Group in Californias Plumas National Forest. Their names were Ted Weiher, Gary Mathias, Jack Madruga, Jack Huett, and Bill Sterling. He had a mild heart attack and was sleeping, when he woke up and saw the boys (possibly accompanied by a woman and baby), but they avoided him. To the Los Angeles Times, she said it was impossible for her to believe Madruga would ever drive his car, which he prized, into an area where it might be damaged. [5], Inside the car was evidence suggesting the men had been inside it between when they were last seen and when it was abandoned. It was the fact that Shones had likely wound up being the last person to see Ted Weiher, Gary Mathias, Jack Madruga, Jack Huett, and Bill Sterling alive. However, no trace of him has ever been found. Instead, immediately call the Sutter County Sheriff's Department at 530-822-7300.