On Friday, February 24th, the five men drove about 50 miles north from Yuba to Chico to attend a college basketball game. Ted Weiher's sister-in-law has theorized that the men may have seen something take place at the basketball game that prompted someone to chase them. Open discussion about the Crime Junkie podcast. We're working to give you the tools, stories, and technology that will help shine a spotlight on victims and their stories. None of the men's families could speculate as to why they might have driven up a long and winding dirt road[a] on a winter night deep into a high-elevation remote forest, without any extra clothing and on the night before a basketball game they had been discussing excitedly for several weeks. Shones staggered back in his car while he let the heart attack pass and then wondered what on Earth he would do to get himself out of the mess he was in. In 1978, in Yuba County California, five young men vanish. They continues walking, ignoring him. This week on Five men attend a basketball game together, only to never be seen again. For months and months, they searched for signs of Matthias. 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". Is Netflix's 'The Imposter' its most terrifying true-crime story yet? This case is bizarre as hell, Yuba County undersheriff Jack Beecham told reporters. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after being honorably discharged from the army following a drug related incident. [3] The eventual discovery of four of the five men's bodies seemed to suggest otherwise, but raised even more questions about what had happened that night, and whether at least one of them might have been rescued. Authorities release names of 5 killed in shooting at San Jacinto County This was strange because it seemed none of the trailers life-saving amenities had been used. Bianca Myrtil is a writer and freelance editor. After Schons' car ran out of gas in the early morning hours, his pain subsided enough for him to walk 8 miles (13km) down the road to a lodge, where the manager drove him back home, passing the abandoned Montego at the point where he had recalled hearing the voices originate from. A Net Inceptions project. She went on to earn her Masters Degree in Museum Studies in 2019 from the University of San Francisco. He would later say he saw a group of men, one woman, and a baby. "They might have seen it and didn't even realize they seen it.". Mathias, however, could have kept walking after Huett died and was somewhere else. This week, Emma teaches Brian about the Yuba County Five and their mysterious deaths. How these five men came to be on an inhospitable mountain road more than 50 miles from their homes in and around Marysville and Yuba City, California, was just one of the mysteries surrounding. In this week's episode, Emilie and Shannon discuss the unsettling and still unsolved case of the Could the "boys" from Yuba County have been targeted by a stranger? This case can be best summarized by then-Yuba County sheriff Jack Beecham who described it as bizarre as hell.. Inside the trailer, he found the body of Ted Weiher. More baffling, Weiher was emaciated. But what happened to the fifth? There was nothing left of him but bones. No one even covered the window they had smashed to get inside of the trailer. yuba county five crime scene photos; matt dalton abington ma obituary; abril 20, 2023 . Juan Corona: Crime of the century | | appeal-democrat.com [5], The woman said she immediately realized that the men were not from the area because of their "big eyes and facial expressions". As of late, his condition had greatly improved though, and he was able to work in his stepfathers gardening business. They were all homebodies for the most part, but one thing they strongly bonded over was sports. Knowing that Madruga drove a Mercury Montego, the police went to investigate and found Madrugas car. It was February 24, 1978, and Shones was miles from help. He had lost almost half his body weight and his feet were badly frostbitten. He could have survived there, but only a couple cans had been opened. I read a couple of the other stories, but many of them were reruns 24 Some, including Weihers family say this could have been a result of Weihers mental state and the fact that he sometimes lacked common sense, but others think this is a thin explanation. These five men were great friends. You see, Shones had been stuck in a snowdrift the night of the boys basketball outing. When you hear of the Yuba County 5, they tend to be collectively referred to as the boys by those that knew them. Their families raised a $2600 reward for information, petitioned psychics, and waited by their phones, but heard nothing. The fireplace looked to have never been lit despite the availability of matches and kindling. Why not start a fire for warmth? As for getting a real answer in the case, we may never know unless someone talks or, maybe, Mathais is found. Weiher was missing his shoes, and investigators found Mathias' own shoes in the nearby woods, suggesting Mathias also survived for some time beyond the last night they were seen alive. [2], Weiher's body was on a bed with eight sheets wrapped around it, including the head. Uncover secrets about the cold case of the 'Yuba County Five' - Podsauce A year after their disappearance, police were no closer to solving the mystery. The men did live at home with their respective parents but were independent, and some held jobs. Nearly 40 years have passed since the day a Sutter County sheriff's deputy dug . Purposeful motion like that is not consistent with the circular patterns traveled by those who genuinely believe themselves lost. The Washington Post. a mild heart attack. In February 1978, five young men headed from their home in Yuba County, California to catch a Yuba County, California. 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. When he went back outside to yell into the darkness, no one responded to the sound of his voice. This week, Georgia and Karen cover the disappearance of the Yuba County Five and the tragic Is there a rational explanation for what happened to the Yuba County Five? This team was supported by a local program for people with mental disabilities. A 46-mile drive, around one hour. Its called The Ritual, and although in this horror movie things turn supernatural, the parallels between it and the Yuba County Five story are strong. 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. As for getting a real answer in the case, we may never know unless someone talks or, maybe, Mathais is found. Organizing a search party in the midst of winter was no easy task, especially when it meant combing through rough terrain filled with rocky surfaces, wooded paths, and snow-covered slopes. Weihers decaying body was found lying on a bed wrapped in eight sheets. [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. Joe Shones, age 55, was having car trouble and a mild heart attack. In June, a group of bikers found a Forest Service trailer in a campsite 19.4 (31.2 km) away from where the abandoned Montego was found. A man called Joseph Schons contacted the police after he heard about the disappearance to say he had seen the men between 11-12 pm on the Friday that the group disappeared. True crime: This is the terrifying story of the Yuba County Five To this day, no one knows why these four young men died in snowy mountains that were so far from home. Police and the families never ruled out foul play. They werent missing this game. Helicopters surveyed the area from above. The Yuba County 5 went missing 42 years ago today in 1978. The Mathias Group from Yuba City Strange deaths on U.S. mountains, Reading Eagle: Five retarded men vanish without a trace, Galveston Daily News: Disappearance of 5 men keeps police frustrated, Marysville Appeal Democrat: Search team enlarged in hunt for last two, Marysville Appeal Democrat: One man still missing after Jack Huett found, Marysville Appeal Democrat: Forest service said it told about bunkhouse, Democrat and Chronicle: Final journey of 5 leaves a mystery, LA Times: Mystery of 5 men lost in Sierra deepens, The Sacramento Bee: Yuba alert is out for five slightly handicapped men, Lets talk about it: Gary Mathias and his four friends, The Sacramento Bee: Discovery of car spurs hunt for 5. The atmosphere was jubilant. This, and the considerable distance from the car to where the bodies were found, has led to suspicions of foul play.

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