Timesuck with Dan Cummins - Short Suck 60: The Mystery of the Yuba County Five

Episode Date: June 24, 2026

In February of 1978, five friends left a college basketball game in Northern California and seemingly vanished into thin air. Months later, four of them were found dead deep in the wilderness, miles from their abandoned car, while the fifth remained missing. Nearly fifty years later, the Yuba County Five remains one of America's strangest unsolved mysteries—a baffling case filled with unexplained decisions, bizarre clues, and theories ranging from tragic misadventure to murder and conspiracy. For Merch and everything else Bad Magic related, head to: https://www.badmagicproductions.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to another edition. Time sucks, short, suck! That doesn't fit this episode tonally at all. That was a moment. Dan Cummins, today I'll be sharing the story of the mystery of the Yuba County Five. In February of 1978, five young men disappeared on their way home from watching a college basketball game. Inexplicably, their vehicle was found over 70 miles from their intended route in a very remote area of the Plumas National Forest in northern California. Snow and rough terrain hindered the initial search efforts, and then months later, when that snow

had largely melted, four out of the five men's dead bodies were found roughly 20 miles from their car way out in the middle of the vast wilderness. The fifth? Well, you'll have to listen to find out. Nearly half a century later, no one can explain what led them so far off of their original intended course that night, why they ever ventured into that forest in the first place, or what the hell happened to them in the weeks and months that followed. Words and ideas can change the world.

I hated her, but I wanted to love my mother. I have a dream. I'll plead not guilty right now. Your only chance is to leave with us. Very quick note for longtime bad magic productions fans, before I get any further, if you're feeling any deja vu over this topic, you're probably not alone. While we have not covered this case in detail on TimeSuck before,

It's only been mentioned in passing. I did share a much shorter, far less analytical, less thorough version of this mystery on Scared to Death, episode 134, the Circleville letters back on March 29th, 2022. That addressed. Let's cover this one here today. The five men who disappeared that fateful day back in 1978 were Jack Hewitt, nicknamed Jackie, William Sterling, nickname Bill, Jack Madruga, no nickname, Thurga, no nickname, Thurie. Theodore Weir, nicknamed Ted, and Gary Matthias, no nickname for him either. Collectively, they are now commonly known as the Yuba County Five. These five men all live, unsurprisingly, in Yuba County, about 40 miles north of the city of Sacramento.

Jack Madruga lived in Yuba City proper, while the other four lived within a few miles of town in the area of Olive Hurst. Technically, a census-designated place, really more of an adjoining town that, based on recent YouTube videos, seems like a fucking terrible place to live. I searched for the two words, Olive Hurst, California. Nothing else on YouTube. Just to get a feel for this place. You know, watch a video.

And these are the first eight videos that came up in order. Deadly shooting investigation underway in Olive Hurst two months ago. Olive Hurst, California, drone footage. That one, not bad. Then, man dies in Oliver, Olive Hurst shooting,

suspected shooter arrested after standoff, Yuba County Sheriff, two months ago. Olivehurst, 14-year-old in critical condition after brother shot him authority, say, four months ago. Two arrested charged with homicide after deadly shooting and gathering, or at gathering, in Olivehurst two months ago. Families finally have answers decades after Olive Hurst girl's killings, nine years ago. Arrest made after shooting turns to stand off in Olive Hurst two months ago. Man's decomposing body found inside of an Olive Hurst home four years ago. Now, a few of those were covering the same thing.

I know, but still. And then it just keeps going on after that. Olivehurst man accused of murdering brother with ice pick, dismembering body. Ten years ago. Olivehurst man pleads guilty to murder in fatal shooting of 10-year-old boy two years ago. But enough about Olivehurst. I just found that a bit alarming. Let's take a few minutes to get to know the Yuba County Five.

Gary Dale Matthias was born October 15th, 1952. He was 25 years old at the time he went missing. Ted Weir was born May 26, 1946. 32 years old, he was the oldest member of the group. Jack Madruga, born on June 18th, 1947, was 30 when he died. Bill Sterling was born on April 5th, 1949. I was checking my math real quick. He was 29.

And finally, Jackie Hewitt was born March 29, 1953. He was the youngest at just 24 years of age. These five men were all intellectually disabled to some extent. Well, four of the five men were intellectually disabled to some extent. extent. The other suffered from a serious mental illness. They also all lived at home with their parents. The LA Times reported that Ted, Jack, and Bill were classified as, quote, slow learners. Jackie was classified as having an intellectual disability, although that's not what they called it, back in the 70s. Ted Weir's family has told various outlets that he lacked common sense.

For example, he once spent $100 on pencils for no apparent reason, at least no reason that the rest of the family understood. A dude just had a serious hankering for pencils. And $100,000. burning a hole in his pockets when he showed up at the store looking for them. Ted also once had to be dragged out of his bed when his bedroom ceiling was on fire. He told his brother Perry to leave him alone when that was happening because, quote, he needed to rest for work the next day. But his brother did remove him for pretty obvious reasons. A poor dude did not exactly have the strongest self-preservation instincts.

Perry interviewed by a Sacramento news station two years ago, ABC10, said regarding Ted, they didn't have a term for it then, but I think now he might have had autism. Another one of Ted's brothers, Dallas said in the same interview, he could write, he could spell, and he can remember movies better than the rest of us. Family members have told investigators that regarding the intellectual or his intellectual capabilities, Jack Madruga was, quote, merely slow in his thought processes. Jack once worked as a dishwasher for a dried fruit company. He helped Bill get a job there as well. He was then later fired because he couldn't figure out how to use some of the new. equipment once they bought it. However, he was pretty independent. He managed his own finances.

He had also served as an army truck driver from 1966 to 1968. Jack had his driver's license and loved driving his friends around in his turquoise and white 1969 Mercury Montego. Author Tony Wright, who had a book published about this case two years ago. Things aren't right, the disappearance of the Yuba County Five, said that Jack was quote a very quiet, introverted person, but very smart, very kind and loving. Sacramento B reported that Bill Sterling was intellectually disabled. Early in the 70s, he had worked at the Beal Air Force Base, less than 20 miles east of his family home as a dishwasher, but his mom then forced him to quit because she found out that some of the airmen there were getting him drunk so they could steal his money. So, you know, some assholes.

Tony Wright said Bill was an avid bowler, known for being athletic and a very kind and sweet, you know, kid. Very, why, yes, young man. It was reported that Jackie Hewitt could not read, write or die, He was described as being shy, sweet, a great friend, a homebody, more dependent on his parents than the other men. Also looked up to his friend Ted Weir, who would help him out from time to time, you know, look after him. Two men have been friends for eight years. Gary Matthias, he was the wild card of this bunch, the one who was the most different from the others. He was not intellectually disabled, but he had been diagnosed with a pretty serious case of schizophrenia. Gary was another Army veteran, and he had started.

showing symptoms of schizophrenia while stationed in Germany. He had also been using various drugs pretty heavily during that time. He actually had an episode before Germany as well. He was discharged, but I guess they didn't diagnose schizophrenia then. He was discharged shortly after his diagnosis. By the time he disappeared, he had acquired a fairly lengthy criminal record, and it spent time in some mental health institutions. But at the time of his disappearance, he was taking the medication regularly,

supposedly seemed to be doing much better. He hadn't always lived with his parents as an adult outside of his time in the service. He was back to living with his parents when he disappeared, was also working regularly for his stepfather, and was collecting psychiatric disability pay. It was imperative that Gary took his medication every day because without it, he would eventually begin to experience psychosis. A lot of sources tend to downplay Gary's mental illness and criminal record, which contains some very serious charges, which I will discuss before we're done here.

Gary like the others described as athletic also as a great brother who had been in a rock band in high school and he played a mean harmonic I guess Jack Ted Bill and Jackie

they had all been friends for several years some more than several their friends and family lovingly called them the boys Gary had only started to hang out with the boys a few months before they all disappeared

The boys also the name of a superhero series on Amazon Prime by the way one of my favorite series ever I think so irreverent creative funny, so smart, just wrapped up, I thought they fucking killed it.

Could not comment on that after hearing these guys described as the boys. Anyway, these boys met on a basketball team for a Yuba County nonprofit, the Gateway Project, a now defunct organization for adults with special needs that was ran through the Yuba County Vocational Rehabilitation Center. Several of the men worked full-time through this project. Their team was called the Gateway Gators, Go Gators, and they were also all big UC Davis basketball fans. Go Aggies. Cuba County Undersharef, Jack Beecham, told the Sacramento Bee, they were almost inseparable.

They would pile around together, go together. They were described as kind of the studs of their community, you know, the special needs folks. They were athletic, very well liked, very well respected. Law enforcement had no issues with them. They were nice kids, nice people. And that's not entirely true. That's true for four of them, but not all of them. I'll get to that later.

At the time of their disappearance, they were looking forward to to slash working towards participating in a special Olympics tournament in Sacramento on February 25th, 1978, the afternoon following their disappearance. This was a huge deal, right? The winners would receive a week-long trip to Los Angeles. They had a really good squad, a chance of going on Friday, February 24th. The night before this big tournament, that all made plans to go watch the Cal State Chico Boys basketball team play against U.C.

Davis in Chico, which is about 50 miles from Yuba City. important to emphasize just how excited they were for the basketball tournament the following day. It was reported that they had all adorably laid out their uniforms ahead of time. They've been talking about this tournament constantly four days, if not for weeks. I mean, they were fucking pumped, did not want to miss it. Ted had even asked his mom to wash his new sneakers, really shine those bad boys up, make him shine. Gary had made his mom promise not to let him oversleep. The five men made it to Chico and multiple eyewitnesses there verified that they watched

the game without incident. Then after the game at approximately 10 p.m., they were all captured on surveillance video, buying some snacks and drinks at a convenience store called Bears Market, located just a few blocks from the game. The clerk would also speak to authorities. He remembered them well because they had come in right as he was closing, and he remembered being slightly annoyed,

that he had to wait around to ring them up, right? It was a fucking Friday night. He wanted to get the hell out of there. He had a lot of places he wanted to be rather than the store. The boys bought a home. Post is cherry pie, a Langendorf lemon pie, a Snickers bar, a marathon bar, two pepsies, and a quart and a half of milk. The most important parts of the perfect prep meal before you have a big basketball tournament. You got a fucking carb load.

The more candy, the more soda, the more milk for important protein. That's how you get it done. That's how you win. A witness saw them drive away from the store, back towards Yuba City, back towards home. But they would not head in that direction for very long. and this is possibly the last time they were seen alive. Jack Madrugo was driving them that night in its 1969, Mercury Montego, fuck yeah, bro, right?

Really cool-looking car. Not sure if Jacks was a six-cylinder or V8, maybe even a big block V8. That year had all those options. They were supposed to be taking Highway 70 South to get home, but something went terribly wrong and they changed course. Early the next morning, very, very early in one case, these boys' parents began to notice

that their grown sons had not come. come home the night before and they were all immediately worried it was extremely out of character for any of them to uh well any of them but one to stay out all night especially this night uh when they had that big tournament to go to that none of them wanted to miss in just a few hours time ted's mom imogene weir woke up at 5 a.m went to check on her son only to find his bed empty she called bill's mother juanita learned that bill had not come home either wonita had been up since 2 a.m. waiting for baby boy, right? That poor woman, she was worried sick. But the time she spoke to Imogene, Juanita said she had already called Jack's mom and she had said

the same thing, right? Her son didn't come home either. Imogene then called Jackie Hewitt's mother, who then walked down the street to speak to Gary's stepfather. Same story with them all. No one had seen or heard from the men since they had left the night before. Mrs. Medruga finally called the police to report them all is missing at 8 p.m. Saturday, February 25th. Up and until that point, the five families had made calls to everyone they knew who might know where these boys were. They also had done a lot of searching themselves, desperately hoping that this was, you know, just some mistake, that it was not going to be a police matter. Of the five men, Gary Matthias was the only one who had ever stayed out all night with friends from time to time before. Gary again, not like the others.

He was the highest functioning member of the group, cognitively speaking. He struggled with serious mental illness, but as long as he took his meds consistently, he was able to operate pretty independently. The rest of them preferred to stay home and stick to the routines slash had to stick to the routines because they were not capable of living independently. On Monday, February 27, 1978, three days after they had gone missing now,

the first clue as to what happened to them was found. A U.S. Forest Service ranger called in a report that Jack Madruga's car was found in a snowbank, stuck in a snowbank along a remote road, way out in the Plumas National Forest. The car was found almost 50,000, miles in the opposite direction from where the men should have been driving back to Uba City and found roughly 70 miles from their last known location in Chico.

Very, very confusing location for everyone. The entire forest in that area was covered in at least 10 inches of snow, more in certain areas where it had drifted and piled up. The ranger reported that he first saw the car back on Saturday, February 25th, hours after they'd gone missing, but it did not concern him at that time because people frequently parked their cars on the road in that area to go cross-country skiing. He only reported the vehicle once he saw that a missing person's bulletin had been issued. Investigators quickly flocked to the area to search for the men, but there was nothing around the car that indicated where they might have gone.

The car still had a quarter tank of gas. Keys were missing. There were several maps in the glove compartment, including a neatly folded roadmap of California. Pretty common for people to have maps in their glove boxes back then, back in the days before GPS directions and the ability to look up directions online or print out driving instructions right from places like MapQuil. their snack wrappers, snack wrappers, excuse me, from their recent purchases were left in the seats. Also in the car were programs

from that basketball game they had just gone and watched. There was evidence that the men had tried to spin the wheels to get the car unstuck. Oddly, investigators found no signs that the men had then tried to push the car out of the snowbank, which they would have been able to have done easily if they'd worked together. The car had no mechanical problems.

Engines started right away when the police hotwired the car, so strange that they left a perfectly working car with gas just on the side of the road like that. The undercarriage also had no scratches or dents, which indicated the driver was being cautious on the, quote, torturously bumpy mountain road per the Washington Post. A blizzard brought in nine inches of more snow the following day, so search efforts were called off almost as soon as they had begun. This new storm was so bad, the snow came down so fast creating whiteout conditions that two members

of a snowmobile rescue team had to be rescued themselves. The question running through everyone's minds was, how the hell did these men end up in the Plumas National Forest? None of them were thought to have been familiar with that area. They had not dressed for winter weather. They had no known reason to be there. The family said that Jack Madruga was the only one whoever drove his car,

and Jack strongly disliked camping, hated the cold. As far as anyone knew, he didn't know shit about those mountain roads. Unlikely he had ever been in that area before. Also, the car was found unlocked, had a window rolled down when it was found. Madrugus family indicated it was very unlike him to leave his car so unsecured. The only one who was slightly familiar with the general area was Bill Sterling, who eight years earlier had went fishing with his dad once at the family cabin.

However, he did not enjoy himself, actually hated it so much, in fact, that he flat out refused to go on any subsequent fishing trips. He was fucking out on fishing. Three years earlier, Ted Weir had went deer hunting with friends in Feather River country, again just one time. But that area was far west of the area where the car was found. Like Bill, he was not fond of the outdoors either.

None of these dudes loved to go out into nature, especially when it was cold. On Thursday, March 2nd, 1970, six days after they had gone missing, before winter conditions had eased up enough to allow a new search party to start looking for them again, a 55-year-old man named Joe Shones came forward to make a report

about his heroin experience the night before, or not, excuse me, not the night before, the night of Friday, February 24th, the night the boys had disappeared. Joe said that around 5.30 p.m. that night, hours before the boys would have made it out into the woods. He was driving his Volkswagen Beetle, you know, beetle often called a bug,

down a remote road in the area where the boys went missing to check on his mountain cabin near Buck's Lane. He was checking the snow line because he wanted to bring his wife and daughter up to the cabin that weekend if the weather was good enough. He said that the snow got deeper and deeper, was falling harder and harder. he too ended up getting stuck in a snowbank. Then the poor bastard suffered heart attack

while trying to get his fucking bug free collapsed and was unable to move. Shone said that he just lay there in the snow for a long time. As quoted by the Orville Mercury Register, he said, I thought it was a goner and I was just praying for it to be speedy. But he didn't die.

Eventually he was able to get himself back into his car. Shone said, quote, I just laid there for a while with my feet outside the car. I didn't have the strength to lift him inside. he took breaks to rest Eventually was able to get fully inside And shut the door

Turned on his engine to stay warm Around 10 p.m. He finally saw headlights approaching And this would have been too early For the boys there Because they were getting snacks this time But he sees headlights approaching More of a strength that returned

He said he was able to roll down his window And shout, help, I'm a sick man But he received no reply Car drove right on by Due to the snow that was still falling He was unable to get a good look at who was inside When it was clear that they were not returning he laid back down.

About an hour later, he heard a quote, whistling noise, said he managed to get out, climb up a slope near his car where he saw headlights further down the road. There he saw a group of people

and heard voices. Men and a woman, he thought, possibly holding a baby. He said he shouted again, help, help, I've had a heart attack. Please, please help me. Cars lights and suddenly went out. The group stopped talking,

which signaled to him, right? They had just heard him. But then instead of helping him, they drove the fuck on off. like this guy was having an absolute shit night and I guess maybe some of those guys you know maybe maybe if they would have driven fast but probably not probably not

could have been the boys uh shown said I thought they'd run away from me I laid there in the snow and cried he managed to walk back get himself back into his car about two hours later he thought he saw flashlight beams outside his window rolled the window down and again called for help and again he was denied

lights went out no one spoke to him or tried to help him guess that you know theoretically could have been the boys A dude then laid back down his car with the engine and heat on, assuming he was fucking dying, I imagine, until his car ran out of gas. Following morning, the morning is Saturday, February 25th. He walked eight fucking miles through the snow to a lodge called Mountain House, where he was finally able to get some help. He claimed that on his way down, he passed Jack Madrugur's Mercury Montego sitting in the middle of the road. Did he see any of the Yuba County five, though?

Not with any certainty. And it's actually unclear if Shone saw anyone at all that night. Some think the lucky to be a live bastard hallucinated the entire thing. Doctors confirmed that Shones did in fact experience a heart attack. Bad enough that he stayed in the hospital for a week wasn't released until March 7th.

Shonnes initially said he saw two sets of headlights, one of them from a pickup truck coming up behind him at 11.30 p.m. while he lay in his car. You've seen all these things. He said, he got out, yelled for help, and the people parked behind him and then drove away. Then on March 9, he told L.A. Times, he was unsure if he ever saw a second vehicle,

saying, I was half-com. not lucid, hallucinating, and in deep pain. Whether I saw half or half imagine second vehicle, I don't know. And he gave like some, you know, conflicting times. However, he did say that in an LA Times interview, he was certainly saw the Mercury Montego on the road the next day. I'm a gene. Ted Weir's mom.

Yeah, maybe I said Emma earlier. I think it's pronounced Ima. It's an unusual, uncommon name that is pronounced different ways. I'm, I think I'ma. Emma, Emma, Emma. I'm going to say it, Ima. I'm a Jean. Ted Weir's mom then told the times that her son would have helped Shones if they had been there. She noted that Ted and Bill once took a person who had overdosed to the hospital.

She didn't think any of the people he may have heard and or seen were the boys. However, Ken Mickelson from the Butte County Sheriff's Office, speculated that being trapped in the snow and in the dark would have created a stressful situation that the man maybe didn't know how to handle. And that if they had been there, that might explain why they didn't respond to Shones' cries for help. He thinks that they might have panicked and, quote, scattered. Hmm Before we hear from any of the other witnesses Time for today's first to two Mitcho sponsor breaks

If you don't want to hear these ads Please sign up to be a space alert on Patreon Get the catalog ad free Get these episodes early and more Thanks for listen to those ads And now let's return to March of 1978 Go over some more possible clues Back on Friday, March 3rd

A week after the boys disappeared Two more people came forward to report a supposed siding an unnamed woman claimed that she saw the five missing men in a red 50s pickup, not the Mercury Montego. At 2 p.m. on February 25th, right, the Saturday, the day after they disappeared in Brownsville, Yuba County, 34 miles northeast of Yuba City. She said the men were in front of Mary's Country Store, that two of them were in the truck, two were standing at a phone booth, and the fifth was inside the store. She said she noticed them because they were not from town. However, even though she had supposedly seen them on Saturday the 25th, the day after they disappeared.

She didn't get around to reporting them as being missing until March 3rd, almost a week later. And the same exact day an announcement was made, offering just over $1,200 and reward money for information leading to those guys being found. Lieutenant Dennis Moore from the Yuba County Sheriff's Office did tell the L.A. Times

that she seemed to be a credible witness, though, that they were taking her information seriously. But over the years, other people have begun to think that, you know, maybe she was just someone looking for a payday. However, Mary's country store owner, Carol Waltz, did also claim that she saw the men on both February 25th and on Sunday the 26th. Specifically, she believed she saw Ted Weir and Jackie Hewitt buying food and drinks. Hmm.

Probably not, but that's what she said. Thursday, March 9th, 1978, 13 days after the disappearance, sheriff's officials in two counties now said they suspected foul play in the men's disappearances. Over the following days, weeks, and then months, more reasonable. reports of supposed sightings float in from Sacramento, Tampa, even Ontario, Canada. Nothing really credible, though. Investigators, while snow in the mountains continued to hinder search efforts, they were taking these disappearances, excuse me, incredibly seriously, and were doing everything they could to help find these boys. They even consulted psychics for help. One psychic said the men had been kidnapped and taken to Arizona and Nevada. Another said

they were killed in a two-story red house in Oroville with a gravel driveway and an address of either 4723 or 4753. But a detective could not find a house that matched that description. And they should have been able to find it if there would have been that house there. Orville had less than 9,000 people back then. So not many houses had an address of either 4723 or 4753 or 4753, guessing that psychic was maybe a wackadoodle. A so-called body witcher. Yeah, body witcher was also brought in.

And this fucking body witcher pointed the police to an empty cabin. but the lead was fruitless. To quote the article about this body witcher and the Sacramento B, a body witcher was brought in and his magic rod pointed them to an empty cabin, but no clues. I applaud those investigators for trying everything. I do. I also applaud any officers who had enough self-restraint to not openly laugh, point and mock a dude, assisting the search effort with a quote, magic rod.

Presto changeo, rearrangeo, show me spirits, let me know where in snow? Did they go? Anyone else picturing that guy wearing the kind of robe and sorcerer's hat that Mickey Mouse was wearing in Fantasia? Three weeks after the men went missing, a woman from Yuba City named Debbie Lynn Reese claimed that when she answered her phone, she heard a man's voice on the other side, and he said, I know where the missing five men are before hanging up. He then called back the next day and said, I need help because I really hurt those guys bad. She asked, who did you hurt? and then he responded, Don't play dumb with me,

and hung up again. Then on Friday, March 17, three weeks after the disappearance, she received a third call. The man said, Those five guys are all dead. She asked, They're all dead?

He said again, they're all dead. Then hung up and never called her again. Could he truly have been someone who did something terrible to them, or was he maybe just another strange creep who wanted to fuck with somebody? Makes me think of all those weirdos

that we've come across in true crime. episodes over the years who have made like crazy false confessions to horrible crimes, who have reportedly, you know, outrageous, heinous details about crime investigations that turned out to definitely 1,000% not be true. There are so many fucking weird, creepy people in the world, aren't there? Sunday, June 4th, 1978, sorry about that lip smack, that's probably obnoxious. After the snow had finally melted, the bodies of four out of the five boys were found in the

forest after they've been missing for exactly 100 days. That day, a group of motorcyclists had been exploring. in the Plumas National Forest, when they found a forest surface trailer at the end of a road in the woods, 19.4 miles from Jack Madrugas car, feeling curious, they decided to check it out, and they discovered something horrific inside. The Oakland Tribune reported that one of the motorcyclists described as a boy peaked through the trailer's broken front window, spotted a dead body inside, and was overcome with the stench of decay. That body was Ted Wears. His remains were stretched out on a bed inside the trailer, wrapped up in eight sheets. His feet were severely frostbitten.

His leather shoes were missing. He was amaciated, severely amaciated. And based on the length of his beard, he had been alive before he had died from anywhere from two to three months after going missing, before he finally perished from exposure slash hypothermia. Fuck, dude's body had grown weak from starvation, and then the cold had finally finished him off. Clearly that creepy collar from earlier had not killed him after all, was just a nut.

On a table next to his body, investigators found Ted's engraved gold ring, his gold necklace, his wallet with cash still inside, and curiously a gold Waltham watch that did not belong to him or any of the five men. Based on the evidence, investigators theorized that Ted had walked almost 20 miles in the cold. And remember, he had not dressed for winter weather. And then he had broken into the trailer by smashing out a window. And then somehow he survived in there, lost, freezing, starving, and scared for months. investigators learned that a Forest Service snowcat had driven up the road to this trailer just the day before the boys had gotten lost

on Thursday, February 23rd, which had left a path in the snow that the men might have followed. Damn, man, if only Ted had somehow made it to that trailer without using those tracks, like on the 24th, and then the Forest Service had driven there to check it out on the 25th. It would have found him in the others,

but since they had just checked, they weren't going to check again for months. 31 cans of food from an outside shed near the trailer had been opened, emptied, and almost, you know, certainly eaten by Ted and possibly by some of the other boys. There were no conclusive fingerprints on the cans, so we don't know for sure who else may have been there eating those. Oddly, Ted did not open a locker in that same shed where he would have found cans that contained a whole bunch of dehydrated meals, a ton of fruit cocktail, and more, literally enough food to have kept all five men alive for at least one year. It was all right there.

Ted also didn't use matches that were there or available possible fuel sources like a bunch of books and wooden furniture in the trailer. He didn't use an available propane tank in another shed. It appeared as if he had never attempted to build a fire or to use gas for cooking and heat. Damn it, if someone with higher cognitive functioning had been there with him, it's very likely he would have survived.

Ted, who was 5-11 and weighed around 200 pounds when he had gone missing, was down to almost 100 pounds by the time his body was found. My God. Investigators noticed that one of the cans of food he had likely eaten had been opened with an Army P-38 can opener. Only Jack and Gary had served in the army,

so they assumed that they were likely the ones who knew how to use that type of can opener, and thus had been there with Ted for some time. Also didn't seem like Ted had ever tried to leave the trailer, even though the snow had eventually melted enough for him to attempt to hike back before he died. Weir's family tried to explain his actions by telling the police about his lack of common sense.

He might have been too worried about doing the wrong thing, like burning somebody else's property, might have been worried about the trouble he would have gotten in for doing that or for taking too much food. You know, also just reminder, this was the guy who had had to have been, you know, who needed to be dragged out of his bed when his bedroom ceiling was on fire when he didn't want to leave because, quote, he needed to rest for work the next day. Gary's stepfather said, he believed the only reason the group didn't build a fire was because

they must have been, you know, worried about being found for some reason. but why? Why would they worry about that? Had they all decided to run away together? Some kind of secret plan? Did they not actually like living at home? Or did one or more of them not like that? And then that person or persons convinced the others

that they should all strike out on their own? And then when they got lost, needed help. Maybe were they too afraid of their families being mad at them to try and be found then? I don't know. Next day, Monday, June 5th, 1978, the remains of Jack Madruga and Bill Sterling were found in the woods,

several miles away, about halfway between the car and the trailer. Animals had gotten to the remains long before they were discovered. Madrugas body had been partially consumed by scavenging animals. Only bones remained of sterling scattered over a small area. Autopsy showed that they both died of exposure slash hypothermia. Not 100% sure how you determine that from just bones, but that was apparently the determination. Had they both also been the trailer with Ted and then after starving for weeks, or months did they decide to make a run for it before the cold finally took them.

It's actually unknown if they had ever reached Ted's trailer. I mean, probably, but it's not a done deal. They don't know that for sure. Or if they had left, possibly died while trying to hike out. No fingerprints were ever recovered or processed from the U.S. Forest Service trailer where Ted Weir's body was discovered because this was initially treated strictly as a missing person's case rather than as, you know, multiple homicides. Law enforcement did not secure the scene or collect standard forensic evidence like fingerprints

or blood types, which has only, you know, added to the mystery in your sense. Jack's body had been dragged near a stream, likely by some animal. What was left of him was found face up with his right hand curled around his watch. A fourth body, Jackie Hewitt's remains, found three days later, Thursday, June 8th, about two miles from the trailer. His father was actually the one to find him, the poor bastard. He found what at first he thought was his son's jacket, but then when he picked it up, his son's spine literally fell out. That is some horror movie shit. Jackie's remains were identified by his dental records.

His skull was found 300 feet away from his jacket and spine, or 50 feet away. Sources vary. I guess that detail doesn't particularly matter. His shoes and jeans, most of his bones, some tissue that scavenger animals had not eaten, were found near his jacket and spine as well. It was, again, somehow determined, based on what remained of him that he had died of exposure slash hypothermia. Not enough food, way too much cold had killed all four of them. Three forest service blankets and a rusty flashlight were found a quarter mile from the trailer and a gray cigarette lighter was found three-quarter miles northeast of the trailer.

The Washington Post reported that none of the men carried a lighter, not as far as their families knew anyway. I mean, it's possible to one of them, like Gary, carried one in secret. At this point, no one could explain exactly how the four men had gotten to the area of the trailer, why they'd ever left their car, you know, why they ever went to the fucking forest in the first place, and where Gary Matthias was. Gary's shoes were found in the Forest Service trailer in the midst of finding the dead bodies, which suggested that he had been there at some point, although there was no definitive proof of that. One of the other men may have brought his shoes into the trailer for whatever reason.

Certainly doesn't point to his likely survival, though. Investigators thought that Gary might have taken Ted Weir's leather shoes, which were never found. Ted's shoes were larger, better suited for the cold. The search for Gary Matthias was called off less than two weeks later, June 19th, 1978 as he was strongly assumed to have died. Before we get into theories regarding why the boy he disappeared, time for today's second and two mid-show sponsor breaks.

Thanks for listening to those sponsors. Now let's return to this mystery. Bob Klopth, Gary's stepfather, said about his role in the early search efforts. What I looked for all the time I was up there were his glasses. I didn't think the bear would eat that. Gary's glasses never been found. John Thompson, a special agent from the California Department of Justice, was quoted as saying about the case, no explanations and a thousand leads.

Every day you've got a thousand leads. Investigators weren't able to prove a criminal act occurred on the night of February 24th, 1978, but they also have never been able to explain what happened to the men. Jack's mother, Mabel, told the Washington Post, there was some forest that made them go up there. They wouldn't have fled off in the woods like a bunch of quail. We know good and well that somebody made them do it. we can't visualize someone going the, or getting, excuse me. We can't visualize someone getting the upper hand on those five men, but we know it must to have been.

Ted's sister-in-law said, they seen something at the game at the parking lot. They might have seen it and didn't even realize they seen it. Jack's mother also told the early times, things aren't right. The investigators want to say they got stuck, walked out like a bunch of idiots and froze to death. Why would they leave the car to go die? that's no sense or there's no sense to that theory but we can't figure anything that works outright there's no rhyme or reason to any of it finally the body of gary matthias has never been found he is still officially missing from what i can tell and now let's get into the theories

that surround this mystery what happened to the boys after looking into everyone's background the main theory law enforcement investigators developed was that the men had decided to take a trip that their parents did not know about to go see a few of gary's friends in Forbes Town, a census-designated place in Butte County, California, just under 40 miles from Yuba City. And on the way there, Jack took a wrong turn, which led them to getting lost, led to getting stuck in the snowbank and panicking. The Washington Post described Forbes Town as being halfway between Chico and Yuba City, quote, on a road with a turnoff so easy to miss that anybody driving at late at night might have ended up heading north toward the mountains and gotten lost.

However, Gary's friends in Forbes Town would report that they had not seen him for over a year and that they were certainly not expecting to see him that night. So while this theory is certainly possible, many have found it to be very unlikely. A second theory developed that Gary might have been experiencing hallucinations, powerful hallucinations, because he didn't have his medication with him, you know, that he'd stopped taking it and therefore that he might have led the group astray. This, of course, could tie in with the first theory. Gary may have thought that his friends wanted to see him that night in Forbes Town.

He might have hallucinated a memory of talking with him. Might have thought that they were secretly communicating with him and inviting him somehow. Also in the past, he had demonstrated his ability to walk extremely long distances, hundreds of miles, which could explain why his body, you know, was never found, that perhaps the other men were not capable of hiking in the rough snowy terrain like him, and he had made it far, far away from the trailer. And now for some more recent theories. over the years a lot of suspicion has turned towards Gary Matthias, most of it has.

Was he knowingly or unknowingly involved in his friend's death? In 2021, the Sacramento Bee released a two-part investigative series on the Yuba County Five specifically focusing on Gary. They interviewed surviving relatives and investigators, which created a disturbing image of who Gary really was. The B reported, quote, billed in virtually all media reports at the time as another lost lamb caught out in the cold, Mathias was an aberration within the flock, a young man who did not belong with the others. He was violently schizophrenic, had a history of drug use,

and was not intellectually disabled like the others. Gary had a troubled home life from a young age. His mother, Ida Klopf, left her husband Garland Matthias, taking her children with her when Gary was just three years old. She then later called Garland, asked him to pick the kids up, but then a short time after that, filed a restraining order against him. Sadly, Gary's father would definitely. die by suicide in 1987, followed by his sister Sharon, also dying by suicide in 2002.

It is assumed slash believe that serious mental illness runs in his family. Gary was first into a psychiatric facility, his sophomore year of high school, following a bad trip on hallucinogenics. As I've said before, while drugs like LSD cannot make anyone go permanently insane. If you have certain underlying mental illnesses, they can trigger illnesses, you know, in rare cases becoming active. Gary recovered from this mental health episode But then he continued with recreational drug use Despite probably not having the best psychological makeup to do so And he consistently continued to use drugs

While joining the army as well In February of 1973 After being arrested for going AWOL at the age of 20 Gary called two sergeants and a deputy towards his cell According to case files After they opened up his cell He walked out into the hallway, completely naked And then punched a sergeant

He said during his following police interview I've been in the army and I don't like it And I thought if I hit a cop Maybe they let me out Yeah Gary was a fucking wildcard And to be fair His plan there did work He was discharged

Gary spent time in a cousin's house That same month shortly following this Reportedly one morning to 830 a.m. He was spending time with his cousin While his cousin's 17 year old wife was sleeping Right they're all really young She was groggy from some medication she was taking For an unspecified illness

And she was laying in bed Then Gary left the room Saying that he was going to use the bathroom. After he was then gone for a suspiciously long amount of time, Gary's cousin went to go check on him, and he found Gary not in the bathroom, but straddling his wife on their bed, groping her breasts. When he asked Gary what the hell he was doing, Gary straight up said that he wanted to kiss her. Like that was a normal fucking response this moment, a normal option. When his cousin said he was going to call 911, Gary replied, quote, good, I want to go back to jail. Gary eventually pled guilty to battery of a peace officer. A Another charge of assault with intent to rape was dropped as part of his plea deal. He would end up serving eight months in prison before being released early. And then in December of 1973, now 21-year-old Gary gets in trouble again for another disturbing incident. He snorted a bunch of meth, swallowed some benzodia tablets, another form of amphetamine,

then went to a couple's home that he knew and talked about how he wanted to stab a woman in the jaw. He also told her three-year-old daughter, quote, I thought I'd kill you once. I guess I'll have to do it again. So that's fucking terrifying. The couple threw Gary out of their home. He then proceeded to beat on their doors to try to get back in until the police got there. Investigative journalism attempts have not been able to determine with certainty whether or not he would serve additional time for that specific incident.

Short time later, Gary was arrested on suspicious of Grand Theft Auto and received a citation for disturbing the peace and driving without a license. Someone who knew him back then said that he also got into some bar fights around this time and was once reported for prowling around at night in a local cemetery like a fucking ghoul. Gary was known, he was definitely known to the Yuba County Sheriff's office at the time of his disappearance. According to Gary Whiteley,

the ex-husband of Gary's sister Sharon drugs warped Gary's brain. Maybe, partly warped, maybe he was born with a serious mental illness and drugs interacted very badly with that brain. After serving briefly in Germany, or maybe they did warp him. I mean, fucking meth will eat your brain up.

After serving briefly in Germany, Gary was in and out of the house and wildly mentally unstable for the next couple of years, clearly. 1974, Gary was arrested by the police in Stockton, California, and checked into a state mental hospital for unspecified reasons. He stayed there for two days, then escaped through a drain pipe, and walked and hitchhiked his way back to his parents' home in Marysville, Yuba County. Gary had also once snuck out of the Letterman Army Hospital's psychiatric ward,

and he walked out of a different mental health facility in 1975. He was then medicated again, but stuck with it at that time, at least for a while, became stable and national. to take some classes at Yuba College, a public community college in Marysville, Yuba County, 1975. But then he dropped out, moved to Oregon to go live with his grandma in Portland. Gary's mom and stepdad, Ida and Bob, called him, pleaded with him to come home, but then he stopped talking to them.

Then they don't hear from him until he unexpectedly and impulsively had left his grandma's house and just showed up on their doorstep five weeks later. He had literally walked from Portland to Marysville, a roughly 540-mile journey. Gary told them that he stole milk off people's porches, ate dog food along the way to survive. That same year, another couple in Yuba County, woke up to find Gary, this is terrifying. Welcome up to find Gary standing in their bedroom,

like in the middle of the night. He had punched through their window, unlocked their front door to get inside, and now he told them that he was looking for a ring to return to Satan. My God, a ring to return to Satan. This dude was clearly wildly unstable and dangerous when he was off his mitts.

he also told him that he was there to collect their rent money, rent money for the house that they fucking owned. Gary took another trip to the psychiatric facility following that incident, it seems, as opposed to going to jail or prison. After that incident, Gary started to be more consistent with taking his meds. He was able to get hired on for a steady job, able to keep it, had no notable contact with the police for two years. He joined the Gateway Project, that nonprofit called Gateway Projects, plural in some sources,

and started hanging out with the other four men that we've met just a few months before they all went missing. And as we know, he joined their basketball team. Basketball coach Robert Pennock would tell the police that he felt like Gary, quote, could possibly flip out at any time. Dude made him nervous. Dude made a lot of people nervous.

Back in 1978, Yuba County Sergeant James Black interviewed Gary's friend, Janet, and Zara. And she said that Gary repeatedly told her about a dream where he and several other people would disappear. So that's interesting and creepy. And Zara also claimed that Gary was, quote, a very violent person hurting several men seriously, and she said he hated women.

So what a friend. What a friend to have around. The parents of the other four men would all report that they did not feel comfortable around Gary. They also said they did not know about his criminal record at the time that the boys went missing. Case file notes written by investigators about the Yuba County five disappearances.

Note that Gary was deemed the most likely of the group to, quote, lead and suggest places to go or things to do, right? So the leader of this group, when not medicated, is extremely mentally unstable, violent, very dangerous. Yuba County, under sheriff Jack Beecham told the Sacramento Bee that the parents of the other four said they had, said they had concerns about Gary's involvement during the initial investigation. They all thought Gary was different from the others, that he didn't fit in with the other man. Investigative journalist with the Sacramento Bee speculated that perhaps Gary chose not to take his meds, prior to those guys going missing because some of the listed side effects are drowsiness, lethargy, or lethargy, excuse me, and dizziness.

And he might have, you know, wanted to have been extra alert for his big basketball game the next day, right? Poor dude. Because of that, he might have started to hallucinate and then unintentionally led his friends to their deaths. Sounds like a pretty good working theory to me and so fucking sad. Another theory that has persisted for decades is that the men witnessed something they weren't supposed to. to see, right? And this was alluded to in a previous article. This idea comes largely from comments made by family members. Ted Weir's sister-in-law, not identified by name in a Washington Post article from 1978. Famously speculated, as I believe we just heard not to long ago, that the group

may have saw something in a parking lot after the, or seen something in the parking lot after the basketball game, maybe a fight, maybe a robbery, maybe some kind of drug deal, something that frightened them enough to leave Chico in a hurry. But why wouldn't they race home in that situation? why would they drive away from home? Gary's stepdad, Bob Klopp, pointed to the boys not burning anything as evidence they'd gotten afraid of something of someone, some group of people,

people again, that they may have witnessed doing something. I can't understand why Gary would have been that scared, he said. All those paperbacks, and they didn't even build a lousy fire. I can't understand why they didn't do that unless they were afraid. Supporters of this theory point to the strange route the men took. Instead of driving home, they headed deep into the mountains. but I don't know if that really is evidence of this.

But they feel like, you know, they took this strange route because they were fleeing from someone or someone's. The biggest problem with this theory, one of many, there's absolutely no evidence that a crime occurred in the parking lot that night. And no witness ever reported seeing the men being chased.

Still, it is one of the most enduring theories because it postulates some sort of answer to the single biggest question in this case. Why did five men who desperately wanted to be home for a basketball tournament suddenly abandon their plans and drive 70 miles into the wilderness. Another enduring theory is the drug dealer theory,

a darker variation of the witness theory that focuses specifically on Gary Matthias. Because Gary had a history of drug use and new people outside of the social circles of the other four men, some have speculated that he had arranged to meet somebody that night. Somebody he perhaps had planned

on buying some drugs from, maybe want to get some fucking meth, be revved up for the game, or maybe it was somebody he owed money to, or both, perhaps he encountered someone from his past unexpectedly at the game following this theory

the group either willingly followed Gary into the mountains or were forced there to some degree after an encounter gone wrong supporters point to the mysterious gold watch found near Ted Weir's body the unidentified lighter and the fact that Gary's body was never found critics counter that there is zero evidence

that Gary had returned to drug use before he disappeared friends and family said he had been very stable employed taking his meds looking forward to the big basketball tournament the day after they disappeared very much. Like many of the theories in this case, it explains some details, maybe kind of, but also creates new questions.

Another possibility is that the men encountered someone arriving, or excuse me, that they encountered somebody after arriving in the mountains. This does not answer the question of why they ended up in the mountains. It theorized that once the boys ended up in the Plumbus National Forest for fucking whatever reason, they found out real quick that the wilderness was far from empty. you know, hunters, campers, cabin owners, occasional drifters were in that area, and once out on this lonely road, the boys crossed past was someone or someone's hostile. Maybe they stopped to ask for directions. Maybe they accidentally trespassed.

Maybe an argument escalated. This theory sometimes linked to Joseph Shone's account, possibly seeing various unfriendly people near a vehicle in the mountains at night. If another person was present, supporters argued that individual could have convinced the group to leave the car or head deeper into the forest for any number of reasons. reasons. The biggest problem with this theory is that investigators, well, they never found any evidence of violence, no gunshot wounds, no stab wounds, no signs of struggle, nothing conclusively pointing towards murder. Instead, remember that they went on to live for months after they disappeared.

Some other theories are a lot more out there, like one that takes us squarely into tinfoil hat conspiracy territory, because two of the men had been in the military and because the area they disappeared and contained some military facilities, like the highly restricted Beale Air Force Base, which wasn't that close, but kind of, you know, this Air Force Base was home to the SR 71 Blackbird spy plane and U2 spy plane programs in 1978. Some amateur investigators and podcasters and YouTubers have proposed that the group accidentally witnessed some sort of highly classified military operation. According to this theory, or I guess theories, since there are several variations, the boys encountered covert military personnel conducting some, sort of exercise or transporting some sort of classified equipment. Now, what kind?

We don't know because it's so secret they were killed over it, okay? If I did know, they would kill me for telling you. Rumors suggest that they might have seen secret experimental spy planes or early drone military technology being tested in the Plumbas National Forest or in the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains. And then, of course, but there were other people up there that night that weren't killed. And then, of course, following the murder of the boys, you know, there was a big government cover up to hide the fact that they were killed, there's zero evidence for any of this.

No documents, no whistleblowers, no credible witnesses. And again, there was a bunch of other people in the forest at night. Why kill just them? The theory persists because, well, people fucking love shit like this. People want to believe shit like this. People often find it difficult to accept that a tragedy this bizarre could result from something as mundane as just getting lost or from following a group member's mental illness-induced hallucinations.

It's not as exciting. one of the most fascinating theories is, and I'm guessing a lot of you've already wondered about this yourselves, Gary Matthias never died. Anywhere on that mountain, unlike the others, Gary had repeatedly demonstrated an ability to survive on foot for extraordinary distances. Dude walked home allegedly over 500 miles from fucking grandma's house in Oregon.

His body was never found. His glasses were never found. Supporters of this theory believed Gary may have left the trailer after the others died and successfully reached civilization, or he might have done that before the others died. Maybe he told him he was going to go get help. maybe unmedicated, he hallucinated some sort of vision, a vision of a plan for how to escape. Without medication, he would have experienced severe psychosis eventually.

And once that happened, he could have not only wandered out of the woods, but then also adopted a new persona, new identity, a name, become homeless, died somewhere far from where the search was conducted, or not died, still be alive, unmedicated somewhere theoretically today. Not likely, but not totally impossible. law enforcement has never found any evidence whatsoever supporting that theory though but unlike a lot of the other theories it remains technically possible another technically possible super creepy theory is that somebody was already in that Forest Service trailer

when the boys found it the reasoning with this theory usually goes somebody else own that mysterious gold watch somebody else owned that lighter somebody else helped Ted you know get wrapped in sheets or they wrapped him up after he became incapacitated and Gary disappeared because he stayed with this

mystery unknown person. But why the fuck would this mystery guy stay with the five of them up there while they starved for months? Starved while there were all these dehydrated meals and so many fruit cocktail cans in a locker in the shed, again, literally enough food to have kept all five men alive for at least a year, you know, to have them be able to feast like fucking kings until summer came and then it could easily get out. Why would that person not break into the shed?

Why would that person not start a fire? That theory is fucking ridiculous. A lot of these theories are, but that one is especially ridiculous, in my opinion. there's also a cruel local bully theory following this one this mystery bully wherever they might have been had some sort of issue

with Gary Matthias and grabbed him after the boys all got snacks following the game and then this bully and anybody who may have been helping this bully well they they forced the other four guys

to follow him and Matthias up into the mountains and then they made the boys parked the car and then they marched them a few miles further and then they were like I don't know like

fuck you now get yourselves home and in the cold and darkness without any you know means to properly orient themselves. They all went deeper and deeper into the woods, which is where they stumbled upon the trailer where Weir, you know, his body was found and then they hid there because they were still scared of these bullies. You know, and then I guess maybe Bill Sterling stayed with Weir

while Madruga and, you know, Hewitt eventually tried to go back to the car to get help a long, long time later. Uh, but so some version of the bully and the bully's henchman kidnapped Gary and then we're like, follow me up into the mountains to get him back. And the other four did or were driven there by some of the bullies henchmen. And then once up in the mountains, the bully was like, now get out of that car and follow me further, but on foot now. And they're like, oh, okay.

And then they walked behind the car through the snow for miles and miles. Well, I guess, you know, the bully and his henchmen were taking a lot of turns to get him confused and lost. And then the bully are bullies. Then they toss Gary out of the car. And they're like, ha ha, fuck you guys. And then they fled. And the boys weren't able to follow their tire tracks anywhere. That's insane.

That one seems more ridiculous to me than the previous one. Finally, there were a few other people who think a few more pretty unlikely things, like that the boys encountered UFOs, and the aliens just fucked around with him for a while, probed them, experimented on them, you know, just kept him scared, before ultimately abducting Gary and taking him to, I don't know, another planet. Sure, okay, why not?

Can't prove that that didn't happen. Just like that you can't prove that that didn't happen to anyone who's ever disappeared, whose remains have never been found. There are also those who think that maybe Bigfoot had something to do with this. I mean, they did get lost in the woods. And you can't ever rule Bigfoot 100% out from fucking with people who've gotten lost in the woods, can you?

Maybe Bigfoot scared him and confused him and kept him up there because he's a... He's an asshole, I guess. People that lean towards these type of fringe theories tend to point towards Joe Shone's strange observations that night as evidence of some sort of paranormal activity. Also, these theories generally rely mainly

on one simple argument. Well, nothing else makes sense. But that's not actually evidence. That something makes sense. If you want to dig further into what happened to the Yuba County 5, you can go to a lot of places online like the boys from Yuba subreddit that was created last August. A recent post there is titled The Full Moon's Position on the evening of February 24th, 1978, because that's obviously very important to all this. So many possibilities. So many possible factors.

You know, we've got to figure out what the fucking moon has to do with all this. The mystery of the Yuba County 5 is both intriguing and disturbing. It leaves investigators and, you know, just members of the general public. random people with more questions and answers. What went wrong on the night of February 24th, 1970? How did the men end up 50 miles from home? Why did they choose to leave their car and walk 20 miles out into the forest then? What happened during those months in the Forest Service trailer?

And finally, where the fuck is Gary Matthias? According to the Sacramento Bee, the last case update occurred back in 2006, 20 years ago now, when Gary's brother Mark Matthias indicated yes, on a letter from the sheriff's office to confirm whether or not Gary was still missing. But that's not really an update. It's just a confirmation of the obvious. As under sheriff Jack Beecham, so aptly put it, this case is bizarre as hell.

So what do you think happened? I think this all reeks of a severe mental health crisis. Right. Gary's the leader of this group. These other guys, these poor bastards, you know, they're not, they're gullible. They're easily misled. I think Gary stopped taking his meds.

And then I think the other four. boys who hadn't known Gary that long, well, they met a new Gary. They saw a new side of Gary when they left that convenience store after the basketball game, the night they disappeared. They saw the Gary who'd once broken into a house to tell the people inside that he was looking for a ring to return to Satan. They met the guy who once told a friend's three-year-old daughter, I thought I'd kill you once.

I guess I'll have to do it again. The guy who took off all his clothes and punched a sergeant so he could get out of the army. The guy who fondled his cousins, teen wife's breasts while she was practically unconscious, and then told his cousin that I'd like to kiss her now. Maybe he thought people were following them when they left the store, right? He starts having delusions, hallucinations. He thinks that people are trying to kill them for whatever reason. I don't know, take him out of the basketball tournament.

It could be anything, literally anything. Maybe he convinces the others, right? Again, he's the alpha of this pack, that they had to go hide in the mountains before CIA agents killed them for knowing too much about something, anything, right? Maybe they left the car in the snowbank because he had them convinced that aliens or demons, were after them. And if they stayed in the car, they would definitely be got.

Right? They couldn't start a fire because aliens would see the smoke and find and killed them. Well, they couldn't go look for help in the woods. They had to keep hiding so the demons couldn't hear the move. To me,

Gary leading the group astray based on powerful, paranoid hallucinations makes the most sense by far. Because it explains any amount of erratic behavior. It provides a type of logic to any number of illogical choices.

And it's just so fucking at, right? It's just a reminder of how important it is to continue to fund scientific and psychological and psychiatric research so we can find better and better treatments for people who suffer from mental illnesses like schizophrenia so we can someday cure them. I love a good mystery, but I would rather live in a world that is much less mysterious if that means it is also much less tragic. And that is it for this edition of Time Sucks, Short Sacks. It is a fucking weird story. There are so many weird details. I do understand why people are fascinated with it. If you enjoyed this story, check out, or if it just fucking killed, if it killed the mystery for you,

be like, I want more mysteries to be killed. Check out the rest of the bad magic productions catalog. Actually, you know what? We have a lot of mysteries on the scared of that side. We have a lot of mysteries being destroyed on the Timesick side. Time suck every Monday at noon Pacific Time. New episodes of the now long running paranormal podcast. I love to suspend disbelief. Scared to death, Tuesdays at midnight. Two episodes of Nightmare Fuel, fictional horror. thrown into the mix each month and I'm still having so much fun with. Thank you to Olivia Lee for her initial research

on this one. Thanks to Logan Keith polishing up the sound of today's episode. Please go to bad magic productions.com for all your bad magic needs and have yourself a great weekend. Magic Productions.