On February 24, 1978, 5 young men from Yuba County, California attended a college basketball game at Chico State, which is a CSU campus in Chico, Ca. The game was about 50 miles away from their hometowns. The 5 men were: 29 year old Bill Sterling, 24 year old Jack Huett, 32 year old Ted Weiher , 30 …On February 24, 1978, 5 young men from Yuba County, California attended a college basketball game at Chico State, which is a CSU campus in Chico, Ca. The game was about 50 miles away from their hometowns. The 5 men were: 29 year old Bill Sterling, 24 year old Jack Huett, 32 year old Ted Weiher , 30 year old Jack Madruga, and 25 year old Gary Mathias. By the next morning, their families realized their sons had not returned home that night. They have never been seen alive again. There are so many theories and unanswered questions in this case that we could discuss it for days, weeks, years... what do YOU think happened to the Yuba County 5?
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In February of 1978, a group of five men went missing in the lush wilderness of Northern California while on their way home from a college basketball game. After the snow melted in June, four of their bodies were recovered, scattered miles from their abandoned car. As for the fifth member of their g…In February of 1978, a group of five men went missing in the lush wilderness of Northern California while on their way home from a college basketball game. After the snow melted in June, four of their bodies were recovered, scattered miles from their abandoned car. As for the fifth member of their group, he mysteriously vanished altogether. As their causes of death were revealed, police wondered what had driven the men into the forest in the first place, and why things unfolded the way they did. These are the stories of Ted Weiher, Jack Madruga, Bill Sterling, and Jackie Huett, and Gary Mathias, also known, as the Yuba County Five.
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CASE SOURCES
1. Historic Mysteries: https://www.historicmysteries.com/yuba-county-five/
2. Strange Outdoors: https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/tag/Ted+weiher+death
3. The Sacramento Bee: https://www.newspapers.com/image/620944080/?terms=yuba%20county%20five&match=1
4. All That's Interesting: https://allthatsinteresting.com/yuba-county-five
5. Autobiography: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B09PR565KY/ref=atv_dp_sign_suc_3P
6. Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/07/06/5-boys-who-never-come-back/f8b30b11-baeb-4351-89f3-26456a76a4fb/
7. Jack's Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74257245/jack-antone-madruga
8. Ted's Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/170496384/theodore-earl-weiher
9. Jackie's Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154899123/jackie-c-huett
10. Oroville Mercury Register: https://www.newspapers.com/image/681872430/?terms=ted%20weiher%20obituary&match=1
11. Without A Trace: https://without-a-trace.com/2020/07/31/strange-stories-the-bizarre-case-of-the-yuba-city-five/2/
12. The Human Exception: https://www.thehumanexception.com/l/the-yuba-county-5-revisited/
13. The Human Exception: https://www.thehumanexception.com/l/the-yuba-county-5/
14. The Charley Project: https://charleyproject.org/case/gary-dale-mathiasmore
February 24, 1978. Chico, California. After embarking on a road trip to attend a basketball game, five mentally disabled young men – 24-year old Jackie Huett, 29-year old Bill Sterling, 30-year old Jack Madruga, 32-year old Ted Weiher, and 25-year old Gary Mathias – begin the 50-mile drive back to t…February 24, 1978. Chico, California. After embarking on a road trip to attend a basketball game, five mentally disabled young men – 24-year old Jackie Huett, 29-year old Bill Sterling, 30-year old Jack Madruga, 32-year old Ted Weiher, and 25-year old Gary Mathias – begin the 50-mile drive back to their homes in Yuba County, but never arrive. Four days later, their abandoned car is found in some snow on an isolated mountain road, but the five men, a.k.a. “The Yuba County Five”, have gone missing. After the spring thaw hits, the remains of four of the victims are discovered at different locations throughout the area, but Gary Mathias is never found. While the cause of death is determined to be exposure, there are many unanswered questions. Why did they drive over 35 miles off the highway to such an isolated location? What prompted them to abandon their vehicle? Did an eyewitness see other people with the five men on the road that night? This week’s episode about the Yuba County Five is one of the most bizarre mysteries we’ve ever covered, and is considered by some to be an American version of the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident. Special thanks to the Unresolved Mysteries subrebbit for bringing this story out into the open.
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Additional Reading:
http://charleyproject.org/case/gary-dale-mathias
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/07/06/5-boys-who-never-come-back/f8b30b11-baeb-4351-89f3-26456a76a4fb
The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.
All music is composed by Vince Nitro.more
