Strange Stories: The Bizarre Case Of The Yuba City Five

5 Best Friends

Ted, Jackie, Bill, and Jack had been friends for years, ever since they met through the day program they attended for disabled adults. The group was often seen together and have often been described as inseparable. Gary met the other men within a year or so of their disappearance/death, but it appears that he was kindly welcomed into the group when they all met him through their day program. None of the men knew it at the time, but soon their fun would end in disaster.

Each of the five had their own tendencies and personalities so i’m going to discuss each of the five men, in hopes that we can use the information to decode what went wrong here.

• Ted Weiher (32) has been described as being very kind, as well as social, but also lacked basic common sense. He still lived at home with his family at the time he disappeared. Ted struggled to handle his own finances, and was known to buy too much or would spend money on odd things he did not particularly need. Ted’ brother said that one time his brother bought $100.00 worth of pencils for no reason. Ted was unable to drive and had never gotten a drivers licence, driving seemed to confuse Ted, he would question why he needed to follow rules of the road like stopping at a stop sign. (Typically, this is something we naturally pick up on and soon we understand we stop at stop signs because that’s just a rule and it helps keep people safe. Most people just know to stop at a stop sign so it can be confusing why someone wouldn’t know this, i suspect this is probably because Ted struggled with learning social and life skills normally like another person might. Ted sounds like he probably needed deep explanations for things that most people would probably consider basic common sense.) Ted also seems like he was very concrete and possible even rigged in his habits and his likes/dislikes. One time, his house was on fire, but he tried to refuse to leave because he said he needed his rest for the next day, eventually Ted had to be carried out of the home. Being able to recognize dangerous situations is a learned life skill and it is clear that Ted struggled with that. Ted reminds me a lot of someone on the Autism Spectrum. I’m definitely not qualified to diagnose anyone but as someone who works with kids on the spectrum that’s what it appears like to me. Ted loved to make new friends and seemed like he had a really kind disposition, and he seemed fairly high functioning as well. Ted also appears to be very imaginative, one time Ted even asked his brother why Mickey Mantle could hit a baseball further than him.

• Jackie Huett (24) was best friends with Ted and they had known each other for over eight years. Jackie was intellectually disabled and was probably the lowest functioning of all the men. Jackie strongly depended on his friend Ted and the other guys to help him with the tasks that were difficult for him. Jackie needed help using a telephone, and was unable to read or write. Police have said it was possible that Jackie had an IQ as low as the 40s. In a Washington Post article from 1978 and Jackie was actually described as ‘retarded’. (Today, it’s likely Jackie would be able to be diagnosed with a much more specific diagnosis, unfortunately a lot of people with special needs were automatically put into that category during this time. Also, its very likely that Jackie’ IQ was not actually that low, an iq of 40 would indicate an extremely profound intellectual disability. Jackie would probably need help with every single aspect of his life. To give some perspective, most people with Downs Syndrome have an iq somewhere between 50 and 60. It sounds like Jackie had a mild to moderate disability ) Jackie was not outgoing like Ted was though, Jackie liked to stay close to home and he was very shy. Jackie also had a speech impediment which furthered his difficulty communicating even more. Jackie really depended on others to care for him, and because of this he was almost always home with his parents when not with friends or at his day program. It seems like the other guys really took care of Jackie for the most part. Its been said that Ted would even read menus or dial phones for Jackie often.

• Bill Sterling (29) also lived at home with his parents, they even gave him a weekly allowance of 15$ to use when he went out with his friends. Bill was very kind but didn’t seem like he was the outgoing type. His parents said that they had a cabin near Bucks Lake but Bill almost never went, he preferred being at home over being in nature. The night that the group went missing, Bill took three maps of California with him, he definitely wanted to be well prepared for his journey with his friends. Bill suffered from general delays, however, he did hold down a stable job as a dishwasher at an airbase. Eventually, the airmen began to take advantage of Bill. Soon, Bill’ mother learned that the airmen had been routinely getting Bill drunk in order to steal his money. Bill seems very sweet and unassuming to me, he probably was very easily taken advantage of. Soon after, Bill was encouraged to resign from his position at the airbase by his mother, she feared he was too trusting and would continue to be taken advantage of there. (It appears like Bill was probably very trusting of others, and likely relied a lot on his family and friends to take care of him.)

• Gary Mathias (25) was the highest functioning of the men, and seemed to be considered the de facto leader of the group due to this fact. Growing up, Gary played high school football, and eventually went on to serve his country in the military. Just like his friend Jack Madruga, Gary also had his drivers licence and was able to drive. Despite being the highest functioning of the group, Gary was not without his demons. Gary lived at home with his parents, this is because during his time in the military Gary ended up receiving a psychiatric discharge after an AWOL arrest, and being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, while he was serving overseas. Gary had also struggled on and off with drug and substance abuse on and off for years. Once, as a teen Gary was even hospitalized after he suffered an emotional break after a bad trip from a hallucinogenic drug. Gary struggled with severe mental illness for most of his early twenties, but by the time he met the other men through a gateway program, Gary had not had any symptoms from his schizophrenia in two years. At the time of his disappearance, Gary was even working as an assistant at his stepfather’s shop. Still, decades later many still point a finger towards Gary despite his apparent remission.

• Jack Madruga (30) was the 2nd oldest of the men in the group, and he even helped Bill find a job at one point. Jack worked as a dishwasher at a dried fruit company, and he had a good work ethic, but was fired after he couldn’t learn how to operate a new dishwasher. (This is important to note because it could imply that Jack struggled to cope with changes in his daily routine, and learning new life skills.) Jack definitely helped to take care of the others and it appears that he was probably high functioning, despite being described as a ‘little slow” by many who knew him well. His parents say that while Jack did have more of a slow thinking process, he was still able to take good care of himself, and was able to handle his own finances appropriately. Jack had graduated from high school, then soon after he went on to join the Army. During his time serving in the Army, Jack worked as a truck driver. It has been said that Jack’s time in the military had been unremarkable. Jack was also the only member of the group who owed their own car, Gary had a licence but but it doesn’t appear that he had a vehicle, because Jack was known to drive the guys around.

Timeline:

Yuba City

• The night of the Chico State basketball game, Ted’ grandmother reminded him he should bring a coat with him, she was worried that he would get cold since it had been getting down to the 40s at night time. Ted brushed off his grandmother’ worries, then bounded happily out the door. Gary Mathias even made his mother promise him that she wouldn’t let him over sleep the next day, he was definitely excited for the big game the next day.
• As far as we know, after Jack picked up all of the guys, they made their way to the basketball game in Chico. The ride was pretty lengthy, but as far as we know this ride was uneventful. It appears that the guys made it to Chico without incident.

Chico

• The team the guys were routing for actually ended up winning the basketball game that night. Naturally, the five men were happy and excited that they got to see a great win. We don’t know a ton about what happened during the game or directly afterwards, but i think it’s safe to assume the men had a good time while at the game.
• After the five friends left the college basketball game they were seen at a local convenience store. The clerk on duty said she remembered the men well, she had been trying to close the store up and the she said that they had held her up. The clerk claims that the men bought a few snack pies, along with various candies and snacks. After leaving the market, somehow everything would go terribly, and horribly wrong….
• The fastest way back to Yuba City from Chico would be to take the most direct route, which is route 99. Route 70 also could have be taken as well. On this night, it appears that the men took route 99, but then went on Route 70 before turning off onto route 162. This was pretty far off of the most direct route home, even now we still can only guess at what made the guys go up that perilous mountain road, all those years ago.
• Below, I have included a map of the route I bet he mentioned likely would have taken.

Plumas National Forest

• At some point after pulling onto route 162, the group reached the snow line within the Plumas National Forest. This is where Jack Madruga’ teal Mercury Montego was found abandoned several days later. It took several days to find the car because the area where the men had disappeared was very desolate, and not very many people went on this road in the winter time because the snow was typically pretty heavy above the snow line.
• Soon a witness would come forward with even stranger information, leaving the families and the police even more confused. This man was named Joseph Shones, he had been on the same road that night because he had a cabin in the area and was setting it up so that he could take his wife and daughter there later that week. Joseph had a heart attack while trying to free his car from the snow. He claims that he saw the five men, plus a woman with a baby standing outside of the car. Unless there was more than one car on the road that likely would have been impossible, because Jack’s car only held five people, so if Shones really did see this then that woman would of had to have already been out there or there would have to be another car. Now, Shones was taken to the hospital where the doctors did confirm that he did have a heart attack, but i’m not sure how accurate his depiction is.

Search & Rescue

• The morning of the Gateway Gators big basketball game, Ted’ mother awoke abruptly at 5am, she immediately noticed that Ted had never come home. After contacting the parents of the other “boys” as they called them, it was discovered that not one of them had ever come home the night before. It was not like them to not come home, and they had been so excited about their game the next day. Their families feared the worst. Bill’ mother had never even gone to sleep, telling Imogene Weiher that she had been up since at least 2 am waiting for her son to come home. He always came home.

“The house was still and it was not quite light, this is how the horror began, as it often does: no crash, no wailing, just a dim morning chill, in a small house on what ought to be an ordinary day.”

– The Washington Post –

• After the five friends still had not returned home by the night of the 25th, their families decided to call the police. (This is totally understandable, these parents were probably terrified.) the men had even missed their basketball game, the one they were so excited for. The men had even laid their clothes out for the big game. Their families knew that something terrible must have happened. As the weekend came and went, soon the police also started to take an interest in the case, and after Jack’s car was found abandoned, the police really started to worry too. The police knew that if the men had gone into the forest they had already been out there for close to five days at that point.
• The police discovered that the abandoned car had the remains of the snack cakes and candy bar wrappers that the men had bought after leaving Chico, along with that, the police discovered that one of the front windows was rolled halfway down and the keys were missing from the car. The car appeared stuck at first but was easily pushed free by a few people. The day that their car was found, a major snow storm came through the area, covering the Plumas National Forest in over 9 inches of snow. Despite their best efforts, the search and rescue teams were unable to safely navigate the massive snow drifts in the region. The search continued for several days, but the weather greatly hindered the search efforts and made it dangerous to continue for long. It’s not completely clear how far the search and rescue teams searched, but the distance between the road where the car was abandoned and the trailer that Ted’ remains were found in was almost 20 miles away. It is possible that distance would not be able to be covered if the snow was extremely heavy. No sign of the missing men would be found until the spring came that year.

Deadly Discoveries

• The discovery of the men’s remains was hart breaking for their families and likely a huge wakeup call to the local authorities that they had really dropped the ball on this case. Ted’ body was discovered first, the officers that responded to the scene claim that the stench emanating from the 60 foot trailer was nauseating. Upon entering the cabin the officers discovered the body of Ted Weiher. When Ted had gone missing he had weighed over 200 pounds, now, Ted looked like a completely different person, he was almost unrecognizable. Ted looked as though he had lost close to 100 lbs off of his 5 foot 11 frame. Due to the large beard growth seen on Ted it was readily apparent that Ted had likely survived as long as 13 weeks in that trailer before succumbing to his multiple maladies. After further inspection, it was discovered that Ted died as a result of the combination of severe frostbite, gangrene, starvation and exposure to the elements.
• The scene inside the cabin has always been perplexing. Inside, the police found tennis shoes that belonged to Gary Mathias, an unidentifiable gold watch, and multiple open food rations. So, it appeared that someone who knew how to use a can opener had been there with Ted at some point. There were also a lot a materials that could have been used to make a fire, like wood furniture and a propane tank.

• The remains of Jack, Bill, and Jackie would be found in the days following the discovery of Ted. Jack and Bill’ partial skeletal remains were found spread across an access road about half way between the car and the trailer, some sources have said they were 4 miles rom the trailer while others say it was closer to 9 miles. Based off of the included image we can safely ascertain that Bill and Jack were found at about the halfway mark.
• Jack had been dragged by animals about 10 feet to a nearby stream, his car keys were still in his pockets. Bill’ remains had been picked apart by wild animals, and the police said that only some of his bones were left. As far as the medical examiner could tell, all of the four had died of what appeared to be natural causes, listing exposure as the leading cause of death.

Notable Facts:

California Crime

Yuba County Lt. Lance Ayers was one of the officers that searched for the missing men. He has often blamed himself for not finding the men in time. Ayers claims that while the men were still missing he would often have dreams about the five friends. He even would drive around trying to find any trace. So, it appears that despite the police slow start on this case that people had definitely not forgotten the missing men. A lot of factors can effect the response rate of the police in situations like these, a victim’s age and history can be major contributing factor to delayed response in law enforcement, as can other crimes in the area.

This is important to note because it proves that a lot of people in the local communities REALLY wanted to help find these men alive, but they seemed to have lacked the ability to do so, likely due to limited resources and a lack of manpower. Search and rescue missions take a lot of manpower and are very time consuming, and they can be extremely costly; because of this, help came too late for these five friends. If the police had taken the concerns of their families more seriously it is possible that the men could have been saved. Once the police really became concerned, several days and nights had passed and it is likely that at least a few of the men had probably already died by that time.

From what i have seen reported, it appears that the search only lasted a handful of days before they had to stop looking for safety reasons. So, it is a valid conclusion to assume that the search and rescue teams might not have even made it more than 10 miles or so. The search also probably would have started close to the car then spread out, but the five men went uphill….i often wonder where the searching actually took place, because i tend to think that the search teams probably would have searched the lower levels of the mountain first and around the car, because to go uphill really goes against most natural instincts in a situation where you are lost, and both Jack and Gary would have known that for sure.

During this time, California had been plagued by the torment of multiple serial offenders, like the infamous ‘Hillside Stranglers’ and the ‘East Area Rapist’. At the same time, the serial killer Ted Bundy and Roman Polanski covered the front pages of newspapers across the entire globe. Meanwhile, five disabled young men went missing in the wilderness of a California National Park without a trace, and almost no one noticed until it was too late….

Diagnoses & Dilemmas

Gary has long been blamed for the disappearance and eventual deaths of his friends. This is because out of all the men, Gary was often seen as the outlier, because he didn’t have a disability the way the others did, and he has been described as the most adventurous of the group. Gary was also the highest functioning, these differences really set Gary apart from the others, and the fact that Gary had Paranoid Schizophrenia really made people weary of him almost immediately. However, i think people are really too quick to blame Gary for this, so i want to review what we know to be factually true about him, or anything that could indicate he had a predisposition for violence. We know that during his teen years and into his 20’s Gary struggled with addiction, he even spent some time in a psychiatric hospital in his youth as well. It has been reported that these mental health issues greatly affected him during his time in the Army. Addiction does not particularly make him more prone to violence, but it could potentially increase the likelihood he could get into trouble with the wrong people. We know for a fact that Gary also received an AWOL arrest when serving in Germany, and then after this he allegedly punched another service member, which caused him to eventually be diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Now, a lot of people have questioned this diagnosis, suggesting that he could of had Bipolar Disorder or PTSD. Regardless of how Gary would be diagnosed today, it’s clear that when Gary didn’t take his medication as directed he would typically display behaviors that were dramatic, erratic, and delusional. Gary’ family has explained that during times of apparent psychosis his functioning ability rapidly decrease, which is common with people who suffer from psychosis.

While the other men definitely were not as high functioning as Gary, they still were able to go out with friends and were trusted without supervision from family members for at least moderate increments. The other men appear to lack common sense and probably didn’t have the best social intelligence, but i still think a lot of what has been said about them is probably false. Like i previously stated, it had been said by the police that they thought that Jackie had an IQ in the low 40’s, but with Jackie’ level of independence would strongly suggest otherwise. It’s also important to mention that the difficulties that Jackie struggled most with (using the telephone, learning to read and write ect) are actually adaptive learning based for the most part, not necessarily intelligence based. Adaptive skills are skills that we typically learn throughout the lifespan and they are typically referred to as ‘life skills’. “Adaptive behaviors include real-life skills such as grooming, getting dressed, avoiding danger, safe food handling, following school rules, managing money, cleaning, and making friends. Adaptive behavior also includes the ability to work, practice social skills, and take personal responsibility.” Something like using a telephone would definitely qualify as a life skill. It is possible that Jackie’ struggles with reading and writing could have been IQ based but their are tons of people who struggle to read and write and they still have an IQ in the normal range, so keep that in mind.

Ted and Bill have also been described as lacking common sense and appear easy to take advantage of. Ted also seemed like he had an inability to avoid danger and lacked the ability to learn new skills. We see this in Ted’ inability to learn to drive and when he didn’t leave his house when it was on fire. Bill also struggled to interpret social cues, and ended up being taken advantage of while at work.

Missing 411 Phenomenon

Another important fact of this case is that all five men went missing in a national forest. if you are unaware, a large amount of people disappear in our national parks and forest every year, and a great deal of them are never found. Below, i have attached a 411 cluster map that outlines the majority of missing persons clusters surrounding national parks and forests.

As you can see, a lot of these disappearances are happening in California. The fact that the ‘Yuba City Five’ became lost within a national park from what appeared to be natural or unknown causes is very important to note here.

Do you guys think that its possible this case could be missing 411 related?

This certainly would not be the first or the last time we found missing people in a national forest under odd or bizarre circumstances.

Theories:

Overall, the theories that are most commonly believed typically fall into two main categories, which are foul play and unfortunate accident. I’m going to discuss these theories and then explain my thoughts on what happened in this case.

Foul Play

In this case in particular, the families of these men strongly felt that their son’s met with foul play in someway that ultimately caused their disappearance and then deaths.

External Foul Play – The idea behind this theory is that the five men somehow met with foul play due to events that happened either before, during or after the basketball game in Chico. An external source of foul play would be something like a stranger murder, or potentially some type of road rage incident that turned deadly somehow. Potentially even a scenario such as seeing something they shouldn’t have while on the road or somewhere else along their journey.

Internal Foul Play – An internal source of foul play would mean that something one of the men did or didn’t do, somehow caused this tragedy to happen. This is where a lot of people blame Gary, saying that he must have purposefully lured his friends out into the woods to let them die. Personally in my opinion if Gary was the cause of this i don’t see it happening on purpose or maliciously, which i will elaborate on at the end. However, i do have to say that out of all of the men, Gary was the only who had been described as confrontational, which leads me to think that if someone were to clash/argue with a stranger it probably would have been Gary and not one of the other guys. We don’t really know what happened in between Behr’s market in Chico and Plumas National Forest, and it is completely possible that someone had been following them from the game, or that they pulled off somewhere quickly and then somehow trouble was made and the men fled.

Another possibility i’ve seen thrown around is that Gary became paranoid that someone was following them or chasing them and this caused the other friends to freak out since they often looked to Gary for reassurance and guidance most likely. That is a thought that keeps coming back to me, if something happened to Gary or he suddenly became unwell, i could potentially see that leading to something happening to the entire group since they probably did rely on him at least somewhat.

Unfortunate Accident

Lost – The men simply became lost, and this lead to them being startled or becoming scared and they made choices that seemed very right to them at the time, but now when we look back on this case it doesn’t appear to make sense to us as outsiders.

Curiosity – The five friends went off course for enjoyment or out of curiosity. Now, i think that this does seem a little out of character for at least a few of the men, i could see maybe Gary or Ted being more willing to do that, but the others lived with very set schedules so i think it probably would have taken some convincing but i don’t think that i would rule the idea out completely though. The drivers side window was found partially rolled down which could imply people inside might have been talking to their friends if they were outside the car. It is possible the when Joseph Shones called out that he scared one or more of them causing them to flee and become lost.

What I Think Happened To The Yuba Five:

I believe that this case is most likely the result of a scenario falling somewhere between external foul play and unfortunate accident due to curiosity. Honestly, these are the only scenarios that i can envision that would lead them up into the forest. I just don’t believe that they simply got lost and then somehow ended up 20 miles into the forest. Some type of catalyst would of had to have happened that either made them want to go up their or something or someone forced them. I also don’t believe that Gary would have been able to force the others up the road without them consenting to it as well. It’s also important to note that as someone with schizophrenia, Gary most likely would not of been able to orchestrate an very elaborate thought out plan as a person with psychosis.

I think that after the five friends left the market in Chico it is very likely that some type of incident occurred that scared them and this caused them to either think someone might have it out for them, or just too freaked out to continue on the same route. It is also important to mention that as individuals with disabilities they might have potentially been higher risk targets. we see this with Bill at his job, where the other people who worked with him would steal his money, because to those people, Bill was easy to take advantage of.

After this incident, the guys decided to take a different route home, they had a several maps that Bill had brought with him from home. But, all of the friends were shaken over what had happened and the individual who was directing Jack where to go accidently had them turn off onto a road that actually lead up a mountain with difficult terrain or the guys were just trying to get back home safely while avoiding major roads. I did some digging, and i discovered that the road that Jack’ car was found on did lead onto Bucks Lakes Rd where you can then turn off onto Quincy la Porte Rd. Eventually, this would bring you all the way around Plumas National Forest and then eventually they would be able to make it back towards Brownsville and then onto Yuba City. Now, this would have definitely been a long trip but the group definitely had enough gas to do this so it’s possible. The men most likely had not anticipated the roads being as hazardous as they were that night. After becoming stuck in the snow i suspect two or three of the guys got out to see if they could do anything to get the car free, while the driver rolled the window down to be able to talk with the others while he steered.

I think that when Joseph Shones yelled out it could have potentially set off Gary, who was already nervous, this shout in the night caused him to fear that pursuers were after them. This caused Gary to flee into the woods. When Gary did not return the other four men were not too sure what to do, but they decided that they needed to find their friend to be able to leave, and they probably would not have just left him behind. Eventually, within a few miles the guys caught up with Gary finally, putting them all at ease. But, now they had bigger problems, none of them were fairing very well in the frigid forest and they didn’t think they would be able to make it back to the Car. Soon they found a small path, Jack and Bill were exhausted and freezing, so the other instructed the two friends to remain on the side of the path and that the rest would follow the path to find help for them. The other three walked on into the night, and after several more hours and many miles later, the men finally found the forest service trailer, only to discover that no one was inside. The friends were defeated and had frostbite, Gary broke a window and opened the trailer from the inside. The three men were stuck there in severe conditions and Ted was very ill, he had severe frostbite on his feet as did Gary and i think it’s safe to assume that Jackie did as well. Gary knew that this was very bad, he attempted to care for himself and the other two men for several days, terrified of the thought of the fate of Jack and Bill. Gary had been making sure everyone was eating and drinking the best he could while most likely going through horrific withdrawals from the multiple antipsychotic medications that he had been taking. As the weeks passed, Gary knew that the longer they all stayed there the less likely they would survive, he was suffering from the effects of his schizophrenia by this time and was struggling to stay in the present, often suffering from hallucinations.

Gary had to make the hardest decision he had ever made, he decided to leave Jackie and Ted behind to try to find them all help, he took some blankets with him, left a weeks worth of opened food rations with his friends and he set off into the forest never to be seen or heard from again. At this time Gary’ decision making skills were also probably very poor to non existent. I have often suspected that Gary died in the forest and was just never found. Soon, Jackie began to search for Gary around the area near the trailer, he didn’t know what else to do, and one day, Jackie didn’t come back to the trailer. Ted was left alone, to suffer a fate that is truly beyond comprehension.

Their story will likely be discussed for many years to come, as the fate of the Yuba City Five continues to perplex people from across the world. I truly hope that wherever Gary is, that he’s at peace with his friends.

I hope that you all enjoyed my take on this case, and hearing my thoughts about what happened to these five men. Stay tuned for my next post in August when i will be talking about a double missing persons case from the early two thousands!

Up Next: ‘Where In The World Are Danielle Imbo & Richard Patrone’

Sources:

• https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article226777394.html
• https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article226544615.html
• http://charleyproject.org/case/gary-dale-mathias
• https://www.darkhistories.com/the-disappearance-of-gary-mathias/
• http://trailwentcold.com/2017/11/29/the-trail-went-cold-episode-48-the-yuba-county-five/#:~:text=The%20Trail%20Went%20Cold%20%E2%80%93%20Episode%2048%20%E2%80%93%20The%20Yuba%20County%20Five,-November%2029%2C%202017&text=Four%20days%20later%2C%20their%20abandoned,Five%E2%80%9D%2C%20have%20gone%20missing.
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/07/06/5-boys-who-never-come-back/f8b30b11-baeb-4351-89f3-26456a76a4fb/
• https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/Yuba-City-Five-s-fate-still-haunts-more-than-40-13939352.php