1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Thrilling Threads, the show that takes a stack 2 00:00:02,319 --> 00:00:05,919 of sources, articles and research and tries to pull out 3 00:00:05,919 --> 00:00:08,000 the insights you need to really get to the core 4 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:09,240 of a complex mystery. 5 00:00:09,439 --> 00:00:11,599 Speaker 2: And today we are heading into a case that's really 6 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,560 defined not by what did happen, but by what fundamentally 7 00:00:15,599 --> 00:00:18,399 should not have happened. It's a story that is just 8 00:00:18,519 --> 00:00:23,960 loaded with contradictory forensic evidence and while completely baffling human behavior, 9 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,839 so much so that it's earned this really ominous chilling 10 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:29,679 title the American. 11 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: Dialog Pass, and just that comparison alone is enough to 12 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:34,600 grab you. Okay, so let's unpack this because the premise 13 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,960 itself is just it's utterly terrifying and how irrational it is. 14 00:00:38,119 --> 00:00:38,439 Speaker 2: It is. 15 00:00:38,719 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: The setup is on the surface simple, five men, five friends. 16 00:00:42,719 --> 00:00:45,679 They leave a basketball game. They then drive seventy miles 17 00:00:45,759 --> 00:00:47,880 past where they should be a remote logging road into 18 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:52,079 a heavy snowfield. They abandoned a perfectly running car, hiking 19 00:00:52,799 --> 00:00:56,520 unthinkable twenty miles through deep snow, break into a warm cabin, 20 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:58,880 and then they proceed to starve to death right next 21 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:00,200 to enough food to feed them free. 22 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,879 Speaker 2: The sheer terrifying irrationality of those decisions. That's what defines 23 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,159 the case of the Yuba County five, which happened back 24 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:08,760 in February of nineteen seventy. 25 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: Eight, and the dialogue pass parallel. Yeah, yeah, that's Soviet 26 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,519 tragedy from fifty nine. That doesn't really hinge on the 27 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:15,719 cause of death, does it. 28 00:01:15,799 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 2: Not at all? In Uba, it was starvation and hypothermia. Medically, 29 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:24,359 that's pretty clear. The link is specifically the unexplained departure 30 00:01:24,359 --> 00:01:27,599 from safety, why they left the car, and then the 31 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:29,560 bizarre behavior that followed. 32 00:01:29,159 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: Why they ignored the food, why they ignored. 33 00:01:30,879 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 2: The heat exactly. This is a case where you know, 34 00:01:33,079 --> 00:01:35,560 the forensics are clear on how they died, but they're 35 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,120 utterly silent on why they chose that path. 36 00:01:38,239 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: So our mission today is to do a thorough, deep 37 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,760 dive into the source documents, look at the facts around 38 00:01:43,799 --> 00:01:48,599 the disappearance of Jack Madruga, Bill Sterling, Ted Wire, Jack Hewitt, 39 00:01:48,799 --> 00:01:49,719 and Gary Matthias. 40 00:01:50,439 --> 00:01:54,159 Speaker 2: We have to analyze the forensic paradoxes, review the really 41 00:01:54,159 --> 00:01:59,040 compelling psychological theories, especially those concerning cognitive. 42 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:02,799 Speaker 1: Collapse, and maybe most importantly, we have to confront these 43 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,599 serious allegations of an institutional cover up that just hangs 44 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,240 over the entire affair. We want to try and understand 45 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,400 what compelled these capable men to choose a slow, avoidable 46 00:02:14,479 --> 00:02:17,639 death over what should have been guaranteed survival. 47 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 2: So to start, I think we have to correct a 48 00:02:20,159 --> 00:02:22,599 common misconception you see in the media, this idea that 49 00:02:22,599 --> 00:02:26,280 these were simply men who wandered off because they were helpless. 50 00:02:26,439 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's just not true. 51 00:02:27,599 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 2: That assessment is factually inaccurate, and it does a profound 52 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:33,360 disservice to who these men actually were. 53 00:02:33,599 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: Absolutely, the sources paint a very clear picture of this 54 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,560 tight knit group. Their families call them the Boys, and 55 00:02:40,599 --> 00:02:44,280 they were functioning, capable adults. They were what twenty four 56 00:02:44,319 --> 00:02:47,039 to thirty two years old, all from Uba City or 57 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,680 Marysville in California. They had routines, they had jobs, they 58 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:52,680 had really strong social bonds. 59 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,319 Speaker 2: And their connection centered on the Gateway Foundation, which was 60 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:59,680 a program that supported individuals with intellectual disabilities or psychiatric 61 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:00,439 condition And. 62 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: They all played on the basketball team, the Gateway Gators exactly. 63 00:03:04,159 --> 00:03:06,879 Speaker 2: And despite their individual challenges, which we should get into, 64 00:03:07,039 --> 00:03:09,879 they held down jobs, they played sports, they managed their 65 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,280 daily lives with really high degree of independence. They weren't 66 00:03:13,319 --> 00:03:16,199 strangers to navigating the world. 67 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: Let's dedicate them time to their profiles because their specific 68 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,840 capacities and I guess their vulnerabilities, they become these crucial 69 00:03:23,879 --> 00:03:26,960 reference points when we try to analyze the choices they 70 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:28,039 made up in those mountains. 71 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, we should. We can start with Jack Madruga. He 72 00:03:30,879 --> 00:03:33,439 was thirty. He had learning disabilities, sure, but he was 73 00:03:33,479 --> 00:03:34,280 also a US. 74 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: Army veteran, okay, and he owned the car right. 75 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:41,319 Speaker 2: He did, a turquoise and white nineteen sixty nine Mercury Montigo. 76 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,759 It was his pride and joy. His parents described him 77 00:03:44,759 --> 00:03:49,080 as extremely punctual, very cautious, especially with his vehicle. He 78 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,759 was the designated driver precisely because he was so meticulous. 79 00:03:52,879 --> 00:03:55,199 Speaker 1: Then you have Bill Stirling, who's twenty nine. He had 80 00:03:55,199 --> 00:03:58,639 a mild intellectual disability, but he was also deeply religious, 81 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,599 held a job as a hospital orderly and critically. The 82 00:04:01,639 --> 00:04:04,080 sources say he was exceptional. 83 00:04:03,599 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 2: With maps, and that detail is so important. It completely 84 00:04:07,159 --> 00:04:10,319 contradicts this idea that the group was just hopelessly lost. 85 00:04:10,719 --> 00:04:12,879 You know that they didn't have the resources to find 86 00:04:12,879 --> 00:04:13,439 their way. 87 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,519 Speaker 1: Home because Madrugu's car had a map and Sterling could 88 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:17,839 actually read it right. 89 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,199 Speaker 2: Then there was Ted Wayer thirty two. He was maybe 90 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,079 the social glue of the group. People called him the protector, 91 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:24,920 the social anchor. 92 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: He had learning disabilities, but was more outgoing. 93 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 2: Very outgoing. He often took the youngest and most dependent member, 94 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:35,439 Jack Hewitt, under his wing. Waiher was known for this 95 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,680 tremendous loyalty, though his family did note he sometimes lacked 96 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:41,519 common sense when he was under stress. 97 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:43,439 Speaker 1: Oh, it was that the story about the apartment fire. 98 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:45,439 Speaker 2: That's the one. There was a small fire and he 99 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:47,600 had to be physically dragged out because he was just 100 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,000 paralyzed by the thought of missing work the next day. 101 00:04:50,519 --> 00:04:53,759 It points to a real reliance on routine and you know, 102 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:54,839 authority and. 103 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 1: His protege, Jack Hewitt was twenty four. He was described 104 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,439 as the lowest functioning member of the group. 105 00:05:00,639 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, he was illiterate, had a speech impediment, and was 106 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:05,759 profoundly dependent on where. 107 00:05:05,879 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: That dependency is significant. If Weir was incapacitated, Hewitt would 108 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,480 likely just fall into a deep state of panic or paralysis. 109 00:05:14,519 --> 00:05:16,959 Speaker 2: And he also hated using the telephone, which kind of 110 00:05:16,959 --> 00:05:19,360 removes the possibility that he tried to call for help 111 00:05:19,439 --> 00:05:19,800 later on. 112 00:05:20,079 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: Right. Finally, we have the most complex and I think 113 00:05:22,519 --> 00:05:25,040 the most critical member of the group, Gary Matthias. 114 00:05:25,519 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 2: Absolutely. He was twenty five, like Madruga, a US Army veteran, 115 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:34,160 though he got a psychiatric discharge after he developed paranoid schizophrenia. 116 00:05:33,439 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: Which was apparently made worse by substance abuse issues when 117 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:37,279 he was stationed in Germany. 118 00:05:37,439 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 2: Right, But by nineteen seventy eight he was working regularly 119 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,879 in a stepfather's gardening business and was considered you know, 120 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,959 a stellar patient, a sterling success case. He was medically 121 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,399 stable on his antipsychotic medication. 122 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,879 Speaker 1: And that medication is the key piece of his profile, 123 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:53,319 isn't it. 124 00:05:53,319 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 2: It is everything. He was prescribed triflu operasine and benzetropine. 125 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: Okay, So, trifluopersine is a powerful anti psychotic. It manages 126 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,079 symptoms like hallucinations paranoia. 127 00:06:03,959 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 2: Correct and the benzatropine helps control the side effects like 128 00:06:07,079 --> 00:06:12,000 muscle tremors and anxiety. Missing those meds, especially the trifle oprazine, 129 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,000 would have meant a very rapid return to a psychotic state, which. 130 00:06:15,879 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: Would directly impact his behavior and decision making in a 131 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:20,040 crisis massively. 132 00:06:20,639 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 2: Now we have to connect these profiles to their critical 133 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:27,399 motivation that night. This context is what makes what happened 134 00:06:27,439 --> 00:06:30,439 next so so incomprehensible. 135 00:06:30,639 --> 00:06:34,439 Speaker 1: They were completely focused on this upcoming Sacramento Special Olympics 136 00:06:34,439 --> 00:06:35,399 basketball tournament. 137 00:06:35,879 --> 00:06:38,199 Speaker 2: It was the next morning, and the stakes were high 138 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,920 for them. The winners of that tournament got a paid 139 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,920 week long trip to Los Angeles. This was a huge 140 00:06:43,959 --> 00:06:44,879 event in their lives. 141 00:06:44,959 --> 00:06:47,959 Speaker 1: They were deeply committed. The sources confirmed. They'd already laid 142 00:06:47,959 --> 00:06:51,519 out their uniforms, the Bright Gateway Gaters gear, and ask 143 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:53,279 their parents to make sure they were woken up early 144 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:54,519 so they wouldn't miss the bus. 145 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 2: This intense focus, this primary, highly anticipated goal, it just 146 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,319 directs conflicts with the idea that they would voluntarily go 147 00:07:02,399 --> 00:07:06,240 on some frivolous hours long detour into a remote wilderness. 148 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:07,439 It doesn't track, and. 149 00:07:07,399 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: Their last confirmed sighting late on Friday, February twenty fourth, 150 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:13,519 it just reinforces the plan to go home right. 151 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,759 Speaker 2: They'd driven fifty miles north from Uba City to Chico 152 00:07:16,839 --> 00:07:20,319 State to watch a UC Davis basketball game. After the game, 153 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,199 around ten pm, they stopped at a place called Bear's 154 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:24,639 Market in downtown Chico. 155 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: They bought snacks, simple stuff, chocolate, milk, snack cakes, candy. 156 00:07:29,439 --> 00:07:32,199 Speaker 2: Yeah, the clerk only remembered them because they were, you know, 157 00:07:32,439 --> 00:07:36,040 delaying closing time. It was a totally routine, slightly annoying 158 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,079 interaction that confirms they were behaving normally. 159 00:07:39,399 --> 00:07:41,959 Speaker 1: And they were seen driving away, heading in the direction 160 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,000 of Yuba City, a standard one hour trip south on 161 00:07:45,079 --> 00:07:45,879 Highway seventy. 162 00:07:45,959 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 2: Everything points to home, routine and basketball up until ten pm. 163 00:07:50,759 --> 00:07:53,639 Speaker 1: And this is the moment that all rational decision making 164 00:07:53,759 --> 00:07:56,720 just seems to stop. Instead of continuing south on Highway seventy, 165 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,759 it makes this radical one hundred and n eighty degree turn. 166 00:08:00,839 --> 00:08:02,879 Speaker 2: It wasn't a slight misdirection. I mean, this was an 167 00:08:02,879 --> 00:08:06,560 inexplicable journey. They drove east and then sharply northeast, eventually 168 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:08,040 covering seventy miles. 169 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,759 Speaker 1: Up these winding, unpaved logging roads deep into the Plumas 170 00:08:11,839 --> 00:08:12,600 National Forest. 171 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, high elevation, snowdrifts. This destination was so far from 172 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,040 any logical route back to Yuba City. 173 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: The psychological shock of this deviation is it's just massive. 174 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,959 Something sudden, either external someone forced them or internal, a 175 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,800 sudden panic or a delusion took hold. 176 00:08:29,639 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 2: It had to be something that completely overrode their motivation 177 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:33,639 to get home for that tournament. 178 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 1: So Jack Mandrugez cherished nineteen sixty nine Mercury Montigo. It's 179 00:08:38,879 --> 00:08:41,919 discovered three days later by a Forest Service ranger on 180 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,480 this remote oriville Quincy road at. 181 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,039 Speaker 2: Forty four hundred feet elevation, near a place called Rogers Cowcamp. 182 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,480 And the forensic paradoxes surrounding that car are the first 183 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,759 major set of monumental clues we have to try and dissect. 184 00:08:54,879 --> 00:08:56,279 Speaker 1: Okay, let's start with a big one. We can call 185 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,200 it paradox one. The functional vehicle. 186 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 2: Right, the car was stuck in a snow drift, which 187 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:04,000 makes sense given the location, but investigators noted it was 188 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,000 in perfect working order, It had a. 189 00:09:06,039 --> 00:09:09,559 Speaker 1: Quarter tank of gas, and crucially, when they hot wired it, 190 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:10,720 it started immediately. 191 00:09:10,919 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 2: This is just a massive failure of survival instinct. You 192 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,600 have five young, physically capable men, two of whom had 193 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:21,159 army experience. They should have easily been able to rock 194 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:21,960 or push. 195 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:23,519 Speaker 1: That car out of the snow or at the very 196 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,039 least just stay inside the warm, secure shelter and wait 197 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:26,519 for morning. 198 00:09:26,799 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 2: Exactly to leave a working car, which is an immediate 199 00:09:29,879 --> 00:09:33,720 lifeline in the wilderness. It suggests either a profound fear 200 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,960 or a profound miscalculation about some other better shelter being nearby. 201 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: And that leads to paradox too, the undercarriage anomaly. This 202 00:09:42,519 --> 00:09:45,399 is for me arguably the strangest piece of physical evidence 203 00:09:45,399 --> 00:09:46,360 about the drive itself. 204 00:09:46,399 --> 00:09:50,039 Speaker 2: It's bizarre. The orvill Quincy Road is a treacherous logging path, 205 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:53,360 it's deeply rutted, it's strewn with boulders, yet the car's 206 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,600 low hanging muffler and undercarriage had no damage. 207 00:09:56,159 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: No scrapes, no gouges, no mud. 208 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 2: It's profoundly contradictory. How does a driver navigate seventy miles 209 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,960 of unpaved, rutted, snowy logging road without scraping the undercarriage 210 00:10:06,159 --> 00:10:08,519 unless they were either an expert who knew every contour 211 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,360 of that pass right or they were driving with such extreme, 212 00:10:12,759 --> 00:10:17,600 almost paralyzing, hyper focused caution that they avoided every single bump. 213 00:10:17,799 --> 00:10:21,639 And Madruga, the owner the meticulous driver, he was not 214 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,519 known to be familiar with the Plumus National Forest. 215 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: So that really begs the question. If Madruga wasn't familiar 216 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,679 with the area, was someone else driving, or maybe was 217 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,120 he following someone who was familiar with the route and 218 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:35,720 driving cautiously to keep. 219 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,879 Speaker 2: Up, And that leads us to paradox three, the missing security. 220 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,799 Madruga was by all accounts meticulous about his car right 221 00:10:43,039 --> 00:10:45,480 yet the car was found unlocked and a window was 222 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:48,480 rolled down. His mother insisted he would never allow that, 223 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:50,240 especially not in the cold and snow. 224 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: It implies a hurried, panicky exit, or maybe an exit 225 00:10:54,159 --> 00:10:55,399 that was compelled by someone else. 226 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:57,440 Speaker 2: And then you have the keys. The ignition was empty. 227 00:10:57,480 --> 00:10:59,440 The keys were missing from the car, only to be 228 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,159 found later jack Madruga's body miles away in the wilderness. 229 00:11:02,279 --> 00:11:05,639 Speaker 1: That small detail, the keys in Madruga's pocket is one 230 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:07,799 of the most significant clues in this whole case. 231 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,039 Speaker 2: It tells us two things. One, Madruga was the last 232 00:11:11,039 --> 00:11:13,200 person to drive that car, confirming he was the one 233 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:17,039 who abandoned it. And two, crucially, by taking the keys 234 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,960 with him, he clearly intended to return to the car. 235 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: He didn't abandon it permanently. He was preserving his means 236 00:11:23,159 --> 00:11:24,759 of escape exactly so. 237 00:11:24,799 --> 00:11:28,879 Speaker 2: He didn't view this as a permanent abandonment, but a temporary, 238 00:11:29,039 --> 00:11:31,919 tactical retreat to find help or shelter. 239 00:11:32,279 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 1: But why hike twenty miles further away from civilization when 240 00:11:35,639 --> 00:11:38,360 they had a map in the glove compartment and Bill Sterling, 241 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:39,919 the map expert, was with them. 242 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 2: That decision remains completely inexplicable unless the urgency to leave 243 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,440 was immediately overwhelming and maybe directed by a third party 244 00:11:48,759 --> 00:11:50,679 or a sudden psychological collapse. 245 00:11:50,759 --> 00:11:52,879 Speaker 1: Whatever the external threat was, it would have to be 246 00:11:52,919 --> 00:11:57,279 perceived as worse than a twenty mile march through deep snow. Okay, 247 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,360 so now we have to introduce Joseph Schotz. He's the 248 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:02,960 only independent witness who can place their vehicle near that 249 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,360 location on the night of the disappearance. 250 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 2: And this is where the logical paradoxes start to give 251 00:12:07,519 --> 00:12:10,759 way to a genuinely eerie and unresolved human mystery. 252 00:12:11,159 --> 00:12:14,919 Speaker 1: Shoanes, who was fifty five, was stranded nearby that same night. 253 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:17,360 He was trying to check on his remote cabin, but 254 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:19,679 his Volkswagen got stuck in the snow. 255 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 2: And while he was struggling to free it, he suffered 256 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,559 a confirmed mild heart attack and collapsed back into his car. 257 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:27,279 He was an immense. 258 00:12:26,799 --> 00:12:29,799 Speaker 1: Pain, which is the necessary context for his testimony, Right, Yeah, 259 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,120 it introduces the possibility of pain induced delirium. 260 00:12:32,679 --> 00:12:35,799 Speaker 2: Absolutely so, around eleven thirty pm, just an hour and 261 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,600 a half after the men left Chicoshans saw headlights approaching 262 00:12:39,639 --> 00:12:41,399 his location and he claimed. 263 00:12:41,159 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 1: To see a group of men and what he specifically 264 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:47,679 believed was a woman holding a baby with them using flashlights. 265 00:12:47,759 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 2: He was an acute pain suffering and he desperately called 266 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:51,799 out to them for help, and. 267 00:12:51,759 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: Their response was just the most unsettling thing. The headlights 268 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,799 were extinguished and the talking just stopped abruptly total. 269 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 2: Two hours later, flashlights appeared again, moving around intermittently, but 270 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,159 his pleas were again met with complete silence, no response. 271 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: He also reported hearing strange whistling noises during this time, 272 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,919 but he couldn't figure out where they were coming from. 273 00:13:14,759 --> 00:13:18,240 The auditory and visual strangeness just adds these layers to 274 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,159 what was already a terrifying moment for him. 275 00:13:21,399 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 2: And here is the crucial link. When Staun's finally recovered 276 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,639 enough to walk down the mountain at dawn, he passed 277 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:32,440 Jack Madrugue's distinctive turquoise mercury Montigo parked exactly where he 278 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,679 had seen the lights earlier that night, So. 279 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:38,759 Speaker 1: The physical proximity and the timing. Yeah, it strongly confirms 280 00:13:38,879 --> 00:13:40,080 that Sean saw the men. 281 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:43,639 Speaker 2: It has to be them. But the other details, the woman, 282 00:13:43,919 --> 00:13:47,240 the baby, the whistling a second car he thought he saw, 283 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:51,039 they complicate it. Forensic analysts have suggested the woman and 284 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,399 baby were likely a pain induced hallucination from his heart attack. 285 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,039 Speaker 1: But we have to focus on the behavioral conflict here. 286 00:13:57,279 --> 00:14:00,879 The Yuba County five, especially ted Wayer for being gentle 287 00:14:00,919 --> 00:14:03,960 and helpful. They'd even rushed into acquaintance to the hospital before. 288 00:14:04,039 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 2: Their documented kindness just massively conflicts with them refusing to 289 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:10,039 help a dying man crying out for help just a 290 00:14:10,039 --> 00:14:10,799 few feet away. 291 00:14:11,039 --> 00:14:14,919 Speaker 1: So why the silence, why the non response? This suggests 292 00:14:15,039 --> 00:14:18,399 two primary possibilities, and both are terrifying. 293 00:14:18,519 --> 00:14:21,399 Speaker 2: One, they were themselves in a state of extreme panic 294 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,799 and terror, completely overwhelmed by their environment or maybe a 295 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:26,039 sudden shared delusion. 296 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:28,679 Speaker 1: Or two, they were under the control of a third 297 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,639 party at that exact moment, someone who actively prevented them 298 00:14:32,639 --> 00:14:35,000 from helping Shunds and forced them to flee. 299 00:14:35,399 --> 00:14:37,919 Speaker 2: Right if we accept that Shoones saw some version of 300 00:14:37,919 --> 00:14:40,879 the group and they stopped, maybe intending to help his 301 00:14:41,039 --> 00:14:44,360 stuck car. What was the catalyst that made them flee 302 00:14:44,399 --> 00:14:45,320 their own running car? 303 00:14:45,639 --> 00:14:47,759 Speaker 1: Was it that pickup truck you mentioned? Was it the 304 00:14:47,799 --> 00:14:49,879 sight of a suffering man that triggered some kind of 305 00:14:49,919 --> 00:14:51,039 psychological break in. 306 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:53,679 Speaker 2: The cold it just sets the stage for the next 307 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,440 twenty miles. Whatever happened in those dark hours, whether it 308 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,600 was an external threat or internal panic, it was enough 309 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:03,399 to convince Madruga to abandon his cherished car and lead 310 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,000 his friends on a death march, even while he's still 311 00:15:06,039 --> 00:15:09,080 holding the keys to their only logical escape. So the 312 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,159 case goes cold for over three months. The mountains are 313 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:15,480 just blanketed by this deep winter snow. It wasn't until 314 00:15:15,519 --> 00:15:17,960 the thaw in June of nineteen seventy eight that the 315 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,720 first crucial piece of evidence emerged, and. 316 00:15:20,679 --> 00:15:23,519 Speaker 1: It gave us this terrifying glimpse into the final weeks 317 00:15:23,559 --> 00:15:24,200 of their lives. 318 00:15:24,279 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 2: On June fourth, nineteen seventy eight, a group of motorcyclists, 319 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:32,000 one of them Roger Cock, they discovered a remote USFS trailer. 320 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,399 It was part of the Daniel Zinc campground, nearly twenty 321 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,080 miles northeast of where the Mercury Montigo was found. 322 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,679 Speaker 1: They found a broken window, which was likely how they 323 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:43,240 got in and were immediately hit by what they called 324 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:44,360 a horrendous smell. 325 00:15:44,399 --> 00:15:46,799 Speaker 2: Inside that trailer, they found the body of Ted Weir. 326 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,360 The autopsy confirmed the causes of death were starvation and hypothermia, 327 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:52,480 but the timeline was just staggering. 328 00:15:52,679 --> 00:15:55,799 Speaker 1: Weir, who originally weighed about two hundred pounds, had wasted 329 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:56,679 away to roughly one. 330 00:15:56,639 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 2: Hundred pounds, and the considerable beard growth he had suggested 331 00:15:59,759 --> 00:16:02,840 he's survived for an instimated eight to thirteen weeks. This 332 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,639 wasn't a quick death. This was a slow, prolonged decline. 333 00:16:06,759 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: But the conditions of his death are what make the 334 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,639 word paradox just feel insufficient. This trailer was a beacon 335 00:16:12,679 --> 00:16:15,639 of survival, yet they ignored almost all of its life 336 00:16:15,679 --> 00:16:17,360 saving resources. 337 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:19,039 Speaker 2: And he was found stretched out on a bed wrapped 338 00:16:19,039 --> 00:16:22,440 in eight army blankets, which suggests someone had been tending 339 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:24,799 to him or had at least covered him before. 340 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:28,399 Speaker 1: Leaving his wallet with cash, his ring engraved with Ted, 341 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:32,360 his gold necklace. They were all neatly placed on a 342 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:35,799 nearby table. This wasn't a desperate, chaotic, or violent scene. 343 00:16:35,879 --> 00:16:38,200 Speaker 2: Now, and this brings us to what we can call 344 00:16:38,279 --> 00:16:43,200 the core paradox the untouched resources. The trailer was essentially 345 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:44,320 a stocked bunker. 346 00:16:44,639 --> 00:16:47,799 Speaker 1: The storage locker had enough dehydrated meals, canned goods, and 347 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,240 military sea rations to feed all five men for nearly 348 00:16:51,279 --> 00:16:51,919 a year. 349 00:16:51,799 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 2: And that locker remained virtually untouched. 350 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: But not completely untouched. The source documents say about twelve 351 00:16:57,919 --> 00:16:59,720 siration cans had been opened and eaten. 352 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 2: Yes, and that is a significant point. Those specific cans 353 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,519 were opened using a P thirty eight military can opener, 354 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,359 a small, simple tool that would be primarily familiar to 355 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:12,799 veterans like Matthias and Madruga. 356 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,599 Speaker 1: So that suggests that some level of rational function, some 357 00:17:15,759 --> 00:17:18,240 organization was present when they first arrived. 358 00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:21,160 Speaker 2: It does, but why stop at twelve cans? Why ignore 359 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:22,960 the massive stores of food and the. 360 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:27,160 Speaker 1: Most tragic failure of all heat. They were dying of hypothermia, 361 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:29,440 yet the means of warmth were right there. 362 00:17:29,559 --> 00:17:33,079 Speaker 2: It is utterly baffling. The trailer was equipped with a 363 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:37,480 functional propane heating system. The propane tank was nearby and 364 00:17:37,519 --> 00:17:40,119 it could have been activated by opening a single valve 365 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:42,039 in a small attached shed. 366 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: And that valve was never turned on. 367 00:17:43,559 --> 00:17:47,359 Speaker 2: Never. The fireplace was also untouched despite the trailer having 368 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:50,200 wooden furniture and shelves lined with paperback books. They could 369 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:53,039 have used for kindling we or even use matches to 370 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:56,319 light a small candle, but never started a proper, life 371 00:17:56,359 --> 00:17:57,279 sustaining fire. 372 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,799 Speaker 1: This brings us to the cognitive rigidity theory. When you're 373 00:18:00,799 --> 00:18:03,319 faced with imminent death, why would a man refuse to 374 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:04,279 open a can of food? 375 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,319 Speaker 2: The theory suggests that Weir, given his cognitive disability and 376 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:11,440 his reliance on routine, might have viewed the trailer and 377 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,000 its contents as private property belonging to the US. 378 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 1: Forest Service, so he feared stealing or using resources without permission. 379 00:18:20,279 --> 00:18:22,519 Speaker 2: He may have been passively waiting for someone to grant 380 00:18:22,599 --> 00:18:25,480 him permission, or maybe for a ranger to just show up. 381 00:18:25,759 --> 00:18:29,039 Speaker 1: But doesn't survival instinct override rules about stealing. 382 00:18:29,279 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 2: It should but we have to combine this theory with 383 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,000 the physiological collapse from that twenty mile march. By the 384 00:18:35,039 --> 00:18:38,640 time they reached that cabin, they had been exerting themselves 385 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:41,960 for days through four to six feet of snow, lightly 386 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:42,960 and light clothing. 387 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:47,559 Speaker 1: The autopsy showed Weir had advanced hypothermia and severe ganggreen in. 388 00:18:47,519 --> 00:18:49,400 Speaker 2: His feet right, and this is where we have to 389 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,880 understand what hypothermia does to the brain. When the body 390 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,119 is so severely stressed by cold, the brain starts shutting 391 00:18:56,119 --> 00:19:00,440 down non essential functions to prioritize course survival. 392 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:03,680 Speaker 1: And the prefrontal cortex the part responsible for complex decision 393 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,880 making rational planning. That's one of the first areas to 394 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:08,119 fail exactly. 395 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:12,839 Speaker 2: It leads to profound cognitive deficits, confusion, a fixation on 396 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:17,480 routine or arbitrary rules like don't touch other people's stuff. 397 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,720 They were just too far gone cognitively and physically to 398 00:19:20,839 --> 00:19:24,200 execute the multi step tasks required for self rescue. 399 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:26,319 Speaker 1: Before we leave the trailer scene, we have to talk 400 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:30,319 about the final critical forensic detail, the shoe swap. 401 00:19:30,559 --> 00:19:34,599 Speaker 2: Yes, Gary Massias's tennis shoes were found inside the trailer. 402 00:19:35,039 --> 00:19:38,119 Ted Wayer's sturdy leather boots were missing. 403 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: Which suggests Matthias, whose feet were likely severely injured after 404 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,880 that hike, was the one who survived wire and was 405 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:46,279 the last to leave the cabin. 406 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:50,279 Speaker 2: He rationally discarded his ineffective tennis shoes for Weyer's sturdier 407 00:19:50,319 --> 00:19:54,119 insulating boots. This indicates that at least one member, Matthias, 408 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:56,880 still had enough cognitive function and survival training from the 409 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,799 Army to make a rational life saving decision. 410 00:19:59,519 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: Even if that that decision was to venture back out 411 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:02,119 into the woods. 412 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,119 Speaker 2: But the fact that he was rational enough to swap 413 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,920 the shoes yet still ignored the functioning stove and the 414 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,000 massive store of food that is the ultimate contradiction. 415 00:20:10,279 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: Did he leave to seek help or was he fleeing 416 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,680 a threat that had followed them twenty miles into the mountains. 417 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:19,119 Speaker 2: So after the discovery of where at the trailer, search 418 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,839 teams scoured that twenty mile stretch between the daniel Zinc 419 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:26,079 campground and the abandoned Montego and three. 420 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,759 Speaker 1: Other men were eventually found, all of them confirmed to 421 00:20:28,759 --> 00:20:30,039 have died of hypothermia. 422 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,880 Speaker 2: Jack Madruga and Bill Sterling were found about eight point 423 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,160 six miles south of the trailer, almost exactly halfway between 424 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,680 the car and the shelter. Their skeletal remains were heavily 425 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,559 stavaged by animals over those three months, and. 426 00:20:42,519 --> 00:20:45,519 Speaker 1: This speaks so profoundly to the loyalty within the group. 427 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:48,839 The theory is that in the advanced stages of hypothermia, 428 00:20:49,079 --> 00:20:53,960 one of them, maybe Madruga, just succumbed to fatigue and collapsed, which. 429 00:20:53,799 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 2: Is a common and fatal symptom of the condition, and the. 430 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,920 Speaker 1: Other likely Sterling, stayed by his friend. They perished together, 431 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,759 choosing fidelity over solitary survival. 432 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 2: But let's go back to that momentous clue found with 433 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,920 Jack Madruga, the car keys. That small piece of metal 434 00:21:09,039 --> 00:21:11,599 miles from the Montigo confirms he walked away from the 435 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,839 car and that he intended to keep the means to return. 436 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,640 Speaker 1: It just completely refutes the idea that the car was 437 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,240 stolen or that they were just running from it permanently. 438 00:21:19,799 --> 00:21:21,000 He had a plan to come back. 439 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,839 Speaker 2: And then there's Jack Hewitt, the youngest, most dependent member. 440 00:21:25,519 --> 00:21:28,000 His remains were found two miles northeast of the trailer. 441 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:29,799 Even further up the mountain. 442 00:21:29,559 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: His remains, including his backbone, were scattered and tragically discovered 443 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:34,799 by his own father. 444 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 2: His location is curious. It suggests he was either trying 445 00:21:39,039 --> 00:21:41,519 desperately to follow the men who had left the cabin, 446 00:21:41,559 --> 00:21:45,240 maybe Matthias, or he collapsed just shy of reaching the shelter. 447 00:21:45,559 --> 00:21:47,759 Speaker 1: Given his low level of function and how much he 448 00:21:47,799 --> 00:21:51,039 depended on Wire, his death probably would have followed quickly 449 00:21:51,079 --> 00:21:53,640 after Wire became incapacitated. 450 00:21:53,039 --> 00:21:56,599 Speaker 2: But The ultimate enigma remains Gary Matthias. He's identified in 451 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,599 files as three five h nine DMCA. He is the 452 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,680 only member never found, and. 453 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 1: We have to reiterate his profile one last time because 454 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,640 it makes his disappearance so chilling. He was twenty five, 455 00:22:06,759 --> 00:22:10,200 an army vet with survival training, but diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, 456 00:22:10,559 --> 00:22:12,440 and his medication was found back at his home. 457 00:22:12,559 --> 00:22:17,279 Speaker 2: The drug factor is paramount. Without his powerful antipsychotic, he 458 00:22:17,319 --> 00:22:21,039 would have rapidly begun to decompensate, meaning a swift return 459 00:22:21,079 --> 00:22:25,920 to paranoia, hallucinations, irrational decision making, all compounded by the 460 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:27,920 physiological stress of the elements. 461 00:22:28,079 --> 00:22:30,599 Speaker 1: This would have started within days of the disappearance. 462 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,200 Speaker 2: Given the shoes were swapped, he was the last man 463 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,839 out of that trailer wearing Weirs boots. The most likely, 464 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,000 albeit sad, scenario, is that he perished in the woods 465 00:22:40,039 --> 00:22:42,759 after leaving and his body was simply never found. 466 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,400 Speaker 1: But the narrative shifts from a tragedy of the environment 467 00:22:46,519 --> 00:22:49,880 to a potential criminal act when you introduce the serious 468 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,400 institutional anomalies surrounding his status. 469 00:22:52,599 --> 00:22:56,079 Speaker 2: Right the former Yuba County Sheriff Jack Beecham publicly stated 470 00:22:56,079 --> 00:22:58,759 he believed Matthias did have a role in the deaths, 471 00:22:58,839 --> 00:23:00,960 either by forcing or manipulating the others. 472 00:23:01,279 --> 00:23:04,599 Speaker 1: But the institutional records go even further than just suspicion. 473 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,440 Independent investigators later dug up documents suggesting that the Yuba 474 00:23:08,519 --> 00:23:12,599 County Sheriff's Office issued an internal memo acknowledging that Geary 475 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,400 Matthias was considered a homicide victim, but explicitly stating this 476 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,160 information was to be withheld from his family and the public. 477 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,359 Speaker 2: And a statement like that, if it's true, it completely 478 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:26,720 shatters the accidental death narrative. It implies the investigating agency 479 00:23:26,759 --> 00:23:31,279 had evidence that suggested coercion or foul play was involved 480 00:23:31,279 --> 00:23:35,200 in his disappearance and by extension, the men's movements. 481 00:23:35,279 --> 00:23:37,759 Speaker 1: And on top of that, we have the alarming fact 482 00:23:37,799 --> 00:23:41,119 that every single officer from the Yuba County Sheriff's Office 483 00:23:41,279 --> 00:23:44,759 involved in the original investigation is now listed on the 484 00:23:44,799 --> 00:23:45,480 Brady List. 485 00:23:45,799 --> 00:23:48,079 Speaker 2: Let's just clarify what that means, because it's a critically 486 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:51,880 important detail. The Brady List is an official record maintained 487 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:55,559 by prosecutors. It identifies law enforcement officers who have a 488 00:23:55,599 --> 00:23:59,200 history of misconduct, dishonesty, or questionable actions. 489 00:23:59,519 --> 00:24:02,319 Speaker 1: Like lying on on the stand or improper handling of evidence. 490 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,079 Speaker 2: Exactly being on the Brady List means these officers are 491 00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:08,519 flagged as potentially unreliable witnesses in court. The fact that 492 00:24:08,559 --> 00:24:11,359 the entire investigative team is linked to this list it 493 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,759 casts a deep, permanent shadow of suspicion over the integrity 494 00:24:14,799 --> 00:24:17,720 and the honesty of the whole initial investigation. 495 00:24:17,519 --> 00:24:21,440 Speaker 1: Which makes the lack of resolution infinitely more frustrating. If 496 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,119 the official records are compromised and the man who was 497 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:28,880 last seen alive was considered a homicide victim, internally, we 498 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,680 have to start debating the possibility that these men weren't 499 00:24:31,799 --> 00:24:34,880 victims of the elements, they were victims of a concerted 500 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:36,880 effort to silence or eliminate them. 501 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,279 Speaker 2: The case really demands that we divide our analysis into 502 00:24:40,319 --> 00:24:45,079 two competing major frameworks. You have the environmental psychological failure 503 00:24:45,079 --> 00:24:47,680 on one hand, and the foul play coercion theory on 504 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,480 the other, and we have to give balanced evidence for both. 505 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,119 Speaker 1: Okay, let's re examine the accidental environmental collapse theory first. 506 00:24:54,279 --> 00:24:57,559 It's the one that attempts to rationalize the irrational. It 507 00:24:57,599 --> 00:24:59,240 begins with the detour, right. 508 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,640 Speaker 2: Maybe Madrigatis a wrong turn at Oraville. Maybe he intended 509 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,319 to visit Matthaya's friends in the nearby town of Forbestown 510 00:25:05,319 --> 00:25:06,240 and they just got stuck. 511 00:25:06,319 --> 00:25:09,519 Speaker 1: Okay, So under this theory, the crucial decision to abandon 512 00:25:09,559 --> 00:25:12,440 a working car is explained by a fatal miscalculation. 513 00:25:12,759 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 2: Correct they saw the tracks of a Forest service SnowCat, 514 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,640 this large tracked vehicle used for clearing snow, which had 515 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,240 been in the area the day before. They decided to 516 00:25:22,279 --> 00:25:26,039 follow those tracks, mistakenly believing they led directly to rescue 517 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:27,319 or a ranger station. 518 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,039 Speaker 1: Instead of just turning back to wait in the car. 519 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,759 Speaker 2: Right, and the SnowCat tracks did lead somewhere to the 520 00:25:32,799 --> 00:25:37,200 trailer twenty miles away. That twenty mile march in light 521 00:25:37,319 --> 00:25:40,680 clothing through four feet of snow would have been a heroic, 522 00:25:41,079 --> 00:25:46,079 desperate effort that ultimately just destroyed their physical and cognitive capacity. 523 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:50,119 Speaker 1: This is the critical juncture. The environment became the killer. 524 00:25:50,319 --> 00:25:52,279 Speaker 2: By the time they reached the safety of the trailer, 525 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,319 they were suffering from those extreme physiological effects we talked 526 00:25:55,319 --> 00:25:59,359 about hypothermia and gangrene had so compromised their cognitive function 527 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:02,039 that they were in capable of performing the multi step 528 00:26:02,079 --> 00:26:04,519 reasoning needed to turn on the propane or open the 529 00:26:04,559 --> 00:26:05,039 locked cover. 530 00:26:05,319 --> 00:26:09,400 Speaker 1: Their eventual passive starvation becomes a sad, unavoidable conclusion based 531 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:11,680 on physical collapse, not malice. 532 00:26:11,839 --> 00:26:14,839 Speaker 2: But this theory really struggles to explain two major facts, 533 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,680 doesn't it. One the bizarre account of Joseph Schun's and 534 00:26:18,759 --> 00:26:23,799 two that institutional memo labeling Matthias a homicide victim, which. 535 00:26:23,599 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 1: Brings us to the foul play coercion theory. 536 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,559 Speaker 2: Indeed, this theory, which was championed by the families like 537 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:34,000 Jack Madruga's mother, Mabel Madruga, argues that some force made 538 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,559 them go up there. They insisted the men would not 539 00:26:36,599 --> 00:26:39,200 have fled their car and ignored a dying man unless 540 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:40,480 someone had forced their hand. 541 00:26:41,279 --> 00:26:45,880 Speaker 1: So what evidence beyond family intuition supports coercion, Well. 542 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 2: We have several anomalies. First, there's the small but persistent 543 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:52,839 detail of the strange gold watch found next to Tidwayer's 544 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:54,319 body in the trailer. 545 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:55,920 Speaker 1: And none of the five families recognized it. 546 00:26:56,039 --> 00:26:58,319 Speaker 2: Right, It's an easy detail to dismiss, you know, it 547 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:00,640 could have belonged to a forced service work, but it 548 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,079 could also suggest a sixth person was present with the men. 549 00:27:03,279 --> 00:27:05,559 Speaker 1: Secondly, we have to go back to the son's testimony. 550 00:27:05,839 --> 00:27:08,519 If we accept the men stopped and then fled in 551 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:11,799 silence from a man crying for help, that behavior is 552 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:13,440 just highly uncharacteristic. 553 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,319 Speaker 2: It supports the idea that they were either terrified or 554 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,759 being actively managed by a third party. Why her sister 555 00:27:19,839 --> 00:27:23,400 in law even hypothesized they witnessed a crime, maybe a 556 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:25,839 drug deal or an assault in the Chico parking lot 557 00:27:26,039 --> 00:27:28,480 and were followed and lured into the mountains to be 558 00:27:28,519 --> 00:27:29,799 eliminated as witnesses. 559 00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: And third the institutional anomalies lend this chilling credence to 560 00:27:34,519 --> 00:27:39,240 the coercion theory. The internal memo about Matthias being a 561 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:43,440 homicide victim, coupled with the systemic misconduct of the investigating 562 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,200 officers those on the Brady List, it suggests a strong 563 00:27:47,319 --> 00:27:51,160 possibility that critical information was intentionally suppressed. 564 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 2: And sources have pointed toward allegations concerning Gary, Matthias's ex 565 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,759 brother in law, a man named Gary Whiteley, who had 566 00:27:56,759 --> 00:27:57,680 a criminal history. 567 00:27:57,720 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: There was an alleged confession in. 568 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:02,319 Speaker 2: The nineties, Yes, confession supposedly heard by an employee of 569 00:28:02,319 --> 00:28:05,720 a local logging company. The fact that Whiteley's name was 570 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,960 systematically omitted from the official documents, and he had connections 571 00:28:09,039 --> 00:28:11,480 to the logging company that managed the land. It just 572 00:28:11,559 --> 00:28:14,720 adds another layer of circumstantial suspicion about a potential cover 573 00:28:14,839 --> 00:28:16,079 up involving local figures. 574 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,240 Speaker 1: So if the foul play theory is correct, the entire 575 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:23,880 Yuba County five tragedy transitions from an environmental survival failure 576 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,000 to a criminal act that was actively concealed. 577 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,799 Speaker 2: And the fact that Madruga carried the car keys intending 578 00:28:29,839 --> 00:28:32,000 to return could mean that he was forced to march 579 00:28:32,039 --> 00:28:36,480 at gunpoint or under extreme psychological duress, perhaps even threatened 580 00:28:36,519 --> 00:28:39,039 by Massias himself, who is deep in a psychotic break. 581 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:43,200 Speaker 1: But the institutional cover up really points toward an outside party. 582 00:28:43,279 --> 00:28:45,839 Speaker 2: The ultimate difficulty of this deep dive is that both 583 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:50,160 explanations the accidental collapse in the foul play theory have strong, 584 00:28:50,359 --> 00:28:54,440 yet contradictory pieces of evidence. The tragedy is either a 585 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:57,160 horrific case study in cognitive failure in the face of 586 00:28:57,279 --> 00:29:01,440 nature or a perfectly concealed criminal act. So now we 587 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,519 have to circle back to the comparison that serves as 588 00:29:03,599 --> 00:29:06,799 the hook for this entire mystery. The Yuba County five 589 00:29:06,839 --> 00:29:10,039 incident is so frequently called the American Diet Low Pass. 590 00:29:10,359 --> 00:29:14,039 Speaker 1: We need to explicitly compare these two chilling events, separated 591 00:29:14,079 --> 00:29:16,960 by twenty years and thousands of miles to understand why 592 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:18,400 that comparison really holds. 593 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 2: The similarities are rooted entirely in the anomalies that defy 594 00:29:22,039 --> 00:29:26,440 conventional survival logic. Let's start with the fundamental commonality, the 595 00:29:26,519 --> 00:29:27,759 abandonment of safety. 596 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: In di Law Pass in nineteen fifty nine, you have 597 00:29:31,039 --> 00:29:35,039 nine experienced Soviet hikers who flee their tent. They slash 598 00:29:35,079 --> 00:29:38,880 it open from the inside, abandoning a warm, fully stocked shelter. 599 00:29:39,079 --> 00:29:41,920 Speaker 2: They were apparently convinced they were safer outside in even 600 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,240 a forty degree sea weather. In Uba, the men abandoned 601 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,680 a functional, warm car with gas and shelter potential. In 602 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:52,599 both instances, the victims willingly traded immediate guaranteed safety for 603 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:54,319 extreme fatal exposure. 604 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,119 Speaker 1: Then you have the footwear anomaly. At Di Law of Pass, 605 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,640 you have footprints leading away from the tent. Many of 606 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:01,880 the high were barefoot or in socks in that. 607 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,279 Speaker 2: Extreme cold, and in Yuba, Gary Matthias's tennis shoes were 608 00:30:05,319 --> 00:30:08,039 left in the trailer, indicating he left wearing the sturdier 609 00:30:08,079 --> 00:30:11,720 boots of his dying friend Wire. This suggests a desperate, 610 00:30:11,839 --> 00:30:14,960 rational decision to flee the immediate area in both cases, 611 00:30:15,119 --> 00:30:17,279 prioritizing mobility over warmth. 612 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,720 Speaker 1: And the most tragic paradox in both scenarios, untouched rations. 613 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:25,319 Speaker 2: Right, the diet Lov group left cooked food, essential rations, 614 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,519 warm clothes piled inside their tent when they fled. The 615 00:30:28,599 --> 00:30:33,319 Yuba County five left massive lockers of dehydrated food, canned goods, 616 00:30:33,359 --> 00:30:36,119 and a functional heating system completely untouched. 617 00:30:36,359 --> 00:30:40,720 Speaker 1: This consistent failure to use immediate obvious resources is a 618 00:30:40,759 --> 00:30:44,720 signature of profound psychological dysfunction or extreme panic. 619 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,799 Speaker 2: But the two cases diverged significantly when we look at 620 00:30:47,839 --> 00:30:50,759 the actual forensic cause of death and the trauma sustained. 621 00:30:51,119 --> 00:30:54,599 Dietlav involved brutal, unexplained physical force. 622 00:30:54,839 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: Right In diet Love, while six hikers died of hypothermia, 623 00:30:58,039 --> 00:31:02,880 three victims had this massive and severe chest trauma, a fractured. 624 00:31:02,519 --> 00:31:05,279 Speaker 2: Skull, injuries comparable to that of a car crash, yet 625 00:31:05,279 --> 00:31:08,039 with no external wounds. The tongue and eyes of one 626 00:31:08,119 --> 00:31:11,359 victim were missing, though that's often attributed to post mortem 627 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:12,920 stavaging in a riverbed, and. 628 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:16,559 Speaker 1: Dialog has those truly bizarre details, reports of strange orange 629 00:31:16,559 --> 00:31:18,960 spheres in the sky that night, some levels of radiation 630 00:31:19,079 --> 00:31:22,759 found on one victim's clothing. It fueled decades of speculation 631 00:31:22,799 --> 00:31:24,279 about secret military tests. 632 00:31:24,559 --> 00:31:28,759 Speaker 2: The official conclusion was ultimately a compelling natural force. Modern 633 00:31:28,799 --> 00:31:33,960 investigations now lean heavily toward a rare, localized slab avalanche 634 00:31:34,279 --> 00:31:35,880 forcing a panic evacuation. 635 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 1: The divergence, then, is crucial for understanding Yuba County dialog 636 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,680 is defined by a massive, unexplained physical force that caused 637 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:46,640 catastrophic injury and panic, and. 638 00:31:46,599 --> 00:31:49,519 Speaker 2: The Yuba County five case, which is absent evidence of 639 00:31:49,559 --> 00:31:53,599 external physical assault or massive trauma, is primarily defined by 640 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,200 a baffling psychological and behavioral mystery. 641 00:31:56,880 --> 00:32:00,839 Speaker 1: Confusion, cognitive stasis, and a slow avoidable death. 642 00:32:01,039 --> 00:32:04,359 Speaker 2: The Uba five weren't crushed or killed quickly. They were 643 00:32:04,519 --> 00:32:07,799 cognitively broken by the environment or by a person, and 644 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,599 simply stopped functioning rationally in the face of survival. 645 00:32:10,799 --> 00:32:13,680 Speaker 1: In a way, the slow, avoidable nature of the ubidets 646 00:32:13,799 --> 00:32:17,119 makes it even more psychologically haunting than the immediate brutality 647 00:32:17,119 --> 00:32:17,640 of dialog. 648 00:32:17,839 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 2: The Yuba County five case remains this, this haunting testament 649 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,519 to the fragile nature of the human psyche when it's 650 00:32:23,519 --> 00:32:28,400 stripped of routine, subjected to environmental extremes, and possibly betrayed 651 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:29,759 by those who should have protected them. 652 00:32:30,039 --> 00:32:34,640 Speaker 1: The central terrifying question just remains, what tro five capable 653 00:32:35,079 --> 00:32:38,440 gentle men who were entirely focused on winning a basketball 654 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:42,359 tournament seventy miles off route and twenty miles into a slow, 655 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:43,400 avoidable death. 656 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,759 Speaker 2: Was it an extreme failure of cognition made worse by 657 00:32:46,799 --> 00:32:50,440 Gary Matthias's lack of medication, creating some kind of shared psychosis, 658 00:32:50,559 --> 00:32:50,920 or was. 659 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:55,119 Speaker 1: It, as Mabel Madruga suspected, a genuinely nefarious force that 660 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:58,200 gained the upper hand and was subsequently covered up by 661 00:32:58,279 --> 00:32:58,960 law enforcement. 662 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:02,480 Speaker 2: The key to the final mystery piece is always Gary Matthias. 663 00:33:03,079 --> 00:33:06,400 He was the most capable veteran, yet the most psychiatrically vulnerable. 664 00:33:06,799 --> 00:33:09,039 The evidence of his shoe swap suggests he was the 665 00:33:09,039 --> 00:33:11,880 one who left the cabin last, potentially taking Weir's boots 666 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:12,839 to seek help or to. 667 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: Escape his disappearance. Coupled with that internal memo confirming he 668 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,319 was viewed as a homicide victim, and the institutional instability 669 00:33:20,359 --> 00:33:23,480 suggested by the Brady List involvement. It just places the 670 00:33:23,519 --> 00:33:25,680 greatest doubt on the accidental narrative. 671 00:33:25,599 --> 00:33:28,119 Speaker 2: The possibility that the Sheriff's office knew more than they 672 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,960 publicly disclosed, that they classified Matthias as a homicide victim 673 00:33:32,079 --> 00:33:35,359 while telling the families nothing. It forces us to consider 674 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,720 that the simplest explanation, you know, accidental death due to 675 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:42,160 environmental collapse, it may not be the true one. 676 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,799 Speaker 1: The facts we have are often less compelling than the 677 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:47,119 questions they raise about official accountability. 678 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 2: It leads us back to the most poignant and confusing 679 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,599 forensic detail. We have Jack Madruga, the owner of that 680 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:57,599 turquoise Mercury Montego A car he adored, was found dead 681 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:00,160 eight point six miles from the trailer, clutching the car 682 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:01,359 keys in his pocket. 683 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:04,119 Speaker 1: He had the physical means of escape right there, the 684 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,240 ability to return to warmth and shelter. Yet he walked 685 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:09,320 for miles into a certain slow death. 686 00:34:10,039 --> 00:34:12,480 Speaker 2: So we leave you with this question to ponder. If 687 00:34:12,519 --> 00:34:14,639 Madruga loved his car so much and kept the keys 688 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:17,159 in his pocket, confirming his intent to keep the means 689 00:34:17,159 --> 00:34:19,679 to return, do you believe he walked away from that 690 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,599 vehicle voluntarily due to panic or cognitive failure, or was 691 00:34:23,639 --> 00:34:26,440 he forced to leave his prized possession behind by an 692 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:30,039 external pressure so overwhelming he chose the twenty mile march 693 00:34:30,079 --> 00:34:31,880 instead of confronting the threat at the car. 694 00:34:32,119 --> 00:34:34,920 Speaker 1: What kind of coercion could lead a man to willingly 695 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:38,039 walk twenty miles to his death while clutching the keys 696 00:34:38,039 --> 00:34:40,440 to his escape. Let us know what you think.