The story revolves around a group of five friends, all with intellectual disabilities, who went on a trip to a basketball game. After the game, they took a detour and ended up in the Plumas National Forest, where their car became stuck in a snowdrift. The group then decided to walk up a dirt trail towards a lodge. However, the group was never found and is presumed dead.
Their bodies were discovered several months later, with some of them showing signs of cannibalism. The group's car was found in immaculate condition, leading to speculation about the circumstances of their disappearance. The story also includes a separate incident involving a man named Joseph Jones, who claims to have seen a group of people (including a woman and a baby) walking towards the forest but stopped when they saw him.
The story raises questions about the group's disappearance, the nature of Jones's testimony, and the possible involvement of Gary Mathias, one of the group's members. The case remains unsolved, and the fate of Gary Mathias remains unknown.
57.68: think otherwise however\n00:16:59.12: was the fact that after they were stuck\n00:17:01.60: why\n00:17:02.40: with five sizeable guys that could have\n00:17:04.48: rectified the situation\n00:17:05.76: with relative ease did they decide to\n00:17:08.00: abandon the car\n00:17:08.88: and press onwards into the unknown what\n00:17:11.52: was restricting them from turning back", metadata={})]
1. The event took place on a Friday.
2. Joseph Jones was scouting some back roads in the Plumas National Forest.
3. He spent the better part of the day navigating his Volkswagen in hopes of returning with his family the next day.
4. Due to harsh weather conditions, his venture led to his car becoming stuck around 5:30 PM.
5. With dwindling options, he hopped out of his car to give it a push.
6. In a strikingly unlucky turn of events, this physical exertion would lead to a heart attack at the worst possible place and time.
7. He returned to the confines of his vehicle enduring the pain and contemplating on what to do.
8. A short while later, he'd catch his biggest break: two sets of headlights coming from the opposite direction.
9. The shadows of what looked like a woman, a baby, and a group of guys walking towards him were engaging in conversation.
10. Realizing that this could be his ticket home, he fumbled out of the car and began calling for help.
11. The headlights turned dark and the conversation fell silent.
12. A couple of hours later, with his car still running, he'd encounter another anomaly: flashlights shining in the far distance.
13. He jumped out once more, vehemently pleading for one of them to notice him.
14. His trek to the mountain lodge took him to the early morning of the next day.
15. He witnessed a 1969 Mercury Montego with no passengers inside.
16. His car runs out of gas, but he felt well enough to exit his vehicle and begin a trek up the road towards a lodge roughly eight miles away.
17. He was able to obtain medical treatment and much-needed help to get his car out of there.
18. He passed the vehicle of five men that would soon become enveloped in one of the strangest unexplained mysteries in history.
19. On February 24th, five long-time friends would converge.
20. They were all eager for a night out before competing in a basketball game of their own.
21. Jack Madruga, the owner of his prize 1969 Mercury Montego, was known to have recently worked as a dishwasher at a local fruit company.
22. William Sterling was known to be Madruga's best friend.
23. Theodore Wire was the oldest of the bunch.
24. Gary Mathias was the most enigmatic of the group.
25. Both Mathias and Jack Madruga were the only two in the group that possessed a driver's license.
26. They embarked on a roughly one-hour trip ahead of them.
27. They were ready to roll as their uniforms were already laid out back home by their parents.
28. Things were going good until 10 PM when Chico State's road opponent UC Davis takes the win.
29. They hit up a local convenience store by the name of Bears where they loaded up on food and drinks.
30. The clerk that checked them out that night was trying to close and was mildly annoyed by them being there.
31. They jumped back in the car and embarked on their journey back home.
32. They didn't make it back home that night. Instead of driving south, they took a detour east.
33. Their journey that night encompassed their ride from Oroville to Chico.
34. They took a detour off of Highway 70 and onto the Oroville Quincy Highway.
35. They drove until the road ended and continued their journey up a dirt trail until their vehicle became stuck in the snowdrift.
36. It's unclear what happened from this point forward but sometime after this arrival, they'd exit the confines of their car and embark into the night.
37. The mothers of Ted Weir and William Sterling were contacting police pleading for help and finding their children.
38. The government officials consist of this an isolated incident.
39. A forest ranger scouting the area notices an abandoned turquoise Mercury Montego.
40. The vehicle appeared ordinary, it was unlocked, the window was down, and snack wrappers littered the seats.
41. The vehicle was found with minimal damage.
42. Yuba County PD began broadcasting the details and photos of the missing men and for the next five days their search team would scour the region.
43. The search was called off until snow melt that spring due to the environmental hazards and the fact that time was running against them.
44. June a group of bikers are out on a weekend ride and head up onto the sites of an abandoned forest service trailer at the Daniel Zing Campground near Bucks Lake.
45. They discovered a body from head to toe concealed in bed sheets.
46. After pulling them off, they discovered that it was one of the five men that disappeared four months prior.
47. It was Ted Wire, 80 pounds lighter and with a considerable beard.
48. He took refuge inside of a forest service trailer for more or less two months.
49. His feet were badly frostbitten and it appeared that he passed away due to starvation and exposure to the elements.
50. He had access to ample heat sources and enough canned food to last all five men months.
51. The vast majority of the open cans found in the room were unopened.
52. Two days later, the father of Jack Hewitt discovers numerous articles of clothing belonging to him a couple of miles northeast of the service trailer.
53. His remains were scattered around the area a few feet away.
54. His