Feb. 24, 2026

The Yuba County Five w/ The Family Plot Podcast

The Yuba County Five w/ The Family Plot Podcast
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In February 1978, five young men vanished after attending a basketball game in Yuba County, California. Their car was later found abandoned deep in the snowy wilderness of Plumas National Forest far from their route and with no clear explanation why they went there.

As searchers uncovered eerie clues, including a remote trailer stocked with untouched supplies, the mystery only deepened. Four of the men were eventually found, but Gary Mathias was never located. Nearly 50 years later, the case of the Yuba County Five remains one of America’s most haunting unsolved disappearances.

Today I joined Dean, Laura, and Arthur from The Family Plot to dive into the mystery of the Yuba County Five

Connect with us on Social Media!
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Or visit our website at www.botdpod.com


Check out The Family Plot here:
We are a podcast featuring Dean Boese, Laura Williams and their 15 year old son Arthur where we do PG-13 takes on all things odd.

If you enjoyed the episode, consider leaving a review or rating! It helps more than you know!
If you have a case suggestion, or want attention brought to a loved one's case, email me at bookofthedeadpod@gmail.com with Case Suggestion in the subject line.

Stay safe, stay curious, and stay vigilant.

WEBVTT

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Dark Cast Network.

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Welcome to the Dark Side of podcasting.

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I'm Dean, I'm the.

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Dad, I'm Laura, I'm the mom, and I'm Arthur. I'm

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the sun.

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And together we are wonderful and we're not just here

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by ourselves. This week we have a guest. Please would

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you take a moment to welcome Courtney from Book of

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the Dead podcast.

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Getting I'm so excited, Ardie, We're so happy.

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You're here with us.

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Love your show and I can say that, I mean

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I had I love your show. Thank you so much.

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Let's get the housekeeping out of the way. There's a

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few ways you can help support the show. One is

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getting merchandise through our t Spring merch store, where you

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can get T shirts, stickers, hooddies, and coffee mugs, all

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with Arthur's own, high fashion, beautiful artwork available for you

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to purchase and show off proudly.

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I think Arthur forgot what was on the Teeth Springs storm.

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I did.

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I haven't got any of the merch beside that one

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sticker that I got.

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That's true, that's true. Yeah, well I've got our stickers too, but.

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I need to redo the art.

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You're saying that, But like genuinely.

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I've been struggling with my art recently, so I can't

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like it's making me mad.

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Well, you're an artist, kiddo. You know what artists to do.

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Look at their old art and go I can do better.

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Push the block and get some new artwork out and

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we'll make it happen.

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I'm sure Pablo Picasso looks at some of his paintings

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were looked at some of his paintings and went, you know,

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I can do better. But see, another way you can

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help us out is if you can't do merch, you

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can always join our Patreon. We only have two levels,

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the one dollar in the three dollar. Both levels get

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ad free versions of this show delivered first, and the

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three dollar level gets the occasional video that we do

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and every once in a while mostly Arthur, sometimes Me,

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and in very rare cases Laura will have something to

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say that is not PG thirteen and we'll have to

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edit that out and that goes into Patreon. So if

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you want to hear us uncensored, that three dollars level

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is where you go. Finally, if you can't afford a

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monthly donation, you can always sive us a dollar or

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two thor buy me a coffee. One thing everybody can do.

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If you enjoy the show, please share it on social media.

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Share with friends, share with fam with and you could

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leave us a five star review.

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You could, yes, you could also leave us a five

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star review. If you don't enjoy the show, please tp

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it to yourself.

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You can't say anything nice.

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Don't say anything at all.

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Well, before I get into tonight, I do want to

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take a moment and send condolence out to the family

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of Renee Good. I am not going to get very

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political and go into how I feel about the whole situation.

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Do we really want to get political? Say that what

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is going on in this country right now is just

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not okay. It's just not okay.

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I have a lot of thoughts that I am not

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going to say.

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I also have a lot of thoughts that I want share.

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I just want to take a moment to tell Renee

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Good and her family we're very sorry for your loss

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and if there's anything we can do, we're happy to help.

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And to anybody listening, if you're confused or hurting right now,

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it's okay. We're a found family. We're here with you.

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So what are we talking about?

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Tonight.

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Well, tonight, we're going to take the elevator of history

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back to nineteen seventy eight, where five young men from

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Yuba County, that's in California set out for what should

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have been a simple mind out. Instead, their car was

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later found abandoned on a remote mountain rowde far from

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their planned route. What followed was a baffling sequence of discoveries,

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some tragic, some inexplicable, that left investigators, families, and the

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public grasping for answers. Even to this day, no one

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can fully explain why the men were there, what they encountered,

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or how the night spiraled into one of California's most

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haunting cold cases. And that's where we begin in this dangerous,

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mysterious glad we have Courtney from Book of the Dead

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podcast along for the ride episode of the Family Plot podcast.

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I'm so excited to be here. Yes, so I am

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Courtney and I host The Book of the Dead. It

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is a true time podcast that focuses primarily on lester

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known cases and the victims. Specifically, there's no sensationalizing of

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killers on my show. It's very victim focused. I come

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out with new episodes every Wednesday. And I cover cases

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from all over the world, from Poland to Russia to

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Japan to South Africa. It named the country I've probably

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taken you there to learn about a person that lost

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their lives or disappeared in some way, and it's something

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I'm very, very passionate about. I even have guests on occasionally.

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I usually have experts on from prosecutors to authors, to

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TV personalities and radio personalities to talk about various cases

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or different ways you can keep yourself safe. So I

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really hope you come hang out with me on a

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Wednesday and learned something new.

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I love here.

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We love listening to your show and listening to you

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and when you interact with your mom. I absolutely loved

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I told Dean it reminded me of how my mom

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and I I used to interact. My mom unfortunately has

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been passed for several years now, but it reminds me

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of how my mom and I used to interact and

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talk about true crime back when she was still with me,

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and so I really enjoy listening to you guys discuss

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the different cases and how you interact between the two

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of you.

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I love that I can help you relive those memories

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about you and your mom, so to John Bright into

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the story. Today, we have two first and foremost meter victims.

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We begin the story with Jack Madruga who went by Doc.

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He was born on June eighteenth, nineteen forty seven, and

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he was thirty years old at the time of his

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disappearance and death. He was just twelve days from his

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thirty first birthday and he was an Army veteran living

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with his parents in Uba City, California. He was also

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one of two licensed drivers in this group of men. Next,

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we have Theodore Way who went by Ted and he

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was born on May twenty sixth, nineteen forty six, making

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him thirty two at the time of his death. He

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lived in the Olivehurst area of Uba County, California with

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his mom, and he worked at a local snack bar,

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which is a job he had taken on with help

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from Gateway Projects, which is the same group that would

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go on to organize these men into a basketball team.

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He was known for his very very gentle demeanor. And

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then we have William Sterling who went by Bill and

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he was born on April fifth, nineteen forty nine, and

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he would be twenty nine years old at the time

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of his disappearance. Like Ted, he also lived in the

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Olivehurst area and he stayed with his parents. He was

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also deeply religious and would visit patients in hospitals to

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read them scripture. And also from Olivehurst was Jackie Hewitt,

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who lived with his mother and was known to be

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the very sweet natured, if not a little shy. He

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was also described as having a very close relationship with

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his older brother, and he was born on March twenty ninth,

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nineteen fifty three, making him around twenty five at the

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time of his disappearance. Finally, we have Gary Dale Mattias.

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He was born on October fifteenth, nineteen fifty two, making

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him around twenty four at the time he vanished, and

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like Madruga, he was an army veteran with a driver's license.

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He also wore distinctive thick lensed glasses, and he did

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suffer from a psychiatric condition, but he was considered stable

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and high functioning at the time, and he was also

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on a drug regimen that had done a lot to

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ease his symptoms. He was also from the Olivehurst area

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and lived with his mother. Now all the men met

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through Gateway Projects, which is a nonprofit that aided adults

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with developmental disability and had even been organized into a

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Special Olympics basketball team dubbed the Gateway Gators, and they

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were scheduled to compete in the Special Olympics the day

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after they disappeared.

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Awesome, Wow, thank you so much for getting us started, Courtney,

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We appreciate you. Let's take moment here and pause to

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hear from some of our fellow content creator.

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Do you love the strange, the unexplained, and the downright terrifying?

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Horrifying History takes you on a chilling journey into the

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dark corners of the past, where history and horror collide.

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From haunted places and ghostly legends to unsolved mysteries and

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terrifyingly true stories, you will uncover the twisted facts that

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history books leave out. Who were the real monsters behind

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infamous legends? What dark secrets lie buried in the pages

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of history. Every episode we reveal the eerie truths that

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will send shivers down your spine? Are you brave enough

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to face the darkness? Horrifying History available now wherever you

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listen to your podcasts, But don't wait for too long.

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The past might just come looking for you. Listen if

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you dare so.

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Let's talk a little bit about the way that these

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men met and some of these lifelong friendships begin started

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out quietly, almost accidentally, through a shared routine at Gateway Projects,

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a community program for adults with developmental disabilities. The five

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men found themselves grouped together for activities, work programs, and

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eventually something that gave them a sense of purpose and pride,

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their special Olympics basketball team, the Gateway Gators. Over time,

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the five became inseparable families. Neighbors and staff simply called

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them the Boys. They were different in temperament, Ted, gentle

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and patient, Bill earnest and about Jackie, shy and sweet,

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Jack steady, independable, Gary, sharp, witted and energetic.

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Together, they formed a unit.

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That made perfect sense. They encouraged each other, teased each.

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Other, looked out for one another.

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With a kind of instinctive loyalty that adults rarely get

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to experience. That winter, they had something big to look

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forward to. For weeks, the Gateway Gators had been practicing

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for a special Olympics tournament scheduled for the morning of

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February twenty fifth, nineteen seventy eight. They were excited pausing. Really,

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their families later said them, and had laid out uniforms,

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talked endlessly about plays, and reminded everyone who would listen

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that they needed to be up early for the big day.

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But the night before the tournament, they had one more treat,

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planned a trip to Chico State University to watch a

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basketball game between Chico State and UC Davis. It was

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supposed to be simple up on night out, a chance

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to enjoy the sport they loved before playing their own

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game the next morning. So, on the evening of February

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twenty fourth, nineteen seventy eight, the fight climbed into Jack

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Madruga's nineteen sixty nine Mercury Montego and headed north toward Chico.

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They watched the game, cheered, laughed, and afterwards stopped at

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a convenience door for snacks, a moment captured on surveillance

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footage that would later become one of the last confirmed

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sightings of them together. Then they began the drive home,

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but unfortunately they never made it.

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Hello, Hi, are you here to tell us we're sponsored?

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Yes?

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Are you here to tell us it's time to get

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back to the show. Alrighty, Thank you for fun.

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Thank you thank you for doing a great job. Joy,

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that's what it's time for.

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I'm gonna guess Arthur's corner.

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I'm gonna guess I guess yes, because I don't really

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wanting about I'm kidding.

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Here ye, here, ye, allow me to present Arthur's corner.

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Ah, it's me Arthur.

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Hi.

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If you don't know me, welcome in. I guess Arthur's corner.

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How are we doing today?

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How?

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How?

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How's our day?

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Ben?

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It's It's been a busy day, but all right, I

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got a lot of writing done today.

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Excitedly up company? Yeah?

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How are you doing?

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Courtney? Good?

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Tired?

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Long day?

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It's been a very long day.

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I've had a pretty good day. But it's my last

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day off from school. I have to go back to

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doing work tomorrow. But I've been very I've been doing

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a lot of stuff today. This week in general, I've

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been doing a lot of stuff. I cleaned out in

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the well's cage, I always goods obviously, have taken showers.

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I hung out with Blue, which is my sibling. Let's

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see what else have they done? You played that game

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00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:25.639
on Roadblocks you like so much. I played Forsaken, which

246
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is my hyperfixation I made like bracelet tough for my partner.

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She also came over last weekend.

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I think.

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Yeah, you guys got to spend some time.

250
00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.919
We also spent some time together yep, and with fact.

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Hey right it's on Sunday.

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Yeah.

253
00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:45.879
Yeah, we we played cards against humanity. We play hard

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against humanity.

255
00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:52.399
It was you, it was just me, yeah, the night

256
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before it was me, and then it was mom.

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We had some pretty good cards in that album we did.

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We had some We had some good cards. That was

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a pretty good card, you know.

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Yeah, but we're PG thirteen. Who are not gonna say any.

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00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:06.879
Other Yeah, we can't talk about it, oh, the really

262
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good ones because they're not PG thirteen.

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I have a gift coming from one of my friends.

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And then I recently got a gift. Yeah, I go

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to gift from one of my friends. They sent it

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to me in the mail.

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Yeah, I hope, yeah, like.

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A little It was a little blue blue tiger. Tiger

269
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it might have been a lion.

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Is very cute. It's a very cute, like little blue

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lion with like pink eyes. I think I can't remember exactly,

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but it had this little house thing with like a

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cheetah print, like a rainbow cheet cheetahrint on the back.

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Very cute, very cute.

275
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So might it been a cheetah?

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No, it wasn't a cheetah because it doesn't have like

277
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the markings cheetah like it.

278
00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.240
She didn't really had the markings of like a lion either. Oh.

279
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I thought you were gonna say it can't be a

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cheetah because it doesn't cheat.

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Well it doesn't. It can't really cheat unless I make

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it cheat. And that's a whole crazy storyline. Don't give

283
00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:03.759
me ideas. I think I can move on to the next.

284
00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:06.840
All right, you want to take this next section absolute cinema.

285
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Okay.

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The men were expected to be home the night of

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February twenty four, nineteen seventy eight, and they were expected

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00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:19.120
at their special Olympics basketball tournament the next morning. When

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none of them showed up for breakfast for their uniforms

290
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or fuller the carpool to the tournament, their families immediately

291
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knew something was wrong.

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Well, yeah, we're finally going to realize that something's wrong.

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Okay, This moment the missed tournament is the first confirmed

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point where when families wreck. When the families recognized the

295
00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:44.919
situation as an emergency. The families reported the men missing

296
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after they failed to return home and failed to appear

297
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for the tournament the next morning. Yeah, I don't think

298
00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:54.200
somebody who won't really like sports like they did would

299
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like miss the tournament on purpose exactly. It seems that

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00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:05.039
multiple families can detected authorities almost simultaneously. Deputies began by

301
00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:09.400
checking the route between Chico and Yuba County, assuming car

302
00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:14.519
trouble or a minor accident, they canvassed gas stations, diners,

303
00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:18.599
and the highway. They checked with Chico State and the

304
00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:22.920
Convenience Star store where the men were last seen on camera.

305
00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:28.200
As hours passed, the search expanded into rural roads and

306
00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:33.400
foothill routes, though no one suspected the Pluma's Natural forest.

307
00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:38.039
At this stage, the route was still not rounded in

308
00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:41.640
the assumption that the men had taken a wrong turn

309
00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:45.319
or had tard car trouble, not that they had vanished

310
00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:50.759
into the mountains. On February twenty eighth, nineteen seventy eight,

311
00:17:51.039 --> 00:18:00.000
a Forest Service ranger discovered Jack Madrigals, Madigoes, Mercury Montega

312
00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:05.519
abandoned on a route a remote mountain road in the

313
00:18:05.559 --> 00:18:10.440
Plumas National Forest. A location far from any logical route

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00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:15.799
home and nowhere the families or deputies has had initially

315
00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:19.599
thought to look. And the Pluma's Natural Forest is a

316
00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:24.759
place the podcast has visited before in our episode on

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00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:29.079
the Ketty Cabin Murders, episode two hundred and sixty three, Go.

318
00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:33.839
Check it out. Well, wait, this discovery shifted the entire investigation.

319
00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.240
The search moved from highways and towns into the deep,

320
00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.720
snow covered wilderness, and the mystery deepened.

321
00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:47.559
Well, there's a sheriff's deputy who finds the are sorry,

322
00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:51.119
not the sheriff's deputy, but we were talking about the

323
00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:54.880
forest stranger. He radios it in, Hey, I got this car,

324
00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:58.119
and just like that, the search shifts from highways and

325
00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:02.240
small towns to the deep, frozen wilderness. Families who had

326
00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:05.319
been clinging to hope now feel something colder settle in

327
00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:09.720
their stomachs. This is wrong, This is so wrong. March

328
00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:12.400
one to third, one to three. They're into the woods.

329
00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:15.920
Search teams pushing to the mountains, slogging through snow drifts

330
00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:20.559
and bitter wind. The car offers no clues, no footprints,

331
00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:24.359
no tire spin, no sign of struggle, just a vehicle

332
00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:28.039
parked as if someone had calmly stepped out and walked

333
00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:32.680
into the trees. But which direction the snow has erased everything.

334
00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:38.839
Helicopters sweep the ridgelines, Deputies comb the roads. Volunteers fan

335
00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:43.799
out along logging paths. Nothing not a scrap of clothing,

336
00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:48.200
not a dropped wrapper, not a single track. The mountains

337
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:53.200
swallow every hint of the boy's passage. Now in March

338
00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:59.960
through May, silence continues. Winner refuses to let go. Snow storre,

339
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:05.559
snowy storms, wonderful bean, Try that again. Snowstorms bury the

340
00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:09.680
search area again and again. The official search winds down.

341
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:14.279
But the families don't. They call, They plead, They push

342
00:20:14.839 --> 00:20:17.920
like you do. They hang on to the idea that

343
00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:21.720
the boys are out there somewhere, hold baby, but alive.

344
00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:27.359
But the forest gives nothing back. Weeks now turn into months.

345
00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.839
On June fourth, the thaw begins to work its way

346
00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:35.920
through Plumus Canton National Forests. When the snow finally melts,

347
00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:39.400
it reveals what winter had hidden. A group of weekend

348
00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:44.799
motorcyclists exploring the backcountry stumble upon a Forest Service trailer,

349
00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:50.160
a lonely battery structure miles from the abandoned car. Inside

350
00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:53.200
they find a body wrapped in blankets, lying on a

351
00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:56.720
bed as though waiting for help that never came. It's

352
00:20:56.759 --> 00:21:02.079
Ted Weir. Also in the trailer is discovered Gary's shoes

353
00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:04.920
and a gold watch that doesn't belong to any of

354
00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:09.799
the five. The discovery snaps the case back open. Search

355
00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:13.599
teams return in force. As crews sweep the area between

356
00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:16.480
the car and the trailer, the forest begins to give

357
00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:20.359
up more of its secrets. First they find Jack Madruga

358
00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:24.319
and Bill Sterling there remains lying along the punishing route

359
00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:27.799
between the car and the trailer. Then farther off the road,

360
00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:31.599
scattered by animals, they find Jackie Hewitt. Four of the

361
00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:34.200
five boys have been found, but one is still missing.

362
00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:38.160
Summer nineteen seventy eight, the search for Gary, the searchers

363
00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:42.599
pushed deeper into the woods, following every drainage, ditch, every ridge,

364
00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:47.200
every deer trail. They find Gary matthias shoes inside the trailer,

365
00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:50.799
a detail that raises more questions than it answers, but

366
00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:54.839
they never find Gary. To this day, he remains missing,

367
00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:58.440
the final in unanswered question in a case that's already

368
00:21:58.440 --> 00:21:59.519
full of them.

369
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.400
So there are a few theories about this case. The

370
00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:08.640
first theory is a wrong turn and death by misadventure,

371
00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:11.640
and this theory says that the men took a wrong

372
00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:15.480
turn onto the road into the Plumus County National Forest,

373
00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:19.519
became confused and afraid, and abandoned the car, making a

374
00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:23.319
nineteen mile track to a Forest Service trailer that they

375
00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:27.359
couldn't have known was there, where Ted Weir died, not

376
00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:31.279
using the heat or having any of the food, both

377
00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:34.880
of which the trailer had it was readily available. This

378
00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:38.440
was also the lead theory for years, but the family

379
00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:41.680
has objected to it because the car still had a

380
00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:46.359
half a tank of gas and was completely operational. It

381
00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:49.000
wasn't stuck in any way, so they should have just

382
00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.799
been able to turn around and go home if they

383
00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:55.400
had taken a wrong turn. So why would they have

384
00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:59.880
attempted the nineteen mile track to the trailer. It's very confusing.

385
00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:05.240
And why then, when it was discovered at least by Ted,

386
00:23:05.640 --> 00:23:09.000
possibly by Ted and Gary, did they not get into

387
00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:11.680
the food or turn on the heat. It just it

388
00:23:11.720 --> 00:23:12.799
doesn't make a lot of sense.

389
00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:17.440
Theory number two, Gary Matthias, was the final survivor. This

390
00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:20.480
theory is in two parts. The first part suggests that

391
00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:23.039
Gary was traveling with his friends, got out of the

392
00:23:23.079 --> 00:23:26.839
car with his friends, made a nineteen mile hike with

393
00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:31.160
his friends that some of them didn't survive, entered the

394
00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:34.160
trailer with Ted, took care of him until he passed,

395
00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:37.039
and for whatever reason, left his shoes in the trailer

396
00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:42.319
and disappeared. A variation on this theory comes as susage

397
00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:47.559
indicate among the conditions he was being treated for was schizophrenic,

398
00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:52.200
and that he had almost gotten in trouble with police

399
00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:57.319
officers and others while his medication levels were building up. However,

400
00:23:57.799 --> 00:24:00.160
by the time of the disappearance, he was stable and

401
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:04.200
excited about events in his life. Some suggest that Gary

402
00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:07.519
had an episode, perhaps brought on by a failure to

403
00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:11.720
take his meds, that led him being the one that

404
00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:15.480
somehow attacked his friends. It should be noted that this

405
00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:19.759
part of the theory is mostly conjecture at best.

406
00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:25.079
Very number three homicide by person or person's unknown. We

407
00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:28.799
know from an internal memo that the cause of death

408
00:24:28.839 --> 00:24:33.119
for at least one of the men was reclassified as homicide,

409
00:24:33.640 --> 00:24:37.759
though we don't know why. We do know the way

410
00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:42.319
the car was abandoned suggests another person may have driven

411
00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:46.079
it or somehow forced the men to turn off the

412
00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:50.559
forest road and abandon it. Same person may have forced

413
00:24:50.599 --> 00:24:53.839
the men to go on their hike, or perhaps they

414
00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:57.759
made a break from their assailant, fleeing and resulting in

415
00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:01.559
a search for shelter that would have landed them at

416
00:25:01.640 --> 00:25:06.839
the Forest Service trailer. The men avoided confrontation, and it

417
00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:11.799
threatened likely would have followed the directive of whoever threatened it,

418
00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:15.880
and no one has ever identified who owned the gold

419
00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:20.039
watch that was found in the trailer. Also, Ted was

420
00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:25.680
being prevented. Also Ted being prevented from eating or turning

421
00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:29.799
on the heat is the best explanation we know for

422
00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:32.160
the way that he was found.

423
00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:37.480
In recent years, one of the most striking the examinations

424
00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:40.200
of the Yuba County five has come from Barry Arc

425
00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:45.319
an independent investigative project and it's eighteen dedicated to deep

426
00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:51.000
diving documentyven cold case analysis. So their work reframes the

427
00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:57.240
entire disappearance as a failed investigation riddled with contradictions, pointing

428
00:25:57.319 --> 00:26:01.680
to an internal sheriff's memo that vlietly reclassified the case

429
00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:05.960
as a homicide, and highlighting how the official narrative never

430
00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:11.799
matched the physical evidence very arcs reconstruction reveals a carefully

431
00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:15.039
parked car with a half full tank, a for service

432
00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:18.839
trailer where ted we may have survived for weeks, a

433
00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:21.279
gold watch that belonged to none of the men, and

434
00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:26.279
the very troubling testimony of a medically compromised eyewitness whose

435
00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:32.200
shifting accounts shaped the early search. They argue that the

436
00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:35.640
trailer showed signs of prior use, that the men's movements

437
00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:39.880
contradict the idea of simple misadventure, and that the disappearance

438
00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:43.720
of Gary Matthias should be viewed not as the act

439
00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:47.359
of a perpetrator, but as the on resulted fate of

440
00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:52.079
a fifth victim. In their telling, the Yuba County five

441
00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:56.759
case is not a wilderness tragedy. It's a botched investigation

442
00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:02.079
with the fingerprints of foul playing in the snow. It

443
00:27:02.200 --> 00:27:05.200
is the very our investigation that prompted the foul play

444
00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:10.279
theory and another theory that the medically compromised witness saw

445
00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:14.279
them with another individual that night, and if he is correct,

446
00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:18.880
maybe that other persons somehow led to the deaths of

447
00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:23.920
these men. Further, when searchers found the Forest Service trailer,

448
00:27:24.039 --> 00:27:28.519
the heat was on, so certainly someone had been in

449
00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:30.599
it before the searchers had found it.

450
00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:35.119
The final theory says that the men's vulnerabilities led to

451
00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:41.359
paradoxical undressing and similar poor decisions leading to a Diatlov

452
00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:45.559
Pass like mystery, made more complicated by the fact that

453
00:27:45.559 --> 00:27:48.960
the men were suffering from various mental conditions and they

454
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:53.759
were attempting to survive in an extreme situation. That this

455
00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:57.920
strange occurrence led to a breakdown group dynamics and led

456
00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:01.559
the five men to making these poor decisions that inevitably

457
00:28:01.640 --> 00:28:05.279
led to their eventual deaths. However, this does seem to

458
00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:08.839
discount many of the things discovered in the very arch investigation,

459
00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:12.920
and while the Yuba County five does seem to share

460
00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:17.759
some of the mysterious DNA of the Dyatlov Pass incident,

461
00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:21.720
note here that my favorite archaeologist and TV presenter Josh

462
00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:27.400
Gates did the definitive episode or two on Dyatlov. We

463
00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:31.079
have none of the indications of startled, scarred people, or

464
00:28:31.160 --> 00:28:34.440
scared people trying to survive a disaster that might or

465
00:28:34.519 --> 00:28:37.119
might not have been a slab avalanche.

466
00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:40.839
The Yuba County five has become one of Northern California's

467
00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:46.640
most persistent unsolved mysteries, a case that continues to fascinate investigators,

468
00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:54.720
podcasters such as ourselves, documentarians, and true crime audiences nearly

469
00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:59.240
fifty years later. It's regularly cited as one of the

470
00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:05.279
region's most baffling disappearances, and its eerie combination of wilderness,

471
00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:10.519
unexplained behavior, and incomplete resolution has kept it alive in

472
00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:15.440
the public imagination. Some argue since it takes place in

473
00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:22.960
the plumous National Forest, it fits with David Hallyde's Missing

474
00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:28.240
for One One, which we've also covered in the previous episode,

475
00:29:29.119 --> 00:29:33.559
and has all the earmarks of those mysterious deaths and disappearances.

476
00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:37.440
The Yuba County five is featured in the Netflix series

477
00:29:37.559 --> 00:29:41.480
Files of the Unexplained. This has brought the case to

478
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:46.720
a massive global audience and reignited interest in its mystery.

479
00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:53.039
It's become a staple of true crime audio storytelling, often

480
00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:58.519
framed as California's most baffling mystery. Major outlets continue to

481
00:29:58.599 --> 00:30:03.559
revisit the case of and A case on anniversaries, emphasizing

482
00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:08.400
its enduring mystery and cultural impact. The case is frequently

483
00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:15.079
referenced in books about untold mysteries, wilderness disappearances, and California

484
00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:19.519
true crime. The Yuba County five persists in the cultural

485
00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:27.559
imagination because it sits at a crossroads of true crime, wilderness, mystery,

486
00:30:28.119 --> 00:30:35.119
psychological puzzle, investigative failure, urban legend energy. It's a story

487
00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:38.720
with a car that shouldn't be where it is, a

488
00:30:38.759 --> 00:30:42.759
trailer full of supplies that wasn't used, a man who

489
00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:47.039
may have lived for weeks, a missing fifth member.

490
00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:47.839
Who was never found.

491
00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:52.119
Matt brings up our summary and final thoughts. And since

492
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:55.640
you are our guest, Courtney, I offer you the first

493
00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:59.000
opportunity to sum up what we've heard so far and

494
00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:00.799
give us your final thought.

495
00:31:01.319 --> 00:31:05.599
So this case is always baffled me, it's baffled everybody.

496
00:31:06.039 --> 00:31:11.799
You have five men with varying degrees of intellectual disabilities,

497
00:31:11.880 --> 00:31:17.599
mental health disorders. They have plans, you know, the plans

498
00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:20.359
that they're excited about for the next day. You know,

499
00:31:20.440 --> 00:31:23.240
they get in a car, they get out of the

500
00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:28.519
car and walk nineteen miles and then something just inexplicably

501
00:31:28.519 --> 00:31:32.200
happens to that where they've disappeared or they've lost their

502
00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:36.680
lives and no one, no one can figure out what happened.

503
00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:42.759
And I feel like for me, personally, just like I

504
00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:45.799
think the key to figuring out a lot of this

505
00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:48.279
is figuring out why they got out of the car,

506
00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:50.759
because there was no reason to get out of the

507
00:31:50.839 --> 00:31:55.200
car in that weather where they were, especially when two

508
00:31:55.240 --> 00:31:57.920
knew how to drive, you know, say one of them

509
00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:01.839
was tired, you know, So it's really which one's driving

510
00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:05.960
the car, Why did they get out, and why did

511
00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:08.000
they decide to keep walking? And I think that would

512
00:32:08.039 --> 00:32:11.519
answer a lot of questions if we could figure that out.

513
00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:16.480
Thing that confuses me, I'll go ahead and go if

514
00:32:16.519 --> 00:32:20.920
you don't mind. The thing that confuses me more than

515
00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:25.079
anything is it seems like based on the growth of

516
00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:29.279
facial hair, that Weir had been there in that trailer

517
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:35.960
for weeks weeks, So why wasn't the food used, Why

518
00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:39.160
why wasn't the heat used? Why did he die at

519
00:32:39.240 --> 00:32:45.519
the combination of malnutrition and frostbite exposure?

520
00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:48.599
But how can you be sure that he was in

521
00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:51.880
Maybe it took him the leaks to find the place.

522
00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:55.359
They can't say that he was there for all those weeks.

523
00:32:55.400 --> 00:32:58.279
He could have just got there and got to the

524
00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:01.039
bed and then not been able to get up to

525
00:33:01.160 --> 00:33:03.359
utilize any of the food and stuff When we're not

526
00:33:03.400 --> 00:33:04.279
sure what happened.

527
00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:09.440
Yes, that's fair. Also, why did he have Gary's shoes?

528
00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:15.799
Again, that's another question. The only like, I honestly have

529
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:16.359
no clue.

530
00:33:16.400 --> 00:33:20.720
It's a very like, it's very like it's a case

531
00:33:20.759 --> 00:33:24.039
that stumps you. And I think somewhat, I think it's

532
00:33:24.039 --> 00:33:27.160
somewhat supposed to in a way. And if they were

533
00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:30.559
all murdered, which is the thing that makes sense to

534
00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:34.960
me most for some reason, especially with the watch that

535
00:33:35.240 --> 00:33:37.799
they found, like the gold watch that they found, it

536
00:33:38.119 --> 00:33:39.200
almost seems like it.

537
00:33:39.160 --> 00:33:40.160
Was supposed to be like.

538
00:33:41.880 --> 00:33:46.079
It was supposed to be, like they were like, I

539
00:33:46.119 --> 00:33:47.359
don't know how to explain it.

540
00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:51.960
Are you laughing at me? It seems like it's supposed.

541
00:33:51.559 --> 00:33:54.519
To be confusing. Seems like it was supposed to confuse

542
00:33:54.519 --> 00:33:58.000
the police. Like it seems like maybe somebody had been

543
00:33:58.039 --> 00:34:00.440
really good at what they were doing and they had

544
00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:03.839
like trap these people here and like scattered these clues

545
00:34:03.880 --> 00:34:07.400
because they knew people like totally, I'm behind.

546
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:11.239
You, guys. Now my brain has jumped down some rabbit

547
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:16.239
hole where it was like he on another team that

548
00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:17.880
was supposed to go up against him.

549
00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:21.239
That they the Special Olympics the next.

550
00:34:21.079 --> 00:34:24.360
Day and like like they have, and they made it

551
00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:27.400
look like an accident. They made it look like they

552
00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:30.440
just I mean, if it's rolled out as a homicide, yeah,

553
00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:33.360
maybe they made it to look like that.

554
00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:36.360
You know, maybe they made it to back football murders

555
00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:37.079
of the like.

556
00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:39.880
Yeah, maybe national forests.

557
00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:41.800
Like me, maybe they had if they had something to

558
00:34:41.800 --> 00:34:43.440
do the next day. I don't think they just go.

559
00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:46.920
Out on a hills that's really like a whole.

560
00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:49.519
Hike, Like that's long hike. Okay.

561
00:34:50.280 --> 00:34:52.719
It makes me think that they knew where that was,

562
00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:55.079
and they made it look like it was scattered for

563
00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:58.920
someone for some reason, and they everybody died at at

564
00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:01.719
different time. They I could have like not kidnapped, but

565
00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:04.480
like kept them in that house, especially if there was

566
00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:08.400
food and warmth, if they were there, you know that

567
00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:10.280
that that's just what that makes me think. But I

568
00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:13.079
always have like some sort of weird background to things.

569
00:35:13.119 --> 00:35:16.360
So for various purposes of your head, Yeah there's.

570
00:35:16.280 --> 00:35:21.159
Yeah, promise I didn't kill anybody. No, I mean you weren't.

571
00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:26.719
You weren't even live then and I I could barely walk, so.

572
00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:30.400
You're not met. Yeah, we're safe.

573
00:35:31.239 --> 00:35:36.719
Also, I have to say one thing. Yeah, I was

574
00:35:36.760 --> 00:35:40.719
born in nineteen sixty eight when these guys disagreed. When

575
00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:43.599
I was when these guys disappeared, I was ten years old.

576
00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:49.599
Trust me, I couldn't handle social interactions. I don't think

577
00:35:50.559 --> 00:35:53.719
my love, but I love you anyway, Thank you oneerful.

578
00:35:54.760 --> 00:35:57.360
But I will say one thing, and I'm showing my

579
00:35:57.480 --> 00:36:01.480
age here, is that every time we talk about Chico's state,

580
00:36:02.360 --> 00:36:05.960
there was a show back in the seventies called Chico

581
00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:10.800
and the Man started Freddie prinne Junior's dad. I see,

582
00:36:11.239 --> 00:36:13.000
and I keep thinking of that show.

583
00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:14.519
See what.

584
00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:18.039
A wow?

585
00:36:18.519 --> 00:36:23.760
But yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean it ruled it as

586
00:36:23.760 --> 00:36:28.119
a homicide, the dead deaths as a homicide.

587
00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:30.519
They were just like, oh God, that would make sense.

588
00:36:30.639 --> 00:36:32.360
Why wouldn't it make sense for everybody else?

589
00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:37.760
Well, they they changed. See, they changed the cause of

590
00:36:37.800 --> 00:36:40.360
death on at least one of the deaths to homicide.

591
00:36:41.079 --> 00:36:43.039
But the person was never found.

592
00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:46.000
Right, one person wasn't never found, which has led some

593
00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:48.679
people to speculate, based on the fact that he did

594
00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:52.519
have a history with schizophrenia, that maybe he stopped taking

595
00:36:52.519 --> 00:36:56.119
his meds, or that his meds stopped working. It was

596
00:36:56.159 --> 00:37:01.599
the seventies, after all, psych meds weren't the great a large.

597
00:37:03.079 --> 00:37:07.199
Yeah, sorry, psych meds weren't a worth the greatest B. Like,

598
00:37:07.800 --> 00:37:11.039
there's things that happen to people, especially like with meds.

599
00:37:11.480 --> 00:37:14.519
The drugs can like be like good enough for a

600
00:37:14.519 --> 00:37:17.280
long period of time and then and then just stop

601
00:37:17.360 --> 00:37:22.440
working completely absolutely right. So it's made some people suggest

602
00:37:22.519 --> 00:37:26.400
that Matthias was should be considered a suspect and not

603
00:37:26.440 --> 00:37:31.360
a victim. But by and large, most people consider that

604
00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:36.519
BS because at the very least, it seems like and

605
00:37:36.679 --> 00:37:39.880
I don't know, but it seems like it wouldn't be

606
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:43.079
an overnight thing. You would see some breaks in his

607
00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:44.280
character before.

608
00:37:44.840 --> 00:37:48.519
So they found the shoes, Why would he Why would

609
00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:49.800
he walk away without his shoes?

610
00:37:49.840 --> 00:37:54.000
You know, like I get it if like maybe like

611
00:37:54.119 --> 00:37:57.599
he's schizophrenic, but that were that doesn't make any.

612
00:37:57.360 --> 00:37:57.840
Sense to me.

613
00:37:58.039 --> 00:38:01.679
It could have gone off on he has gotten ran

614
00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:04.880
off with us his shoes, taking off his shoes and

615
00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:05.400
took coffee.

616
00:38:05.559 --> 00:38:09.280
We don't know what, but in the winter, I guess,

617
00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:09.880
I don't know.

618
00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:12.840
But they couldn't find any traps, that's my thing, Like

619
00:38:12.880 --> 00:38:13.440
he couldn't.

620
00:38:13.480 --> 00:38:14.440
They didn't find anything.

621
00:38:15.079 --> 00:38:18.679
The bodies they didn't find for weeks. This is straw

622
00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:22.719
up all the bodies they didn't found fine for weeks.

623
00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:26.960
Right, yeah, for months, which is why it gets compared

624
00:38:26.960 --> 00:38:31.440
a lot to Dyatlov because those bodies were missing for months,

625
00:38:31.480 --> 00:38:35.400
and when they're recovered, they were found in these strange

626
00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:39.920
death poses. Now, the leading thought these days is is

627
00:38:39.960 --> 00:38:42.519
that it was a slab avalanche that drove them out

628
00:38:42.519 --> 00:38:46.840
of the the tent and then that launched everything else.

629
00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:53.559
But we don't have that explanation here. The car was

630
00:38:53.599 --> 00:38:56.960
in working order. There's no reason they couldn't have turned

631
00:38:56.960 --> 00:39:01.440
around and gone home unless someone kept them from doing so. Absolutely,

632
00:39:02.559 --> 00:39:04.960
And I guess if you, if you made me commit,

633
00:39:05.880 --> 00:39:12.039
I would say that that person or person's unknown cause

634
00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:12.639
their deaths.

635
00:39:12.760 --> 00:39:14.800
That that makes sense to me. That makes sense. That's

636
00:39:14.840 --> 00:39:16.920
what most makes sense to me.

637
00:39:17.800 --> 00:39:21.280
So is that the universal well as anybody has anything

638
00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:22.360
they want to add.

639
00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:26.000
I feel like I've said my part, as Courtney does

640
00:39:26.039 --> 00:39:27.679
anything from you, Courtney.

641
00:39:28.119 --> 00:39:30.960
I I think I have too many theories.

642
00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:36.440
Yeah, and that's that's my problem because every time I

643
00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:39.000
get a theory, I'll begin to go over it and

644
00:39:39.039 --> 00:39:41.079
then my brain will go, but what about this?

645
00:39:41.559 --> 00:39:41.960
Mm hmm.

646
00:39:42.599 --> 00:39:46.000
Yeah, And and like I I cannot think of a

647
00:39:46.079 --> 00:39:50.400
theory that accounts for all of it. There's always something

648
00:39:50.440 --> 00:39:54.920
in there that's going but wait for sure. Yeah, so

649
00:39:55.599 --> 00:39:59.400
any theory I begin to have, I'm I'm like, but

650
00:39:59.800 --> 00:40:02.880
I yeah.

651
00:40:01.400 --> 00:40:04.639
Just find something that like covers all the bases. It's

652
00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:05.480
just like, oh no.

653
00:40:06.800 --> 00:40:10.679
So well then I will say our goodvies to our

654
00:40:10.719 --> 00:40:15.039
listeners and and and everything everyone else. That's our show.

655
00:40:15.159 --> 00:40:17.679
Thanks for listening. Thanks for keeping us in the Good

656
00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:20.519
POD's top one hundred. Thanks by the way, for keeping

657
00:40:20.599 --> 00:40:25.239
us number one in the mythology spot. Not sure why.

658
00:40:24.719 --> 00:40:25.599
But thank you.

659
00:40:25.800 --> 00:40:28.880
We'll take it, we'll drink it. Thanks for being members

660
00:40:28.880 --> 00:40:32.239
of our found family, the fam. If you need a family,

661
00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:33.239
we are here for you.

662
00:40:33.880 --> 00:40:35.400
We're your family. Hey.

663
00:40:36.239 --> 00:40:40.760
Thanks to Blue, Lexi, Laura, and Arthur. Of course, thanks

664
00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:45.000
to our guest Courtney from Book of the Dead podcast.

665
00:40:45.800 --> 00:40:46.800
Thank you for having me.

666
00:40:48.079 --> 00:40:52.199
Thanks to Bill and Bill is Bill barn That last

667
00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:54.320
name is spelled b e h R e n d T.

668
00:40:54.840 --> 00:40:56.920
He's the guy that does our theme music. If you

669
00:40:56.960 --> 00:41:00.119
need music for a project or someone to perform in

670
00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:03.960
an event, build your guy. Did I mention his email address?

671
00:41:04.320 --> 00:41:08.039
Bill Barrett at SBC Global Anyway, moving on, thanks to

672
00:41:08.119 --> 00:41:11.400
Paige Elmore of the Pop Culture Diary, who has combined

673
00:41:11.440 --> 00:41:13.559
her own love of Canva with some of our own

674
00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:16.360
Arthur's artwork to create some logo art for us.

675
00:41:16.760 --> 00:41:18.679
Thank you, Paige, Thank you Ate.

676
00:41:19.320 --> 00:41:21.880
Thanks to Aaron Generk of The Big Dumb Fun Show

677
00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:26.000
who continues to promote us locally. Join us next week

678
00:41:26.440 --> 00:41:30.800
as we look into the interesting collapse of the Pruitt

679
00:41:30.880 --> 00:41:32.159
I Go housing project.

680
00:41:33.079 --> 00:41:34.199
Bye Bye,