In 1978, a group of young men would drive together to attend a basketball game, the five friends had a shared passion for sports and would often go on such excursions as a group. However, this time was different. This time something would go wrong and four of the men would later be found dead while the fifth wouldn’t be found at all. The case became known as that of the “Yuba County Five.”
The case has been liked to the Dyatlov Pass incident with which it shares more than a few similarities. The group consisted of Jack Madruga, Bill Sterling, Ted Weiher, Jackie Huett, and Gary Mathias. Four of the men had some form of learning disability with the fifth, Mathias suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times following their disappearance, one of the boys’ mothers stated that they were “just nice friendly boys who went to games together and went home.”
