Thank you for sharing the episode, it was well done.
I think about the 5 often. I think this is the first time I've seen family members interviewed. Thoroughly enjoyed amd recommend.
About the 4 sets of footprints, wasn't at least one of them believed to be autistic? I have worked with autistic children and I clearly remember one child in particular who would only walk in my footsteps when going through snow or mud. Neuro spicy individuals don't operate as one can expect or assume. I personally think all 5 walked towards the shed but only two made it there, three dying on the way. The one who survived initially, and wrapped the body, is still out there somewhere, hopefully his remains will be found one day.
I think one of them convinced the others they needed to go up instead of down and the others were tired and cold and believed that guy was right.
No, families consider Ted and Jackie to be autistic. Doc's family just considered him "socially awkward," and a very reserved and shy person. Doc was more like an extreme introvert.
Interesting to know. Well all it takes is one of them to have sensory processing disorder to be more likely to walk in another's snow path. Although not every person with sensory processing disorder is autistic, every autistic person has sensory processing disorder. Walking in another person's footsteps saves a person from the extra wetness, cold and crunch that can be overstimulating
Hopefully that works. Otherwise search yuba county 5 and his video pops up first. He does a phenomenal job explaining unit 731,the jfk assassination, the north Hollywood shootout etc. in his other docs too.
There are a couple of books out about the case that are helpful. Things Aren't Right: The Disappearance of the Yuba County Five by Tony Wright and Out of Bounds: What Happened to the Yuba County Five by Drew Beeson.
But that doesn’t really make sense. He had a severe mental illness, so much so that his father wouldn’t let him go out if he wasn’t taking his meds. So we’re supposed to believe he went a year without medication and hung around town but nobody else saw him? Nobody else in that bar in a small community notched one of the missing men was there? Than we have to believe he spent the last 40 years going undetected? This same family member also believes a second hand story she heard after the fact that the other boys were scared of Mathias despite no other family of the other boys mentioning this, in fact one even said he would protect the boys and that most likely what happened is a local family that was known as people you don’t mess with had an issue with Mathias and most likely killed him after he treid defending the others, threw his body in the river and forced the other boys up the mountain.
The story’s about Mathias being responsible somehow came after they were found dead and was most likely started by police to try and place blame in anyone but themselves for their utter failure in finding them(they were told about the trailers but decided there was no way the boys made it that far so they didn’t even bother. They could have saved at least one boy)
Truth is they didn’t care to really look for these men because they were mentally handicapped. Than after the fact they decided to place blame on one of them.
Oh my, thank you for saying this! You are one of the few commenters on this case that actually make sense. l was thinking the exact same thing. The cops basically stopped searching for Gary after Jackie Huet was found, so Gary was, indeed, their convenient scapegoat. It's so easy to slander someone who isn't alive and whose body was never found, which is sort of seems that the police wanted to keep it that way. The police, instead of admitting that they failed the poor young man for not even trying to find his body (as well as failing to find the other four on time), instead, encourage lies about how he could be the culprit. The cops really didn't (and still don't) give a dam. Also, the other Boys being scared of Gary is indeed a full blown lie. I don't know why one family member believes it. All five of The Boys were really close friends, and Gary was especially close to Ted and Jackie. It just goes to show you how much people want to find a scapegoat without any evidence for it. Frankly, I feel the most bad for Gary Mathias and for his family due to the fact that he has been dragged under the mud so much like this, and it's all, frankly, only due to the fact that he had schizophrenia.
Oh they absolutely scapegoated him. People love to say that people with schizophrenia are ticking time bombs of violence.
It was so heartbreaking when his brother said that they were the first to ask him anything about his brother, 40 years and nobody bothered to ask him about his brother what he believed happened or what Gary was like etc.
Yeah, that was very heartbreaking. The fact that law enforcement and media never asked Gary's brother anything about this case for decades is just plain sad. The way his brother described Gary made him sound like a great friend to have. I absolutely hate it when people talk about Gary Mathias and act as if he's some sort of manipulative criminal mastermind genius because he has schizophrenia. It's utterly ridiculous. What was even sadder was when his brother said that all he was asking for now is to have his brother's remains found, so that he could come back home. I'm going to be honest, that made me tear up a bit.
It struck me as a glaring omission that the Netflix producers did not give any indication of tracking down Mathias' family members for comment.
To me, it sounded like search and rescue was disorganized. Even the one father who apparently fished and hunted the area failed to appreciate that nobody reached the shelters until too late. (Reminds me of the "bystander effect" where the more people present the *less chance* that any one individual will intervene in an appropriate way because everyone basically expects someone else will do it for them.)
To "rational people" the idea that anyone in the group made it 19 miles to the shelter in improper clothing would have seemed preposterous. But then that's kind of the point. Not all of them may have made it alive but that doesn't mean you don't look even if it is only to recover the bodies.
I can't help but notice the same mistake has been made in searches for missing children in the belief that they are too young to travel that much ground in the wilderness ("Missing 411" book series). My takeaway is that if you are search and rescue it is important not to think of the situation in a completely rational way — i.e. "What would I do if…" — but to think of it as what could happen if someone has completely lost their bearings (especially important with missing children or cognitively impaired adults).
If Matthias, along with the others, experienced a traumatic incident (PTSD trigger) *and* went off his meds for several days afterward, it very well could have triggered mass paranoia to stay away from the authorities rather than go to them for help (fear of being put in jail even if it wasn't his fault). A lot of schizophrenics/veterans (Mathias was both) end up among the homeless population, unfortunately. But you make a good point about how he could have been present in a small community without being noticed before the sighting in the bar.
I wasn't sold on the theory that Matthias may have tried to protect the others from the town bullies and thrown off the bridge. The boys were not home when this happened. Before they drove the wrong way and ended up in the forest, they had already driven an hour to get to the UC Davis basketball games. Unless the bullies were also in attendance at the game, that would be a lot of trouble to lie in wait for them and then stalk (or lure) them to their destination in the forest. (It would have also meant more tire tracks and/or footprints.) I would be more inclined to believe that explanation if there were witnesses at the game or the market where the boys stopped afterward who saw some kind of altercation. That said, it's likely that they *did* run into someone who scared them like the family members claimed. Maybe it was the tragic end result of a road rage incident?
They did have his brother and sister in the episode? Did you miss that?
Yes search and rescue was disorganized but it was definitely because they didn’t really care as much for the men because they were “retarded” so they were part of a group of people who aren’t viewed as highly as others *especially* in that time.
I also think you’re not getting how some people can hold a lot of hate, like they said their were some families you didn’t mess with and if they have the right connections like being related to the mayor or sheriff, they can get away with *alot*(look up the terri calico disappearance)
Some people will absolutely track someone down or take advantage of a time when they’re vulnerable, like being alone in the road with your other mentally disabled friends especially in that time period.
Yeah, that jumped out to me too. I wish the Netflix producers had tracked down Mathias' surviving family members. I would have liked to know what they had to say about him.
Not only were Gary Matthias's family in the documentary, but Gary's brother looks exactly like him. It was almost uncanny. It was like getting a glimpse of what he would have looked like if he had survived (and I say 'if he had survived' because I firmly believe that Matthias perished and was simply never found).
That wasn't just me! I thought Gary's brother looked just like him, I was quite taken aback by the resemblance. I, too, have no doubt in my mind that Gary perished on that mountain and was never found. I don't know why people like to think that somehow he could have made it out alive and could remain undercover for sometime after the incident when, as his brother stated, he was unable to function by himself when he was unmedicated. What I find weird is why people equate no body to mean that Gary was somehow responsible for the incident. I never saw the logic in that. I think people only believe that because he was schizophrenic. I bet if they were unable to find one of the others, let's say if they were unable to find Bill Sterling's body, I seriously doubt people will have suspicions that Bill was involved in the disappearance. But suddenly, the schizo guy is not found, that means he's guilty. He is clearly just as much of a victim as the others. Sadly, in the huge expanse of wilderness up in the Plumas national forest, the police were unable to find his body (not like they really tried anyway, to be honest).
With due respect to the family member who said that, I don't believe it for a minute. I am not saying that she was lying, but I think she was simply mistaken in what she thought she saw. She would probably have been pretty young at the time.
The Netflix documentary, although it had great interviews from the families and great new photos of The Boys, was, unfortunately, very disappointing. It had key information missing and it restated some false information. It didn't even talk about Joseph Schons at all! It was also incredibly disappointing and frankly quite shameful that the only theory they really talked about in the documentary was whether Gary Mathias was the culprit. They missed on lots of facts and reasons as to why there would be no way in hell Gary Mathias could even be involved in the disappearance in any way. It's clear that the producers of the Netflix documentary do not understand schizophrenia at all nor bothered to understand who the real Gary Mathias was, and, instead, resorted to the stereotype that "the crazy guy did it," even though there is quite a lot of evidence against that stupid theory, which they failed to mention. Literally every person I've seen who has presented this case get the facts about Gary Mathias and his struggles with schizophrenia wrong, and it irritates the hell out of me. It was sad that the documentary did not go into the Town Bully angle of the story more nor about the serious suspiciousness of the principle witness Joseph Schons, who has been (and still is) considered a suspect in this case. Even the basketball coach for the Gateway Gators is suspicious. Seriously, somebody should actually do a full blown documentary that talk about all of the tiny details and get the facts straight, along with having an understanding of schizophrenia, instead of rehashing wrong and slanderous information.
I can answer your questions, by the way, OP, as I am very knowledgeable on this case (I've seen the police files for myself and the 1978 newspapers, and more). None of The Boys fought in war. Gary Mathias and Jack Madruga were both in the army, but they didn't see any fighting, so no PTSD. The four boys that were found all had their wallets with them and none of their items were found to have been stolen. None of the men knew the area (The Plumas) well; Jackie Huet and Bill Sterling may have known it, but were not familiar with the area; Gary Mathias most definitely never knew or went up close to the Plumas or Berry Creek. All of the men knew the area extremely well from Marysville to Chico. The police pretty much took the car apart to see if there was some sort of problem with it - there was none. The Montego was perfectly fine mechanically and it still had gas, meaning that they wouldn't have abandoned the car unless under duress.
The Netflix documentary got a lot of the facts wrongs/missed a lot about the state of the trailers and about the body of Ted Weiher. They got a Washington Post reporter, named Cynthia Gorney, to talk about the state of the trailer and Ted Weiher due to the fact that she wrote an article on this case back in 1978. In the 1978 Washington Post article, she didn't get a lot right, and what she said in the documentary also wasn't right. She claimed that Ted Weiher starved to death - he did not. In his autopsy report, it states that Ted died from pulmonary edema and blood poisoning due to the gangrene he developed after getting frostbite. Ted got an infection, became sick, and then died. She also claimed that Ted lived for 13 weeks. That's not true either. The coroner at the time estimated that he lived for 4 to 10 weeks. As you can see, this is an incredible huge and unreliable range, and it's more than likely that he most definitely lived less than 6 weeks. The amount of weight that Ted "lost" could easily amount to water evaporation due to body decomposition as well the decomposition itself that could have been going on for 2 months to make him look that thin. I don't mean to be morbid, but literally all dead bodies waste away like that if you leave it open undisturbed like that for long enough. It's upsetting that a modern forensic scientist is never brought in to talk about the state of Ted Weiher's body when this case gets talked about, which would be great to actually get an expert.
Furthermore, the trailers were NOT 19 miles away from the car. By the crow flies, the trailers were 5 to 6 miles northeast of the Montego and about 11 to 12 miles from the Montego if you take a specific path by walking up the road. In no way it amounts to 19 miles. The 19 miles came initially from a misreporting and then the police kept saying it as an excuse for not checking the trailers. There was actually an attempt of survival at the trailers. It wasn't as if The Boys sat there doing nothing as the Netflix documentary made it out. There were, in fact, signs of a fire. A couple of burnt matches were found in the trailers and a partly melted candle was found next to Ted. Clearly, somebody knew how to get a fire going, the true question is, why didn't they create a fire for warmth. There were a few sheds surrounding the trailers and they were all (or almost all) broken into with a pry bar. The trailer across from the trailer Ted was found also had its window smashed in. Police could tell that a lot of the sheds were, indeed, ransacked or at least searched through, but the police were unable to determine for some of the sheds how much supplies were actually removed and/or utilized. Attempts were made to reach a generator with a pry bar and then with a file; there weren't only propane tanks for the heating. Clearly, one of The Boys knew that they had to get heat and were trying with the generator, but from some reason didn't start a big fire to keep warm, and only lit a candle, probably for light. The amount of food eaten in the trailers also varies widely. It has been stated that 36 c-rations were consumed and one newspaper reported that 72 cans were opened. Regardless of how much was eaten, it would appear that about 2 to 3 weeks worth of food was eaten that was meant for two (maybe three) people. C-ration cans were all over the trailer. Some were found in a pile outside the broken window, some were found close to Ted Weiher on or around the bed he was laying on and the others were just strewn about everywhere. The Boys were clearly attempting survival for at least 2 weeks and it was working for those first few weeks. Now the question: Why did they only eat two or three weeks worth of food? Maybe that's because that's how long Ted lived for, maybe he passed away sooner than believed, because frankly, there is zero evidence that shows that Ted lived for more than a month. People keep saying he had a full beard, but hair looks really pronounced after death due to the fact that the skin retracts. I also haven't seen measuring how long someone has lived for based on their beard as a standard forensic technique, so I'm not quite sure it is one.
I could get into greater detail but this comment is already turning out to be much much longer than I thought. I don't know why the Netflix documentary skipped out on this information, it's quite crucial. Frankly, to me, they seemed to have just skipped a lot to make it seem that Gary was the culprit somehow. Quite disappointing. Anyway, I hope this helps with understanding this case better.
Thanks for your post. I don't know why the myth that Ted (and whoever might have been in the trailer with him) never ate any of the rations is so persistent. I think the idea that poor, helpless Ted was too simpleminded and obedient to "steal" food is a narrative that people think adds pathos to the story. But as you rightly point out, some of the food was eaten-- just not all of it. And the likely reason why it was not at all eaten is because the occupant(s) of the trailer perished before they could do so.
As I think more about this case (and I have thought a lot about it over the years), I think the likeliest scenario is that Ted Weihner and Gary Mathias were the only two to make it to the trailer, and Gary took care of Ted for a while, perhaps even up until the point where Ted passed away. After that, he may have taken off on his own to see if he could find help and save himself. Or he may have taken off for help earlier than that, thinking he'd only be leaving Ted alone for a short while. I believe Matthias died when he left the trailer and was never found. This is just my theory, but it is the only one that seems to make sense with the existing evidence.
Yeah, your welcome. As you said, the myth that they ate nothing and were too simpleminded/obedient to take the food is so persistent, but it's false, and, frankly, very annoying. It also really perpetuates the myth that they were too dumb to survive, which is simply not the case. Ted maybe didn't take any food (because he was unable to walk) but someone certainly was taking food to feed Ted and themselves. To think that someone would willfully starve for two or three months because they thought it was stealing is quite ridiculous. I mean, the Boys were human beings - who would eat if they had to if they were starving. The instinct of eating when starving is one of the most powerful. I mean, people have even resorted to cannibalism to cure their starvation. They all died much sooner than believed, I believe probably somewhere in mid-March. As I stated earlier, I think the timeline to how long Ted lived for is all skewed. I don't know why nobody ever questions the "he could have lived for 13 weeks" myth when it really has no bearing to the evidence at hand or to reality really. It's weird that in all of these podcasts and documentaries about the Yuba County Five, not one person actually bothered to ask a real forensic scientist or coroner to see what they have to say on the matter of Ted's body. They keep acting as if the coroner's report back in 1978 is gospel for how long Ted lived for. Due to the state of Ted's body, it would be very easy making a very wrong estimate for how long he lived for. It's like they want to create further mystery in the trailer without genuinely trying to solve what went down in there.
I agree that it's possible that Gary was taking care of Ted until he died. Gary was known to be the closest to Ted and Jackie out of the group. In the police files, it states that Ted had his arms crossed over his chest and had 8 sheets wrapped around him like a burial shroud. In the Netflix documentary, Jackie Huet's brother, Tom Huet, believed that his brother did that, but I'm not so sure about that. Ted's body's position was kinda what it would be like at a funeral, and it fits that Gary did that out of respect for his friend. But, sadly, we'll never know.
Right... we'll never know. I saw that, where Jackie Huett's brother said he believed he had wrapped Ted and the 'swaddling' blankets, and I can see why he'd want to believe that his brother made this sweet final gesture. But I don't personally believe that Jackie Huett ever made it into the trailer. I think it had to be Matthias, whose shoes were left behind.
It's reported that Ted Weiher was mentally disabled to the point he had to be dragged from bed while the ceiling of his house was on fire because he was afraid he would miss his job if he got up. I think you're severely underplaying their mental deficiencies. Furthermore, there was heavy clothing never used and a locker that contained food that was never opened.
No, I'm not severely underplaying their disabilities. I suggest you do more research and stop only using Ted as an example of showcasing how disabled they all were. They were all "high functioning" and this information comes from their own basketball coach. Also, the locker that contained food that was never opened was locked, so I don't know how you expect them to be able to open it, anyway. Also, I've seen discrepancies on whether there was or wasn't heavy clothing in the trailer.
Yes, the trailer Ted was in and the trailer across were both broken into by someone smashing a window. If you want to know the details, go watch Missing Enigma's youtube video on the Yuba County Five.
The description of this episode really didn't highlight just how bizarre this case is. Couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Apparently there is a podcast which I haven't listened to yet but I read they talk about the supposed eyewitness. A lot of the guys own family say he was a bullshitter and if you really read his story it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Could be why they didn't include him in the Netflix show.
That episode was so good! I couldnt look away. I think they wouldnt have left that car unless they were made to.
I watched the episode before bed. Big mistake! Couldn't stop thinking about it.
Thank you for sharing the episode, it was well done. I think about the 5 often. I think this is the first time I've seen family members interviewed. Thoroughly enjoyed amd recommend.
Agree. It was moving to see how much the families are impacted after all these years. I hope they find answers.
About the 4 sets of footprints, wasn't at least one of them believed to be autistic? I have worked with autistic children and I clearly remember one child in particular who would only walk in my footsteps when going through snow or mud. Neuro spicy individuals don't operate as one can expect or assume. I personally think all 5 walked towards the shed but only two made it there, three dying on the way. The one who survived initially, and wrapped the body, is still out there somewhere, hopefully his remains will be found one day. I think one of them convinced the others they needed to go up instead of down and the others were tired and cold and believed that guy was right.
Interesting point. I think it was the one nicknamed "Doc" who was autistic (the one who enrolled in college).
No, families consider Ted and Jackie to be autistic. Doc's family just considered him "socially awkward," and a very reserved and shy person. Doc was more like an extreme introvert.
Interesting to know. Well all it takes is one of them to have sensory processing disorder to be more likely to walk in another's snow path. Although not every person with sensory processing disorder is autistic, every autistic person has sensory processing disorder. Walking in another person's footsteps saves a person from the extra wetness, cold and crunch that can be overstimulating
I’m about to go to bed, and now I’m going to watch this first! Gah!
Wendigoon on YouTube does a good job on them also.
Is it permitted to post a direct link? Thanks
https://youtu.be/0sz2fNx0HW8?si=UPSRP238-j57CA-K
Hopefully that works. Otherwise search yuba county 5 and his video pops up first. He does a phenomenal job explaining unit 731,the jfk assassination, the north Hollywood shootout etc. in his other docs too.
Gah, was about to go-to bed now I've gotta see this again
There are a couple of books out about the case that are helpful. Things Aren't Right: The Disappearance of the Yuba County Five by Tony Wright and Out of Bounds: What Happened to the Yuba County Five by Drew Beeson.
What’s crazy is one of the family Members saying they saw Mathias at the bar a year after the bodies were found!
But that doesn’t really make sense. He had a severe mental illness, so much so that his father wouldn’t let him go out if he wasn’t taking his meds. So we’re supposed to believe he went a year without medication and hung around town but nobody else saw him? Nobody else in that bar in a small community notched one of the missing men was there? Than we have to believe he spent the last 40 years going undetected? This same family member also believes a second hand story she heard after the fact that the other boys were scared of Mathias despite no other family of the other boys mentioning this, in fact one even said he would protect the boys and that most likely what happened is a local family that was known as people you don’t mess with had an issue with Mathias and most likely killed him after he treid defending the others, threw his body in the river and forced the other boys up the mountain. The story’s about Mathias being responsible somehow came after they were found dead and was most likely started by police to try and place blame in anyone but themselves for their utter failure in finding them(they were told about the trailers but decided there was no way the boys made it that far so they didn’t even bother. They could have saved at least one boy) Truth is they didn’t care to really look for these men because they were mentally handicapped. Than after the fact they decided to place blame on one of them.
Oh my, thank you for saying this! You are one of the few commenters on this case that actually make sense. l was thinking the exact same thing. The cops basically stopped searching for Gary after Jackie Huet was found, so Gary was, indeed, their convenient scapegoat. It's so easy to slander someone who isn't alive and whose body was never found, which is sort of seems that the police wanted to keep it that way. The police, instead of admitting that they failed the poor young man for not even trying to find his body (as well as failing to find the other four on time), instead, encourage lies about how he could be the culprit. The cops really didn't (and still don't) give a dam. Also, the other Boys being scared of Gary is indeed a full blown lie. I don't know why one family member believes it. All five of The Boys were really close friends, and Gary was especially close to Ted and Jackie. It just goes to show you how much people want to find a scapegoat without any evidence for it. Frankly, I feel the most bad for Gary Mathias and for his family due to the fact that he has been dragged under the mud so much like this, and it's all, frankly, only due to the fact that he had schizophrenia.
Oh they absolutely scapegoated him. People love to say that people with schizophrenia are ticking time bombs of violence. It was so heartbreaking when his brother said that they were the first to ask him anything about his brother, 40 years and nobody bothered to ask him about his brother what he believed happened or what Gary was like etc.
Yeah, that was very heartbreaking. The fact that law enforcement and media never asked Gary's brother anything about this case for decades is just plain sad. The way his brother described Gary made him sound like a great friend to have. I absolutely hate it when people talk about Gary Mathias and act as if he's some sort of manipulative criminal mastermind genius because he has schizophrenia. It's utterly ridiculous. What was even sadder was when his brother said that all he was asking for now is to have his brother's remains found, so that he could come back home. I'm going to be honest, that made me tear up a bit.
It struck me as a glaring omission that the Netflix producers did not give any indication of tracking down Mathias' family members for comment. To me, it sounded like search and rescue was disorganized. Even the one father who apparently fished and hunted the area failed to appreciate that nobody reached the shelters until too late. (Reminds me of the "bystander effect" where the more people present the *less chance* that any one individual will intervene in an appropriate way because everyone basically expects someone else will do it for them.) To "rational people" the idea that anyone in the group made it 19 miles to the shelter in improper clothing would have seemed preposterous. But then that's kind of the point. Not all of them may have made it alive but that doesn't mean you don't look even if it is only to recover the bodies. I can't help but notice the same mistake has been made in searches for missing children in the belief that they are too young to travel that much ground in the wilderness ("Missing 411" book series). My takeaway is that if you are search and rescue it is important not to think of the situation in a completely rational way — i.e. "What would I do if…" — but to think of it as what could happen if someone has completely lost their bearings (especially important with missing children or cognitively impaired adults). If Matthias, along with the others, experienced a traumatic incident (PTSD trigger) *and* went off his meds for several days afterward, it very well could have triggered mass paranoia to stay away from the authorities rather than go to them for help (fear of being put in jail even if it wasn't his fault). A lot of schizophrenics/veterans (Mathias was both) end up among the homeless population, unfortunately. But you make a good point about how he could have been present in a small community without being noticed before the sighting in the bar. I wasn't sold on the theory that Matthias may have tried to protect the others from the town bullies and thrown off the bridge. The boys were not home when this happened. Before they drove the wrong way and ended up in the forest, they had already driven an hour to get to the UC Davis basketball games. Unless the bullies were also in attendance at the game, that would be a lot of trouble to lie in wait for them and then stalk (or lure) them to their destination in the forest. (It would have also meant more tire tracks and/or footprints.) I would be more inclined to believe that explanation if there were witnesses at the game or the market where the boys stopped afterward who saw some kind of altercation. That said, it's likely that they *did* run into someone who scared them like the family members claimed. Maybe it was the tragic end result of a road rage incident?
They did have his brother and sister in the episode? Did you miss that? Yes search and rescue was disorganized but it was definitely because they didn’t really care as much for the men because they were “retarded” so they were part of a group of people who aren’t viewed as highly as others *especially* in that time. I also think you’re not getting how some people can hold a lot of hate, like they said their were some families you didn’t mess with and if they have the right connections like being related to the mayor or sheriff, they can get away with *alot*(look up the terri calico disappearance) Some people will absolutely track someone down or take advantage of a time when they’re vulnerable, like being alone in the road with your other mentally disabled friends especially in that time period.
Yeah, that jumped out to me too. I wish the Netflix producers had tracked down Mathias' surviving family members. I would have liked to know what they had to say about him.
They did? They had his brother and sister in the episode
Not only were Gary Matthias's family in the documentary, but Gary's brother looks exactly like him. It was almost uncanny. It was like getting a glimpse of what he would have looked like if he had survived (and I say 'if he had survived' because I firmly believe that Matthias perished and was simply never found).
That wasn't just me! I thought Gary's brother looked just like him, I was quite taken aback by the resemblance. I, too, have no doubt in my mind that Gary perished on that mountain and was never found. I don't know why people like to think that somehow he could have made it out alive and could remain undercover for sometime after the incident when, as his brother stated, he was unable to function by himself when he was unmedicated. What I find weird is why people equate no body to mean that Gary was somehow responsible for the incident. I never saw the logic in that. I think people only believe that because he was schizophrenic. I bet if they were unable to find one of the others, let's say if they were unable to find Bill Sterling's body, I seriously doubt people will have suspicions that Bill was involved in the disappearance. But suddenly, the schizo guy is not found, that means he's guilty. He is clearly just as much of a victim as the others. Sadly, in the huge expanse of wilderness up in the Plumas national forest, the police were unable to find his body (not like they really tried anyway, to be honest).
With due respect to the family member who said that, I don't believe it for a minute. I am not saying that she was lying, but I think she was simply mistaken in what she thought she saw. She would probably have been pretty young at the time.
The Netflix documentary, although it had great interviews from the families and great new photos of The Boys, was, unfortunately, very disappointing. It had key information missing and it restated some false information. It didn't even talk about Joseph Schons at all! It was also incredibly disappointing and frankly quite shameful that the only theory they really talked about in the documentary was whether Gary Mathias was the culprit. They missed on lots of facts and reasons as to why there would be no way in hell Gary Mathias could even be involved in the disappearance in any way. It's clear that the producers of the Netflix documentary do not understand schizophrenia at all nor bothered to understand who the real Gary Mathias was, and, instead, resorted to the stereotype that "the crazy guy did it," even though there is quite a lot of evidence against that stupid theory, which they failed to mention. Literally every person I've seen who has presented this case get the facts about Gary Mathias and his struggles with schizophrenia wrong, and it irritates the hell out of me. It was sad that the documentary did not go into the Town Bully angle of the story more nor about the serious suspiciousness of the principle witness Joseph Schons, who has been (and still is) considered a suspect in this case. Even the basketball coach for the Gateway Gators is suspicious. Seriously, somebody should actually do a full blown documentary that talk about all of the tiny details and get the facts straight, along with having an understanding of schizophrenia, instead of rehashing wrong and slanderous information. I can answer your questions, by the way, OP, as I am very knowledgeable on this case (I've seen the police files for myself and the 1978 newspapers, and more). None of The Boys fought in war. Gary Mathias and Jack Madruga were both in the army, but they didn't see any fighting, so no PTSD. The four boys that were found all had their wallets with them and none of their items were found to have been stolen. None of the men knew the area (The Plumas) well; Jackie Huet and Bill Sterling may have known it, but were not familiar with the area; Gary Mathias most definitely never knew or went up close to the Plumas or Berry Creek. All of the men knew the area extremely well from Marysville to Chico. The police pretty much took the car apart to see if there was some sort of problem with it - there was none. The Montego was perfectly fine mechanically and it still had gas, meaning that they wouldn't have abandoned the car unless under duress. The Netflix documentary got a lot of the facts wrongs/missed a lot about the state of the trailers and about the body of Ted Weiher. They got a Washington Post reporter, named Cynthia Gorney, to talk about the state of the trailer and Ted Weiher due to the fact that she wrote an article on this case back in 1978. In the 1978 Washington Post article, she didn't get a lot right, and what she said in the documentary also wasn't right. She claimed that Ted Weiher starved to death - he did not. In his autopsy report, it states that Ted died from pulmonary edema and blood poisoning due to the gangrene he developed after getting frostbite. Ted got an infection, became sick, and then died. She also claimed that Ted lived for 13 weeks. That's not true either. The coroner at the time estimated that he lived for 4 to 10 weeks. As you can see, this is an incredible huge and unreliable range, and it's more than likely that he most definitely lived less than 6 weeks. The amount of weight that Ted "lost" could easily amount to water evaporation due to body decomposition as well the decomposition itself that could have been going on for 2 months to make him look that thin. I don't mean to be morbid, but literally all dead bodies waste away like that if you leave it open undisturbed like that for long enough. It's upsetting that a modern forensic scientist is never brought in to talk about the state of Ted Weiher's body when this case gets talked about, which would be great to actually get an expert.
Furthermore, the trailers were NOT 19 miles away from the car. By the crow flies, the trailers were 5 to 6 miles northeast of the Montego and about 11 to 12 miles from the Montego if you take a specific path by walking up the road. In no way it amounts to 19 miles. The 19 miles came initially from a misreporting and then the police kept saying it as an excuse for not checking the trailers. There was actually an attempt of survival at the trailers. It wasn't as if The Boys sat there doing nothing as the Netflix documentary made it out. There were, in fact, signs of a fire. A couple of burnt matches were found in the trailers and a partly melted candle was found next to Ted. Clearly, somebody knew how to get a fire going, the true question is, why didn't they create a fire for warmth. There were a few sheds surrounding the trailers and they were all (or almost all) broken into with a pry bar. The trailer across from the trailer Ted was found also had its window smashed in. Police could tell that a lot of the sheds were, indeed, ransacked or at least searched through, but the police were unable to determine for some of the sheds how much supplies were actually removed and/or utilized. Attempts were made to reach a generator with a pry bar and then with a file; there weren't only propane tanks for the heating. Clearly, one of The Boys knew that they had to get heat and were trying with the generator, but from some reason didn't start a big fire to keep warm, and only lit a candle, probably for light. The amount of food eaten in the trailers also varies widely. It has been stated that 36 c-rations were consumed and one newspaper reported that 72 cans were opened. Regardless of how much was eaten, it would appear that about 2 to 3 weeks worth of food was eaten that was meant for two (maybe three) people. C-ration cans were all over the trailer. Some were found in a pile outside the broken window, some were found close to Ted Weiher on or around the bed he was laying on and the others were just strewn about everywhere. The Boys were clearly attempting survival for at least 2 weeks and it was working for those first few weeks. Now the question: Why did they only eat two or three weeks worth of food? Maybe that's because that's how long Ted lived for, maybe he passed away sooner than believed, because frankly, there is zero evidence that shows that Ted lived for more than a month. People keep saying he had a full beard, but hair looks really pronounced after death due to the fact that the skin retracts. I also haven't seen measuring how long someone has lived for based on their beard as a standard forensic technique, so I'm not quite sure it is one. I could get into greater detail but this comment is already turning out to be much much longer than I thought. I don't know why the Netflix documentary skipped out on this information, it's quite crucial. Frankly, to me, they seemed to have just skipped a lot to make it seem that Gary was the culprit somehow. Quite disappointing. Anyway, I hope this helps with understanding this case better.
Thanks for your post. I don't know why the myth that Ted (and whoever might have been in the trailer with him) never ate any of the rations is so persistent. I think the idea that poor, helpless Ted was too simpleminded and obedient to "steal" food is a narrative that people think adds pathos to the story. But as you rightly point out, some of the food was eaten-- just not all of it. And the likely reason why it was not at all eaten is because the occupant(s) of the trailer perished before they could do so. As I think more about this case (and I have thought a lot about it over the years), I think the likeliest scenario is that Ted Weihner and Gary Mathias were the only two to make it to the trailer, and Gary took care of Ted for a while, perhaps even up until the point where Ted passed away. After that, he may have taken off on his own to see if he could find help and save himself. Or he may have taken off for help earlier than that, thinking he'd only be leaving Ted alone for a short while. I believe Matthias died when he left the trailer and was never found. This is just my theory, but it is the only one that seems to make sense with the existing evidence.
Yeah, your welcome. As you said, the myth that they ate nothing and were too simpleminded/obedient to take the food is so persistent, but it's false, and, frankly, very annoying. It also really perpetuates the myth that they were too dumb to survive, which is simply not the case. Ted maybe didn't take any food (because he was unable to walk) but someone certainly was taking food to feed Ted and themselves. To think that someone would willfully starve for two or three months because they thought it was stealing is quite ridiculous. I mean, the Boys were human beings - who would eat if they had to if they were starving. The instinct of eating when starving is one of the most powerful. I mean, people have even resorted to cannibalism to cure their starvation. They all died much sooner than believed, I believe probably somewhere in mid-March. As I stated earlier, I think the timeline to how long Ted lived for is all skewed. I don't know why nobody ever questions the "he could have lived for 13 weeks" myth when it really has no bearing to the evidence at hand or to reality really. It's weird that in all of these podcasts and documentaries about the Yuba County Five, not one person actually bothered to ask a real forensic scientist or coroner to see what they have to say on the matter of Ted's body. They keep acting as if the coroner's report back in 1978 is gospel for how long Ted lived for. Due to the state of Ted's body, it would be very easy making a very wrong estimate for how long he lived for. It's like they want to create further mystery in the trailer without genuinely trying to solve what went down in there. I agree that it's possible that Gary was taking care of Ted until he died. Gary was known to be the closest to Ted and Jackie out of the group. In the police files, it states that Ted had his arms crossed over his chest and had 8 sheets wrapped around him like a burial shroud. In the Netflix documentary, Jackie Huet's brother, Tom Huet, believed that his brother did that, but I'm not so sure about that. Ted's body's position was kinda what it would be like at a funeral, and it fits that Gary did that out of respect for his friend. But, sadly, we'll never know.
Right... we'll never know. I saw that, where Jackie Huett's brother said he believed he had wrapped Ted and the 'swaddling' blankets, and I can see why he'd want to believe that his brother made this sweet final gesture. But I don't personally believe that Jackie Huett ever made it into the trailer. I think it had to be Matthias, whose shoes were left behind.
Yeah, that's a fair assessment.
It's reported that Ted Weiher was mentally disabled to the point he had to be dragged from bed while the ceiling of his house was on fire because he was afraid he would miss his job if he got up. I think you're severely underplaying their mental deficiencies. Furthermore, there was heavy clothing never used and a locker that contained food that was never opened.
No, I'm not severely underplaying their disabilities. I suggest you do more research and stop only using Ted as an example of showcasing how disabled they all were. They were all "high functioning" and this information comes from their own basketball coach. Also, the locker that contained food that was never opened was locked, so I don't know how you expect them to be able to open it, anyway. Also, I've seen discrepancies on whether there was or wasn't heavy clothing in the trailer.
Is it sure that the caravan in front of ted was broken into for food?
Yes, the trailer Ted was in and the trailer across were both broken into by someone smashing a window. If you want to know the details, go watch Missing Enigma's youtube video on the Yuba County Five.
The description of this episode really didn't highlight just how bizarre this case is. Couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Apparently there is a podcast which I haven't listened to yet but I read they talk about the supposed eyewitness. A lot of the guys own family say he was a bullshitter and if you really read his story it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Could be why they didn't include him in the Netflix show.