UNSOLVED: Four Of 5 Friends’ Bodies Found On CA Mountain In 1978

A decades-long mystery continues to baffle the families of five friends who went missing in 1978 on a snowy night in the California mountains northeast of Sacramento. Four of the bodies were recovered while no clues have surfaced regarding the fifth missing man.

Some believe Mathias survived the ordeal and may have had something to do with the four deaths, while others believe he tried to save his friends and his remains have just never been found.

In 1978, five men aged 24 to 33 were traveling home in a single car from a college basketball game in Chico, California, and were never seen alive by family again. The case became known as The Yuba County 5, and one family has received no closure in the matter.

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Digitalspy.com is one of dozens of sources that have shared the story of The Yuba County 5. Bill Sterling, Jack Huett, Ted Weiher, Jack Madruga, and Gary Mathias were friends who mysteriously wound up in an unfamiliar area of the Plumas National Forest on the evening of February 24, 1978, according to digitalspy.com. Four of the men were found to have died from dehydration and hypothermia due to the harsh, winter weather conditions and were found a short distance away from one another.

Gary Mathias, who was a diagnosed schizophrenic, was never found. The story was recently shared in a Netflix documentary series called Files of the Unexplained. Some believe Mathias survived the ordeal and may have had something to do with the four deaths, while others believe he tried to save his friends and his remains have just never been found.

If you have any information that pertains to this case, please contact the Yuba County Sheriff's Department, at 530-749-7777.