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The Mysterious Disappearance of Yuba County 5 - Part III · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: In reaching the hospital after a vallium overdose. Another significant
• 0:05
  account came from a woman employed at a store in
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  the small town of Brownsville, located thirty miles from the
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  site where the vehicle had been left, a destination they
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  would have reached had they continued along the road. On
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  March third, after seeing flyers featuring the men's images and
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  details about the one thousand, two hundred fifteen dollar reward
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  offered by their families, she informed deputies that four individuals
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  had visited the store in a red pickup truck the
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  day following their disappearance. The store owner confirmed her statement.
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  The woman stated that she quickly discerned the men were
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  not local due to their large eyes and facial expressions.
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  Two of the individuals, whom she recognized as Hewett and Sterling,
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  were situated in a telephone booth outside the store, while
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  the other two entered the premises. The police regarded her
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  as a credible witness and took her testimony with utmost seriousness.
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  Further information was provided by the store owner, who informed
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  investigators that he believed the men identified as Wire and
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  Hewitt had purchased Burrito's chocolate milk and soft drinks. Wire's
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  brother conveyed to the Los Angeles Times that their drive
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  to Brownsville in a separate vehicle, seemingly unaware of the
• 1:29
  basketball game, was entirely out of character for them. However,
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  the owner's account of the two men's conduct appeared to
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  align with their personalities, as Via was known to consume
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  anything he could find and frequently spent time with Hewitt
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  more than with the other members of their group. Additionally,
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  Hewitt's brother mentioned that Jack had a strong aversion to
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  using telephones, often relying on others to answer calls directed
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  to him from the other men in their circle. Discovery
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  of bodies the absence of definitive evidence regarding the events
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  of the night when the five men vanished led both
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  law enforcement and the families to consider the possibility of
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  foul play. Although the subsequent discovery of four of the
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  men's bodies appeared to contradict this notion, it also prompted
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  further inquiries into the circumstances of that night and raised
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  the question of whether at least one individual might have
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  been saved. On June fourth, as the majority of the
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  snow at higher elevations had melted, a group of motorcyclists
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  visited a trailer maintained by the United States Forest Service
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  at a camp site located approximately nineteen point four miles
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  from the site where the Montego had been located. They
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  found the front window of the trailer shattered. Upon entering,
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  they were met with the overwhelming stench of what was
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  later determined to be a decaying core orps inside, which
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  was subsequently identified as belonging to via Search teams resumed
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  their efforts in Plumus, retracing the route between the trailer
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  and the location of the Montego. The following day, they
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  discovered remains that were later confirmed to be those of
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  Madruga and Sterling, found on opposite sides of the road
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  eleven point four miles from the vehicle. Madruga's body had
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  been partially devoured by scavengers, while only bones of Sterling
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  were found scattered over a small area. Autopsy results indicated
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  that both men succumb to hypothermia. Investigators believe that one
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  may have succumbed to the overwhelming urge to sleep associated
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  with the final stages of hypothermia, while the other remained
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  by his side and perished in a similar manner. Two
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  days later, while participating in another search party, Hewitt's father
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  discovered his son's backbone beneath a manzanita bush located two
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  miles northeast of the trailer. The nearby shoes and genes
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  aided in the identification of the remains. The following day,
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  a deputy sheriff located a skull approximately three hundred feet
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  downhill from the bush, which was later confirmed through dental
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  records to belong to Hewitt. His cause of death was
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  also determined to be hypothermia. To the northwest of the trailer,
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  approximately a quarter mile distant, investigators discovered three forest service
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  blankets and a corroded flashlight alongside the road. The duration
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  for which these items had been present remains unknown, given
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  that Matthias likely did not take his medication. Images of
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  him were circulated to mental health facilities throughout California. Nevertheless,
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  no evidence of his whereabouts has been uncovered evidence in trailer.
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  To the northwest of the trailer, approximately a quarter mile distant,
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  investigators discovered three forest service blankets and a corroded flashlight
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  alongside the road. The duration for which these items had
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  been present remains unknown, given that Matthias likely did not
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  take his medication. Images of him were circulated to mental
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  health facilities throughout California. Nevertheless, no evidence of his whereabouts
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  has been uncovered. The investigators found it particularly perplexing how
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  Via met his demise. There was no evidence of a
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  fire being lit in the trailer's fireplace, despite the presence
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  of numerous matches and paperback books that could have served
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  as k