The Road to Oroville

Bedtime Stories

True Crime

4.6 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On the evening of 24 February 1978, five friends from Northern California - Ted Weiher, Jack Madruga, Bill Sterling, Jackie Huett, and Gary Mathias - set off to watch a basketball game. They never returned. Months later, four of them were discovered dead in the snowy wilderness of the Plumas National Forest, seventy miles from their intended route. The fifth man has never been found alive… or dead. The disappearance of the men from Yuba County is a case we have explored before on this podcast. However, in the years since, Bedtime Stories has become aware of previously unavailable information that sheds an entirely different light on this infamous story. Thanks to the work of a diligent investigative writer who has graciously agreed to collaborate on this episode, we may finally be ready to revisit the tragedy of the Yuba County Five. LINK TO TONY WRIGHT’S BOOK https://www.amazon.com/Things-Arent-Right-Disappearance-County/dp/1958727202 MUSIC Tracks used by kind permission of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Tracks used by kind permission of CO.AG Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	On the evening of the 24th of February, 1978, five friends from Northern California set off to watch a basketball game. They never returned.
0:12.0	Months later, four of them were discovered dead in the remote wilderness of the Plumas National Forest, 70 miles from their intended destination.
0:20.0	The fifth man has never been found, alive or dead.
0:24.7	The disappearance of the men from Yuba County is a case we have explored before. However,
0:30.0	in the years since, bedtime stories has become aware of previously unavailable information,
0:35.9	that sheds an entirely different light on this infamous story.
0:39.6	Thanks to the work of one diligent investigative writer who graciously agreed to collaborate on this,
0:45.1	we may finally be ready to revisit the tragedy of the Yuba County Five. Live.... The
1:13.6	The Before we begin, we must acknowledge the work of author Tony Wright.
1:40.6	In early 2024, after years of research and first-hand interviews, Tony published Things Aren't Right, the disappearance of the Yuba County Five.
1:51.2	His book provides the foundation for this continuation, and Tony himself has very kindly wrote this episode.
1:58.9	If you wish to explore the case in greater detail, you can find a
2:02.6	link to Tony's book in the description. In investigating this case, Tony examined police files,
2:09.7	testimony and family memories to produce the most comprehensive account to date.
2:15.2	His work has not only uncovered new insights, but has also challenged many long-standing
2:19.7	misconceptions about the men at the heart of this story. For too long, the disappearance of the
2:26.6	Yuba County Five has been framed around their supposed disabilities, with the men often dismissed
2:32.1	as helpless or childlike.
2:37.0	This characterization is misleading.
2:42.6	Each of them had strengths, routines and personalities that their families knew well.
2:48.6	They were socially awkward at times, but they were not the dimwits some commentators have since cruelly labelled them as.
2:52.5	They were capable adults with fulfilling lives, whose routines and bonds of friendship mattered deeply to them. Understanding this is
	...

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