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Reason behind young men's walkinto mountains, death unknownQUINCY, Calif. (UPI) - The spring thaws revealed the fate of the five slightly retarded young men. But the question of what compelled their journey into a frozen, deadly wilderness remains unanswered.The group vanished into the stormy Sierra while driving to their homes 50 miles away after a basketball game on Feb. 24 — 110 days ago today. But why? Family members say they were frightened or forced. Authorities first speculated they lost their way, but now they aren’t so sure.They'd like to know what really happened to Jack Madruga, 30, Jack Huett, 24, Gary Mathias, 20, Ted Weiher. 32 and William Sterling, 29, ofthe Marysville-Yuba City area.Bodies of four of the missing men were found last week, and searchers led by Deputy Sheriff Dennis Forcino continued today to look for the fifth, Mathias.As the tragic pieces of the group’s losing battle for survival in the mountains about 20 miles west of Quincy has unraveled, it has become apparent that their suffering defied description.The five, all of whom lived happy, insulated lives with their families,deviated from their normally set pattern of outings only once — the mght they turned off the freeway, drove nast LakeOrovilleand una mountainroad until the pavement ended, then followed a dirt track until their vehicle mired down some 200 yards into the snowline.They got out, so the account goes, walked and ran uphill in the middle of the night into the deepening drifts. The family points out that several were afraid of the dark and at least two — Stirling and Wieher — abhorred cold weatner and the outdoors.Now that the bodies have been found, authorities know the men,wearing street clothing and low-cut shoes, made their way 19 miles through 4-and 6-foot deep snow.
Newspaper Details
Jacksonville Daily Journal
Jacksonville, Illinois, US
Wed, Jun 14, 1978
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 06 Sep 2020
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