Authorities interviewed neighbors and the boys who were inside the house when the attack occurred, but there were no eyewitnesses. Former Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood said he believes Tina is "central to why" the family was killed. The clues suggested that the perpetrators abducted her. In 1980, the Sharp family 36-year-old Glenna "Sue", her 15-year-old son John, 14-year-old daughter Sheila, 12-year-old daughter Tina, and 10-year-old Rick and five-year-old Greg moved from. Tips or information about the Keddie murders can be given anonymously by calling the Plumas County Sheriff's Office at 530-283-6360; the Secret Witness program at 775-322-4900; sending a text. Although the cabin Sharp rented from Mollath was run down, it provided her and her family with more room. [25] Both wore gold-framed sunglasses. He lives in the West Midlands, UK with his wife and son. The Keddie Murders: A cold case suddenly getting warm. From the front door, their small wooden cabin opened to the living room. Investigators theorized that someone might have interrupted the murders taking place before the culprits had a chance to kill the younger children in their bedrooms. A man discovered a human skull in the adjoining Butte County, about 30 miles from Keddie, in Plumas County. How could murder with so much evidence remain unsolved? Local authorities confirmed she was not known to law enforcement and did not have a criminal record. Sue and John had suffered similar types of wounds. Copyright 2016-2022 True Crime Magazine, A Look Inside Ted Bundys Isolation Cell at Dade County Jail, Meet the 13-Year-Old Boy Who Caught Richard Ramirez, A GRAPHIC Look Back At the Hillside Strangler Murders, Revisiting Ted Bundys Issaquah Dump Site, A GRAPHIC Look Back at Zodiac Killers Reign of Terror, A GRAPHIC Look Back At Richard Chases Reign of Terror, A GRAPHIC Look Back At Ted Bundys Execution, NSFW: The Blood-Soaked Trail of the Times Square Killer. John Boubede left Keddie after the murders and returned to Chicago, where he died in 1988. . Remarkably, the tape of the anonymous tip regarding Tina was found sealed in case files, untouched by Plumas County Sheriffs Dept. During his interrogation, Marty offered to the police that his hammer with a blue handle had gone missing. Sue packed her children up and moved across the country from North Carolina to the Golden State. Historic Mysteries reports neighbors heard "muffled screams or groans," sometime between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., but they did not realize anyone was in danger and simply went back to sleep. Unfortunately, many hours passed since her disappearance, and the chance of anyone finding her nearby was slim. KEDDIE (CBS13) - The stretch of I-70 in the Feather River Canyon appears to be one of the most peaceful settings in Plumas County, but three decades ago, a monster invaded the town of Keddie.. Corona, Marcella. It was later confirmed that Martin was close with this Sheriff. Jamie witnessed the carnage, the aftermath of murder. A daughter was kidnapped and her remains were later found. One theory is that they really wanted people to notice them. One reportedly had a mustache and long hair and the other was clean-shaven with short hair but both in glasses. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. She also appreciated the fact that it was in a more rural, wooded setting. The Butte County Sheriffs Department soon received an anonymous call asking, I was wondering if they thought of the murder up in Keddie up in Plumas County a couple years ago where a 12-year-old girl was never found?. On April 11, 1981, Sue and the kids were in and out of Cabin 28 throughout the day. Tina is believed to have been present at the crime scene of the Keddie cabin murders. On the night of April 11, 1981, three peoplea mother, her adolescent son, and the son's friendwere bludgeoned to death in a California cabin, all while children slept soundly in an adjacent room. His ankles were tied with electrical wire which was wound also around Johns ankles so that the two were connected. [24], Martin Smartt, a neighbor and main suspect, claimed that a claw hammer had inexplicably gone missing from his home. Police recieved an anonymous phone call suggesting the bones found at Camp 18 belonged to Tina Sharp. Justin recalled that both men wore glasses and that the two older boys, John and Dana, came home while Sue was talking to the men. 27 min listen. He also exaggerated about how long he had lived in Keddie. Lt. Don Stoy, were not initially able to discern an apparent motive. Due to the chaos, it took police quite a few hours before anyone realized that Tina was nowhere to be found. On the after show, Dennis asks Sheila how the crime affected her surviving younger siblings, and about the role Sheila played as their protector in later years. The former Sharp home was condemned and demolished in 2004. She also worked a part-time job at the Quincy Elks Lodge, and with the little money she brought in, Sue rented Keddie Cabin 28 in the fall of 1981. On April 12th, 1981, 14-year-old Sheila Sharp returned to her family cabin, Cabin 28 of the Keddie Resort Keddie, California after a sleep-over with a friend who lived in the same resort as her own families cabin. It was believed that Martin and Sue were having an affair and that Sue was supposedly counseling Marilyn to leave her husband, who she had said was abusive to her. We sheltered them, she says about her brothers in the aftermath of the murders. As she opened the door, she discovered three bodies on the living room floor of the infamous Cabin 28. Furthermore, it suggests an answer as to why this case was handled so sloppily, remains unsolved, and is seemingly not a priority to the Sacramento DOJ. Some evidence, such as a second bloody knife, turned up in a trash bin behind the Keddie general store. [21] Carla McMullen, a family acquaintance, later told detectives that Dana Wingate had recently stolen an unknown quantity of LSD from local drug dealers, though she was unable to provide proof of this claim. The Keddie Murders, October 27, 2019. The cabins telephone had been left off the hook and all of the lights had been shut off as well as the drapes closed. The town tried to reinvent itself by becoming a recreational camping and hiking resort area. In 2016, a hammer, which could have been the one Smartt reportedly said he lost, was found in a pond near where the Keddie cabin once stood. Investigators Allude to a Break in the Keddie Cabin Murders The 1981 murder of Sue, Johnny, Tina Sharp and Dana Wingate remains a mystery, but we may be seeing an arrest soon. Near the remains detectives also found a childs blanket, a blue nylon jacket, a pair of jeans with a missing back pocket, and an empty surgical tape dispenser. [26], Tina's disappearance was initially investigated by the FBI as a possible abduction,[19] though it was reported on April 29, 1981, that the FBI had "backed off" the search as the California State Department of Justice was doing an "adequate job" and "made the FBI's presence unnecessary. Unable to discern from where they were coming, they went back to bed. Inside The Unsolved Shooting Of Brooklyn's Hip-Hop King. The plastic piece that the police found in Cabin 28 matched up to a Daisy 880 BB gun. KEDDIE, Calif. It has been 40 years since what is known as the Keddie Murders took place in rural Plumas County. The only thing authorities found that may reveal the identity of the killer, or killers, was DNA collected from a piece of medical tape used to bind the victims. His friend Dana was on the floor beside him on his stomach. They had died . [15] Tina was absent from the home, while the three younger childrenRick, Greg, and Justinwere found physically unharmed in an adjacent bedroom. "[29] In a 2016 interview, Gamberg stated that the letter was "overlooked" in the initial investigation and never admitted as evidence. 117: Murdaugh's Maid's Son Testifes To The Millions Alex . One of them was tall with blonde hair and a mustache, while the other was shorter, dark-haired, and clean-shaven. A fourth victim, Sheilas younger sister, was missing. Dana also had severe head injuries, but he had also been strangled. Keddie Murder Victims (Clockwise): Sue Sharp, John Sharp, Dana Wingate, and Tina Sharp. Their throats were slashed, and they both had multiple stabbings and blunt force trauma to the head. The statement from Martys letter, What else do you want?, sounds like Marty is asking,In addition to what you already asked for, what more do you want me to do? However, when this failed, the Keddie Resort owner Gary Mollath turned a series of cabins into low-income rental housing. Keddie had been a bustling resort town since its revival in 1978. Historic Mysteries reports Marty's wife Marilyn found a bloody jacket in their basement, which she believed belonged to Tina. [24][11] It was never explained why, with access to the Justice Department's and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) top forensic artists, law enforcement chose to use an amateur who sometimes volunteered to help local police. Immediately, the two lead suspects were Justin Smartts father and the Sharps neighbors, Martin Smartt and his houseguest, ex-convict John Bo Boudebe who was known to have connections to organized crime in the area. Keddie, California.Sue Sharp, her teenage son John, and his friend Dana Wingate are found brutally murdered in the Sharp family's cabin at Keddie Resort in the Sierra Nevada. Neighbors said that for the most part, she kept to herself but the family was integrating well. Police arrived at around 8:00 am and began their investigation of the murders. The Keddie Cabin Murders took place on April 12, 1981; Sue Sharp, two of her children, and her son's friend lost their lives. When she opened the door, Sharp was horrified to find the bodies of her mother, brother John, and her brother's friend, Dana Wingate, covered in blood on the floor of the front room. This happened 41 years ago in Keddie, California. It is unclear what evidence links Boubede to the mafia. But, some investigators believe that Marilyn was somehow complicit in the murders. In addition to confirming Sue, John, and Dana were dead, the officers concluded they were murdered. Plumas County Sheriff's Office Cabin 28 at Keddie Resort, 1981. Blog. Go to PEOPLE.com/PEN, or download the PEN app on Apple TV, Roku Players, Amazon Fire TV, Xumo, Chromecast, iOS and Android devices. A GRAPHIC Look Back at the Keddie Murders On the morning of April 11, 1981, 14-year-old Sheila Sharp returned from a neighbor's house after a sleepover and stumbled upon the most disturbing and gruesome scene that she and the rest of Keddie, California, had ever seen. [19] Autopsies[21] determined that Sue and John died from the knife wounds and blunt-force trauma, and Dana died by asphyxiation. Im not as I guess Im more cautious of my surroundings., That night Sheila, now 50, a married mother of three and grandmother of two, lost her mom Sue, 36; brother Johnny, 15; and sister Tina, 12, along with Johnnys friend Dana Wingate, 17. Sue and John had suffered similar types of wounds. Tina was then allegedly taken out the cabins back door by one of the men. Dmac does not agree on this point. Upon entering the restaurant with several guns, including a 9mm automatic pistol and a semiautomatic rifle, Huberty demanded everyone Her brother, who would help her and the children start a new life, lived in Quincy, California, about 150 miles north of Sacramento. What the 14-year-old girl discovered inside the modest four-room cabin instantly became one of the most macabre scenes in modern American crime history and has come to be known as the gruesome Keddie murders. [8], On April 11, 1981, around 11:30 am, Sue, Sheila, and Greg drove from the residence of their friends, the Meeks family, to pick up Rick, who was attending baseball tryouts at Gansner Field in Quincy. Although the story is intriguing, Justin may have gotten information about the case from the media during the four weeks since the murders. However, an anonymous call to the Sheriffs office reported the remains as belonging to Tina Sharp. The population was 66 at the 2010 census. After looking around and searching for survivors, he rejoined the others outside. As reported by Keddie28, she returned to her family's cabin, which was only 15 feet away, at approximately 7:45 Sunday morning to get her outfit. If they suffered any injuries during the event, it wasnt serious, although they did leave some DNA on a piece of tape. They also all sustained multiple stab wounds. Some sources claim that Boubede had a crush on Sue, who supposedly rejected him twice. A fourth victim, a 12-year-old daughter, vanished in the night-her remains found years later and miles away. It wasnt until three years later on April 22, 1984, when Ronald Pedrini reported that he was in the woods about 90 miles southwest of Keddie when he stumbled upon something suspicious. [24] Additionally, she alleged that Martin "hated Johnny Sharp with a passion". Unfortunately, they later went into foster care as their aunt already had several children and couldnt handle more. On July 18, 1984, a lone gunman James Oliver Huberty entered a crowded McDonald's with a plan: "hunting for humans." He opened fire on the customers inside the fast-food chain, killing 21 and wounding 19 others. 109 min listen. A fourth victim, Sheila's younger sister, was missing. On the other hand, his reason for killing Tina was that she had seen everything. Although both Martin Smartt and Bo Boudebe are now deceased, new DNA evidence has pointed investigators to other suspects who may have had a hand in these murders, and who are still alive. His throat had been slit. He is foul-mouthed, disrespectful, and abusive, even when speaking of the victims and immediate surviving family. Despite his lies and inconsistencies in his stories, police cleared him as a suspect. In 2016, Gamberg located a hammer believed to be one of the murder weapons in a dried-up pond in Keddie. While the Seabolts tried to calm the distraught girl, their teenage son, Jamie Seabolt, went to Cabin 28 to see if anyone was still alive. Despite the multitude of evidence and a few suspects, no arrests took place. He admitted that he had a problem with his temper, and Marilyn had claimed that he tried to run her and her son over. Several new leads were announced in the 21st century, including the discovery of a hammer in a pond in 2016, as well as announcements regarding the discovery of new DNA evidence. Blood patterns indicated that her legs were initially splayed apart, but someone moved her and covered her body with a yellow blanket after the murder. You May Also Like: The Disappearance of the Five Sodder Children. The crime scene of the quadruple murder. In 2016, a man sweeping around with a metal detector found a hammer in a dried-up pond near Keddies entrance. Sue began renting out Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort in 1980 when she relocated to Northern California after separating from her husband. [6][16] Initial reports stated that the three young boys had slept through the incident, though this was later contradicted. On the night of April 11, 1981, four people were brutally murdered in Cabin 28 of the Keddie resort in Northern California. "I've paid the price of your love & now I've bought it with four people's lives," ABC10 reports the letter said. Plumas County Sheriffs OfficeProbable murder weapons for the Keddie slaying discovered and submitted as evidence in 2016. The two had only met weeks before the killings while Boubede was receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at the nearby Veterans Administration Hospital. On April 22, 1984, Tina Sharp's remains were found in a wooded area of Butte County, which, as reported by California News Times, was approximately 100 miles from Keddie. Where is the Body of the Legendary King Gorm of Denmark. After learning about the Keddie cabin murders, read about another unsolved murder, the Lake Bodom homicides that continue to confound authorities. Episode Info Then, see if you can solve any of these six inexplicable, unsolved murders. The Keddie Murders is an unsolved 1981 American quadruple murder that took place in Keddie, a former resort town in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada. 28 of the Keddie Resort. This may be the reason the Department of Justice in Sacramento stepped into the Keddie case early. As reported by ABC10, John Boubede died in 1988, and Martin Smartt died in 2006. His handling of the case in retrospect would be considered disastrous at best and corrupt at worst. The three boys in the house, Rick, Greg, and their friend, Justin, were all safe in the bedroom. [24], Based on Justin's descriptions, composite sketches of the two unknown men were produced by Harlan Embry, a man with no artistic ability and no training in forensic sketching. When it was eventually discovered that Tina Sharp was missing, the FBI arrived on the scene. Meanwhile, Sheriff Thomas had resigned from the investigation three months in and take a job instead at the Sacramento DOJ. In addition to confirming Sue, John, and Dana were dead, the officers concluded they were murdered. As reported by Historic Mysteries, Smartt was Justin's stepfather. Tina was just 12 years old, John was 15, and Dana was 16. Is this why detectives seemed to turn a blind eye to many clues and disregarded evidence? Nonetheless, it raises many questions. Working together the result was both fascinating and spooky. The girls shared one, and the younger boys shared the other. The discovery prompted a thorough examination of the area, revealing a jawbone and several other bones. The victims were bound with electrical wire and medical tape. . Sheila has spoken about the horrific incident in several interviews. Stabbed. Welcome! First, they approached the site of Cabin 28, which at this point had been torn down. The Sharp family had just moved in to cabin 28 the year before. Who Killed Biggie Smalls? The Keddie Murders On the morning of April 11th, 1981, 14-year-old Sheila Sharp was returning from a neighbor's house following a sleepover. When she opened the front door to the living room, she discovered a massacre. What else do you want? John, 15, was the oldest boy, while the oldest girl was Sheila, 14; Tina was 12; and the two younger boys were Rick, 10, and Greg, 5. The new investigators and people online who re-investigated the Keddie Murders have done a very good job digging up some new evidence and analyzing the small amount available. A fight ensued,[24] after which Tina entered the room and was taken out of the cabin's back door by one of the men. Marty had a friend, John Boubede, who had been living at Martys house. Findings confirmed that the weapons used on the victims heads were two different hammers and a BB gun in Sues case. Multiple leads and suspects were examined in the intervening years, though no charges were filed. Stranger still, in an adjoining bedroom the two youngest Sharp boys, Rickey and Greg, as well as their friend and neighbor, 12-year-old Justin Smartt were found unharmed. As far as the person who gave John and Dana a ride home, Gamberg indicates that he identified a woman and has interviewed her. The bodies of Sue, John, and Dana were found on the morning of April 12 by Sue's 14-year-old daughter, Sheila, who had been sleeping at a friend's house. You May Also Like: Brutal Murders on Germanys Hinterkaifeck Farm. In his dreams, he saw two men in the front room of the cabin. However, he did not have any involvement in the case at the time. A back view of cabin 28 where the family had lived for a year. Tina had briefly joined her sister at the neighbors before returning home to her mother, two younger brothers, and one of the neighbor boys, Justin Smartt. The Keddie Cabin Murders: Inside The Grisly Quadruple Homicide That Still Haunts California. The following fall, she moved to house #28 in the rural Sierra Nevada railroad town of Keddie. Investigators initially thought it may belong to a Native American person. [5] Upon arriving in California, she began renting a small trailer formerly occupied by her brother at the Claremont Trailer Village in Quincy. In 2016, Gamberg met with a counselor at the Reno Veterans Administration.