As police continued to search for Tina, other officers brought in multiple suspects. Apparently, as the suspects bludgeoned and stabbed their victims to death, none of the suspects were injured or left their own blood at the scene. The three were tied up, bludgeoned and stabbed to death. We questioned them extensively.". He also compared the available evidence in 1981 to someone firing a shotgun loaded with evidence and no one followed up on all of it as it spread out like pellets. All had been bound and suffered extreme violence. Subscribe now to PEOPLE, or pick up this week's issue, on newsstands now, for more on this case. Cabin 28 was condemned and torn down in 2004. What occurred next shocked the country: Four people were killed, three of which were found in Cabin 28. For some reason, the DOJ had an interest in Boubede, according to Gamberg. He became a deputy in his hometown in 1988. My kids don't know who my mom is. The Keddie Cabin murders was a case that involved a triple-slaying as well as a missing child whose remains were later discovered. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Reporting on what you care about. Keddie Cabin Murders Solved? Marilyn claimed to never receive the letter. "It could have been that I blocked it out, and the shock of it all, too.". It has been 40 years since the most horrific crime in Plumas County history, the Keddie Murders.Subscribe at: https://goo.gl/vai8EuFind ABC10 online: https://www.abc10.com/Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.abc10.com/email Stream ABC10 on Roku: https://channelstore.roku.com/details/63398/abc10Stream ABC10 on Amazon Fire: https://www.amazon.com/Gannett-Broadcasting-ABC-10-Fire/dp/B01E0H2KZQStream ABC10 on AppleTV: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/abc10-news-weather-traffic/id469397853?mt=8Like ABC10 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ABC10tv/ Like ABC10 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abc10tvFollow ABC10 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ABC10App download Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gannett.local.library.news.kxtv\u0026hl=en_USApp download iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/abc10-news-weather-traffic/id469397853 They had died. This murder is shrouded in mystery, leaving behind a messy and compelling trail of clues. In 2017, a horror film inspired by the murders, Cabin 28, was released by U.K. production company North Bank Entertainment. Hagwood also had a childhood friend who lived in Keddie's cabin 28 long before the Sharps moved in there. And more developments are anticipated. She was dutiful in her attention to each of us, and while we lived in relative poverty, we also lived in a home of love. During the revived investigation in 2016, sheriff's investigator Mike Gamberg was made aware of a letter written by Marty to Marilyn shortly after the crimes. Why were corrupt DOJ BOCCA agents immediately assigned to this rural case? Although a lot of potential evidence was collected and catalogued, very little worthwhile information was realized from the scene. Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood described what happened in Cabin 28 in 1981, where single mother of five Glenna Sue sharp was murdered with her teenage son John and his friend Dana Wingate. If anyone has information concerning a cold case, please contact Victoria Metcalf at 283-0800 or [emailprotected], or contact the Plumas County Sheriffs Office at 283-6300 with tips or leads on active cases. But that anonymous 911 caller said it was Tina's before the medical examiner confirmed it through dental records. Editorial opinions expressed on the site are strictly our own, and are not provided, endorsed, or approved by advertisers. A bent steak knife was found on the floor, and a bloody butcher knife and claw hammer were found on a small wooden table near the entryway to the kitchen. "I know we are closer than we've ever been.". Investigators Have a Personal Stake in the Case, 5. How did Doug Thomas keep Gamberg out of the investigation if Gamberg was terminated in March 1981 and wasnt reinstated until 1983 (2 years after Thomas resigned)? Sue Sharp, Johnny Sharp, and Johnny's friend Dana, were bound together by some type of electrical wiring. The California Department of Justice was immediately given the case and then didnt follow through, said Gamberg. Severin John Bo Boubede, Smartts friend. Crim from the divisions organized crime unit not from homicide to investigate. The FBI was also involved because it was believed that Tina Sharp was abducted. Go to PEOPLE.com/PEN, or download the app for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xumo, Chromecast, Xfinity, iOS and Android devices. There is not an expiration date on homicides, and to the extent that we have surviving siblings and family members, it is our fundamental obligation to them to understand who did this and why, Hagwood said in 2016. An envelope with a cassette recording of a man telling a sheriff's dispatcher about a body that was found three years of the murders that could be one of the victims who was kidnapped from the murder scene. Justin Smartt Eason, 12, one of three boys left alive in a second bedroom, was allowed to spend the night. He also said there are at least six people of interest. . I honestly believe that Marty Smartt and Bo Boubede had nothing to do with the Keddie Cabin 28 murders, and that it's awful convenient how they were fingered as suspects years after both of them were dead. Discover unique things to do, places to eat, and sights to see in the best destinations around the world with Bring Me! Hagwood personally knew them. He would have been in his 50s during the murders. Outside of organized crime, that basically never happens, and even within the world of organized crime it is probably quite rare to have so many people in on a hit. In Gambergs opinion, You could take someone just coming out of the academy and theyd have done a better job, of investigating the case. Adding to the mystery: Sheila's younger brothers Greg and Rick, ages 5 and 10 at the time, were asleep and unharmed in an adjacent bedroom of the cabin, along with a friend, Justin Smartt. She was also tightly gagged. There were faint but heavy footsteps walking in the dirt. ", "She did at least get to see her first grandchild born. A blue bandana and her panties were used first and medical tape then applied. He wonders if DOJ protected him. Investigators: People Can Confirm the Killers' Identities, Chris Watts Is Sending 'Racy' Letters to Multiple Women from His Prison Cell: Sources, JonBent Ramsey's Murder to Be Investigated by Cold Case Team in New Probe Into Unsolved Killing, Serial Killers' Kids who Turned in Their Parents or Spoke Out About Growing Up with Them, 2 People Arrested After the Search for a Missing Child Leads to Discovery of Human Remains, Pride of Her Family': Aspiring Radiology Technician Is Fatally Shot During Confrontation on Road, Texas Family of 4 Was Massacred at Home in 2014 and Suspect Was Just Arrested Getting Off Plane, 4 Women Were Strangled to Death in Mo. "There are people locally who know more than they've said," Hagwood told PEOPLE, "and I believe we've identified some of them, and we know who they are, and we know where they are. In 1979 she made the brave decision to leave her abusive husband and make the move from North Carolina to Northern California to be closer to her brother who lived in the town of Quincy. Just as important, Gamberg and Hagwood wonder if they've also recovered another of the murder weapons. (Hester changed her name to Rhyanna Cerise McCormick before she died) also, do any of you know what the name of the surviving daughter is today? 2. She has never surrendered her hope the case would be solved, if only to rescue her family's reputation and by extension her own. The Primary Suspects Are Dead But Authorities Are Still Pursuing Justice, 3. Sheila's 12-year-old sister, Tina, was missing. Gamberg said he has hunches about what happened to it, but it hasnt been recovered. The 1981 Keddie cabin murders of three family members and a teenage friend shook the small Sierra Nevada mountain communities of Keddie and Quincy in northern California, beginning a mystery that lingers decades later. I taught Dana Wingate that year at the highschool. The Crime Logs mission is bring awareness to crimes which are both solved and unsolved. As she got older and contemplated a career in law enforcement, she became more interested in the case. "Whoever did this and there was more than one person had to have blood all over them," said Doug Thomas, who was the Plumas County sheriff at the time of the murder and led the investigation. That family included James Sr.; his wife, Zonita; daughters Alysa and Paula; and son, James Jamie Jr. At 8:05 a.m., Sunday, April 12, the sheriffs dispatch received a call from Jan Albin, co-owner of the Keddie Resort. ", Thomas wasn't so sure. On April 12, 1981, a group of 7 people went to sleep in Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort Lodge in California. These were boys he went to school with. Thomas recently addressed these accusations: In 2013, the case was reopened by current Sheriff Greg Hagwood and investigator Mike Gamberg. And both Hagwood and Gamberg can pinpoint their errors and omissions. Advertiser Disclosure: Backpackerverse.com is a free online resource that offers valuable content and comparison services to users. If someone confessed in 1981 why is it still unsolved? All three victims at the crime scene had been bound with medical and . Now She's Speaking Out, Lone Survivor of 1984 Colorado Hammer Killer Attack Misses the Family He Stole: 'Inside I Cry Every Day', investigators were able to analyze identifiable DNA. The following participated in the planning and/or execution of these murders: Sheila Sharp, Glenna Meeks, Marilyn and Marty Smartt, Bo Boubede, Dee Jay Lake, Wade and Richard Meeks, John Blaine Greubert, Tony Garedakis. The DNA matched that of a then-living suspect. April 12, 1981, the bodies of 36-year-old Sue Sharp, her 15-year-old son John and his 17-year-old friend Dana Wingate were found in Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort, north of Quincy. According to records, RMX was seen in Keddie Sunday morning, including multiple times pacing at or walking by 28. Broke my heart. What hadn't been discovered until last month was a hammer that's believed to be one of the murder weapons. Most of the suspects wore gloves, Gamberg said. In the coming days, the hammer and knife will be scoured for any possible DNA evidence, and the tape will be examined by the FBI to see if there's a possible voice-match with anyone who has already been interviewed in connection with this case. The hammer, similar to one reported missing by Smartt, was dug up near the crime scene just last month. Decades after the horrific incident, there is still significant public interest in the unsolved case. Boubede died in 1988, and Marty Smartt died in 2006. 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. It was an emotional experience, but it didnt reach its peak until after I got home. Identifiable footprints were not recovered inside. In recent interviews, both Hagwood and Gamberg said the sheriffs office and the California Department of Justice blew it in 1981. What has made this case particularly hard to organize is that the original case history log who did what and on what date is gone. 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