He also said there are at least six people of interest. As he sorted he found one bag of evidence that was never opened. Meredith Corporation. New developments were found when the case was reopened Gamberg organized some boxes of case reports and uncovered evidence from the case that had been shoved aside. All had been bound and suffered extreme violence. In earlier years, before the Sharps moved in, he spent nights there with a friend and his family. The DNA matches that of a known living suspect, according to Gamberg. (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? Sharps oldest daughter, Sheila, had been at a sleepover when she returned to the family home, Cabin 28, to find her murdered family. It's been hard to cover up the emotions stirred by the 35-year-old mystery. They're the ones that have kept me going. Episode Info "It's my feeling that either he [the caller] was told or he was involved in some way," Gamberg said. Cabin 28 and others in the small Keddie community were allowed to deteriorate in the years following the Keddie murders. Amazingly, Sheila's two little brothers, Greg and Rick, then 5 and 10, were asleep and unharmed in an adjacent bedroom, along with a friend. Gamberg further tracked down a therapist in Reno, Nev., to whom Marty allegedly confessed after the killings and who told Gamberg he was shocked to learn that investigators at the time didn't use that confession to solve the crimes. At one point, Thomas did say he gave one session of advice to the couple but it was before the murders. Despite there being much more to this case, the investigation strangely stopped there. Both Gamberg and Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood believe that possibly as many as six people were involved in one capacity or another in the murders or the cover-up. What were the killers involved in that caused LE to protect them (and play CYA)? Keddie Cabin Murders Solved? It's debated whether it was the murders themselves that led to less interest in renting in the once-busy area, or if it was the allegedly poor management of the cabins themselves that led to fewer people being willing to live there. Sue was covered by a yellow blanket; her hands and feet were bound by electrical wiring. Why did both DOJ and sheriff Doug Thomas skate these key suspects when LE noted they were lying, and Marty FAILED his polygraph? Blood was discovered on both bedroom doors and outside on the handrail of the steep back stairs. Gamberg also found in the investigation's files an apparently unopened envelope with a recording of a 911 call. Its also believed medical tape was brought along, and theres some evidence that an 880 BB or pellet rife was there, but was not recovered at the scene. As with other related evidence, the process of scientific evaluation is slow. 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. When finding out about Sue's interference with his marriage, Marty reportedly went "ballistic" about it. The three were tied up, bludgeoned and stabbed to death. ET on Investigation Discovery. According to records, RMX was seen in Keddie Sunday morning, including multiple times pacing at or walking by 28. Man Who 'Targeted Young Women' Convicted of Decades-Old Murders with Help of Investigative Genetic Genealogy, She Saw Her Family Murdered by a Hammer-Wielding Stranger When She Was 3. "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. Decades after the horrific incident, there is still significant public interest in the unsolved case. Some even believed the furniture moved around by itself. More than 35 years after a teenage girl came home to find her family brutally slain in their resort cabin, police say the cold case is heating up. Marty Smartt's letter was an early re-discovery. She'd spent the night at a friend's cabin next door to her family's cabin 28 in Keddie and was returning home on the morning of April 12, 1981, when she discovered the unimaginable. Updated 2/11/2020 Sue Sharp, her son John and his friend Dana were found in the Sharp family cabin beaten and strangled to death in the family room. But the void has stayed with her. Some of the evidence was ignored. She left behind a broken marriage with a military man, now deceased, whom Sheila says was abusive to his wife and two daughters. Perhaps one day they will finally confirm those suspicions but for now, the devastating case remains unsolved. 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)? But the unsolved murders of a woman, two teenage boys and a girl still haunted him. The sheriff at the time of the murders, Doug Thomas, is accused of a cover-up in many online theories. Sheila ran screaming back to the neighboring cabin where she had spent the night. They claimed to have witnessed ghost writing on the walls. 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. The Seabolt family lived just 15 feet away. As reports of the renewed investigation went public, Gamberg learned of a man who, using a metal detector, had found a hammer in a pond near the Keddie property and the steel, blue-handled claw hammer, then recovered, exactly matched the description of a hammer that Marty told investigators he'd lost. Dana Wingate was at his house just the day before he died. In her book, Sheila wrote, "My mom's character has been subject to all manner of cruel supposition including accusations that she was a drug addict, drug dealer, prostitute, or at the very least an unfit mother.". But that rain can't wash away the horror of what happened in the now-empty lot in the tiny resort town of Keddie. He soon moved on to another job and has since retired. Theyd never felt the need to do that prior to the murders. CBS13 was there when Sheila was shown the hammer and a knife that may also be connected to the crimes. As she got older and contemplated a career in law enforcement, she became more interested in the case. Justin Smartt Eason, 12, one of three boys left alive in a second bedroom, was allowed to spend the night. A few Keddie residents believe that when Cabin 28 still existed, it became haunted after the Sharp murders. / CBS Sacramento. Both had personal connections to victims of the case. They were such bad parents that, had this case been properly investigated, their lack of stewardship over Justin would have led directly to capital murder convictions, a punishment which had been re-instated in 1977. Gamberg thinks the tape was deliberately ignored when it arrived at the Plumas County Sheriffs Office. Although dmac and Gamberg have some differences of opinion of just what happened in Cabin 28, Gamberg has come to respect dmacs work. Hagwood, in his third year of office, had many priorities to contend with inside his department and in the county. He wonders if DOJ protected him. Both left the area. 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. The three bodies on the floor had been bound, stabbed and beaten with a hammer. Reporting on what you care about. It was discovered later that 12-year-old Tina Sharp was missing. His home was just a short distance away in Cabin 26. Hagwood would graduate from California State University, Sacramento with a degree in criminal justice. Growing up in Taylorsville, Kendall (Name changed for privacy) had heard about the Sharp murders from a fairly young age. Teacher * Psychology * Unsolved Crime * Forensics * Mystery * Animal Lover * Fashion * Southern California. Spring showers replenished the waterways near the Feather River, giving life to the picturesque landscape in Plumas County, about 140 miles northeast of Sacramento. Police was on the scene for a short while before they . "I don't think there really is any type of final closure in a murder case. In 1981, the gruesome murder of four in Cabin 28 of the Keddie Resort in Northern California has long been unsolvedor has it? It would take those at the scene at least several hours to realize that fact. She reported the possibility of a homicide in Cabin 28. He was also familiar with Cabin 28 in Keddie. Why was Marty Smartt, the main suspect, the drug-running local sheriff's close friend? Unsolved Mystery of the Keddie Cabin Murders by Joe Turner 1 Listen to this article. And a crime that was committed so many years earlier doesnt have the priority recent crimes receive, he said. "They can't defend themselves. There have been a lot of rumors floating around and unfortunately people are considering them as the truth, instead of checking and doing the research. Dana suffered multiple head injuries and was manually strangled. As I stood there, fighting to breathe, I couldnt help but think of Dana Wingate, and how she had been strangled to death in the house. He said, And 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.. ", "She did at least get to see her first grandchild born. On April 12, 1981, 14-year-old Sheila Sharp was returning from a sleepover when she discovered three dead bodies in her family's cabin at the Keddie Resort: her 36-year-old single mother, Sue; her brother Johnny, 15; and Johnny's friend Dana Wingate, 17. Dana was found next on his stomach with his badly damaged head resting partially on a sofa pillow. Gamberg also knew the two boys. Its known that Sue Sharp was home with her daughter Tina, 12, and her two sons, Rickey, 9, and Greg, 5. But that anonymous 911 caller said it was Tina's before the medical examiner confirmed it through dental records. 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. I really hope they get justice and whoever was involved thats still alive according to the article pays for what they did to this woman and the kids. There were weeds as tall as my thighs all around. Text is available under . Investigators now seek any biological material including skin, hair, blood and other bodily fluids at crime scenes, according to Randy James in a 2009 feature on DNA testing for TIME. Sheriff Hagwood had this to say about the tape: The third development came from Gambert speaking to Marty's former therapist in Reno, Nevada. Please enter valid email address to continue. The one he missed or more accurately wasnt allowed to cover was the Keddie murder case, he said recently. in 1990. It was discovered on the once cheerful, ivy patterned wallpaper and on some bedding in the bedroom Sheila and her sister, Tina, shared with their mother. An imprint matching that of the butt of an 880 rifle was also left on Sues head. And the cops have DNA. And I have every confidence that they either participated after the fact or they have first-hand information Its obviously a worthwhile pursuit. Neither Hagwood nor Gamberg are willing to divulge specifics on whom theyre watching, but new evidence has given them solid leads. ", "To have this solved would finally give my family some closure, some answers as to why it happened and why it took so long to solve," Sheila says. DNA deoxyribonucleic acid is now considered the most reliable physical evidence. Keddie and Quincy are seven miles apart. They said I said it was Johnny. Photo courtesy of Plumas County Sheriffs Office, Keddie murders revisited part 1: New evidence discovered links living suspect to grisly scene, Main Street Artists feature the works of Sheehan and Kercmar Boyd, More moments from the Plumas winter storm, PUSD, Plumas Charter announce school closures continue for March 1, St. Johns Catholic Church to hold St. Patricks Day dinner, Plumas Lassen Connection Change Submission. As word spread through Keddie and the rest of Plumas County of the murders, its clearly a crime that not only affected Shelia Sharp and her remaining brothers and the boy who was spending the night, it deeply affected some members of the sheriffs office and the community, Gamberg said. She ultimately settled into the small town of Keddie nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountains only five miles. The call came just after someone discovered a skull and a few bones about 80 miles down the Feather River Canyon in a spot known as Camp 18 about 5 miles from Feather Falls. A vital thread, Gamberg said, is who knew about Tina's remains placed in an isolated wooded area in neighboring Butte County and who may have helped to put them there. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. As Marty said in his 1981 confession, they were just collateral damage. Sue's two younger sons, Rick and Greg, as well as their friend Justin Smartt, were also in the house but were unharmed. Echoes Of Grisly Murders Will Find A Way To Haunt You At This Abandoned California Resort, True Horror: Beware Angry Spirits At This Richmond Swimming Pool, Paranormal Lies: Theyll Tell You Not to Be Afraid At This Berkeley Park, Your Truest Nightmare: Demons Crave Companionship At This Nortonville Hill, Supernatural Child Checks into the Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal. Good question! What occurred next shocked the country: Four people were killed, three of which were found in Cabin 28. We hold major institutions accountable and expose wrongdoing. Listen Now For our friends in the Deaf and Signing community, you can view an ASL version of this episode HERE. S.C. The anonymous caller said he was watching the news about the discovery at Feather Falls down Highway 70 from Keddie. Charles Montaldo. Her remains surfaced years later. After the slayings, Sheila, Greg and Rick were sent out of state to live with an aunt. 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. Our Forum holds the facts of the case. RELATED VIDEO: Exclusive Look at People Magazine Investigates the Keddie Murders. And some of the evidence in storage is contaminated. As police continued to search for Tina, other officers brought in multiple suspects. Why did a enforcer from the mob, 'Bo' Boubede, move in with Smartt just prior to the murders? Relief is something Sheila Sharp has been searching for since that dark day in April 1981. rice farms in northern california. That night I dreamt of a young girl, walking around the empty site. Although its been a mystery as to who gave the two teens a ride home, Gamberg has identified the individual and has interviewed her. Its suspected that someone brought a hammer, the one recovered in a nearby pond in 2016, as well as using a hammer and knives found in the home. 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. "There's times I think, Gosh, should I go get hypnotized to see what I remember?" Sue had left a broken and abusive marriage and was described as a "quiet woman who loved her kids." With the killings of her family members, "I didn't have the big brother to look up to, and I lost my only sister, and we were close," Sheila says. Its known that John Sharp, and his friend Dana were in Quincy and caught a ride home sometime between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., Gamberg said. "It's my belief that there were more than two people who were involved in the totality of the crime--the disposal of the evidence and the abduction of the little girl," Hagwood said. The father of Dana Wingate (the friend of the Sharps who was also killed) said in 2001 the police had "stumbled over each other and fouled up the case.". The morning of April 12, 1981, Glenna Sue Sharp and her kids, Tina and John, and John's friend, Dana Wingate, were brutally murdered inside house #28 in Keddie, California. "She was a kind and loving mother who was doing her very best to raise five children alone. The possible motive: Marty was married to Marilyn Smartt, the mother of Justin Smartt, who was one of the kids that was found alive in the cabin. And more developments are anticipated. He was a sweetheart of a kid. It was April 11, 1981 when Sheila Sharp, 14, opened the door to her familys two-bedroom cabin and discovered the bodies of her mother, older brother and family friend in the small living room. I just stood there, staring at the spot when I thought I heard someone walking behind me, Kendall said. "My mother's kindness and grace also extended beyond her own family, which may have ultimately been her downfall.". He lived there with his mother and stepfather, Marilyn and Martin Marty Smartt, and his brother. "Even still today I sit here and think, What would my life be like with her here?" In earlier years, before the Sharps moved in, he spent nights there with a friend and his family. Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort, where the 1981 murders occurred. KEDDIE, Calif. It has been 40 years since what is known as the Keddie Murders took place in rural Plumas County. But she doesn't get to the great-grandkids, she doesn't have that. Of course his DNA would be there! Members of that family, along with Sheila Sharp, 14, claimed they didnt hear a sound from the Sharps house that night. Investigators Have a Personal Stake in the Case, 5. Every bit of evidence that can still be recovered is important to this case, according to Gamberg as he continues to search for leads and re-interviews anyone linked to the Keddie murders. Anyone who has any information on the Keddie murders is asked to call the Keddie murders hotline at 283-6360. Among those questioned in the killings was Sue's neighbor Marty Smartt, who lived two cabins away with his wife (and Justin Smartt's mother), Marilyn. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Although Gamberg was a deputy, he said his young sons began locking the doors to their house at night. The items inside were never entered into evidence a crucial part of the chain of evidence necessary in crime investigation. And I have every confidence that they either participated after the fact or they have first-hand information. In recent interviews, both Hagwood and Gamberg said the sheriffs office and the California Department of Justice blew it in 1981. 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