February 1978. Five men. A basketball game. A snack run. And then—a 70-mile drive in the wrong direction into a frozen mountain wilderness.
It's been called "The American Dyatlov Pass." A case so baffling that nearly 50 years later, investigators still can't explain what happened.
Ted Weiher. Jack Madruga. Bill Sterling. Jackie Huett. Gary Mathias. Five friends from Yuba City, California drove to Chico to watch a basketball game. They bought snacks. They got in the car.
They never made it home.
Their car was found days later—not on the highway home, but 4,400 feet up a remote mountain road in Plumas National Forest. The gas tank wasn't empty. The car wasn't stuck. Five healthy men could have pushed it free in minutes.
So why did they walk 19 miles into a blizzard instead?
Four months later, searchers found their bodies scattered across the mountain. One man survived for nearly three months in a Forest Service trailer—surrounded by enough food to last a year and a propane heater he never turned on.
He starved to death in a pantry. He froze to death next to heat.
Why didn't they eat? Why didn't they turn on the heater? Why did they hide from the only witness who could have saved them? And what happened to Gary Mathias—the Army veteran whose body was never found?
In this episode, Jen takes the lead as we investigate one of America's most haunting unsolved disappearances. We examine every theory—from wrong turns and learned helplessness to schizophrenic episodes and foul play. Including the anonymous phone calls that came before any bodies were discovered, and the 2020 Sheriff's letter that officially declared Gary Mathias a victim of foul play.
Some cases resist explanation. This one defies it.
screaming while his body rotted from the inside.
Edward VI became King of England at 9 years old. By 15, he was dead—leaving behind over 10,000 corpses and a religious reformation built on blood and fire.
History remembers his sister Mary as "Bloody Mary." But Edward's six-year reign produced a body count that dwarfs hers. He watched heretics burn without flinching. He signed his own uncle's death warrant at age 11. He refused mercy for a woman begging for her life—because she disagreed with him about communion.
He was a child. He was a monster. He was possibly murdered.
And his ghost still haunts Greenwich Palace—coughing, gasping, reliving his agonizing death for 470 years.
In this episode of the Bloody Royals series, Lee dives deep into the dark history of Tudor England's forgotten terror: the boy king whose Protestant vision for England was written in Catholic blood.
We cover:
Was he evil? Or a victim of isolation, indoctrination, and absolute power given to a child?
The answer might be both.
🕯️ Come Curious. Stay Strange.
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CREDITS:
Host: Lee
Co-Hosts: Josh & Jen
Audio/Video Editor: Jeremy
Primary News Sources (1978):
Official Records:
Books & Long-Form Journalism:
Documentaries & Media:
Academic & Psychological Sources:
Family Statements & Interviews:
Witness Testimony:
Geographic & Environmental Data:
Online Archives & Databases:
Note: Some primary source materials referenced in this episode are derived from official police reports and family statements that have been made public through FOIA requests and media coverage over the past 47 years.
