Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

The Keddie Cabin Murders

The Keddie murders is anunsolved 1981 quadruple homicide in Keddie, California, a ruralresort town in the Sierra Nevada. The victims were Glenna Susan"Sue" Sharp (née Davis; born March 29, 1945); daughterTina Louise Sharp (born July 22, 1968); son, John StevenSharp (born November 16, 1965); and John's friend, Dana HallWingate (born February 8, 1964).

The murders took place in house #28 ofthe Keddie Resort during the late evening of April 11, 1981 or earlythe following morning. The bodies of Sue, John, and Dana were foundon the morning of April 12 by Sue's 14-year-old daughter, Sheila, whohad been sleeping at a friend's house. Sue's two younger sons, Rickand Greg, as well as their friend Justin Smartt, were also in thehouse, but were unharmed. Tina was missing from the scene.

Tina remained a missing person untilApril 1984, when her skull and several other bones were recovered atCamp Eighteen, California, near Feather Falls in Butte County.Multiple leads and suspects were examined in the intervening years,though no charges were filed. Several new leads were announced in the21st century, including the discovery of a hammer in a pond in 2016,as well as announcements regarding the discovery of new DNA evidence.

Timeline

Background

In July of 1979, Glenna Susan "Sue"Sharp (née Davis; born March 29, 1945 in Springfield,Massachusetts), along with her five children, left her home inConnecticut after separating from her abusive husband, James Sharp. She decided to relocate to northern California, where her brother Donwas residing at the time. Upon arriving in California, she beganrenting a small trailer formerly occupied by her brother at theClaremont Trailer Village in Quincy. The following fall, she moved tohouse #28 in the rural Sierra Nevada community of Keddie. The housewas much larger than the trailer, and had become available whenPlumas County's then-sheriff, Sylvester Douglas Thomas, moved out.There, she resided with her 15-year-old son, John (born November 16,1965); 14-year-old daughter Sheila; 12-year-old daughter Tina (bornJuly 22, 1968); and two younger sons, Rick (age 10) and Greg (age 5).

On April 11, 1981, around 11:30 am,Sue, Sheila, and Greg drove from their friends' house (the Meeksfamily) to pick up Rick, who was attending baseball tryouts atGansner Field. They happened upon John and his friend, Dana HallWingate (born February 8, 1964), hitchhiking at the mouth of thecanyon from Quincy, California to Keddie, and picked them up, thengoing to Keddie, about 6 miles (9.7 km) away. Two hours later,around 3:30 pm, John and Dana hitchhiked back to Quincy, where theymay have had plans to visit friends. Around this time, the two wereseen in the city's downtown area.

That same evening, Sheila had plans tospend the night with the Seabolt family, who lived in an adjacenthome, while Sue remained at home with Rick, Greg, and the boys' youngfriend, Justin Smartt. Sheila departed 28 shortly after 8:00 pm,leaving her mother alone with the younger children. Tina, who hadbeen watching television at the Seabolts', returned home to 28 around9:30 pm after Sheila arrived at the Seabolts' to spend the night.

Murders and discovery

Around 7:00 am in the morning of April12, Sheila returned to #28 and discovered the dead bodies of Sue,John, and Dana in the house's living room. All three had been boundwith adhesive tape and wire. Tina was absent from the home, whilethe three younger children—Rick, Greg, and Justin—were unharmedin an adjacent bedroom. Initial reports stated that the three youngboys had slept through the incident, though this was latercontradicted. Upon discovering the scene, Sheila rushed back to theSeabolts' house, whereupon Jamie Seabolt retrieved Rick, Greg, andJustin through the bedroom window. He later admitted to havingbriefly entered the home through the back door to see if anyone wasstill alive, potentially contaminating evidence in the process.