Sign-In
Cart
The Yuba County Five: America's Missing Snow Hikers
Paperback
Biographies GeneralHistorical Figures
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Oct 20 2025
Pages: 132
Weight: 0.37
Height: 0.33 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
On a cold February night in 1978, five friends left a basketball game in Chico, California-and vanished into the Sierra. Days later, their Mercury Montego was found high on an unplowed Forest Service road, in working order, abandoned in deep snow far from the route home. When spring came, searchers uncovered pieces of the story in separate places-including a stocked trailer twenty miles from the car-yet the answers only multiplied. Four of the men were eventually recovered. One, Gary Mathias, was never found.
In this gripping, evidence-led investigation, Linda Davidson rebuilds the case minute by minute-receipts, road closures, weather logs, autopsy findings, and search records-separating rumor from record and compassion from spectacle. The result is a clear, humane narrative about five lives, a mountain in winter, and how a small decision can become a mystery that endures.
Inside you'll find:
A precise, time-stamped timeline from game night to discovery.
Plain-language explanations of hypothermia, whiteout, and snow travel.
What the Forest Service trailer reveals-and what it can't.
The major theories tested against geography, procedure, and physics.
Meticulous without sensationalism, The Yuba County Five: America's Missing Snow Hikers is true crime for readers who want the real case- methods and measured conclusions. Perfect for fans of Michelle McNamara, Erik Larson, Annie Jacobsen, and John E. Douglas.
Also from
Davidson, Linda
Beautiful Lies: The Casey Anthony Case, a Missing Child, and the Story That Never Added Up
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Tragedy of Betty Broderick: Divorce, Obsession, and the Double Murder That Shocked California
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Jackal's Shadow: Carlos the Jackal, the Birth of Modern Terrorism, and the Making of a Global Manhunt
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Cop with a Secret: The Murder of Jesse Valencia by Steven Rios and the Life He Killed to Keep Hidden
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Beneath the Baltic: The Murder of Kim Wall and the Submarine Case That Shocked the World
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Watcher Next Door: The Circleville Letters, Anonymous Threats, and the Mystery That Never Ended
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Justice Denied: The JonBenét Ramsey Mystery: Inside the Case That Shook America and Still Haunts a Nation
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Golden State's Ghost: Joseph James DeAngelo and the Hunt for the Golden State Killer
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Cult of Control: Inside NXIVM, Keith Raniere, and the Secret Empire of Sex, Power, and Manipulation
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Three Days in October: The Disappearance, Discovery, and Unfinished Case of Sharon Marie Thor
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Vanished on the Open Road: The Gabby Petito Story: Love, Lies, and the Digital Trail That Led to a Killer
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Surgeon of Sin: Inside the Twisted Mind and Crimes of Jack Wayne Rogers
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Grim Sleeper: Lonnie Franklin Jr. The Killing Spree That Terrorized Los Angeles
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Numbers That Killed: How Flawed Statistics Turned Lucia de Berk Into a Murderer-and Shattered European Justice
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Emotion on Trial: How Guilty, Bias, and Media Narratives Helped Shape Three High-Profile Cases
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Beast of The Bayou: Derrick Todd Lee and the Murders That Terrorized Louisiana
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Fatal Seduction: The Jodi Arias Case, a Secret Affair, and the Brutal Murder That Shocked America
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Diane Downs Case: The Night She Shot Her Children and the Lie That Fooled a Nation
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Red Light Vanish: The Disappearance of Bryce Laspisa and The Night That Haunts California
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Behind The Badge: The Gerard Schaefer Case, A Killer Cop, And The Brutal Crimes Hidden Behind The Uniform
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Buried in the Sand: Thirteen Victims. One Quiet Monster. A Decade of Silence.
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Last Mile He Walked: A True Story of Loss, Confusion and The Disappearance of Brandon Swanson
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Down The Hill: The Girls Who Captured a Killer and The Secrets Still Buried in Delphi
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Beneath the Perfect Picture: Beneath the Perfect Picture The Watts Family Murders
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Vanished in the Pines: The Disappearance of DeOrr Kunz Jr. and the Secrets Beneath Timber Creek
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Behind the Blue Barrel: The Murder of Shannan Gilbert and the Women of Gilgo Beach
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Baby Who Disappeared: The Azaria Chamberlain Case and the Cry in the Dark
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Vanished in Aruba: The Natalee Holloway Case and The Mystery That Haunted a Nation
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Taken From Campus: The Disappearance of Yingying Zhang and the Investigation That Followed
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
A Day That Changed the Games: Munich 1972, the Olympic Hostage Crisis, and the Tragedy That Reshaped Global Security
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
He Was Almost Home: The True Story of Jason Landry's Disappearance and the Miles That Vanished With Him
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Inside the Abu Nidal Network: Power, Paranoia, and the Global Campaign of Terror No One Could Control
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Vanished on the Line: The Disappearance of Angela Hammond and the Call That Ended in a Scream
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Unseen Stalker: The Murder of Dorothy Jane Scott and the Calls That Predicted Her Death
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
The Quiet Predator: Gary Ridgway, The Green River Killer, and the Pattern No One Stopped
Davidson, Linda
Paperback
Also in
Historical Figures
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich
Metaxas, Eric
Paperback
The Rise of Thomas Cromwell: Power and Politics in the Reign of Henry VIII, 1485-1534
Everett, Michael
Paperback
The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People's Constitution
Wegman, Jesse
Hardcover
The Lost Empire of Emanuel Nobel: Romanovs, Revolutionaries, and the Forgotten Titan Who Fueled the World
Brunt, Douglas
Hardcover
America's Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick
Crawford, Bob
Hardcover
Thomas Jefferson Survives: American Independence in His Time and Ours
Cogliano, Francis D.
Onuf, Peter S.
Hardcover
Rebel of the Regency: The Scandalous Saga of Caroline of Brunswick, Britain's Queen Without a Crown
Foster, Ann
Hardcover
Biography of a Dangerous Idea: A New History of Race from Louis XIV to Thomas Jefferson
Curran, Andrew S.
Hardcover
The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom
Boom, Corrie Ten
Sherrill, John
Paperback
A Thousand Shall Fall: The Electrifying Story of a Soldier and His Family Who Dared to Practice Their Faith in Hitler's Germany
Mundy, Susi Hasel
Paperback
The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany
Strauss, Gwen
Paperback
Operation Sparrow: The Incredible True Story of the Spies Who Tricked Hitler and Won the War
Bell, Jason
Hardcover
The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I
Brunt, Douglas
Paperback
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Kendi, Ibram X.
Paperback
Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
Bourdain, Anthony
Paperback
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
Winchester, Simon
Paperback
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo (Pulitzer Prize for Biography)
Reiss, Tom
Paperback
A Librarian's War: The Man Who Fought World War II with Books and Brought the Joy of Reading to Millions
Manning, Molly Guptill
Hardcover
The Confessions of Samuel Pepys: Private Revelations from Britain's Most Famed Diarist
de la Bédoyère, Guy
Hardcover
The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America
Rosen, Jeffrey
Paperback
Solo and Together: Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, an Enigmatic Life and Marriage
Hansen, James R.
Hardcover
Stradivari's Genius: Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection
Faber, Toby
Paperback
American Prometheus (Pulitzer Prize Winner): The Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture Oppenheimer
Sherwin, Martin J.
Bird, Kai
Paperback
Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High
Beals, Melba Pattillo
Paperback
The First Fascist: The Sensational Life and Dark Legacy of the Marquis de Morès
Luzzatto, Sergio
Hardcover
The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It
Mazzeo, Tilar J.
Paperback
The Man Behind the Cane: Preston Brooks, Political Violence, and the Road to the Civil War
Quigley, Paul
Hardcover
The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty, and War
Donohue, John Chick
Molloy, J. T.
Paperback
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II
Goodwin, Doris Kearns
Paperback
The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II
Kiernan, Denise
Paperback
The Power Broker (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
Caro, Robert A.
Hardcover
Miracles in American History, Volume Two: Amazing Faith That Shaped the Nation: Adapted from William J. Federer's American Minute [With 2 Paperbacks]
Federer, William J.
Federer, Susie
Paperback
The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man
Von Drehle, David
Paperback
Tomboy Bride, 50th Anniversary Edition: One Woman's Personal Account of Life in Mining Camps of the West
Backus, Harriet Fish
Paperback
The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century
Harrington, Joel F.
Paperback
The Improbable Victoria Woodhull: Suffrage, Free Love, and the First Woman to Run for President
Collinsworth, Eden
Hardcover
Master of the Senate (Pulitzer Prize Winner): The Years of Lyndon Johnson III
Caro, Robert A.
Paperback