Random Facts Surrounding The Unsolved Keddie Cabin Murders (13 items)

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  (#2) The Sharp Children Had Friends Over That Night, But Only One Lived

  On April 11, 1981, the two youngest boys of the Sharp family, Greg and Rick, invited their neighborhood friend Justin Smartt, 12, over for a sleepover. Johnny, the eldest, had his friend, 17-year-old Dana Wingate, over as well. The youngest girl, Tina, had just come home from a playdate with friends.

  Sheila spent the night at a sleepover with the Seabolts, the neighbors who lived next door in Cabin 27, and was not present when the unknown assailants entered her family’s cabin.
   
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  (#10) A Therapist Told Authorities That Smartt Admitted To Killing Sue Sharp

  Sheriff Hagwood employed the services of private investigator Mike Gamberg to help with the case. The PI tracked down a therapist in Reno to whom Marty Smartt allegedly made a confession. The therapist told officials that he had contacted the police when Smartt initially admitted to the murder of Sue Sharp. 

  The therapist - a counselor at a Veteran’s Hospital - maintained Smartt’s confession occurred only weeks after the deaths at Cabin 28. Reportedly, Smartt also admitted culpability in Tina’s death and explained he attacked her to leave no witnesses. Smartt allegedly stated that his primary target was Sue because she interfered with his marriage. 

  Throughout his sessions, Smartt claimed to suffer from PTSD and mentioned that a Plumas County official, Sheriff Doug Thomas, was a good friend and former Keddie neighbor of his. 
   
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  (#12) Cabin 28 Was Demolished

  As of 2017, Plumas County - where Keddie is located - is home to less than 19,000 people, and the mark the Sharp family's murders left on the community is massive. The Keddie cabins were originally meant for low-income families, and the killings made people afraid for their already difficult lives. 

  What was once a pleasant place to live became a news reporter and rumor-filled nightmare. Stories circulated that the Sharps knew the killer, which reportedly bred distrust among neighbors.

  One other family lived in the cabin after the homicides, but when they left, the property was completely abandoned. In 2004, Cabin 28 was leveled as the Sierra Nevada community tried to move forward from the brutality that occurred there. Only approximately 79 households still live in Keddie, according to a 2017 census. 
   
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  (#1) Sue Sharp Had Just Moved To Keddie, California, With Her 5 Children

  In late 1980, 36-year-old Sue Sharp moved with her five children - Johnny, 15; Shelia, 14; Tina, 12; Rick, 10; and Greg, 5 - to a 3-bedroom resort cabin in Keddie, California. Sue, a recent divorcée, was beginning to date again. The family was getting to know the neighbors and make friends in the rural Sierra Nevada community. 

  Even though they were scraping by on a small income, everything seemed to be going well for Sue and her children.
   
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  (#3) The Family's Surviving Daughter Found The Three Bodies

  When 14-year-old Sheila Sharp came home from a sleepover on the morning of April 12th, she saw the scene from the front door: Sue, Johnny, and Dana were lying on the living room floor, dead. Shelia then raced back to her friend's cabin next door - where she spent the previous night - to find help. 

  The Seabolts went to the back of the cabin where the boys were sleeping. Greg, Rick, and Justin were unharmed, and the neighbors notified the police. Inside Cabin 28, blood covered the carpet and couch. The bodies had multiple wounds, and investigators determined the victims suffered blunt force trauma. 

  Sue was partially covered with a sheet, and the rest of the room was in a state of disarray, with cushions pulled from the couch and side tables knocked to the ground. There was no sign of Sue's daughter, Tina.
   
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  (#5) Tina Sharp Was Missing For Years

  Hours after the three bodies were discovered inside the cabin, authorities realized that 12-year-old Tina Sharp was missing. Investigators believed that the assailants had taken Tina from the cabin still alive. The police, in conjunction with the FBI, conducted extensive searches for Tina, but there were no leads. 

  In 1984, on the third anniversary of the murders, a hunter uncovered fragments of a human skull approximately 30 miles from the Sharp’s cabin. An anonymous tip made to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office suggested investigators should check to see if the fragment belonged to Tina. 

  The call prompted a more thorough search of the area, and authorities found additional bone fragments. After they tested their findings, they confirmed that the skeleton belonged to Tina Sharp. The anonymous call was never documented, and in 2013, the old tape was recovered from evidence during a fresh look at the case. 
   

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