Will the unsolved case of the Keddie Cabin Murders ever get closure?

It is true that longtime cold cases can find warmth even after several decades. The Keddie Murders have been referred to as a cold case suddenly getting warm. It’s been forty years since the Kebbie Cabin Murders happened in a rural area of Plumas County. Surely, no one expected it to be one of the most famous unsolved murder cases in history. 

This case involves a triple homicide and a missing child whose remains were later found. But the case remains cold today. According to the Plumas County Sheriff, “This thing was planned to a certain degree.” 

On the one side of State Route 70, on the path to Quincy, a rickety wooden building with boarded-up window stands. It’s been named “Keddie Resort.” Folks who drive by see it as a marker in the community. The horror they know about took place at the Keddie Resort in Cabin 28 on April 11th, 1981. 

Fourteen-year-old Sheila Sharp was spending the night next door with a friend, having a sleepover. She stopped home to change clothes for church when she found three bodies inside, just covered in blood. She found her mother, Glenna “Sue” Sharp, her brother, John Sharp, and her brother’s friend, Dana Wingate. 

Interestingly, Sheila found her other siblings, Ricki, Greg, and their friend Justin Smartt, were unharmed in a spare bedroom. A hammer and knife are believed to be the murder weapons, having been found at the scene. Later, investigators found out someone was missing from the home. It was Sheila’s twelve-year-old sister Tina Sharp. She’s believed to have been abducted. 

Frightened community

Tina was presumed to be missing. Her remains were found three years later, eighty miles away in Butte County. In the early 80s, Quincy was no different from pretty much any small town. It was the kind of place where people felt comfortable whether they were indoors or outdoors. People didn’t lock their doors. Families felt safe. Children playing outside probably didn’t hear “stay where I can see you”.

Suddenly, everything changed. “People were locking their doors that never had before,” says investigators. 

It’s commonly known that our parents and grandparents didn’t grow up having stranger danger drills in school and hearing, “stay where I can see you!” At one time, parents didn’t always know where their children were until they came back to the house for dinner. That’s practically unheard of nowadays. You’ll probably get authorities called on you for not knowing where your child is playing. 

At some point, we get curious. The world today is better than what it was in the 50s, 60s & 70s. Parents are definitely far more cautious with their children today but why? An unsolved murder will change anyone’s mind. Perhaps it’s cases like the Keddie Cabin Murders that changed the way people raised their kids. 

Closure?

“You kill three people in a cabin and you leave the remains there to be discovered. I think Tina was absolutely central to why this happened. I think there was something about Tina that could not be left there to be discovered. It’s my strong sense that there’s something about Tina that did not allow for her to be left there,” said the former County Sheriff Greg Hagwood.

It’s not uncommon for victims to know their killers but was that the case with this particular unsolved murder? Investigators say they’re getting closer to solving the case. “We’ve found evidence that was never brought forward by the officers and department of justice,” said Detective Gamberg, frustrated with the case’s early investigation. 

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