The Keddie Cabin Murders (1981)
- Strange Case Files
- Jan 9
- 3 min read
A quiet mountain home. A missing child. And a crime scene that would haunt investigators for decades.
A Small Resort Town
In April 1981, the unincorporated mountain community of Keddie sat just outside Quincy, tucked into California’s Sierra Nevada. The Keddie Resort was modest. Dozens of small rental cabins lined the hillsides, most occupied by families or seasonal visitors. Cabin 28 was one of them.
Inside lived Sue Sharp, a 36-year-old mother who had moved her family there months earlier, hoping for a fresh start.
The Night of April 11, 1981
On the evening of April 11, Sue Sharp was home with several children.
Present in the cabin that night were her son John Sharp, age 15, his friend Dana Wingate, age 17, and Sue’s younger children, Rick and Greg Sharp. A friend of the boys, Justin Smartt, was also staying over.
Sue’s daughter Sheila Sharp, age 14, chose to sleep at a nearby cabin with friends.
Sometime during the night, something went catastrophically wrong.
The Morning Discovery
On April 12, Sheila returned home. What she found inside Cabin 28 would define the case forever.
Sue Sharp, John Sharp, and Dana Wingate were found deceased inside the living room. They had been bound with tape and electrical cord before being attacked. The scene showed signs of restraint, violence, and a prolonged struggle.
Rick and Greg Sharp and Justin Smartt were still asleep in a back bedroom. They were physically unharmed.
One child was missing.
Tina Sharp
Sue’s 12-year-old daughter Tina Sharp was nowhere in the cabin.
At first, investigators believed Tina had simply been away. It took hours before it was formally recognized that she was missing from a quadruple homicide scene.
For the next three years, Tina Sharp remained missing.
A Discovery Three Years Later
In April 1984, human remains were discovered near Feather Falls in neighboring Butte County, roughly 60 miles from Keddie.
Dental records confirmed the remains belonged to Tina Sharp.
No cause of death could be conclusively determined from the recovered bones.
An Investigation Under Scrutiny
From the earliest days, the Keddie investigation was troubled.
Reporting and later investigator reviews confirm that the crime scene was not fully secured. At least one civilian entered the cabin after the bodies were discovered. Evidence contamination remains a documented concern.
Important items were either not tested, misplaced, or not pursued aggressively in the immediate aftermath.
Decades later, retired investigator Mike Gamberg, working with the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office during a renewed review of the case, publicly criticized the quality of the original 1981 investigation.
His assessment was blunt. Key opportunities were missed.
Persons of Interest
Over the years, multiple individuals have been discussed in reporting as possible suspects.
Two names appear most often in reputable coverage:
Martin Smartt and John "Bo" Boubede.
It is critical to state clearly: Neither man was ever charged.The case remains officially unsolved.
Some evidence linked to these individuals has been publicly discussed, including written material attributed to Smartt and witness statements. However, none of this resulted in criminal charges, and the evidentiary value of certain items has been debated.
Even basic details such as Martin Smartt’s year of death are inconsistently reported across sources.
DNA and Renewed Efforts
In the 2010s, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office reopened the case more aggressively.
Investigators confirmed that DNA recovered from tape associated with the crime was entered into databases. Public reporting states that the DNA matched a known living individual, but that person’s identity has not been publicly released and no arrest followed.
In 2016, a hammer was recovered from a nearby pond and submitted for testing. The results did not lead to charges.
What Remains Unanswered
No one has ever been held legally responsible for the deaths of Sue Sharp, John Sharp, Dana Wingate, and Tina Sharp.
How the assailant or assailants entered and exited Cabin 28 without waking the children in the back bedroom remains unexplained.
Why Tina Sharp was taken from the scene, while others were left behind, has never been definitively answered.
And whether the failures of the early investigation permanently compromised the case remains an open question.
A Case That Never Closed:The Keddie Cabin Murders (1981)
Cabin 28 was eventually demolished. The resort itself faded.
But the case did not.
More than four decades later, the Keddie Cabin Murders remain one of California’s most unsettling unsolved crimes, not just because of what happened, but because of how much may have been lost in the moments afterward.
If you know anything, now is the time to come forward.
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