Keddie Cabin Murders

Four people were murdered in cabin 28 of the Keddie Resort in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the night of April 11–12, 1981. The victims were Glenna Susan Sharp (36), a single mother; her son John Sharp (15); his friend Dana Wingate (17), who had stayed the night; and Tina Sharp (12), Susan's daughter, whose skull was found approximately 35 miles away near Feather Falls in 1984. Three of Susan's other children — Sheila (14), Rick (10), and Greg (5) — were sleeping in the adjacent cabin 27 and survived. The surviving children were awakened by the sounds of the murder. The murder scene in cabin 28 showed extreme violence: multiple weapons were used, including a hammer and sharp implement. The killing was among the most brutal in Sierra Nevada history and has been called California's most notorious unsolved multiple murder.

Plumas County in 1981 was an extremely remote, economically depressed area of the Sierra Nevada. The Keddie Resort itself was a struggling destination where year-round residents, seasonal workers, and transient individuals shared a small, close-knit community. Law enforcement in the county was minimal — the Plumas County Sheriff's Department was a small force with limited forensic resources. The resort community created an unusual social dynamic: people who knew each other well but within a context of transience and economic desperation. The early 1980s also predated the CODIS DNA database, making forensic identification of biological trace evidence impossible for years after the crime.

Several individuals who were at or near the Keddie Resort on the night of the murders have been investigated. John 'Bo' Boubede: A known associate of resort residents, identified in 2016 by the Plumas County Sheriff's Department as having been at the scene based on forensic evidence review. He died in 1988 in a Las Vegas prison while serving a sentence for an unrelated crime. Martin Smartt: A friend of several resort residents who lived nearby. He was interviewed extensively in 1981 and his ex-wife later claimed he confessed to her. He has been named by Sheriff Greg Hagwood as a primary suspect. In 2004, a bag of tools was found in a pond near the resort; some researchers believe it contains the murder weapons associated with Smartt.

Unknown personal grievance: The extreme violence suggests either prior conflict or a rage-driven attack against Susan Sharp specifically, with the other victims killed as witnesses. Robbery or drug-related motive: The resort community had drug activity; a robbery gone violent has been proposed. Sexual violence: Evidence of sexual assault in the attack has been discussed but not confirmed in publicly released investigative reports.

The Plumas County Sheriff's Department led the investigation with California Department of Justice support. The case went cold for decades. In 2004, the bag of tools was found in the pond — it contained items potentially consistent with the murder weapons, but insufficient DNA evidence was recovered for charging. In 2016, the Sheriff publicly named Martin Smartt and John Boubede as suspects in what was presented as a near-conclusion to the case — but Boubede's death and the lack of surviving admissible evidence have prevented prosecution.

Multiple murder weapons — a hammer and sharp implement — believed used but never confirmed. The 2004 tool bag (inconclusive DNA). Tina Sharp's skull (1984). Survivor testimony from the three children in cabin 27. Smartt's ex-wife's claim of a confession. Blood evidence at the scene. Biological material from the scene has been reprocessed multiple times.

At least two perpetrators are suspected based on witness accounts and the logistics of the attack. Known to at least some of the resort residents — the attack appears targeted rather than random. Capable of extreme sustained violence. Familiar enough with the resort layout to approach cabin 28 without attracting attention. One or both may have had prior criminal records.

The Keddie Cabin murders share the 'remote resort community, multiple victims, extreme violence, no arrest' profile with several other Sierra Nevada and Pacific Northwest unsolved multiple murders of the 1970s–80s. The case influenced the development of California's approach to cold case investigation.

The 2004 tool bag should be reprocessed with modern low-copy-number DNA analysis, which is now capable of extracting profiles from trace amounts of biological material that could not be processed in the early 2000s. Martin Smartt's ex-wife's claimed confession accounts should be formally recorded and evaluated as a basis for any renewed prosecutorial review. The Tina Sharp skull found in 1984 should be re-examined for biological trace evidence that might have survived.

The Plumas County Sheriff's Department has a dedicated Keddie case page and accepts public tips. Read 'Death in Cabin 28' by Steve Hodel and the independently published accounts of researchers who have interviewed resort survivors. The Keddie Case Facebook page is an active community of researchers with regular document and evidence updates. The tool bag discovery is documented in publicly released court records accessible through the Plumas County Superior Court.