The Keddie Resort and the Sharp Family

• 🏠 In 1981, the remote Keddie Resort in Northern California, rebranded as a resort town but functioning as low-income housing, became home to the impoverished Sharp family.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Sue Sharp, fleeing an abusive marriage, moved with her five children into a small cabin (Cabin 28), seeking a fresh start in the isolated Sierra Nevada community.
• 🤝 Despite the town's small population (under 100 people), the family made friends, including the Seabolt family in the adjacent cabin.

The Horrific Discovery

• 💔 On April 11, 1981, Sue and her daughter Sheila left to pick up Sue's son Johnny and his friend Dana. Back at the cabin, Sheila returned the next morning to find a gruesome scene.
• 🩸 She discovered multiple bodies, a bloody hammer, and a bent knife, indicating a brutal massacre.
• 🛌 The youngest boys, Rick, Greg, and their friend Justin, were found asleep in the back bedroom, seemingly undisturbed by the violence.
• 🚨 Police arrived hours later, identifying Sue Sharp, Johnny Sharp, and Dana Winget as the deceased, with evidence of blunt force trauma and slashing.

Investigation and Suspects

• ❓ The initial investigation was hampered by a poorly secured crime scene and the discovery that 12-year-old Tina Sharp was missing.
• 👤 Suspects included Sue's ex-husband, Jim Sharp, who had an alibi, and a teacher, Joel Walker Lipsy, who was fixated on Tina but also had an alibi.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Suspicion later fell on Justin's stepfather, Marty Smart, and his associate, John "Beau" Boobiday, both with criminal histories, but their questioning was mishandled by investigators.
• 📞 An anonymous tip suggested the skull fragments found years later belonged to Tina, but the recording of the call mysteriously disappeared.

Lingering Mysteries and New Leads

• 💔 Tina Sharp's remains were eventually found in 1984, confirming her death shortly after being taken from the cabin.
• 📝 Decades later, a therapist revealed Marty Smart confessed to killing Sue and Tina, though he denied killing Johnny and Dana.
• ✉️ A letter from Marty Smart to his wife, Marilyn, containing cryptic references to "four people's lives," emerged as potential evidence.
• 🔨 A hammer found in a lake matched the description of one missing from Marty Smart's home, and DNA testing is ongoing.
• 🧬 Current investigations focus on living suspects, with DNA evidence from tape found at the scene matching one individual, offering hope for resolution.

Unanswered Questions and Legacy

• ❓ The case remains officially unsolved, with theories ranging from serial killers to a cover-up involving local law enforcement, particularly Sheriff Doug Thomas, a friend of Marty Smart.
• 🏚️ The infamous Keddie Cabin 28 was eventually demolished in 2004.
• 💡 The brutal nature of the murders and the isolation of the location have drawn comparisons to horror films like "The Strangers."