Two Tina Articles

[meankitty]

I found this in the Sacramento Bee archives.

The Sacramento Bee


SACRAMENTO BEE
June 21, 1984

BONES FOUND ARE THOSE OF GIRL LINKED TO TRIPLE SLAYING IN PLUMAN COUNTY


Author: Steve Gibson

Edition: FINAL
Section: MAIN NEWS
Page: B

Estimated printed pages: 2

Article Text:

Human remains discovered near Feather Falls in Butte County have been identified as those of a 12-year-old girl missing since a triple slaying three years ago in a Plumas County mountain cabin, investigators said Wednesday.

The bones were identified as those of Tina Sharp, last seen on April 12, 1981, the day her mother, brother and neighborhood friend were beaten and stabbed to death in their cabin at Keddie, a tiny settlement in Plumas County on the outskirts of Quincy.

Plumas County Sheriff's Lt. Don Stoy said no arrests have been made in the murder case, and a motive has not been determined for the crime.

It's too early to tell if this will help our overall investigation, but it answers the question that we've all had - whether she's alive or not, Stoy said.

Stoy said the cause of the girl's death still hasn't been determined, but her remains have been sent to the state Department of Justice laboratory in Sacram! ento for further examination.

The other victims were Glenna Sharp, 36; John Sharp, 15; and Paul Wingate, 17, a neighbor. Three youngsters asleep in the house at the time of the murders were not harmed.

The bones of Tina Sharp were discovered April 22 by a bottle hunter near Feather Falls northeast of Oroville, about 50 miles from Keddie. The bones were sent to a laboratory for analysis, where a match of dental records was made.

For the first few weeks after the murders, the Plumas County Sheriff's Department had eight investigators working on the case. By the time a year had elapsed, we would react and investigate leads as they came in, Plumas County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Wright recalled Wednesday.

I'd estimate conservatively that we put in more than 4,000 man hours of investigation, Wright said.

A team of eight investigators from Plumas County and the Department of Justice planned to visit the Feather Falls area today to see if w! e can develop any leads and see if anyone can remember seeing ! her aliv e, Wright said.

In addition to Feather Falls, we're going to talk to people in Forbestown, Challenge and the Strawberry Valley area, he said.

According to investigators, the slayings are thought to have occurred about 2 a.m. April 12, 1981. At 8 o'clock that morning, the murder scene was discovered by Glenna Sharp's 14-year-old daughter, Sheila, who was returning home after spending the night with friends.

Sharp's sons, Ricky, now 12, and Greg, 8, and a neighbor friend slept in a bedroom next to the living room where the bodies were found. The boys told officers they had heard nothing, and neighbors, including residents whose bedroom was only 10 feet from the murder scene, also heard no disturbance.

Sheila Sharp told investigators three years ago that Tina had wanted to accompany her to the friends' home for the night, but their mother had ordered her to come home late that night. The next morning, Tina could not be found. 100015632

Caption:
PHOTO IN SUPERIO
Record Number: 076
The Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO BEE
June 22, 1984

BRUTAL 3-YEAR-OLD TRIPLE SLAYING STILL HAUNTS QUIET PLUMAS RESORT
Author: Ken Payton

Edition: FINAL
Section: MAIN NEWS
Page: H12
Estimated printed pages: 2

Article Text:

KEDDIE - Cabin 28 on Keddie Resort Road stands empty.

The tenants moved out Wednesday. By coincidence, it was the day Plumas County sheriff's deputies announced human remains discovered near Feather Falls in Butte County were those of a 12-year-old girl who disappeared from Cabin 28 more than three years ago.

When new tenants move in, the story again will be told of three violent deaths at the cabin. A mother, son and neighborhood boy were beaten and stabbed to death in the modest structure April 12, 1981.

The girl, identified as Tina Sharp, disappeared.

Residents at Keddie Resort, a collection of some 30 rustic cabins, seven miles north of Quincy dating back to railroad passenger train days, wish the story did not have to be retold.

At least we know now what happened, whether she is alive or dead, said Vicki Krois, a young woman who lived in Keddie three years ago.

But a lot of people got scared a! nd moved away because they thought it might happen again.

There should be some good news to write about Keddie, said newcomer Suzan Steger. We've all heard the story about the murders before. It's been done over and over again.

She said people here want Keddie to become known as a stable, peaceful community instead of one for violent transients.

And, indeed, where one looks today are children, clothes hanging out neatly to dry, toys in front yards and young people reading books under pine trees.

But little is happening at the resort that once was busy 24 hours a day.

Many of Keddie's cabins, which rent for $200 to $250 a month, are empty and in need of paint and repair. Battered cars, some with flat tires and rusted bodies, wait for new life.

The general store and lodge restaurant are closed, pending finding someone else to lease them. Across Highway 70, which connects Keddie with Quincy, stands an abandoned service stat! ion that a new tenant hopes to turn into an auto repair shop. Keddie Resort owners Gary and Linda Mollath have placed the entire property up for sale.

Newcomers and those who stayed after the murders believe the killings were not random but the result of some kind of argument.

Nobody just picks three persons to kill at random for no reason, said the local postmistress, who didn't want her name used.

Sheriff's Lt. Don Stoy said authorities have been unable to establish a motive for the killings or to arrest a suspect.

Finding the remains might be a break for us, he said.

He said Sacramento pathologists who studied skull and bone fragments have established that the girl died sometime after Nov. 1, 1981, six months after the three killings.

The cause of her death is being investigated.

Stoy left with other investigators before 9 a.m. Thursday for Butte County to see whether anyone near Feather Falls had seen the missing girl.

We're going to spend all day over there, ! he said, and have no idea what we'll find.

Glenna Sharp, 36; her 15-year-old son, John; and Paul Wingate, 17, a neighbor, were killed on that bloody April morning. Tina disappeared. Three other youngsters asleep in the house at the time were not harmed.

Stoy said that everyone related to the victims with one exception has moved to Oregon. Only Wingate's father continues to live somewhere in Quincy.

Rick Stanley, who moved here from Stockton, thinks Keddie got a bad name for the killings for no reason.

I wish they'd find who did it. It makes people who rent the cabin kind of uneasy, he said. But just keep a gun in the house.

Stanley said murders happen almost every day in Stockton and Sacramento.

Here it happens once, and they want to blackball the whole town. I bet it won't ever happen again. 100015842

Record Number: 012

[jhancock]

Thanks for posting these, MK. Some of the original teletypes about the case and about Tina's discovery were published in my book.

I don't think anyone knows how long Tina was alive.

Bo was a transient. He knew Feather Falls well, according to sources.

Was there never a trunkload of pot? Was Tina in the trunk instead?

[meankitty]

I can remember reading this article in 1984, and they could tell how long she was alive by her dental x-rays. She was 12 years old and kids around that age have their second set of molars coming in. That would have showed up in the x-rays.
http://www.forensicdentistryonline.org

[jhancock]

Possibly. But we interviewed Dr. Norman Sperber, the forensic dentist who identified Tina by her dental x-rays. He stated that it was impossible to tell how long she had been kept alive. This was reinforced by Don Stoy, a retired PCSO who was a major part of the investigation at the time Tina was found.

I've always believed that she was murdered that same night, and that the intent was never to take her and keep her for an extended period of time. I believe Justin's statement that Tina wandered out into the hall, clutching her blanket, and was abducted then in a state of panic.

Of course, there's that single drop of blood on her bedsheet...

[Charmed]

I agree. I too believe Tina was kept alive longer then that night. I do believe she was taken as they Didnt know what to do with her and that she prolly stumbled onto something she didnt and wasnt supposed to see. It is all just speculation of course as there is no way to be sure how long she was alive but the fact that Justin was saying Tina was missing and not dead and also the fact that if they killed her that night I cant understand why the killer(s) wouldnt have just finished the job right then in there they had already killed. My thought is she entered the scene when the killer(s) were done and freaking out and trying to figure out what to do and when Tina entered they were ready to go and took her but had guilt or not enough time and did not kill her that same night.

Just my thoughts based off of my interpretations of that night.

[jhancock]

Yes, Charmed, I agree. Taken in a state of panic by the killers.

I just mean that I think she was killed later...taken to Feather Falls that night...though the theories about her being hidden on the Keddie property make for a great mystery (I remember getting chills when LaRonda described the childlike scrawl on the wall of the playhouse), I don't think it's plausible...

...but could she have been right there, right under everyone's noses the whole time? Why did Marty have to "get back to Keddie and finish what he started"?

[Night Rider]

I still see way too much speculation to be able to say anything definitive.

No one still knows who the target really was. Why couldn't it have been Sue?

Has order of death ever been established? Think about that, I don't see anyone ever having done that.

To me, Marty's statements and actions are almost unbelieveable. Why couldn't his buddy help him "finish things up." or did he? But which friend?

[meankitty]

Yes, Charmed, I agree. Taken in a state of panic by the killers.

I just mean that I think she was killed later...taken to Feather Falls that night...though the theories about her being hidden on the Keddie property make for a great mystery (I remember getting chills when LaRonda described the childlike scrawl on the wall of the playhouse), I don't think it's plausible...

...but could she have been right there, right under everyone's noses the whole time? Why did Marty have to "get back to Keddie and finish what he started"?

I don't see how Tina could have been hidden anywhere in Keddie with all the cops around. And I do believe the Smartt residence and the playhouse was searched while Marty was in Reno. The childish scrawl in the playhouse could have been done by anyone at any time. And if it was two 2x4s pulled up on the playhouse floor, that would leave a 7 inch space, which seems pretty small. I do believe the Sacramento Bee account that Tina was alive for at least 6 months.

[jhancock]

Re: Tina being alive for six months

According to some of the newspaper articles, people have reported sightings of Tina after the murders.

Makes me wonder why the FBI left after two weeks and if she could have been found alive.

[Night Rider]

And just how do you know they were all investigated? Seeker tried to drop a hint one time in chat that was a tip from "an adjacent county" that was not looked into.

Remember that call made to Butte County when the skull was reported, he was pretty sure.. And just remember what Craig has said...

[coffee is love]

i noticed on the timeline that tina had a red nylon jacket that was missing but her remains were found with a blue nylon jacket. is this accurate? did she have two?

[jhancock]

Hi Coffee,

No one knows if the blue jacket was connected to Tina. It was just one of the items recovered near the scene.

The bottle digger found more clothes buried nearby (he said they were a little girl's clothes), but these were never collected as potential evidence, as far as I know.

[Night Rider]

We are all still guessing, especially as to her being a target. All I'l say is that she could have been.

But when are you folks going to ask some real questions? Have any of you looked up how many registrants live in proximity to the scene?

[coffee is love]

im sorry but i thought i was asking a real question. if those clothes werent identified as tinas but another little girls what can that tell us? was this a popular dump site for certain people perhaps?

[Night Rider]

No, there is nothing wrong with what you asked, it is a good question.

I'm referring to a whole bunch of other questions never seemingly brought up.

A few years ago I asked exactly how long prior had Mr. Pedrini been in that exact area??

Then maybe we could talk about the skull being played around with by local kids. The socalled "Dating game?"

[bliss]

instead of saying everyone is asking dumb questions, and you adding your question about pedrini, which does not have an answer to it that you posted, and what is the dating game?please think maybe some questions are not asked because maybe people realize many questions can't be answered?

I for one,wonder why you are critizing what questions are not asked, and would like you to then tell which questions we are not asking, but also provide the answers IF there are answers to some maybe then there could be a conversation. in the mean time, I think no question is wrong, or less intelligent.

so please, enlighten me, and perhaps others, when you posted your question of Pedrini, did you find the answer?I would like to know since you brought it up,

[islander]

Josh wrote:

Bo was a transient. He knew Feather Falls well, according to sources.

if he was a transient how is it he knew the area well ? If he was just there a short time how could he know the place so well. Is it possible he was in the background there, or around more often than people were aware ? Is it possible he and M arty were drug enforcers ?

Valley, if you dont like the questions why not post them yourself ? indulge us with your knowledge by all means.

Getting her out that night unseen wouldnt be hard. Trunk of a car, or on the floor. No one would be looking for her right away since the murders werent reported till Sheila found the bodies that morning. It would just be another car driving up the road, big deal.

Instead of using terms like Key suspect, name names, it really does help. Adding to the mystery and trying to make it as secret as possible is counter productive to helping solve this.

Maybe she was taken out of panic. Thats unknowable so far, unfortunately. It does make some sense tho so do other theories.

Again, the so called police investigation is beyond belief. The neighbors 6yo could do a better job. If there was other childrens clothes in the area WHY didnt police track down why it was there. Is that a dump in the bush ppl use for household goods ? Or a place to leave bodies ? Feather Falls seems to have more than its share of creepy elements.

EDIT: I just noticed that if you type M arty without a space it is replaced with key suspect... why ?

[not sure]

Islander,
This forum appears to be set up to change the name we are saying to "Key Suspect". I typed the man's name and that's what appeared. I assume it is by request or out of respect to that family.

[Night Rider]

Why bother asking a question that people around here have had FIVE years to answer?

Too many people already know what my knowledge is, go fish.

As to your question about Feather Falls, I think Josh may have used the wrong word. The only reason that word was used is that no one really knows anything about Bo.

In reality, he may have been in California for years. Did he really have a sister in Napa?? Probably not.

We know that M spent time in Chico, why not Oroville? And where M was, was B far behind??

Here's a real question for you: Why hasn't anyone ever sent a physic to the site of Tina's skull?

Easy, because there is nothing there. "looking for love in all the wrong places"??

[jhancock]

NS is exactly right.

As I said in a post in the "rules" section, I'm doing my best to work cooperatively with people rather than argumentatively. I'm not trying to be mysterious. I'm trying to respect the privacy of certain families.

Even when we don't get the respect that we deserve, I refuse to stoop to that level. Besides, we all know who the Person of Interest is.

I will try to be as specific as I can, as we all will. Thank you NS and Islander, for sticking with us!