Keddie Cabin 28 Victims

On the morning of April 12, 1981, a teenage girl staying in Cabin 28 at the Keddie Resort in Plumas County, California woke to discover a horrific scene. Her mother, 36-year-old Glynn Sharp (known as Sue), along with Sue's friend Dana Wingate (17) and Sue's 15-year-old son John, had been bound, beaten with a hammer, and stabbed. Sue's 12-year-old daughter Tina was missing. Three younger children—ages 5, 10, and 12—had slept through the attack in an adjacent room.

The crime scene was extraordinarily violent. The victims had been bound with medical tape and electrical cord. Two knives and a hammer were recovered, all bent from the force of the attack. The violence suggested rage-fueled killing by someone who knew the victims. Tina Sharp's remains were not found until 1984, when her skull and other bones were discovered near Camp Eighteen in Butte County, approximately 60 miles away.

The investigation was plagued by mishandled evidence, jurisdictional disputes, and the remote location. Plumas County had limited resources, and key evidence—including the door of Cabin 28—went missing. A hammer head was reportedly found in a nearby pond, and a witness came forward years later claiming to have seen suspects leaving the cabin that night.

In 2016, Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood publicly named Martin Smartt, a neighbor of the victims who had since died, as the prime suspect. Smartt's ex-wife had apparently told investigators details about the crimes. However, the district attorney declined to pursue the case, citing insufficient evidence for prosecution without a living defendant to stand trial. Cabin 28 was demolished in 2004. The case remains officially open.