Welcome to Mysteries over Martinis! This blog is a mix of unexplained phenomena and personal encounters served up with a mystery-themed cocktail. It’s a recipe for intrigue!

Naked Lady

1 oz white rum
1 oz sweet vermouth
4 dashes apricot brandy
2 dashes grenadine syrup
4 dashes lemon juice

Pour the white rum, sweet vermouth, apricot brandy, grenadine and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker. Fill shaker halfway with ice cubes. Shake well, strain into a cocktail glass, and serve.

 
Vision on Highway 50

Placerville is situated on Highway 50, a remote road that connects Lake Tahoe to Sacramento, CA. It tightly winds through the foothills of the Sierra Mountains, setting the scene for both an ominous mystery and a miraculous rescue.

On June 6^th, 1994, Christene Skubish and her 3 ½ year old son Nicky said goodbye to her parents. They were leaving Placerville and headed 600 miles south where Christene would be starting a new job as a paralegal. The vibrant 24 year old dreamed of going to law school and this was an amazing opportunity for her. She and her son ventured down Highway 50, with their sights on Southern California.

Christene assured her parents she would call them in a couple of days to let them know she’d arrived. However, that day never came. In fact, they received a call saying that Christene and Nicky never made it to their destination. Her mother and stepfather called area hospitals but came up empty handed. They contacted the local sheriff’s department to report them missing. They were told that she’d most likely show up and not to worry about it. In an attempt to get resolution, her parents printed fliers and began to canvas the area asking if anyone had seen their missing daughter and grandson. Their efforts yielded no results.

“I was desperate to find her, along with my wife. As the time kept ticking on, we started getting more worried. We knew that something had happened, but we didn’t know what.” (1) Her stepfather Dave Stautzenbach said.

After four days had passed, the El Dorado Sheriff’s Dept. made the case a priority. The Detective assigned to the case asked Deputy Rich Strasser to follow up with the 24 hour gas stations in the area to see if Christene may have stopped on her way out of town. He took a flier with him. He hoped that someone may recall seeing Christene and Nicky. He came across one clerk who remembered seeing Christene the night of June 6^th. He told the deputy that she had a little boy with her and he described her car. He said they made small talk as she purchased a couple of sodas. She told him she was very tired and that she was making the trek through the winding mountains to get to Southern California to see a friend.

Approximately 45 miles west of Placerville, Deborah Hoyt and her husband were visiting family in Sacramento. She awoke in the early hours of Saturday morning with an urgency to head home.

“I felt like there something was pulling me up the mountain.” (1) Deborah said.

She woke her husband and told him they needed to leave immediately. He tried to talk her in to leaving later in the morning but she insisted they pack up and take off. Deborah admitted that she did not like traveling on Highway 50 at night but she could not shake the feeling that she should depart at once.

Deborah and her husband made their way up the meandering roadway. They sang to keep each other awake. As they approached a particularly dangerous stretch of Highway 50 called Bouillon Bend, a horrifying sight caught Deborah’s attention.

“I saw a naked lady laying on the side of the road. Her face was towards me, on her side, her knees were slightly bent and she had one arm underneath her head and one arm on her head.” (2)

Her husband wanted to pull over to see if they could help but Deborah was hesitant to stop the car. She wondered if it might be an obscene joke or perhaps a ploy to get a passerby to stop their car. She told her husband to continue to the next payphone. They stopped at a Ranger’s Station and Deborah called 911. She reported the shocking scene and the police told her to wait the car with their doors locked until they arrived. Two cruisers soon arrived and she explained what she’d seen. Unfortunately, there were no landmarks to zero in on the specific area so the Hoyts were told to follow along but to stay 200 yards behind. A search of the area was done with spotlights but the authorities came up empty handed. Deborah wondered if they even believed her but she insists she saw the woman.

Deputy Strasser was at the station when the officers who responded to Deborah’s call returned from their search. They discussed whether or not Deborah imagined what she’d seen or if someone might be playing a prank on passing motorists. According to Deputy Strasser, the officers ultimately believed Deborah saw something but were unable to find anything.

When Deborah arrived home, she tried to put the image out of her mind and go to sleep. However, the image of the pale woman lying lifelessly on the road continued to pop into her head.

Deputy Strasser began to wonder if there might be a connection between the naked woman and Christene Skubish’s disappearance. “I just had a sixth sense. I thought, I’m going to go up into that area and search myself.” (1) He drove up to Bouillon Bend at sunrise. He was looking for anything unusual such as debris or skid marks. He parked on the shoulder and walked along the highway. He spotted a child’s tennis shoe and made his way into the pine trees to see what was beyond view. He discovered a red car situated at the bottom of a 40 foot ravine. It matched the description of Christene’s vehicle. As he climbed down the steep embankment, he noticed a trail of debris. The roof had been sheared off by low hanging branches. He approached the mangled wreckage and saw a woman sitting behind the steering wheel. He felt for a pulse but it was clear she was deceased. A small boy lay in the passenger seat. He was naked and curled up into the fetal position. Deputy Strasser did not feel a pulse. He believed he was dead until he noticed the boy’s chest rose a bit as if he took a breath.

“I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. I thought I was seeing things. I got down close and I could feel shallow breaths.” (1) Strasser got on the radio and called for an ambulance. Nick was suffering from dehydration and hypothermia. He had survived 5 hot days and 5 cold nights out in the wilderness. According to his doctor, he was only about an hour away from death.

Deborah Hoyt’s mother called her attention to the news story about Christene and Nick being located along Bouillon Bend. When Deborah saw the photo of Christene, she knew it was her she’d seen lying on the side of the road. “She had the same soft face and if you could imagine her eyes closed, that would have been her.” (1) Deborah said.

“The coroner’s report indicated that Christene’s death was immediate and that she died on impact. Christene Skubish never took off her clothes, never climbed up the hill, never lied [sic] on the side of the road, never went back down and got redressed and put herself back in the car. None of that happened. She was lying dead in that car for 5 days before Deborah Hoyt ever saw anybody on the side of the road.” Deputy Strasser stressed firmly.

Although he was only 3 ½ years old at the time, Nick Skubish remembers the terrifying drop down the ravine. He said the car hit tree after tree as the car tumbled down hill. He woke up in the passenger seat and thought his mom was asleep.

As a child and now as an adult, Nick describes something strange about his time spent in the wreckage. “I remember seeing lights. I just remember that there was something there, something right next to the car the entire time, right next to my mom… Through the back window of the car itself, I could see the same thing next to the road. It had a silhouette. There were not specific features but I saw a light, an outline of a body… I didn’t feel afraid when I saw it.”

Nick believes an angel protected him during the time he spent stranded in the Sierra Mountains. “Whether it was God’s hand or just a mother looking after her son, I honestly don’t know… but it was something greater than me, greater than anything I’ve ever believed.”

The authorities presume that Christene Skubish fell asleep behind the wheel that fateful June evening. When asked if he thought the discovery of Christene and Nicky was a miracle, Deputy Strasser said, “Yeah, I think it is a miracle. It’s a whole series of events that I can’t explain…I’ve often thought about it, I just don’t have the answers.”

This was one of my favorite segments from Unsolved Mysteries. It intrigued me because Deputy Strasser adds to the credibility of this story. People in law enforcement have so much to lose and it seems unlikely that he would risk his reputation. His investigative background also supports him as a reliable witnesses. The other factor that makes this story more solid is the documentation supporting this as an actual event. I have included one such article courtesy the Lodi News-Sentinel.

 

As always, I invite you to post your comments, questions, or personal encounters. Anything weird is always welcome!

 

References:

1. “Haunted Highway.” Paranormal Witness. Syfy. 9/14/11
2. “Highway Vision.” Unsolved Mysteries: The Ultimate Collection. Cosgrove/Meurer Productions. Lifetime Television, 2006. DVD.