The strange disappearance of Michael Madden from the Stanislaus Forest

October 31, 2017 StrangeOutdoors

Michael Madden disappeared August 10, 1996, Sand Bar Flat, Sonora, California

Revised September 2024

Michael “Mike” Madden, 20, was a keen outdoorsman and aspiring forest ranger. On August 10, 1996, friends arranged to meet him after a camping and fishing trip into the wilderness at Sand Bar Flat on the Stanislaus River near Sonora, California. The Stanislaus Forest is southeast of Sacramento.

Mike left his family's home in his Chevy Cavalier at around 5 a.m. with his dog Matilda, camping and fishing equipment. Michael had visited this area many times before.

This was the last time he was ever seen alive. His remains were never found.

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The campsite at Sand Bar Flat and the stranger

Michael's friends arrived at the Sand Bar Flat area at approximately 2:00 am on August 12. There was no sign of Michael or the dog, but his gear was found near a freshly made fire.

A man called Joseph Tine suddenly appeared at the camp soon after, emerging out of the darkness and spooking everyone. He was carrying an automatic pistol and asked the friends if they were looking for "Mikey." "There was a campfire lit right there in Mike's campsite," said Josh Rocha, one of his friends. "Some creepy guy popped out of the bushes and asked, 'What are you doing here?' "

According to Mike's friends, Tine made the group very nervous by repeatedly cocking his pistol during the next 6 hours as they waited for him to arrive. The friends believed that Tine was also wearing Michael's boots or ones that looked similar to the ones he usually wore.

The search

Mike was reported missing soon after failing to attend the camp on August 11, 1996.

A search was immediately started with search-and-rescue teams, divers and sniffer dogs, but nothing was found. His dog, Matilda, returned to the campsite four days later in a dehydrated state, and she could not lead searchers back to Mike.

Tine was allegedly given a polygraph nine months later, but the results are unknown and presumably negative since he was never charged with any offence.

Randy Powell, Larry Madden's stepson and Michael's half-brother, said police reports include statements from witnesses who told authorities Michael had been at a cabin near Pinecrest, not at Sand Bar Flat, the day he disappeared.

Tuolumne County sheriff's detectives suspect Michael was murdered, but the case went cold more than a decade ago. Sheriff's Lt. Dan Bressler said: "As far as I know, we haven't had any new information in many years."

What happened to Michael Madden? Murdered by Tine or another killer, lost in the wilderness, or fell into the river?

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