John Fitzgerald Dubose Jr., 20, and his friend Ladexter Pelt, 25, traveled from Alabama to Sacramento on November 4, 2021, to visit friends. After landing they were seen getting into a dark blue four-door sedan, possibly a Nissan or Toyota, which left the airport at 11:07 a.m. Their last known location was just south of Gridley, about 60 miles north of Sacramento. Families lost contact and both men were reported missing.

On November 8, 2021, a hunter found Dubose’s cellphone in the Sutter Bypass Wildlife Area near the Feather River Bridge by Nicholas, California; searches of the area turned up no further clues. Information from Pelt’s cellphone provider led investigators to a Sacramento hotel the next day. The Butte County Sheriff’s Office later stated it believed both men had been murdered at a residence in Gridley. Brothers Ricardo and Alfredo Banuelos-Villarreal were charged with two counts of murder in December 2021; blood evidence in a detached garage matched the DNA of one of the missing men. Ricardo was arrested November 14, 2021, and Alfredo remains at large.

The bodies of Dubose and Pelt have not been found. Does anyone who knew John or Ladexter, or who was in Gridley or near the Sutter Bypass in early November 2021, have information to share?