This case is beyond weird and so much information is missing. It sounds like Tuolumne Sheriffs Department handed over all of the files to his parents. Neither is still alive
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I cannot express how remote this campground is. It is
10 miles from the Sonora Pass Highway (CA-108). The turnoff from the highway is not marked at all. The road is partly paved, part dirt, very windy and very steep in places. Getting to the campground requires knowing which turns to make, and there are several of them. It seems so unlikely that his friends would arrive at 2am to this nightmare. This was 1996. Google Maps did not exist, and even if they had cell phones, they most likely did not have reception (there is still no reception in the area). This campground only has 10-12 spaces; it's tiny.
Had Joseph Tine not been identified, I would not buy the friends' story at all (I would question if they even went to the campground); though I still don't know if I buy it.
The fact that Mike's camping spot had a fresh fire means that either the perp was waiting for the friends to arrive, or Tine did something bad to Mike immediately before the friends arrived. (But there is another option). Since there were no cell phones, how would the perp know when company would be arriving? One of his missing sites said that witnesses saw Mike and Tine fishing and camping together. Ok, so this is how he knew Mike's name and how he got into Mike's camping spot and perhaps how he got his boots.
When the friends arrive, Tine pops out of the bushes and wants to know who the friends are and why they are there. Then he asks if they are looking for "Mikey." This could be interpreted as extremely creepy (well, it is either way), or, since Tine was seen camping with Mike, he was creeped out by the friends and legit did not know what happened to Mike (Tine could have been mentally ill too). Mike and Matilda walk off and get into some kind of trouble.
The gun creeped me out at first, but there is a Yelp review for this campground, and it seems to be common knowledge that people do not conceal their arms at this campground. The fact that Tine apparently hung around for hours (?) by himself, cocking his pistol without doing anything threatening to the friends, leads me to believe he may have been mentally ill, and perhaps was also waiting for Mike to return while being suspicious of the friends. LE said something along the lines that Tine's gun had not been fired (unless he had reloaded).
There is still so much bizarre about this case:
1. Witnesses apparently saw Mike at a cabin in Pinecrest. Ok, well, what was he doing? Was he with anyone?
2. This is a very small campground. Were Mike and Tine the only ones there? How did nobody else witness anything?
3. When did Tine move on and how did it happen? At some point, the friends got away from him to get help.
4. There is very little mention of any kind of questioning of Tine except testing his gun and a polygraph (with no shared results).
5. Why did it take Matilda 4 days to return? How far did Mike and Matilda travel? I have several suspicions. Some believe she stayed with Mike after he died. It's also possible she was frightened of Tine (if he was the perp) and only returned once she could not hear or smell him. Since Matilda was dehydrated, I imagine they could not have been near water. Why didn't LE bring Matilda back once she had rested? Who found Matilda to begin with? What direction did she come from?
My puzzle pieces suggest an accident, but Occam's Razor would suggest Tine was responsible. How on Earth can there not be any evidence of what happened and where Mike is? There are only 2 people that know! Instead, LE believes he may have been killed by a random serial killer (??) or Cary Stayner (he only killed women, though he was familiar with the area... Carol Sund's remains were found within 5-10 miles of the turnoff to this campground)
This case, as stated, is something straight out of a horror film.
