Nick and Christene Skubish
Real Names: Christene Dawn and Nicholas Anthony Skubish (Scoobish is an alternate misspelling)
Nicknames: Chrissy (Christene); Nick, Nicky (Nicholas)
Location: Placerville, California
Date: June 6, 1994
Bio[]
Occupation: Paralegal (Christene)
Date of Birth: October 24, 1970 (Christene)
Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Marital Status: Engaged (Christene)
Characteristics: Unrevealed
Case[]
Details: On June 6, 1994, twenty-three-year-old Christene Skubish and her three-year-old son, Nick, were driving along Highway 50 in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in California when they vanished without a trace. Christene was a single mother who had recently earned her paralegal certification and was also hopeful about marrying Nick's father. She left her family's home near Sacramento on June 5, 1994, headed for Carson City, Nevada. She was reported missing on June 8 by her stepfather, Dave Stautzenbach, who called the police to make a missing-persons report on her disappearance. An investigation began into this case, but no leads initially turned up.
Suspects: None
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired on the February 21, 1997 episode.
- The paranormal attributes of it were featured on Paranormal Witness.
Results: Solved. Five days after Christene and Nick disappeared, a woman named Deborah Hoyt and her husband were driving along Highway 50 late at night. They were singing to keep themselves awake. Suddenly, Deborah saw a naked woman laying on the side of the road. She was laying on her side, her knees were slightly bent, she had one arm underneath her head, and the other arm on her head. The Hoyts were dumbfounded. They thought it might have been an obscene practical joke or a trap to hijack their car. They stopped at the nearest phone booth to call the police.
Within minutes, two cruisers were at the site where Deborah had seen the woman's body. However, without a landmark to pinpoint the exact location, the authorities found nothing. The next morning, some began to suspect that the sighting had something to do with the disappearance of Christene and Nick. At the urging of their families, Deputy Rich Strasser decided to investigate further. He figured that it might be easier to spot something in the daylight.
Deborah had pinpointed a particularly dangerous stretch of Highway 50 known as "Bullion Bend". As Strasser drove in the area, he noticed a child's black tennis shoe on the side of the road. The area next to it was a steep embankment. He decided to pull over and search there further. At the bottom of the ravine, he discovered the twisted remains of Christene's car. He checked her and discovered that she was dead. He went to the passenger side to check Nick, who was laying in a fetal position naked.
Strasser assumed that Nick had also died. However, when he touched his neck to find a pulse, it appeared that he took a breath. Strasser immediately called for an ambulance. Nick had been alone in the car for five days. Police believe that sometime after 2am on June 6, Christene fell asleep at the wheel. She drove off the road and crashed her car at the bottom of the ravine. Due to the incline, motorists drove past the accident scene for days, unaware of it. Strasser said he had spotted the boy's tennis shoe on the side of the highway Saturday, and then found the car. He believes the boy at some point climbed from the car to the highway, and then returned to the car. That is the only explanation for the shoe being on the road,"
Christene had been killed instantly; Nick was all alone with no way out and no one to talk to. Christene's mother believes that he spent the time talking to her, unaware that she was dead. Against all odds, he had survived five days of blistering heat and four nights of cold, dark solitude. Doctors who examined him believed that he would have had only an hour or two left to live had he not been rescued.
The strange circumstances that saved Nick's life seem to defy explanation. If Deborah had not seen the naked woman, he would have not survived. It seems impossible for that to have been Christene, as she was still fully clothed and wearing her seat belt. Furthermore, Strasser believes that she was most likely killed on impact. Deborah is certain that she saw a naked woman on the side of the road. She and Christene's family believes that it was her spirit who saved Nick that day.
Nick later told interviewers, "I remember almost every night; I don't remember the days too much, but I remember the night we wrecked. I remember the car flipping. I remember hitting tree after tree after tree… And I remember when the roof of the car got ripped off. I remember seeing my mom. I remember getting out of the car. I remember climbing up that forty-foot embankment and sliding down on pine needles. I remember seeing the lights. I remember every night, pretty much. I just don't remember the days at all. If anything, I feel like I was sleeping, but I don't remember the days at all."
On Paranormal Witness, Nick, now an adult, was interviewed. He described a bright light surrounding their car following the accident. He also recalled seeing the figure of a woman standing near the road. He believed that Christine was watching over him following the accident.
It was also mentioned that Christene's aunt had several dreams about the accident before she and Nick were ever reported missing. She saw them laying in the car in a ditch. She also saw the number "16" which turned out to be the number for a mile marker near the accident scene.
Links:
- Report of naked lady leads deputies to boy trapped in car - June 12, 1994
- Tot survives five days in car wreckage - June 13, 1994
- Trapped child rescued after five days - June 14, 1994
- Boy, 3, Recovering After 5 Days in Car with Dead Mother - June 14, 1994
- "Miracle baby" told of mom's death in wreck - June 15, 1994
- Survivor of California Drama has Family Here - June 16, 1994
- Tot survives 6 days after crash that killed former area resident - June 17, 1994
- Local fatal car crash focus of Unsolved Mysteries show - November 13, 1996
- "Unsolved Mystery?" Not to victim's mom - November 21, 1996
- Truth or Legend? A Mother's Ghost Saves Her Son -
- Christene Skubish at Mystery Portals -
- Christene Skubish on Find a Grave