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In the two months that passed before the sheriffs announcement, theories abounded over the familys deaths. Law enforcement are "investigating possible lightning strikes" in the Hite Cove area of the Sierra National Forest, along the South Fork of the Merced River, where Jonathan Gerrish, Ellen Chung . According to the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office, the area is reported to be where a family and their dog were found dead. Police must now wait on toxicology reports from the autopsies, which could take as much as six weeks. The sheriffs office also had said previously that extreme heat had been ruled out, but Briese said Thursday that the investigators are now convinced that the finding of hyperthermia and dehydration is correct for the couple and their daughter, Aurelia Miju. They had moved last year from the Bay Area to Mariposa County. . "We have not found any old mine shafts near the area," the Sheriff said. Water not far from the trail later tested positive for toxic algae including anatoxin-a, also known as Very Fast Death Factor (VFDF). I am very proud of my team and our partner agencies for all the work they put in. "These algal blooms can produce toxins that can make people and pets extremely sick," says BLM field manager Elizabeth Meyer-Shields. Now hes under review, Blizzard conditions close major highways and roads in Lake Tahoe area, trigger avalanche, Last wave of winter storm hits Southern California, bringing snow, hail, rain. John studied at Newcastle University before working in London before his move across the Atlantic. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 2 h 51 min to complete. On Thursday, Sheriff Jeremy Briese announced the results of an FBI analysis of the fathers cellphone that painted a clearer picture of the familys final hours. All were ruled out by the autopsy and additional tests. The release said six separate laboratories helped with testing water samples from several locations of the South Fork of the Merced River and were positive for Anatoxin A, which can be deadly to animals but has never caused any recorded deaths among humans. Gerrish only entered way points, or point-to-point mapping, which the Sheriffs Office said does not calculate the exact mileage and elevation changes on the trail. None of the four victims bore any signs of obvious trauma; however according to the National Weather Service: "Lightning is primarily an injury to the nervous system, often with brain injury and nerve injury. Last Names. The release said he used several different trail-mapping apps and frequently took hikes, the news release stated. None of the bodies had physical wounds like gunshots or signs of trauma and no suicide note was found. The married couple, Jonathan Gerrish and Ellen Chung, along with their 1-year-old daughter, Miju, and the family dog, Oski, were all found dead, inexplicably, on Aug. 17 on a steep switchback trail roughly 1.5 miles from where they parked their car. A family was recently found dead on a hiking trail along the Merced River in a remote area of the Sierra National Forest in California. SFGate notes death by lightning strike is extremely rare, occurring in about 10% of cases. ". The case remains ongoing, pending these investigations. Many were photos of the trail, the river and the family but the final photo, taken two hours after the last photo of a river, was a screenshot of the familys location from a trail app they used to navigate around the Savage Lundy and Hites Cove trails. We're looking at the entire area as a whole.". We have no timeline for those pending results.". Explore the most popular trails in my list YNP. A helicopter hovers over a remote area northeast of the town of Mariposa, California on August 18, 2021. Hites Cove Trail. The photos corroborated the sheriffs office investigation. Some wondered whether water tainted by a toxic algae bloom in the Merced River, which runs along a portion of the trail, caused their deaths. After the autopsies, the deaths of the Gerrish family remained unexplained. The plea never went through, stymied by the lack of cellular reception in the area. A cell phone was found in Johns pocket, but there is little to no cell coverage on that section of the trail where the bodies were found. The investigation is now being treated as a homicide. Gerrish and his wife, with their daughter in a backpack-style carrier, and the family dog all left on foot from the Hites Cove Trailhead and walked 2.2 miles down to the U.S. Forest Service Tail 20E01.4, where the elevation dipped to 1,930 feet and approximate temperature at the time they were walking was between 92 and 99 degrees, the release said. Gerrish was carrying a phone during the hike. Samples of bacteria bloom along the south fork of the Merced River and Snyder Creek, which run adjacent to the trail were also taken to test for any other possible contamination in the water in the area. The family was found dead on the Savage Lundy Trail at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 17 with no cause of death immediately apparent. The Roald Dahl problem: Is it right to remove disturbing language from works of literature? . Toxic algae and fumes from mines known to be in the area were also discussed heavily as possible causes. They looked like they had sat down in the hot sun and succumbed suddenly, but to what? The dog's cause of death was not determined, though Briese said he suspects heat was also the leading factor. Rosanna Heaslett told News4SA that the couple regularly went hiking on weekends, but had not returned or turned up for work on Monday morning. Designated recreation sites, roads, and trails in proximity and/or leading to this location will be off-limits to the public. From there, they walked 1.9 miles to the Savage Lundy Trail, then ended up on a steep incline where temperatures reached 107 to 109 degrees due to a lack of shade and high elevation. "There were no signs of trauma, no obvious cause of death. With fires raging across the state, the USDA Forest Service then closed all 20 million acres of Californias national forests to public access for two weeks beginning Tuesday, August 31, 2021, extending through at least September 17. Six more causes of death have been ruled out in the baffling case. The Savage Lundy Trail is a 2.8-mile long trail and is the most difficult trail in the area near the south fork of the Merced River and the Devils Gulch. Heat related deaths are extremely difficult to investigate, and I want to thank you all for being patient with us as we investigated the case, Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said in the news release. Back when these mines were in operation, their operators could just simply abandon them without removing hazards. One researcher told Live Science, that while possible, that scenario would be unusual. Their vehicle was spotted around 7:45 a.m. headed toward the Hite Cove trailhead, elevation 3,800 feet. On Friday, officials announced that 28 miles of public area along the Merced River downstream from where the family was found were closed off after high levels of toxic algae were discovered in the water. Following the discovery of the bodies, although there was no sign of foul play or of trauma to the bodies, but in accordance with procedure, the investigation was classified as a homicide, pending results from the coroners post-mortem examinations and toxicology tests. The area is northeast of Mariposa and southwest of Yosemite National Park. There exists the possibility that a hazard was identified near, but not on, the trail that posed a risk to the family. The family then began what the release described as the steep incline section of the Savage Lundy Trail, which is a south-southeast facing slope that exposes the trail to constant sunlight. Gerrishs attempted message was among several key pieces of new information released Thursday by the Mariposa County Sheriffs Office that shed further light on the familys final hours. its devastating to everyone. Waiting for your permission to load the Facebook Video. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). She was earning her Masters in Counseling Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies after having graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2012. In a press conference on Thursday, October 21, 2021, the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the Gerrish family died of hyperthermia and probable dehydration, while their 8-year-old dog Oski also suffered a heat-related death. He was a native Southern Californian and graduated from UC Irvine in 2012 with a degree in journalism and Spanish literature. Looking for the best hiking trails in Frankfurt am Main? Now, after multiple months in FBI possession, the contents of Gerrishs phone were revealed, showing failed phone calls and text messages, as well as photos, that paint a more vivid portrait of the familys last moments. Their deaths were caused by hyperthermia and "probable" dehydration, Sheriff Jeremy Briese announced in October, based on autopsy and toxicology test results and a sheriffs office investigation. As Ive mentioned, the Gerrish Chung family have been our top priority as we dealt with this horrible event.. But was this really a possible explanation, given the distance to the mine? John was in a seated position, with the baby beside him along with the dog, and Ellen was just a little farther up the hill. Gerrish was 45 and Chung was 30. A leading theory, previously, was that exposure to water contaminated with toxic algae blooms may have been a major factor. But there are no known human deaths connected to drinking or wading in such contaminated water, according to the California Department of Public Health. Deputies found just one empty water container, an 85oz CamelBak, at the scene. There was also no evidence indicating that Gerrish, Chung or their daughter had ingested any of the river water. A hazmat situation was declared after the bodes were found, but was eventually lifted. "You think that even if people were exposed they're not all going to be exposed at the same rate." No water or ver [over] heating with baby.. Tuesday, Aug. 17: 1:55 a.m., a search and rescue mission is initiated. Following toxicology testing, on September 30, 2021, the Mariposa County Sherriffs office confirmed that further investigations had meant that the following had been ruled out as a cause of death: Gun or any other type of weapon, Lightning Strike, Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, Cyanide Exposure, Illegal Drugs / Alcohol, and Suicide. This is a popular trail for hiking and walking, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day. But algal mats, because they're clinging onto the rocks, wouldn't flow down the stream. Mariposa County Sheriff's Office announced the results of several toxicology reports on Thursday none of which revealed what killed John Gerrish, Ellen Chung, their one-year-old daughter Muji, and family dog Oski. "They will remain with us wherever we go and in whatever we do. They were out in the middle of a national forest on a day hike." (Craig Kohlruss/The Fresno Bee via AP, File), Cat Leads Rescuers to Man Who Fell Down Waterfall, Welcome to the Most Dangerous National Park, Most Anemic Iditarod in History Is About to Begin, Havana Syndrome Report Suggests Causes Are Benign, Georgia Man Vanishes on Work Trip to Baton Rouge, Sweet Potato Leads to Arrest in Massachusetts Cold Case, Kid KOs Teacher's Aide, Keeps Swinging: Cops, Ghislaine Maxwell Wants Her Conviction Thrown Out, Plan to Shoot at Feral Cows From Helicopters Carried Out, A 'Stunning Defeat' in Chicago Mayoral Race, Trump Responds to Rupert Murdoch's Testimony, As Russians Flee, Finland Builds a Border Fence, Cops: UPS Workers Made Some Very Illegal Deliveries. In the mid-19th century, an area around Hites Cove held a hard-rock gold mine, where certain techniques are used to extract "hard" minerals holding metals like gold, according to The Associated Press. Serious burns seldom occur.". Ellen Chung, 31, worked as a yoga instructor before becoming pregnant with their daughter. The official cause of death still leaves many questions and remains a puzzling outcome for the families, especially as they seem to have succumbed to the heat all at the same time, including the dog. Search-and-rescue teams arrived about 4 a.m. Aug. 17 and began tracking down the Hites Cove Trail after locating human and animal tracks. With a south/southeastern exposure, it was in constant sun. Warmer storms could cause problems, Missing hiker from L.A. 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