CA - Jonathan Gerrish, Ellen Chung, daughter, 1 & dog, suspicious death remote hiking area, Aug 2021

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I’m thinking combination of taking dip in contaminated water and falling ill (feeling ill, throwing up, confusion) with extreme heat may have did it.

But if the report that they were well prepared means their water bottles were all full…that wouldn’t support this theory as you’d think they’d go through all their water throwing up etc.

Baffling, hope their is a quick resolution for the family’s sake.

Kip said:
From what I've read about the effects of algae blooms on humans, skin contact with contaminated water wouldn't have caused severe problems, especially so quickly.

This reminds me of Lake Nyos in Africa in the 1980s, when a big bubble of CO2 rose from the bottom of the lake bed and killed all people and animals within 15 miles. But if something similar had happened, there would have been dead animals around.
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happyday said:
That’s what makes this so strange. What does kill a man, a woman, a baby and a dog at the same time right where they were? It like they were struck down right where they were standing with no sign of trauma? So weird. I would think someone would have separated to try to go get help or the dog would have wandered off or something. So it makes me think it was sudden? It just makes no sense.

I wonder if they had any water left in their water bottles when they were found? Do we know that?
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Did LE say it couldn't be lightning?
 
Regarding the trajectory of the hike, it seems we're all assuming the family met death on the way back to their car. What if they were outbound, just starting their hike and walking AWAY from their car?
If the family was returning to their car, they should have had almost no water left in their water bottles. If outbound, the bottles would be near full.
If LE is saying the family was well-prepared for a day hike, maybe the statement reflects that they had sufficient water. That would put them outbound from their car, not inbound towards it.
 
If out bound and hadn’t even reached potentially toxic water that removes that possibility from play. Without that, not sure where else to go but darker.

RickshawFan said:
Regarding the trajectory of the hike, it seems we're all assuming the family met death on the way back to their car. What if they were outbound, just starting their hike and walking AWAY from their car?
If the family was returning to their car, they should have had almost no water left in their water bottles. If outbound, the bottles would be near full.
If LE is saying the family was well-prepared for a day hike, maybe the statement reflects that they had sufficient water. That would put them outbound from their car, not inbound towards it.
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RickshawFan said:
Regarding the trajectory of the hike, it seems we're all assuming the family met death on the way back to their car. What if they were outbound, just starting their hike and walking AWAY from their car?
If the family was returning to their car, they should have had almost no water left in their water bottles. If outbound, the bottles would be near full.
If LE is saying the family was well-prepared for a day hike, maybe the statement reflects that they had sufficient water. That would put them outbound from their car, not inbound towards it.
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This is true and something we don’t know. If they were just starting their hike it would definitely change things.
 
First-time poster here. Thanks for the excellent info so far. I can't get this case out of my head. For those interested, there are some reviews of the trail on AllTrails. It gives a good indication of just how long and strenuous it is: very steep and exposed 3+ miles back up from the water, assuming they went that far (just over 7 miles round-trip from where they would have parked). But if I were a local and saw the page on AllTrails, I'd be drawn in by the beautiful pictures of the water at the gulch. In this case, it's odd to me that LE didn't mention heat as a potential factor in their release or interviews. So sad and strange.

ETA: Google Earth image I took of the portion of the hike leading down to Devil Gulch (at left) and back toward their car (at right, not pictured, and probably another mile or so away).
 
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The California Department of Justice is also assisting with this investigation to help determine the cause of the family’s death. The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office says autopsies and toxicology reports are pending.
Mariposa County Sheriff: ‘I’ve never seen a death like this’ | YourCentralValley.com

Someone clarified for me early on that it's the California DOJ, not the feds. IMO, Mariposa County Sheriff is a small department and likely doesn't have the forensic resources to do a full investigation. Asking for help makes sense.
 
eptichka83 said:
First-time poster here. Thanks for the excellent info so far. I can't get this case out of my head. For those interested, there are some reviews of the trail on AllTrails. It gives a good indication of just how long and strenuous it is: very steep and exposed 3+ miles back up from the water, assuming they went that far (just over 7 miles round-trip from where they would have parked). But if I were a local and saw the page on AllTrails, I'd be drawn in by the beautiful pictures of the water at the gulch. In this case, it's odd to me that LE didn't mention heat as a potential factor in their release or interviews. So sad and strange.
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Welcome to Websleuths !

Great first post. :)
Also, I can't help but wonder if the c.o.d. has been determined ?

Thanks for the link.
 
annpats said:
But with heat exhaustion, would they all have collapsed with it at exactly the same time? They were all found together on the trail, not one of them had tried to find tree cover or shelter from the heat, or tried to make it back to the car?

I find it difficult to believe man, woman, dog and baby all died at the exactly the same time from heat exhaustion right where they were.

You think if that even happened the bodies would be more scattered, as in the case of the Death Valley Germans.
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I don't think we know that they all died at once.

That's an assumption, but, of course, the baby couldn't go anywhere, and some dogs don't know about Lassie, and will stay with their humans who are in trouble. For example, a woman was injured and lost for days and two of her dogs stayed with her. Dog walker rescued from Coquitlam back country describes ordeal | Vancouver Sun

So then, that leaves the parents. Perhaps one of them was unable to function, perhaps because of heat exhaustion. Would the other be willing to leave them behind? Or were they so bonded as a couple with a small infant, that it was unthinkable to abandon the other?
Or, just as an example, pure speculation, what if something happened to the baby, ie she died on the trail? Parents might be so overcome that they wouldn't want to live, to carry her up to the car and take her to hospital, knowing it was too late.

Emphasising, these are not scenarios I am convinced happened, but can be the kind of unusual emotional/ psychological circumstances that lead to tragic outcomes.
 
snake bites?
other insect which can swarm/kill?
dog went in water, came out and shook himself showering everyone with algae water
food/water they took along contaminated
berries/fruit etc they all ate from nearby bushes or trees

it surely must be something they all ingested
 
Has to be a toxic gas IMO. Heatstroke and oral ingestion of many toxic substances would likely leave evidence of vomit/body fluids on at least one of the four.

I know many hikers wouldn’t take a child on this hike in August and some wonder if this was self-harm, but…plenty of people make less-than-ideal decisions with no intent other than having a pleasant outing. This applies even to experienced hikers. And - assuming they got both a dog and an infant to ingest something - there would likely be some fluids evidencing a poisoning IMO.
 
Reason why CA DOJ is involved. I've seen this happen in other cases, doesn't at all mean it's a homicide.

Brits' hiking deaths are homicide say cops who've 'never seen a case like it'

You have two healthy adults, you have a healthy child and what appears to be a healthy canine all within a general same area.

"So right now, we're treating the coroner investigation as a homicide until we can establish the cause."
 
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