CA - Jonathan Gerrish, Ellen Chung, daughter, 1 & dog, suspicious death hiking area, Aug 2021 #5

[rahod1]

They should have just reported what the Sheriff's Office actually said---that it was going to hold a news conference “regarding the cause of death” of the family. That doesn't necessarily mean that the Sheriff's Office will announce a probable cause of death (though I think they likely will).

BMM
Agree...I was only stating what word the author *could* have chosen to use other than "potential", which was their interpretation. This, in my opinion, was a much more tentative interpretation of LE findings vs using "probable" COD. MOO
In any event, tomorrow will hopefully bring closure to the families. I've already reached my conclusions and it would take a MIND SHATTERING revelation to change my mind.

 

[ItalyReader]

Yes, "Potential" appears to be the words of the author of the article, not a direct quote from LE.

Exactly.

 

[rahod1]

The Sherriff's Office didn't say "potential" and didn't say "probable"--they said what they said and it should have been reported accurately. I agree with you that the reporter shouldn't have inserted "potential." But I don't agree that using "probable" instead would fix the problem. For all we know, the Sherriff's Office will announce tomorrow that it has concluded its investigation and that the cause of death is undetermined.

BMM
Again...I never stated what LE said...I was referring to the author's interpretation. Also, I never said that using "probable" would "fix the problem". I was simply stating an ALTERNATIVE characterization the author could have used.
BTW MOO>>> Announcing the COD as "UNDETERMINED" is ZERO.

 

[bpeterson912]

BMM
Again...I never stated what LE said...I was referring to the author's interpretation. Also, I never said that using "probable" would "fix the problem". I was simply stating an ALTERNATIVE characterization the author could have used.

Sorry, I'm not following your logic. I don't understand why you think it matters that the reporter could have used "probable" (which the Sheriff's Office didn't say or imply) instead of "potential" (which the Sherriff's Office also didn't say or imply).

In any event, we don't need to keep dissecting the mistakes or choices of the reporter of this particular article. We'll see what the Sherriff's Office says tomorrow afternoon.

 

[fred&edna]

Almost sounds like... The probable potential COD investigators have possibly determined will be announced tomorrow.

jmo

 

[rahod1]

Sorry, I'm not following your logic. I don't understand why you think it matters that the reporter could have used "probable" (which the Sheriff's Office didn't say or imply) instead of "potential" (which the Sherriff's Office also didn't say or imply).

In any event, we don't need to keep dissecting the mistakes or choices of the reporter of this particular article. We'll see what the Sherriff's Office says tomorrow afternoon.

Sometimes we expand our thoughts on this discussion. I'll leave it there. Tomorrow will be closure. MOO>>> COD as POTENTIALLY "UNDETERMINED" will not accomplish that, nor is it PROBABLE.

 

[fred&edna]

Sometimes we expand our thoughts on this discussion. I'll leave it there. Tomorrow will be closure on this tragedy. MOO>>> COD as POTENTIALLY "UNDETERMINED" will not accomplish that, nor is it PROBABLE.

And, likely will still remain somewhat of a mysterious tragedy even with a determined COD.

Very, very sad for family and friends.

jmo

 

[SophieRose]

This is kind of meaningless now but found this back in the beginning and was rereading it a few days ago. Noticed that these kayakers took the Savage Lundy Trail down to the river in May 2008.

If Miss Pump house is still around, they would have needed to go up a creek, at this time of year a dry creekbed, I believe it's called either Devil or Devil's Gulch Creek, to meet the Savage Lundy Trail.

South Fork of the Merced River (Lower)

• 
  So, after a little bit of work we found our way to the trail head and began to hike. About 10 feet into the hike the rain began as a light sprinkle, it felt good, cooled us off, what a blessing we all thought, let us focus on avoiding the copious and unavoidable poison oak over growing the trail. Once down to the river, we instead found a small creek, not sure how much further it was to the river, we began to question our right turn at the last junction on the trail. After 3.5 miles though none of us felt like walking the whole 100 yards back to the trailhead (I know, lazy), so we put on the creek and paddled 100 feet and were pleasantly surprised by the river right there. And so the day began.

Snip

• 
  The hike starts off with a gradual decline for about 2 miles. It then drops steeply (think Giant Gap hike) for about 1 mile, then is up and down near the creek for the remainder. Not bad, only took about 1 hour.

 

[SophieRose]

So the couple didn't want to hike back up the trail/road. Plus their cell phones must have worked in the cooler climate, or was that something on their cars or did they have emergency phones in 2008.

This is about the Hite Cove OHV Trail/road.
South Fork of the Merced River (Lower)

For a side story, the tow drivers said the Rav 4 actually went around the broken down Acura and made it another 0.5 miles before it too broke. Now the Acura Drivers were borrowing the car from a friend. The got stopped when both front tires blew. The Rav 4 was a rental car and although I am not sure how they had their plans foiled, their story is entertaining for the fact that when they did get stopped, instead of hiking back up the trail to civilization, man, wife, and baby in a baby carrier decided the best plan was to head down the trail to the river, hoping to cross the river and hike their way to Yosemite. Amazing...

 

[Lex Parsimoniae]

Strangely I haven’t seen the announcement from the sheriff. Guess I’m missing it somehow.

Thanks for providing a description of the SFChronicle report.

Yeah, I searched for the press release to get it straight from the sheriff in his own words, no luck.

 

[woods]

Where will the news conference be posted?

 

[5W's]

Something I found interesting about LE's news conference scheduled for tomorrow was that one cause of death or manner of death people have been suggesting on our threads here right from the beginning is apparently not a cause (I was questioning it in my own mind but still waiting for all test results to make a conclusion in my mind about what happened to this poor family.) Extreme heat is not listed as a cause I read that on WGN Radio 720. Strange, if its not heat then what? I guess we find out tomorrow. I wish I could link the news story. I'll try another time.

 

[HannahJJJ]

Ah - good catch. If they haven’t determined COD, then I agree they will likely say it was heat stroke.

Pardon my ignorance, will such a news conference reveal any nonfatal levels of pesticides, toxins, poisons, etc. found in post mortem toxicology?

 

[bpeterson912]

Something I found interesting about LE's news conference scheduled for tomorrow was that one cause of death or manner of death people have been suggesting on our threads here right from the beginning is apparently not a cause (I was questioning it in my own mind but still waiting for all test results to make a conclusion in my mind about what happened to this poor family.) Extreme heat is not listed as a cause I read that on WNG Radio 720.

What do you mean by "not listed as a cause"? Who is listing the causes? I know the Mariposa County Sherriff's Office isn't disclosing/listing any causes right now--the press release they issued on Wednesday specifically said that "no information will be given" prior to the scheduled Thursday afternoon press conference.

Who/what is the alleged source of the list you saw?

 

[5W's]

What do you mean by "not listed as a cause"? Who is listing the causes? I know the Mariposa County Sherriff's Office isn't disclosing/listing any causes right now--the press release they issued on Wednesday specifically said that "no information will be given" prior to the scheduled Thursday afternoon press conference.

Who/what is the alleged source of the list you saw?

It was reported on a publication called WGN Radio 720 (MY MISTAKE: I transposed the the G and N

 

[bpeterson912]

It was reported on a publication called WGN Radio 720 (MY MISTAKE: I transposed the the G and N

I know WGN--it's a Chicago radio station. I seriously doubt that WGN has a source in a rural Sherriff's Office in Northern California. You probably read something that WGN took off the wire.

There are several press stories about tomorrow's news conference (including from local media sources that do have contacts in the Mariposa County Sherriff's Office), and not a single one has listed the causes of death that the Sherriff's Office will discuss at tomorrow's news conference.

Edit: I found the WGN Radio article:

Sheriff to announce what killed California family on hike | WGN Radio 720 - Chicago's Very Own

I assume this is the article you saw. It does say that LE had previously ruled out "extreme heat" as a cause, but I'm not aware of any previous report that said that. I suspect that the author of this article (who probably writes for a wire service) made a mistake.

 

[5W's]

What do you mean by "not listed as a cause"? Who is listing the causes? I know the Mariposa County Sherriff's Office isn't disclosing/listing any causes right now--the press release they issued on Wednesday specifically said that "no information will be given" prior to the scheduled Thursday afternoon press conference.

Who/what is the alleged source of the list you saw?

I know WGN--it's a Chicago radio station. I seriously doubt that WGN has a source in a rural Sherriff's Office in Northern California. You probably read something that WGN took off the wire.

There are several press stories about tomorrow's news conference (including from local media sources that do have contacts in the Mariposa County Sherriff's Office), and not a single one has listed the causes of death that the Sherriff's Office
will discuss at tomorrow's news conference.

Edit: I found the WGN Radio article:

Sheriff to announce what killed California family on hike | WGN Radio 720 - Chicago's Very Own

I assume this is the article you saw. It does say that LE has previously ruled out "extreme heat" as a cause, but I'm not aware of any previous report that said that. I suspect that the author of this article (who probably writes for a wire service) made a mistake.

That's why I found that interesting. Possibly a mistake. I'll try and find out but not right now. Its late timewise.

 

[5W's]

I know WGN--it's a Chicago radio station. I seriously doubt that WGN has a source in a rural Sherriff's Office in Northern California. You probably read something that WGN took off the wire.

There are several press stories about tomorrow's news conference (including from local media sources that do have contacts in the Mariposa County Sherriff's Office), and not a single one has listed the causes of death that the Sherriff's Office will discuss at tomorrow's news conference.

Edit: I found the WGN Radio article:

Sheriff to announce what killed California family on hike | WGN Radio 720 - Chicago's Very Own

I assume this is the article you saw. It does say that LE had previously ruled out "extreme heat" as a cause, but I'm not aware of any previous report that said that. I suspect that the author of this article (who probably writes for a wire service) made a mistake.

Yes this is the article.

 

[Pumphouse363]

@Pumphouse363 - We'll see if you are correct when the announcement comes. What you outline is perfectly plausible, imo. The detail about the keys, if correct, is heartrending and points to HS-related confusion, imo. I hope you've found some comfort in the various offerings here. I know I feel the case makes far more sense than it did when I first came on. I've learned so very much. If smart people are dying from HS, we should all be more careful.

Thank you - I think LE learned a great deal from websleuths - it’s almost as if some people on here knew exactly what happened (if that’s what we hear at the press release) because that’s all my last post is based on -things that ‘super-sleuthers’ have put forward on this thread. Previous comments on here have included -
Planning the 8.5 mile trip
Dog needing to be carried due to heat
Losing car keys
Trail up SL proving too difficult in extreme heat
Baby and dog placed in position of least direct sun
Dad seated to create a shadow
Mum further ahead trying to get to car.
All succumbing at some point to heat and exhaustion.
All very plausible possibilities that, for me, are still incomprehensible.
Will have to see what comes out at press conference but will be very interesting to see which, if any, Websleuthers were ‘spot on’.
MOO

 

[Pumphouse363]

RSBM


Is there a source for the fact that the keys were found further down the trail? I must have missed that news!

It’s something someone put forward on a previous thread as a hypothetical possibility.