Seattle1
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/23/mariposa-family-death-mystery/
Aug 23, 2021
The couple’s house sits near the head of Hites Cove Trail, and hours after the family was reported missing at about 11 p.m., the trailhead is where police started looking. A sheriff’s deputy found the couple’s truck parked near the trail’s entrance around 2 a.m., the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Nine hours later and 1.5 miles from the truck, in an area known as Devil’s Gulch, a search-and-rescue team found Gerrish, Chung, their daughter, Miju, and the dog.
They were all dead.
[..]
Authorities still don’t know how they died. Autopsies yielded no conclusive results about the cause, CNN reported. A toxicology report, which could take several weeks, is pending.
Gerrish was in a seated position with the baby and dog beside him, according to the Chronicle. Chung was a little farther up the hill.
[..]
When police found their bodies, there were no signs of trauma, the Fresno Bee reported. There was no suicide note or indication that the deaths were intentional, according to CNN. Although temperatures reached as high as 109 degrees the day the family hiked, dehydration was deemed unlikely because there was still water in the family’s hydration pack, the Chronicle reported.
[..]
About a month before the family was found dead, the U.S. Forest Service warned that “a high concentration of algae bloom” had been found in the Merced River near Hites Cove, where Gerrish and Chung were hiking. The Forest Service warned visitors not to swim or let their pets “enjoy” the water.
But reported human deaths from freshwater algal blooms are rare, the Chronicle reported. David Caron, a biological sciences professor at the University of Southern California, told the newspaper that although freshwater bacteria are a threat to people and animals, it would take high concentrations to kill humans rapidly.
______________
I think it's clear that investigators have been listening to the pathologist that examined and autopsied three different bodies where they even considered deaths from freshwater algal blooms which are reportedly rare.
Unlike the rest of us only reading about the deaths, I trust the pathologists here are being thorough with the many "knowns" including the location of the bodies, environment, last proof of life (within 48 hours of recovery), post mortem blood, and changes in the body, etc. A pathologist can also determine dehydration, and heat stroke from the post mortem blood and organs. Until final toxicology results are available, I think we will continue to learn from investigators only what was not responsible for the deaths and/or ruled out. MOO
http://www.pacoroners.org/Uploads/Topics of Interest/Postmortem Changes.pdf
Aug 23, 2021
The couple’s house sits near the head of Hites Cove Trail, and hours after the family was reported missing at about 11 p.m., the trailhead is where police started looking. A sheriff’s deputy found the couple’s truck parked near the trail’s entrance around 2 a.m., the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Nine hours later and 1.5 miles from the truck, in an area known as Devil’s Gulch, a search-and-rescue team found Gerrish, Chung, their daughter, Miju, and the dog.
They were all dead.
[..]
Authorities still don’t know how they died. Autopsies yielded no conclusive results about the cause, CNN reported. A toxicology report, which could take several weeks, is pending.
Gerrish was in a seated position with the baby and dog beside him, according to the Chronicle. Chung was a little farther up the hill.
[..]
When police found their bodies, there were no signs of trauma, the Fresno Bee reported. There was no suicide note or indication that the deaths were intentional, according to CNN. Although temperatures reached as high as 109 degrees the day the family hiked, dehydration was deemed unlikely because there was still water in the family’s hydration pack, the Chronicle reported.
[..]
About a month before the family was found dead, the U.S. Forest Service warned that “a high concentration of algae bloom” had been found in the Merced River near Hites Cove, where Gerrish and Chung were hiking. The Forest Service warned visitors not to swim or let their pets “enjoy” the water.
But reported human deaths from freshwater algal blooms are rare, the Chronicle reported. David Caron, a biological sciences professor at the University of Southern California, told the newspaper that although freshwater bacteria are a threat to people and animals, it would take high concentrations to kill humans rapidly.
______________
I think it's clear that investigators have been listening to the pathologist that examined and autopsied three different bodies where they even considered deaths from freshwater algal blooms which are reportedly rare.
Unlike the rest of us only reading about the deaths, I trust the pathologists here are being thorough with the many "knowns" including the location of the bodies, environment, last proof of life (within 48 hours of recovery), post mortem blood, and changes in the body, etc. A pathologist can also determine dehydration, and heat stroke from the post mortem blood and organs. Until final toxicology results are available, I think we will continue to learn from investigators only what was not responsible for the deaths and/or ruled out. MOO
http://www.pacoroners.org/Uploads/Topics of Interest/Postmortem Changes.pdf
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