I have been following this tragic case. Here's a more detailed summary of what has been established compiled from multiple sources:
John Gerrish (45) and his partner, Ellen Chung (30) were described by friends as “experienced hikers” but were relative newcomers to the area. They moved to Mariposa County from San Francisco during the pandemic and bought a number of properties around the Sierra foothills community, some of which were let as vacation rentals. They bought one property near the trailhead on Hites Cove Road.
Mr Gerrish had been researching the Hites Cove hike on a phone app on the night of 14th August, the day before they started out with their one-year-old daughter Miju and their dog Oksi, an eight-year-old Australian shepherd-akita mix. In planning the journey, Mr Gerrish had only entered ‘way points’ into the app, which would not have calculated the actual trail mileage or elevation changes.
Their truck was seen by a witness at around 7:45am on August 15, heading towards the Hites Cove Trailhead. Fifteen minutes later, the truck was seen parked at the trailhead at the end of Hites Cove Road, with no-one around. The temperature at the time was between 74-76 degrees at the dirt fence with an altitude of 3,880 feet.
They would then have had to walk 2.2 miles down the partially paved Hites Cove Road trail to U.S. Forest Service Trail 20E01.4, by which time the temperature had risen dramatically to between 92-99 degrees. They may not have been aware how quickly this can happen.
That trail would have led them along the South Fork of the Merced River for about 1.9 miles to the Savage Lundy Trail, a precipitous incline with a series of unforgiving switchbacks. By that time the temperature would have been above 100 degrees. They would have trekked that two mile stretch, climbing over 2,000 vertical feet between about 12:50pm and 2:50pm. The trail faces south-southeast and at that time of the day is exposed to constant sun, with no shade. The Ferguson fire of 2018 exacerbated that by burning away what little brush canopy had existed. The temperature peaked at around 109 degrees during their hike.
The bodies were found two days later, around 1.6 miles from their truck. They were apparently on the return leg of what would have been an 8.5 mile loop, with about 5 miles of it in challenging terrain during the hottest part of the day. Sadly, they appeared to have been ill-equipped for such a trek, which is unsuitable for an excursion with a baby.
Mr Gerrish was found in a seated position on a steep dirt path section of the switchbacks leading back to where their truck was parked, with his daughter and dog next to him. The baby was in a backpack carrier. Ms Chung was found slightly further up the path. Mr Gerrish was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, Ms Chung was wearing a tank-top, and both were wearing shorts. Neither of them had hats, and no hats were found in the vicinity. They had only one water container: a ‘Camelbak’ with an 85 ounce bladder lining, which was virtually empty. They had no water filtration equipment and the only other items of sustenance found were some snacks and a bottle containing baby formula.
The couple’s truck keys were found near the bodies on the dirt path. Mr Gerrish’s cell phone was found in his shirt pocket. It has not yet been unlocked to determine whether he tried to make a distress call but there was, in any case, no reception signal in the area that would have enabled him to do so.
The bodies exhibited no injuries, either at the time or from subsequent post-mortem examination. With respect to the possibility of toxic fumes from an abandoned mine, the closest mine was more than two miles away and investigators found no evidence that the family got close to it, or any other mine. It was established that there were toxic plumes of blue-green algae (often mis-described as ‘bacterial’) along the south fork of the Merced River and Snyder Creek, which parallel the hike at the bottom of the valley. While Anatoxin-A from these plumes was found in both the river and creek, there was no indication the family drank any of that water and no evidence of toxins from blood samples. Although these kinds of toxins are also referred to as ‘Very Fast Death Factor’ (VFDF), there have been no confirmed human deaths attributed to them. The small amount of water remaining in their bladder container also tested negative for toxins. Six laboratories were involved in the analyses.
The cause of death for all three of the family was determined to be a consequence of hyperthermia and probable dehydration. The dog’s cause of death remains undetermined. Dogs are rather more resilient to dehydration, but there were signs that it had also suffered from heat exhaustion.
RIP and condolences to their family and friends.
Unless they were stranded in the middle of nowhere following a plane crash or being chased by NAZI’s, terrorists or some other person(s) with intent to harm.
