For those blocked by the pay wall, some salient points that the SF Chronicle gleaned from the 77 pages of official reports:
Numerous experts suggested to detectives that the family had catastrophically underestimated how dangerous their trek would be in the summer heat, that they hadn’t taken nearly enough water with them, and were “completely unaware of the dangers.” A U.S. Forest Service employee familiar with the trail said that locals “stay clear of it” during the summer months. One local disparagingly described the couple to investigators as “city folk”, citing as an example that they bought their firewood from the store rather than cutting their own.
The cause of death for the family was finalised as “hyperthermia and probable dehydration”. They essentially got too hot, causing their brains to shut down, followed by their organs.
A search of Mr Gerrish’s ‘AllTrails’ app history indicated he had hiked a portion of the same loop in May 2017, when the weather was probably cooler. On the day of the tragedy, the air temperature was 76 degrees when they started out in the early morning, 99 degrees three hours later, and peaked at 109 degrees in the afternoon. The ground temperature would have been higher, exacerbated by the lack of shade.
Mr Gerrish wore dark shorts, a yellow T-shirt and tennis shoes. Ms Chung wore hiking boots, spandex shorts and a yellow tank top. The baby was dressed in a short-sleeved onesie and shoes, and was strapped into a carrier on Mr Gerrish’s back. Ms Chung’s backpack contained a snakebite kit, knife, bug spray, first aid kit, extra diapers, an empty sippy cup with the residue of what was probably baby formula, another empty sippy cup, and the empty wrapper from a teething wafer.
Ms Chung was also carrying a 2.5 liter water bladder with only “a few remaining drops” of water, which tested negative for toxins. The toxins detected in the river adjacent to the trail were at a level that a dog would have to drink multiple liters to be at risk of death. The dog was an Aussie-Akita mix, with a thick coat that would have made it more susceptible to heat exhaustion. At most, they could have been carrying barely a quarter of what would be regarded as a sensible amount of water for their collective needs, even if all had gone well, and they had no filtration equipment.
The couple’s wallets, their cell phones and other electronic devices (apart from one cell phone owned by Mr Gerrish), and the diaper bag that their babysitter said always accompanied the family on their days out were all found at their home. Mr Gerrish’s cell phone was in the front pocket of his shorts and the FBI have still not managed to unlock it. Network coverage is not good along the trail, such that the phone may have been of little use.
The bodies were found about 1.6 miles below the trailhead, on a series of steep switchbacks of the Savage Lundy Trail. Mr Gerrish was found with his daughter and dog. There was disturbed dirt on the uphill side of the trail suggesting someone had tried to climb up it, leading to one of Ms Chung’s boots, and then her body some 13 feet higher up than the rest of the family. The key fob for their car was found further along the trail, some 100 feet below Mr Gerrish’s body.
A survival trainer consulted by the investigating detectives advised: ““Sadly, I believe they were caught off guard, and once they realized their situation, they died trying to save their child and each other… It is likely the child began to succumb first, which hurried the parents’ efforts up the hill. When one could no longer continue, they stayed behind to care for the child and pet, while the other tried to forge on and get help for their loved ones. It is a tragedy of the highest order.”
