CA: Did algae bloom kill family, including dog, hiking in Mariposa County? Authorities checking all possibilities in mysterious deaths UPDATE: Hyperthermia and probable dehydration probable cause

[Emily]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/10/21/cause-revealed-familys-death-hiking-mariposa-county/

Northern California family’s mysterious deaths on hiking trail: The official cause
Temperatures on Mariposa County route reached 109, sheriff said

By Bay Area News Group |
PUBLISHED: October 21, 2021 at 2:18 p.m. | UPDATED: October 22, 2021 at 3:47 a.m.

A Northern California family who were found dead in a remote hiking area are believed to have been killed by hyperthermia and probable dehydration, the Mariposa County sheriff said Thursday.
Sheriff Jeremy Briese held a news conference to discuss the investigation into the mysterious deaths of John Gerrish, Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter and their dog.
The family had gone hiking on a trail near the Merced River in the Sierra National Forest and were found dead Aug. 17 after a family friend reported them missing the previous night.
They were found about 1½ miles from their car, apparently having completed about 6 miles of their intended route on the Hites Cove and Savage-Lundy trails. They had one 85-ounce water bladder with them; it was empty, Briese said.
Much of the route, inside the Ferguson Fire footprint, has little shade, and temperatures on Aug. 15 reached 109 in the area. The last stretch, on the Savage-Lundy Trail, is on a steep incline, rising from about 1,800 feet elevation to 3,900 feet in 3½ miles. With a south/southeastern exposure, it was in constant sun. (Click here for a map of the route, with temperature notations.)...

[Emily]

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/articleComments/Not-one-clue-The-mystery-is-only-deepening-16401921.php

Not one clue': The mystery is only deepening around the family found dead on a Sierra trail
Matthias Gafni
Aug. 20, 2021Updated: Aug. 20, 2021 10:18 p.m.

A photo of Ellen Chung and Oski, left, and Jonathan Gerrish, holding their 1-year old daughter, Miju. All were found dead on a hiking trail in Mariposa. The cause of death has not yet been determined.

MARIPOSA — When the missing persons report for Ellen Chung and her husband, Jonathan Gerrish, came in at 11 p.m. Monday, a curious sheriff’s deputy had a hunch. The couple had just purchased a property near the trailhead for Hites Cove Trail 20 miles north of town, and they loved to explore the outdoors with their 1-year-old daughter, Miju, and dog Oski.

He drove down the single-lane red dirt Hites Cove Road until the closed U.S. Forest Service gate appeared. He was right — the couple’s truck was parked at the popular but remote trailhead.

It was 2 a.m...

[sharon sanders]

bump this

[Emily]

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...a-16399573.php
Bay Area
Did algae bloom kill family hiking in Mariposa County? Authorities checking all possibilities in mysterious deaths

Matthias Gafni, Megan Cassidy
Aug. 19, 2021 Updated: Aug. 19, 2021 10:58 p.m.

...
The bodies of John Gerrish, his wife, Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter, Muji, and their dog were discovered with no obvious signs of trauma by searchers on Tuesday on the Hite Cove Trail near an area known as Devil Gulch. The family had taken off on a day hike Sunday and was reported missing when they failed to return.

While investigators aren’t ruling out the possibility of the family inhaling a toxic gas from mines in the area, experts say such a scenario is highly unlikely, if not unheard of.

On Thursday, a sign appeared to be newly installed at the start of the trail used by the family warned: “Harmful algae may be present in this water.” It alerts hikers to not drink the water or eat shellfish, and to keep children and pets out of the water. Residents in the area said the sign was only recently posted after the family was found dead...