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

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bpeterson912 said:
It's an Associated Press (AP) article. You can find it in literally dozens of papers online, including the example you cited. It's the same article reproduced over and over.

Note that Northern California papers that have been doing their own reporting on this story--such as the San Francisco Chronicle and the Fresno Bee--have not said that heat has been ruled out.

I think it's likely that the author of the AP story just made a mistake.
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It has to be a mistake. There's been nothing from the sheriff or local papers saying heat was ruled out.
 
happyday said:
If that article isn’t completely wrong, then what is left? Pretty much just the toxic algae?
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Well, @happyday, there is a lot left on the table, not just toxic algae.

For the moment, I'll presume the AP reporting that "extreme heat" was ruled out could be a journo error. So I'll leave that alone for now, although it could be new data.

What is left as plausible based on the data in hand and as we've summarized before when the 9/30 SO update came out, is:

Manner of Death: Accident, Homicide, Natural (only suicide was ruled out)
Cause of Death: Legal drugs (e.g., opioid's, fentanyl), Man-made poison (e.g. pesticides, ethylene glycol), Heat, Natural Toxins (e.g. plant poisons, toxic algae), MI, etc.

We'll know a lot more in a few hours. Peace to the families.
 
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Baffling how a presumably reputable source like AP could make such a big mistake to say "extreme heat" is ruled out.

I do recall early on the LE report saying something about heat not being an immediate/obvious certainty or something similar. I can now only speculate that somehow someone (inappropriately IMO) turned that vague phrasing into extreme heat being ruled out. The only other interpretation I can think of is if that phrase were meant to say they hadn't been literally burned. Which I don't recall any mention or discussion of in earlier reports so that makes no sense to me.

It's sad to me when media reports can't be presumed to be trustworthy, but it seems facts aren't being solidly confirmed these days like they used to, and careful journalistic language isn't being used to refer to things not yet known with certainty. MOO

Waiting to see what today's news brings.
 
Auntie Cipation said:
Baffling how a presumably reputable source like AP could make such a big mistake to say "extreme heat" is ruled out.

I do recall early on the LE report saying something about heat not being an immediate/obvious certainty or something similar. I can now only speculate that somehow someone (inappropriately IMO) turned that vague phrasing into extreme heat being ruled out. The only other interpretation I can think of is if that phrase were meant to say they hadn't been literally burned. Which I don't recall any mention or discussion of in earlier reports so that makes no sense to me.

It's sad to me when media reports can't be presumed to be trustworthy, but it seems facts aren't being solidly confirmed these days like they used to, and careful journalistic language isn't being used to refer to things not yet known with certainty. MOO

Waiting to see what today's news brings.
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Here's what SF GATE has to say:

A portion of the Merced River near where the family died was closed earlier this month because of the toxic algae, while the Savage-Lundy Trail reopened Sunday after being closed due to "unknown hazards."

They also have yet to rule out extreme heat. The temperature at the time, according to the sheriff's office, ranged from 103 to 109 degrees.

Officials to name cause of death for Calif. family on hike
 
Mariposa sheriff to announce what killed family on hike | abc10.com

The family went hiking in a trail close to the Merced River in the Sierra National Forest, where they were found dead Aug. 17.

[..]

The case has baffled authorities, who have already ruled out numerous causes, including a weapon, suicide and drugs or alcohol.

Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese will hold a news conference Thursday to discuss the mysterious deaths of John Gerrish, his wife, Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter, Miju, and their dog. The family went hiking in a trail close to the Merced River in the Sierra National Forest, where they were found dead Aug. 17.
 
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