This will be solved whether it was a homicide/suicide or some type of toxic substance unaware to the family. So many scenarios enter my mind that they are too numerous to list so I will just wait for the toxicology reports.
It's good that they're leaving no stone unturned !Reason why CA DOJ is involved. I've seen this happen in other cases, doesn't at all mean it's a homicide.
Brits' hiking deaths are homicide say cops who've 'never seen a case like it'
You have two healthy adults, you have a healthy child and what appears to be a healthy canine all within a general same area.
"So right now, we're treating the coroner investigation as a homicide until we can establish the cause."
The testing of their supplies will be critical in ruling out a non-environmental related COD. I wonder if the autopsy of the dog would produce quicker answers? I think they said something about UC Davis for that. I sent a chicken in for a necropsy a few years ago.
I thought she was symptomatic for Mareks, needed to know for sure in order to treat others.Off topic, but why did you send a chicken in for a necropsy?
omg!I did remember seeing a documentary a few years back, how something similar happened in Africa....toxic gas bubbled up from a lake and killed thousands of people and livestock.
Apparently, there are quite a few lakes where this could potentially happen again, and not just in Cameroon either.
Lake Nyos disaster - Wikipedia
It reminds me of a case here, in Australia, where a couple were found dead near a river.
Bogle–Chandler case - Wikipedia
The Bogle–Chandler case refers to the mysterious deaths of Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler on the banks of the Lane Cove River in Sydney, Australia on 1 January 1963. The case became famous because of the circumstances in which the bodies were found and because the cause of death could not be established. In 2006 a filmmaker discovered evidence to suggest the cause of death was hydrogen sulphide gas. In the early hours of 1 January an eruption of gas from the polluted river bed may have occurred, causing the noxious fumes to pool in deadly quantities in the grove.
While I agree that a noxious gas eruption would be very unusual, I could see a potential situation where either the baby or dog was affected more quickly, causing the whole party to stop and try to administer care to that member of the family. Smaller humans’ and animals’ systems are more easily overwhelmed, and if, for example, the baby suddenly showed signs of sickness or becoming floppy, the responsible thing to do would be to stop and try to rouse them.
If a gas was odourless or not of obvious concern, then you might not think to leave an area until it was too late, perhaps.
I don’t know the area well, but I understand there are parts of forest in that state where trees have died from the CO seeping up from below the ground.
Additionally, had there been any old refuse used as landfill at some time in historic decades in the area, this can catch alight as part of the composting process, especially in hot weather, which causes underground fires and small plumes of very toxic smoke.
Thanks for the info - does anyone know where the closest egress was to where they were found? I.e., if they were in trouble, was their truck the closest refuge or were there other, closer ways to reach civilization/get assistance?
My sister, her ex and their dogs used to hike this area and specifically this trail often in the spring and fall. One time my brother in law took the dog in the middle of the hot summer up there for a hike while my sister was at work. He called her mid afternoon while driving back. She says he could barely get out a word. He and the dog barely made it back to the car due to heat exhaustion. It took both of them a few days to recover. This is a guy who builds tennis courts and other sports courts for a living. He is used to being outside in the heat. My sister doesn’t believe it is gases or algae bloom.
It appears they (as a couple, likely before daughter was born) did a 10-day journey through the Gobi Desert which has intense temp changes day to night. So it seems to me they would be experienced regarding heat exposure symptoms.
Philip Kreycik had equally rigorous training and experience and died of heatstroke. He didn't understand the microclimates of the unfamiliar CA park he had chosen for his casual run. The parking lot was 85 degrees when he began, 20 minutes later he was on a peak where temp was well over a hundred. However, he was running.