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

[Andreee]

The baby was in a backpack. IMO (in my friend group) it's quite common for parents to take their babies on hikes. Easier before they're wanting to walk on their own! And I don't gather that this was a challenging hike. From what I've read it was a common wild flower viewing area. ETA: I haven't seen it reported what time they were actually hiking. They were reported missing Monday night and were hiking, I believe, on Sunday. Don't know what time though.

It did say in one of the articles posted that it was a remote area and it did look that way to me on a map. Also, I think that is a very hot temp. at 100 degrees or so to take a baby on a hike. And if the baby was in a backpack, that enclosure would be uncomfortably warm in such temps. I wouldn't want to or would hike in such an isolated area where there was no cell service. IMO.

 

[Andreee]

Yes maybe it will be due to too little water for the level of heat. It's a true accident when this happens.

It's just strange to me that they all, even the dog, died together like that.

 

[realanastasia]

The baby was in a backpack. IMO (in my friend group) it's quite common for parents to take their babies on hikes. Easier before they're wanting to walk on their own! And I don't gather that this was a challenging hike. From what I've read it was a common wild flower viewing area. ETA: I haven't seen it reported what time they were actually hiking. They were reported missing Monday night and were hiking, I believe, on Sunday. Don't know what time though.

Wildflower viewing area in the spring, though, not in the height of the summer heat, I think.

Here’s a description of the hiking area in general. There are a few sites that sound like they might be where they were eventually found, one description of Devil’s Gulch says it is a fairly easy hike, but the other listing for a different part of DG says it is challenging :https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5344038.pdf

 

[Peppery]

It's just strange to me that they all, even the dog, died together like that.

I’m wondering how close together they were, and in what position. Would be telling info.

 

[Shamrock1]

The position is going to be very important IMO. Was one adult located a distance from the other adult/baby/dog? If they were together, I doubt heatstroke: one adult would have realized they were in trouble and set off for help.

Death Valley Germans: long but worth the time. Family of 4 that died in 1996.
The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans

 

[avondale14]

Ellen was working on overcoming a TBI (traumatic brain injury). Source: her Instagram and employer, Satori Yoga studio. She referred to it on her IG account in Oct. 2019 as a “dark and lost time.”

I hope she is at peace now.

Hi, could you point me in the direction of where it mentions the TBI please. I’ve read both of the Oct. 2019 posts and whilst I see her refer to a dark and lost time 12 years previously I can’t see any mention of the TBI. Thanks

 

[everybodhi]

The position is going to be very important IMO. Was one adult located a distance from the other adult/baby/dog? If they were together, I doubt heatstroke: one adult would have realized they were in trouble and set off for help.

Death Valley Germans: long but worth the time. Family of 4 that died in 1996.
The Hunt for the Death Valley Germans

That theory accounts for everyone but the dog, so I looked it up.
There's been quite a few heat stroke deaths recently in the west among hikers and runners.
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/heatstroke-in-dogs/
Dogs are notoriously bad at dissipating body heat. Watch for early signs of heatstroke (also known as hyperthermia) in your dog to avoid serious outcomes.

 

[fred&edna]

Jmo... Some sort of toxin/poison (water or ??) affected all of them at nearly the same time... especially if the bodies were close to each other. Also possible the severity of symptoms varied but no one wanted to leave the other... So they remained together.

Very tragic and sad loss of life.

 

[NSamuelle]

Hi, could you point me in the direction of where it mentions the TBI please. I’ve read both of the Oct. 2019 posts and whilst I see her refer to a dark and lost time 12 years previously I can’t see any mention of the TBI. Thanks

If you Google “Ellen Chung” and Satori and “traumatic brain injury,” it should take you to a description of her practice on her employer’s page.

 

[MaryG12]

Can't stop thinking about this case. My mind keeps going to murder/suicide, but how?
Every scenario does seem unlikely, it's baffling!

If it was hot that day - and I have to asky myself why did they take the baby and the dog with them - they were only 1.5 miles from their truck, murder/suicide may be possible. I know perhaps most of us think of that as involving non-visible methods, but if a poison was involved....I truly hope this is not the case.

Why involve the baby and the dog?

‘No smoking gun.’ Algae blooms considered in mysterious death of family near Yosemite

 

[carbuff]

Lots of additional details

https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article253577919.html

This article includes some good pictures of the area. The investigators are on a ridge looking down into a steep canyon.

 

[MaryG12]

I’m wondering how close together they were, and in what position. Would be telling info.

I agree. I wonder if that information will eventually be released, along with the toxicology report?

 

[Knox]

I’m wondering how close together they were, and in what position. Would be telling info.

Briese said there’s no “smoking gun” clue indicating what happened, and that’s been frustrating.

“I’ve been here for 20 years and I’ve never seen a death-related case like this,” he said. “There’s no obvious indicator of how it occurred.”

Briese said his office is treating the investigation like a homicide “until we establish the cause,” adding, “we’re not going to rest” until that’s discovered.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article253577919.html

It doesn't sound like anything at the scene pointed to cause. MCSO has been pretty open, so if there were indicators would he say what they are? Maybe not, simply out of respect for their family and loved ones.

 

[swedeheart]

Are there illegal (or legal) marijuana growers out in that area where they were hiking?

 

[Mind your biscuits]

I originally thought they must have been struck by lightning, but based on all of the news articles saying that they saw no 'obvious cause of death,' or words to that effect, I discounted that. Very sad and mysterious. Moo.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

I mentioned this earlier: the Philip Kreycik case, where by an MIT-graduate, expert hiker and trail runner who had accomplished many major physical outdoor feats, appears to have been overcome by heat on a fairly casual run. The point is, he was on a trail he didn't know and didn't know about its microclimates. It was inland from where he usually ran. The parking lot temperature may have been as much as 20 degrees cooler than the peak he ran to. The thread on Kreycik has a lot of information on heatstroke, little of which I knew. The stages of it are especially interesting, including poor decision making and confusion. IF-- and this is pure speculation-- they began to experience heat stroke and recognized the symptoms, then bathed in the algae-infested water to cool down, this may have been a compound error. The dog would have been more prone to heat problems and may have shown symptoms first.

I read that algae can be so toxic that just rubbing a pet who has been in the water may cause symptoms. I learned on the Kreycik thread that not enough drinking water alone is no cure and no preventative for heat-related incapacitation. They may not have recognized the heat danger on this wooded mountain trail if they were new to the area. Also from Kreycik thread: heat-related death leaves little if any signs.

 

[Shamrock1]

Forget about positioning for a moment - wouldn’t there be evidence of vomiting if they all died of heat?

 

[carbuff]

Forget about positioning for a moment - wouldn’t there be evidence of vomiting if they all died of heat?

I think not necessarily?

Also, they might have vomited and then hiked on far enough that it wasn't immediately noticed.

But I assume the no smoking gun comment does mean there weren't obvious signs of vomiting, diarrhea, gunshots, knife wounds, etc.

 

[Knox]

I think not necessarily?

Also, they might have vomited and then hiked on far enough that it wasn't immediately noticed.

But I assume the no smoking gun comment does mean there weren't obvious signs of vomiting, diarrhea, gunshots, knife wounds, etc.

The one thing LE hasn't mentioned is heat exhaustion or lack of water? Is that meaningful?

 

[NSamuelle]

Briese said there’s no “smoking gun” clue indicating what happened, and that’s been frustrating.

“I’ve been here for 20 years and I’ve never seen a death-related case like this,” he said. “There’s no obvious indicator of how it occurred.”

Briese said his office is treating the investigation like a homicide “until we establish the cause,” adding, “we’re not going to rest” until that’s discovered.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article253577919.html

It doesn't sound like anything at the scene pointed to cause. MCSO has been pretty open, so if there were indicators would he say what they are? Maybe not, simply out of respect for their family and loved ones.

The lack of an obvious cause makes me think it was not CO poisoning (combined with how unlikely that is outside in an open space, and how unlikely it would be that all 4 fatalities occurred close in time, since dogs are far more sensitive to CO poisoning and would’ve displayed nausea/vomiting). CO poisoning doesn’t kill you immediately; if it hits you when you’re awake you will notice confusion, drowsiness, nausea, and weakness - people who succumb to it are often already asleep.

Bodies are bright red after CO poisoning - granted, I don’t know how long that lasts, but they were found fairly quickly, and that would be an “obvious sign.”

There would also be readily discernible signs on autopsy (sorry, might be paywalled: “Acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning has a number of characteristics at autopsy. A high concentration of carboxyhemoglobin (CO-Hb) is detected in the blood. ... Bilateral globus pallidus lesions and cerebral white matter lesions are the most typical findings of acute CO poisoning in the brain.” An Autopsy Case of Acute Carbon Monoxide Poisoning After a... : The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology