Sad Postscript

Ellen Chung, Oski, Jon Gerrish, and Miju (Chron)

Last August we first noted the sad story of the young Gerrish family, whose bodies were found on a hiking trail in Mariposa County.

After investigating multiple, even highly improbable possibilities, the coroner's office ruled in October that the cause was "hyperthermia and probable dehydration."

A final unsent text message on Jon Gerrish's cell phone confirms the coroner's finding.

Shortly before noon on Aug. 15, with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees and the couple, their infant daughter and dog hiking up steep switchbacks with little shade, someone from the family attempted to send a final text from Gerrish’s cell phone.

“(Name redacted) can you help us,” the text started at 11:56 a.m. “On savage lundy trail heading back to Hites cove trail. No water or ver (over) heating with baby.”

The text never went through as the Savage Lundy Trail has notoriously poor cellular service.

It's easy to say that the victims should have known or should have done this or that. But how many of us really subject the dozens of decisions we make each day to that kind of deliberation? 999 times out of 1,000 nothing will go wrong.

There was every sign that each member of the family would have a long, happy, and successful life filled with the love of friends and family. Truly a tragedy.

Unsatisfying Explanation

Ellen Chung and Jonathan Gerrish (Chron photo)

Two months ago we noted how the death of a young family on a hiking trail had captured "international attention" because the cause of death could not be ascertained. The bodies of the parents, 1-year-old daughter, and dog were all found two days after they went missing. They had no visible marks, and toxicology reports were negative.

The investigators have rendered their conclusion: [bold added]

Investigators said Thursday that a young family and their dog found on a remote hiking trail in August in a mysterious mass death perished as a result of hyperthermia and probable dehydration.

Mariposa Sheriff Jeremy Briese detailed the final hours of the former San Francisco clan that started a hike with a temperature of 74 degrees in the morning only to see the thermostat rocket up to 109 by the afternoon. They succumbed to the heat and lack of water on a steep stretch of switchbacks with no shade, he said.

Why does this explanation feel unsatisfying? Probably because it's a conclusion arrived at through a process of elimination.

There were few clues at the scene and no indications of foul play. Investigators sent samples of water from the river, creek and the couple’s bladder-lined backpack to a lab. During the probe, investigators eliminated illegal drugs, lightning strikes, mine fumes, weapons, suicide and other causes of death, as they waited for test results to come back.

The head doesn't always give what the heart wants.

“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Still Unsolved

(from Ellen Chung's Facebook page)

Following up on the mysterious death of a young family last week, the Chronicle reports little progress: [bold added]

Investigators said Thursday they have ruled out exposure to chemicals from a mine along the trail and use of a gun or other weapon in the mysterious case of a former San Francisco family who died along with their dog on a remote Mariposa County hiking route.

In its first update on the case in nearly a week, the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office provided more details about the timeline of events, indicating the family was spotted heading to the trailhead on the morning of Aug. 15 by a witness.

Investigators believe the family hiked most of a grueling 8.5-mile loop — including 5 miles of steep southern exposure trail with little to no trees or shade in 103 to 109 degree heat — before succumbing on the return to their truck on a steep switchback.

The cause of death of Jonathan Gerrish, 45, Ellen Chung, 30, their 1-year-old daughter Aurelia Miju Chung-Gerrish and 8-year-old Aussie-Akita mix Oski remains a mystery, as authorities are waiting for toxicology reports and cell phone data. The baffling case has received international attention...

Searchers found Gerrish in a seated position on the trail with his daughter and dog next to him, and Chung was a little bit farther up the path.

Given the temperature, the distance hiked, and the hostile environment, heat stroke is another possibility, but the death of all parties implies a cascading sequence of unfortunate events that cannot be verified without additional evidence that has so far not been undisclosed. This may be a mystery that will not be definitively solved.

A Real-Life Tragedy That is Destined for Hollywood

Ellen Chung, Oski, Jon Gerrish, and Miju (Chron)

It's an enigma wrapped inside a tragedy.

The mysterious death of a young couple, their daughter, and their dog on a day-hiking trail on Tuesday has puzzled investigators:

“This is a very unusual, unique situation,” said Kristie Mitchell, a spokesperson for the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office. “There were no signs of trauma, no obvious cause of death. There was no suicide note. They were out in the middle of a national forest on a day hike.”

Ellen Chung and Jonathan Gerrish walked away from their successful professional lives in the City and moved to Mariposa "for this quieter life, focusing on their daughter.”

Gerrish for years had been an engineer for Google, [family friend Steve] Jeffe said, and had only recently begun working at Snapchat after his paternity leave had ended. Chung was a certified yoga instructor and a graduate student studying counseling psychology.

Until recently the couple were mainstays in San Francisco’s social scene, with both Gerrish and Chung known to DJ from time to time, Jeffe said. The pair also mixed with the “burner” crowd, people who visit the famous arts and culture festival known as Burning Man in a Nevada desert.

Gerrish had done well for himself and was extremely generous, Jeffe said, always sharing his good fortune with friends. While the couple took a trip abroad a few years ago, they let Jeffe stay in their San Francisco loft.

While still maintaining a residence in San Francisco, the pair mostly uprooted their life in March of last year, when the pandemic was beginning to take hold. While Chung was still pregnant, the couple relocated to Mariposa, hoping to integrate their daughter to a life in the outdoors.

180 miles east of SF, 50 miles west of Yosemite

The Gerrish family owned multiple properties in California and was independently wealthy. We, who have been reading mysteries since childhood, could not suppress suspicious thoughts. Yet, there are absolutely no signs of foul play.

“You come on scene and everyone is deceased. There’s no bullet holes, no bottle of medicine, not one clue,” Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said from his office in town on Friday. “It’s a big mystery.”

The cause of death was likely accidental poisoning, yet there are problems with current theories of toxic gas from old gold mines (they would have had to go deep into a mine with a baby), exposure to toxic algae blooms (all would have to go into the water), and dehydration (they still had water in the container).

On top of everything else the area has a "dark" history:

Three years ago when the Ferguson Fire swept through the valley, burning more than 96,000 acres, a firefighter rolled his dozer down a ravine along the Hites Cove Road stretch of the trail and died. The north side of the trail empties out onto Highway 140 and the Yosemite Cedar Lodge, a notorious landmark.

In 1999, serial killer Cary Stayner was working as a handyman at the motel when he murdered 42-year-old Carole Sund; her daughter, 15-year-old Juli Sund; Juli's friend, 16-year-old Argentine exchange student Silvina Pelosso; and Yosemite Institute employee Joie Ruth Armstrong. Sund and the teens had been staying at the motel.

Let's hope the mystery will be solved soon by the toxicology reports. We can then focus on where the story belongs: the sorrow over the tragic death of a young family who had all the makings of a happy, fulfilling life ahead of them.