Snapchat engineer, his wife, baby and dog were NOT killed by lightning on California hiking trail

Daily Mail ^

[algore]

Authorities in California have ruled out a freak lightning strike and cyanide exposure as possible causes of death of a British Snapchat engineer and his family, but more than six weeks later they appear to be no closer to finding out what killed the young parents, their baby daughter and pet dog on a remote hiking trail.

Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said in an emailed statement on Thursday that many toxicology reports have been completed as part of the ongoing investigation into the August 17 deaths of Jonathan Gerrish, his wife, Ellen Chung, daughter Muji and their family dog, but a few 'key' results were still pending.

Briese did not specify the exact nature of the outstanding toxicology results and said he does not know when they would come in.

Based on evidence recovered at the scene in Sierra National Forest, or through the investigation, the sheriff's office so far has ruled out more than a half-dozen potential causes of death, including gun or any other type of weapon; lightning strike; carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide; cyanide; illegal drugs or alcohol, and suicide.

[IYAS9YAS]

I think heat prostration/stroke is a strong possibility.

And very easy to identify via autopsy.

[Honest Nigerian]

Somebody farted?
Silent but deadly they would say in the days of my youth.
Or … fentanyl?

[JustaTech]

Taking a baby on a hike in 100 degree plus weather does not compute, something was going on. My gut says this will turn out to be a murder-suicide by means of some kind of toxin.

[Steve Van Doorn]

said, "And very easy to identify via autopsy."

Same with injections but they simply can't do that!

[dragnet2]

I’d bet a cup of coffee, murder/suicide.

[metmom]

I’m guessing the authorities know much more than they are letting on.

[cherry]

if heat stroke hit the parents, even one parent, they would sit down to rest...there was no shade....before you know it both parents would be in heat stroke and the baby is right there with them....I'm sure the dog just nuzzled in and stayed there too.....altogether....

I HATE the heat and I wonder why anyone would want to be out in the direct sun under such heat...

[eastexsteve]

You would be amazed at the number of people who go missing and/or turn up dead in national parks and forests with unknown causes.

[Getready]

It was hot...they stopped for water...didnt notice any algal bloom...many toxins produced by algal blooms...gave water to baby...dog lapped on his own...apparently the area had been closed cause bloom had been seen before...very sad situation any way one looks at it....I guess mother earth ain’t your best friend after all...

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

I’m not saying it was aliens, but...

[Dusty Road]

“”I HATE the heat and I wonder why anyone would want to be out in the direct sun under such heat...””

I’ve lived here in West Texas damn near all of my soon to be 71 years, with the exception of 5 1/2 years as a Sheriff’s Deputy it’s all been in the oil fields of the Permian Basin. We’re exposed to the weather daily. In all those years I’ve never lost one of my hands to heat stroke or heard of it happening locally. Nothing special about us other than we’re prepared for this kind of environment through experience. Take someone with no experience and put them in that environment and you can dang sure have a problem.

Some folks have more trouble dealing with heat than others so you keep a closer eye on them. To have everybody die of heat stroke including the dog just doesn’t make sense, they can handle higher temps than we can. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the investigation is complete.

We have our cold weather also, rarely below zero but often in the teen’s and usually accompanied with high winds.