What happened to this California family?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As always, Websleuths does a good job on real-life mysteries. Here's the thread: https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/ca-jonathan-gerrish-ellen-chung-daughter-1-dog-suspicious-death-remote-hiking-area-aug-2021.582843/page-43 I find this poster's theory (starting with the dog swimming in toxic water) plausible:

I can imagine a scenario where the dog was off leash, scouting ahead of the family, reached the water, and took a drink and perhaps a swim. The family arrives and is immediately concerned, and the dog begins to show poisoning symptoms. The adults now have to carry an ailing dog, infant, water, and any other gear they may have back up the switchbacks. They are distressed and rushing while bearing additional weight and heat. One or both of the adults could even have suffered a minor injury like a sprained ankle. The father begins to show signs of heat distress. The dad sits down on the trail in the midst of heat stroke. The mom, familiar with the symptoms, goes to him, puts down her dog, and removes the child carrier. She tries to cool him down with some of the remaining water. Knowing she is just a mile and a half from the car, she leaves her family in the middle of the trail in the event other hikers may pass and begins to sprint to the car carrying only her keys and phone. But her distress, exhaustion, and possible injury (exposure to toxins from carrying the dog? sprain?) etc. catch up with her. She is unable to continue.

I have a hard time seeing mom leaving baby with very ill dad.

Agree. That would never happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Dad was older, 46, techie who only settled down with his pretty non-techie wife recently. That is squarely in the burning man demographic, and I wonder if they were into recreational drugs and took a bad batch or misidentified wild mushrooms? I mean, no judgement if they do.

More sinister interpretation, he was a 40+ old man set in his way, got hooked into marriage and baby by a pretty young woman, and wanted out after a year stuck with them. As a high paid tech employee married to a social sciences grad student, he was looking at crippling child support and alimony. His carefree rich life was over no matter what he did. I don’t think it’s that, but he is old for a 1st time dad.

The drugs theory doesn't explain the baby and dog being dead.

I agree that the drugs theory does not explain the dead dog or dead baby.

To answer the PP's question: the couple was pretty involved in the Burning Man community in Northern CA. We have a few mutual friends on Facebook and the public portions of their Facebook profiles have BM photos.

The husband appears to be from the UK originally.

I'm sticking with the murder-suicide poisoning. One of the parents is probably a woo-woo QAnon nut and this is a copycat of the surfing dad who murdered his kids in Mexico, which was a huge story in California. These things happen in waves.

Hmm, interesting, the burning man/drug angle does add credence to a murder/suicide theory. I was leaning towards toxic gas of some kind, unintentional poison, but this is a reasonable take.

Would death by heat stroke be apparent to examiners? If the dog was leashed, I can see baby and dog perishing of heat stroke in 110 heat, after the parents got disoriented. The availability of water is off, but does water always help resolve heat stroke? There was an experienced bay area trail running this summer who died of heat stroke, not too far from the trail, after becoming disoriented. Really sad.

[Anonymous]

It seems like accidental poisoning from the water is one of the more likely scenarios. But how would you not bring enough water on a hike like this? Could it be gas like that couple from decades ago? Could they have accepted water or something from a deranged stranger on the trail? So strange. So sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like accidental poisoning from the water is one of the more likely scenarios. But how would you not bring enough water on a hike like this? Could it be gas like that couple from decades ago? Could they have accepted water or something from a deranged stranger on the trail? So strange. So sad.

But they 1) likely would know not to drink from lakes, especially unfiltered, especially in hot areas, especially when signs at trail head indicated toxic algae 2) had water in their possession (sounds like a camel back) that did not show signs of toxic algae.

Gas from an old mine is a theory, but investigators have not found evidence of this or a mine or any source. Deranged stranger seems really unlikely.

[Anonymous]

The husband is an experienced California hiker. They would've brought enough water.

Here's his public AllTrails profile. He's done a lot of hikes. He seems to have been adding new hikes into the All Trails system.

https://www.alltrails.com/members/jonathan-gerrish

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The husband is an experienced California hiker. They would've brought enough water.

Here's his public AllTrails profile. He's done a lot of hikes. He seems to have been adding new hikes into the All Trails system.

https://www.alltrails.com/members/jonathan-gerrish

The hiking area he died in wasn't too far from San Francisco but his mapped hiking trails are all the way in the southern part of the state. Maybe he underestimated the terrain or wasn't as familiar - especially while carrying a heavy load (water and baby)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The husband is an experienced California hiker. They would've brought enough water.

Here's his public AllTrails profile. He's done a lot of hikes. He seems to have been adding new hikes into the All Trails system.

https://www.alltrails.com/members/jonathan-gerrish

The hiking area he died in wasn't too far from San Francisco but his mapped hiking trails are all the way in the southern part of the state. Maybe he underestimated the terrain or wasn't as familiar - especially while carrying a heavy load (water and baby)?

The hiking area they were at is next to the town they lived in. Pretty sure they were familiar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The husband is an experienced California hiker. They would've brought enough water.

Here's his public AllTrails profile. He's done a lot of hikes. He seems to have been adding new hikes into the All Trails system.

https://www.alltrails.com/members/jonathan-gerrish

The hiking area he died in wasn't too far from San Francisco but his mapped hiking trails are all the way in the southern part of the state. Maybe he underestimated the terrain or wasn't as familiar - especially while carrying a heavy load (water and baby)?

The hiking area they were at is next to the town they lived in. Pretty sure they were familiar.

Agreed. Also, he has multiple hikes on his AllTrails from the area where they live. It's not just SoCal.

Plus look at all of Ellen's hikes in the past two years: https://www.alltrails.com/members/ellen-chung-2

They were very experienced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like accidental poisoning from the water is one of the more likely scenarios. But how would you not bring enough water on a hike like this? Could it be gas like that couple from decades ago? Could they have accepted water or something from a deranged stranger on the trail? So strange. So sad.

But they 1) likely would know not to drink from lakes, especially unfiltered, especially in hot areas, especially when signs at trail head indicated toxic algae 2) had water in their possession (sounds like a camel back) that did not show signs of toxic algae.

Gas from an old mine is a theory, but investigators have not found evidence of this or a mine or any source. Deranged stranger seems really unlikely.

With no signs of trauma to the body?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The husband is an experienced California hiker. They would've brought enough water.

Here's his public AllTrails profile. He's done a lot of hikes. He seems to have been adding new hikes into the All Trails system.

https://www.alltrails.com/members/jonathan-gerrish

The hiking area he died in wasn't too far from San Francisco but his mapped hiking trails are all the way in the southern part of the state. Maybe he underestimated the terrain or wasn't as familiar - especially while carrying a heavy load (water and baby)?

The hiking area they were at is next to the town they lived in. Pretty sure they were familiar.

Agreed. Also, he has multiple hikes on his AllTrails from the area where they live. It's not just SoCal.

Plus look at all of Ellen's hikes in the past two years: https://www.alltrails.com/members/ellen-chung-2

They were very experienced.

So how did they end up dead with their baby on an open trail within an hour's drive from their house?

[Anonymous]

Dogs chew through leashes when they need to unless the leash is made of chain. The dog is not going to sit there and die. That’s what makes me wonder about this.

[Anonymous]

What’s the significance of the Burning Man angle some people mention? I understand that people who attend may be more likely to do a lot of drugs than average, but how is this linked to the likelihood of a murder/suicide situation?

[Anonymous]

I don't know how anyone isn't thinking the CO/CO2 explanation isn't the clear one. I get that it is rare and bizarre but nothing else makes sense.

There is no poison that works that quickly and doesn't make people start vomiting etc. The Australian couple for example vomited/pooped everywhere.

There is also no evidence that he mom was fleeing, all it says is that she was 'up the hill'. I think dad sitting down with the baby to take a break and mom going to look at something for a sec and then hit with a cloud of whatever it was makes the most sense.

And the reason I am most convinced about this is the dog. If the dog was leashed and the guy died, it would have pulled or tried to free itself, it would have been clearly injured. And disturbingly probably eventually would have tried to eat the guy. Or at minimum there would be evidence of chewing through the leash. Dogs do not just lay down and die peacefully unless they are very old and sick and known to be dying. And a mom with a one month old would not have left the baby behind. Especially if she had any inclination there was something happening. I just do not see a scenario where she goes without the baby.

Whatever it was was sudden and almost instantaneous. It is just the only explanation that makes sense with the dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the significance of the Burning Man angle some people mention? I understand that people who attend may be more likely to do a lot of drugs than average, but how is this linked to the likelihood of a murder/suicide situation?

Basically just saying that since they are californian and 40 they must love burning man and do a lot of psychotropic drugs and apparently also share them with their baby and dog and do them on sunday mornings while out hiking with a baby.

This makes zero sense and I don't think they even know these people are burning man people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how anyone isn't thinking the CO/CO2 explanation isn't the clear one. I get that it is rare and bizarre but nothing else makes sense.

There is no poison that works that quickly and doesn't make people start vomiting etc. The Australian couple for example vomited/pooped everywhere.

There is also no evidence that he mom was fleeing, all it says is that she was 'up the hill'. I think dad sitting down with the baby to take a break and mom going to look at something for a sec and then hit with a cloud of whatever it was makes the most sense.

And the reason I am most convinced about this is the dog. If the dog was leashed and the guy died, it would have pulled or tried to free itself, it would have been clearly injured. And disturbingly probably eventually would have tried to eat the guy. Or at minimum there would be evidence of chewing through the leash. Dogs do not just lay down and die peacefully unless they are very old and sick and known to be dying. And a mom with a one month old would not have left the baby behind. Especially if she had any inclination there was something happening. I just do not see a scenario where she goes without the baby.

Whatever it was was sudden and almost instantaneous. It is just the only explanation that makes sense with the dog.

I think it is heat stroke. Why doesn't that make sense? It was very hot. It can happen even with water available, it can come on slowly or quickly, and the dog and baby are also susceptible to it. Especially the baby.

But yeah, CO/CO2 is my second bet.