What happened to this California family?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most posters here hike? It seems like they don't. It is not uncommon at all for one person to go ahead for 10, 100, 500 feet. Especially mom, if dad is carrying the heavier load (baby). I go out ahead all the time, stop, take a drink, wait. Sometimes my husband and kid go ahead, and when they don't see me they wait for 30 seconds, then see me again, and I catch up. People don't hike hip to hip or hand in hand in these settings like they might on the Billy Goat Trail or Old Rag. And that's not unsafe, it's just because there is more space to navigate.

It's a gas cloud. Maybe they were all together and mom tried to outrun it. Maybe they were a bit apart and it got them before they could process it. Nothing else is going to kill them and the dog and the baby and leave no signs of distress or struggle or movement.

Ya'll are making up Dateline stories because you love a mystery, or because you are afraid a gas cloud is too scary and will come get you. But it's a gas cloud.

Except it sounds like she was behind (or disoriented) not ahead. The sheriff discovered their car 1.5 miles away and back-tracked up the path to find them. He found the husband and the baby first. Then the mother further up the trail - presumably farther away from the car.

As for the gas cloud - out of all the theories it makes the most sense. Without access to the toxin screens or geographic layout.

Now I'm curious if they phenomenon can be sourced and recorded for future scientific research.

All the reports are clear that the mom was farther up the incline than the rest, closer to their truck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But a gas cloud that only kills 4 living things related to each other? Doesn't kill a lizard or bird or bug in the vicinity?? A gas cloud makes sense if everything near the "cloud" dies, but only 3 humans and a dog? What kind of gas is this toxic enough to kill people and canines, but harmless to every other form of life?

I think gas cloud makes even most except for this important piece. No nearby animals died?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But a gas cloud that only kills 4 living things related to each other? Doesn't kill a lizard or bird or bug in the vicinity?? A gas cloud makes sense if everything near the "cloud" dies, but only 3 humans and a dog? What kind of gas is this toxic enough to kill people and canines, but harmless to every other form of life?

I think gas cloud makes even most except for this important piece. No nearby animals died?

How do we know there were nearby mammals to even die? If the gas cloud didn't cover a particularly large area, it's certainly plausible that there weren't, like, hordes of squirrels or whatever you assume you'd find dead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it was foul play by either parent. I suspect CO but now with the increased scrutiny I wonder if there was foul play from an outside party.

Unless an unknown assassin met them on the trail and pressed a hypodermic needle into the flesh of two adults, a dog, and a baby with no restraints or marks from defensive wounds - I'm going to go with nature or one of the parents.

That crossed my mind too. Either they died by an injection of a lethal substance, or a crazy mountain man got them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But a gas cloud that only kills 4 living things related to each other? Doesn't kill a lizard or bird or bug in the vicinity?? A gas cloud makes sense if everything near the "cloud" dies, but only 3 humans and a dog? What kind of gas is this toxic enough to kill people and canines, but harmless to every other form of life?

I think gas cloud makes even most except for this important piece. No nearby animals died?

How do we know there were nearby mammals to even die? If the gas cloud didn't cover a particularly large area, it's certainly plausible that there weren't, like, hordes of squirrels or whatever you assume you'd find dead.

+1. Also animals in the area my have a way to sense these things or avoid a place where this stuff happens occasionally. You know what they say when you see animals run you run with them.

I think a small pocket is what makes sense. I feel bad for mom since she was possibly the only one who had some awareness of what was going on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What would the gas in question be?

Dog farts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it was foul play by either parent. I suspect CO but now with the increased scrutiny I wonder if there was foul play from an outside party.

Unless an unknown assassin met them on the trail and pressed a hypodermic needle into the flesh of two adults, a dog, and a baby with no restraints or marks from defensive wounds - I'm going to go with nature or one of the parents.

That crossed my mind too. Either they died by an injection of a lethal substance, or a crazy mountain man got them.

OK... "crazy mountain man," lying in wait on a remote trail, leaving no mark on bodies or signs of a struggle?

Do you also believe there are monsters under your bed?

It is a baffling case, but there are some sheer improbabilities to discount!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably murder suicide by poison.

Pp please name a poison that would kill them all so quickly and with no outward signs? Also something that is also poisonous to dogs, kills them in the same way, and doesn’t require a different enough dosing to make it even more implausible?

Sleep medicine in their water bottle. Which they never totally finished. On a hot day. Wife figures it out and tries to get help, doesn't make it far. Dad sits peacefully with baby and dog. It must be that or the gas plume knocked them out while mom went to pee or something, she came back, it hit her, she ran up hill, but was overcome.

[Anonymous]

I don't think the police left their bodies there. They would not leave bodies in an area that has bears and mountain lions.

They may have gotten botulism from eating something that was bad, maybe food that was improperly canned, or beef jerky that the dog would have also eaten. They could have fed the baby honey which can also cause botulism. If they hiked often, they might have had dehydrated food left in a backpack that had spoiled.

Another idea is a boulder hit them all. It doesn't seem likely though.

Toxic shock syndrome or post partum depression.

A hit and run from someone on a mountain bike or motorbike.

Usually when people die young, it's from an accident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But a gas cloud that only kills 4 living things related to each other? Doesn't kill a lizard or bird or bug in the vicinity?? A gas cloud makes sense if everything near the "cloud" dies, but only 3 humans and a dog? What kind of gas is this toxic enough to kill people and canines, but harmless to every other form of life?

I think gas cloud makes even most except for this important piece. No nearby animals died?

Were any dead animals found near the Australian couple that died?

[Anonymous]

This story is horrifying.

I don’t want to think the father did it. I know statistically when a family is missing or all dies it’s the father but this situation is too odd. Too many factors.

How about we stop blaming a dead man for murdering his family till we know more… imagine how his family feels (and hers).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the police left their bodies there. They would not leave bodies in an area that has bears and mountain lions.

They may have gotten botulism from eating something that was bad, maybe food that was improperly canned, or beef jerky that the dog would have also eaten. They could have fed the baby honey which can also cause botulism. If they hiked often, they might have had dehydrated food left in a backpack that had spoiled.

Another idea is a boulder hit them all. It doesn't seem likely though.

Toxic shock syndrome or post partum depression.

A hit and run from someone on a mountain bike or motorbike.

Usually when people die young, it's from an accident.

God help me, I can’t tell if you’re seriously positing these things or if you’re mocking the theories on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the dog's death that has me really confused. How does something incapacitate an animal the same way it incapacitates humans? Dogs are so incredibly loyal that if he still had breath in his body, he would have left to go for help for his humans. What kills a dog so quickly? Or did they die first and he stayed with their bodies? All horrifying.

I don't know what happened to this family but most dogs, no matter how loyal, would not go for help. That's only in movies. My own dog cannot find her way home from two houses down, let alone contemplate "help."

Disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the police left their bodies there. They would not leave bodies in an area that has bears and mountain lions.

They may have gotten botulism from eating something that was bad, maybe food that was improperly canned, or beef jerky that the dog would have also eaten. They could have fed the baby honey which can also cause botulism. If they hiked often, they might have had dehydrated food left in a backpack that had spoiled.

Another idea is a boulder hit them all. It doesn't seem likely though.

Toxic shock syndrome or post partum depression.

A hit and run from someone on a mountain bike or motorbike.

Usually when people die young, it's from an accident.

God help me, I can’t tell if you’re seriously positing these things or if you’re mocking the theories on this thread.

God help you? I was just brainstorming. Let's hear your ideas...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the police left their bodies there. They would not leave bodies in an area that has bears and mountain lions.

They may have gotten botulism from eating something that was bad, maybe food that was improperly canned, or beef jerky that the dog would have also eaten. They could have fed the baby honey which can also cause botulism. If they hiked often, they might have had dehydrated food left in a backpack that had spoiled.

Another idea is a boulder hit them all. It doesn't seem likely though.

Toxic shock syndrome or post partum depression.

A hit and run from someone on a mountain bike or motorbike.

Usually when people die young, it's from an accident.

God help me, I can’t tell if you’re seriously positing these things or if you’re mocking the theories on this thread.

God help you? I was just brainstorming. Let's hear your ideas...

Are you familiar with any of the details of this story, at all? Because if one of your top guesses is “a boulder hit them all”, I’m guessing not.