What happened to this California family?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been following this thread with interest since the beginning but may have to bow out. It’s all just so horrible. If this is what happened (dad unable to push on - whether heat stroke or toxic algae or aliens or whatever - and then mom trying to save them all on her own) they were truly in an impossible situation. You can’t leave the infant behind with her incapacitated dad. You’re too weak to carry the baby out and uphill yourself. You can’t sit down next to them and do nothing. Just awful.

That's what you have to do. You need to sit down. You need to cool off. Continuing to exert yourself isn't going to do anything but make you hotter. You aren't going to "gut it out."

But that’s just. They didn’t have a place to sit down and cool off. There aren’t any trees where they were. It’s all exposed land. A desert really. And by the time heat stroke set in, they needed more than sitting down and drinking water, which might have worked for heat exhaustion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been following this thread with interest since the beginning but may have to bow out. It’s all just so horrible. If this is what happened (dad unable to push on - whether heat stroke or toxic algae or aliens or whatever - and then mom trying to save them all on her own) they were truly in an impossible situation. You can’t leave the infant behind with her incapacitated dad. You’re too weak to carry the baby out and uphill yourself. You can’t sit down next to them and do nothing. Just awful.

That's what you have to do. You need to sit down. You need to cool off. Continuing to exert yourself isn't going to do anything but make you hotter. You aren't going to "gut it out."

But that’s just. They didn’t have a place to sit down and cool off. There aren’t any trees where they were. It’s all exposed land. A desert really. And by the time heat stroke set in, they needed more than sitting down and drinking water, which might have worked for heat exhaustion.

So, what's your plan? No cell phone service and no sprinting up the hill to the car. You would need to make shade or head downhill to find any cover. From the pictures there appears to be some scrub brush. Throw a shirt over one, sit in the shade and pray.

[Anonymous]

My DH had heat exhaustion after playing 2 tennis matches in the CA desert, 110 degrees. I had no idea what was going on with him, but there were medical professionals nearby, so it turned out fine. Had we been isolated, I would not have been able to move him, reason with him, nothing. He was delirious and would not move. So I am imagining that, and the grief and the heat it's not all that surprising they all died.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The baby and dog were with the last standing parent. She wouldn't leave her baby with an ailing dad. You might leave the dog to guard the sick person, but you wouldn't leave the baby. You also can't hike carrying a baby on your hip. You can easily trip and drop it. A man might carry a baby on his shoulders but that's not very wise because you could lose your grip with sweaty hands. You have to put it in the carrier.

Maybe the baby and dad were still alive when she tried to get to the car, and she thought it better to go unburdened. I don't know what I would do in that scenario, but I trust my husband with my children.

It's not about trusting the husband! It's about recognizing that a tiny human life is not sustainable in that heat and trying to save your child if your spouse is stroking out.

No, you don't understand. These posters will gain super mom powers when they pick up the baby. Powers that will enable them to sprint 1.5 miles to the car while carrying a 20lb baby. After spending at least 2 hours in the sun and already walked 6.5 miles.

As one of the posters who doesn't think mom would have left without the baby I want to clarify that I'm not judging her. I feel like people think we are saying she was a terrible mother if she went without them. I think its unlikely she left without the child THEREFORE I do not believe mom was fleeing. I am not trying to be critical of her. I am just using my own experience as a mother to think about what I may or may not do in this type of situation and what is believable to me. She was an experienced hiker, if it turns out it was heat stroke and she was trying to make a run for it I will not think less of her. I am only saying that that aspect of motherhood has led me to different thoughts about what happened because I think certain behaviors are more likely/reasonable than others.

[Anonymous]

Poor family. I certainly hope they were delirious and didn’t realize their plight at the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been following this thread with interest since the beginning but may have to bow out. It’s all just so horrible. If this is what happened (dad unable to push on - whether heat stroke or toxic algae or aliens or whatever - and then mom trying to save them all on her own) they were truly in an impossible situation. You can’t leave the infant behind with her incapacitated dad. You’re too weak to carry the baby out and uphill yourself. You can’t sit down next to them and do nothing. Just awful.

That's what you have to do. You need to sit down. You need to cool off. Continuing to exert yourself isn't going to do anything but make you hotter. You aren't going to "gut it out."

But that’s just. They didn’t have a place to sit down and cool off. There aren’t any trees where they were. It’s all exposed land. A desert really. And by the time heat stroke set in, they needed more than sitting down and drinking water, which might have worked for heat exhaustion.

So, what's your plan? No cell phone service and no sprinting up the hill to the car. You would need to make shade or head downhill to find any cover. From the pictures there appears to be some scrub brush. Throw a shirt over one, sit in the shade and pray.

DP but that’s why this is so horrible. There is no plan. An impossible situation with no way out. They couldn’t just sit there all day. They would have run out of water and even if they didn’t (I know they still had water when they were found) the only way back from heat stroke is cooling down the body temperature.

[Anonymous]

https://www.outsideonline.com/health/wellness/heat-stroke-signs-symptoms/

[Anonymous]

I’m heading back to murder suicide since heat stroke so obvious. They would have said.

[Anonymous]

So so sad.

[Anonymous]

Who goes on a hike that long with a baby? It’s such a strange plan. Can anyone explain this? I was the mom who always had the kids at home for naps and most meals, so it does not compute. Still, this is absurd for anyone, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who goes on a hike that long with a baby? It’s such a strange plan. Can anyone explain this? I was the mom who always had the kids at home for naps and most meals, so it does not compute. Still, this is absurd for anyone, right?

This has been covered. Maybe it was a bad idea, but they headed out early probably intending to be home for nap. Did they mean to do 8+ miles? Not sure, but sounds like they did similar previously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who goes on a hike that long with a baby? It’s such a strange plan. Can anyone explain this? I was the mom who always had the kids at home for naps and most meals, so it does not compute. Still, this is absurd for anyone, right?

This is what brings me back to my first assumption: murder suicide. Because who gathers the whole family together for a fatal hike in the middle of nowhere in obviously dangerous heat when you are an experienced hiker snd live there. Also the police not just saying “ died of heatstroke which would be obvious. There is more the police are not saying.

[Anonymous]

Apparently two deputies had to spend the night at the site after the bodies were discovered to make sure no one would tamper with the site. I can’t imagine staying overnight even with another person with me for support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who goes on a hike that long with a baby? It’s such a strange plan. Can anyone explain this? I was the mom who always had the kids at home for naps and most meals, so it does not compute. Still, this is absurd for anyone, right?

This is what brings me back to my first assumption: murder suicide. Because who gathers the whole family together for a fatal hike in the middle of nowhere in obviously dangerous heat when you are an experienced hiker snd live there. Also the police not just saying “ died of heatstroke which would be obvious. There is more the police are not saying.

They already said it wasn't murder so....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apparently two deputies had to spend the night at the site after the bodies were discovered to make sure no one would tamper with the site. I can’t imagine staying overnight even with another person with me for support.

Why? They work crime scenes 24x7?