What happened to this California family?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still say FA because:

1. Not novice hikers. Their alltrails are extensive and they liked hiking.

2. They lived close by and reportedly did hikes most weekends. They knew of the fire in 2018.

3. He researched this trail or nearby trails before heading out.

4. It was extremely hot not here that came from nowhere. Alltrails shows you the weather of the trail you want to take. No experienced hiker only looks at the weather of when you start your hike.

5. This is my main thing- finding them all close together/on trail. Heat exhaustion includes delirium. If you know about the symptoms or read about heat stroke the chances of both of them not wandering off the trail or being found close together just seems unlikely.

Why didn't any other hikers run across them? No one else appars to have went out on the trail on Sunday in the heat. Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think they were novices who were enthusiastic about hiking, but had no idea what they were doing and died of heat stroke. Hence, a fur covered dog and baby in 105 or 109 degree hiking for MILES. They just had absolutely no idea what they were doing, weather, difficulty, they didn't know trail at all, nothing. Basically scooped up whole family to hike miles into death valley type heat with no easy way out.

[phone]
This is exactly what I wanted to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still say FA because:

1. Not novice hikers. Their alltrails are extensive and they liked hiking.

2. They lived close by and reportedly did hikes most weekends. They knew of the fire in 2018.

3. He researched this trail or nearby trails before heading out.

4. It was extremely hot not here that came from nowhere. Alltrails shows you the weather of the trail you want to take. No experienced hiker only looks at the weather of when you start your hike.

5. This is my main thing- finding them all close together/on trail. Heat exhaustion includes delirium. InIf you know about the symptoms or read about heat stroke the chances of both of them not wandering off the trail or being found close together just seems unlikely.

The mother wasn't close. She was found further along the trail. Either wandering in delirium, running away from poisoning, or going to get help. The baby wasn't going to wander off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What can I say? Netflix and chill saves lives. Sad situation all around. My bet is on heat stroke.

+1

I’m way too interested in this case. It’s just so sad, but my strategy of suburban walks, playing in the yard and setting up the kiddie pool is looking pretty good right now. Netflix for the 4 on “is it bedtime yet” hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What time was the nanny supposed to come take over childcare? Did the nanny not report the fact that the family was not home? Not saying she should have thought it was an emergency at that point. But it makes me wonder if they’d have been found alive if she had.

It was a Sunday so it probably was not a regularly scheduled block for the nanny and might have been a last minute overtime job so she might have figured there was a change of plans.

Sorry you’re confused. The family went for the hike on Sunday. Nanny showed up for work as planned on Monday morning. Family reported missing late Monday night. Police discovered bodies on Tuesday morning.

No exactly sure why people are trying to blame someone for not reporting them missing sooner.

I’m the poster who originally asked about the nanny. As I said, I’m not saying she should have sounded the alarm at that point. I was just wondering why nobody noticed anything the day of the hike. Wouldn’t family, friends, neighbors, nanny or whomever have noticed none of the family came back the day of the hike? Especially if they were supposed to be back by lunchtime or early afternoon. But they were not reported missing until the next night. Not even the next morning, but at the end of the next evening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if dog got lost. And they tried to search too long, too deep. They found dog, but by then heat stroke set in.

Or, like others suggested, dog got heat stroke first, and they tried to get him out, but that sealed their fate.

I posted upthread about this but if they thought the path was wooded/shaded (like in the pre fire photos) it’s possible dog left the house without paw protectors and the path was more exposed and hot (lots of rocks that heated up) and the dog got burned/cracked paws which would have slowed them down. If the dog had badly burned paws they might have had to carry the 50 plus pound furry dog on a hilly trail, that would have been a game changer in a bad way even for fit people who otherwise would have had no problem getting back home.

I mean, I guess but surely they would have noticed the complete lack of vegetation either upon arrival or soon after beginning the hike?

Not if they went around the whole 8-mile loop. From where they parked the car, they started north along a gentle downhill with plenty of trees. Then hit the river and turned right to walk along it. Only starting up the Savage-Lundy section of trail - 6 miles into their loop - would they have realized how burned out that last section would be. What to do at that point? Turn back and hike another 6 miles the way you came in, or keep going the 2 miles up the hill, hoping you'll find some shade along the way?

Yes, I think this is it if they actually intended to do this particular hike vs being confused about where they were. They figured they could finish the steep 2 mile part quickly. We know that they were adventurer types who loved being active outdoors, loved going toBurning Man, etc. They got lost or over-confident and didn’t respect the dangers of the heat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What time was the nanny supposed to come take over childcare? Did the nanny not report the fact that the family was not home? Not saying she should have thought it was an emergency at that point. But it makes me wonder if they’d have been found alive if she had.

It was a Sunday so it probably was not a regularly scheduled block for the nanny and might have been a last minute overtime job so she might have figured there was a change of plans.

Sorry you’re confused. The family went for the hike on Sunday. Nanny showed up for work as planned on Monday morning. Family reported missing late Monday night. Police discovered bodies on Tuesday morning.

No exactly sure why people are trying to blame someone for not reporting them missing sooner.

I’m the poster who originally asked about the nanny. As I said, I’m not saying she should have sounded the alarm at that point. I was just wondering why nobody noticed anything the day of the hike. Wouldn’t family, friends, neighbors, nanny or whomever have noticed none of the family came back the day of the hike? Especially if they were supposed to be back by lunchtime or early afternoon. But they were not reported missing until the next night. Not even the next morning, but at the end of the next evening.

The nanny works weekdays. They went hiking on a Sunday. I don’t find it surprising at all that no one noticed they were missing until the Monday morning, when both the nanny and people at the husband’s work were concerned and started making calls.

[Anonymous]

Am I just crazy out of shape? Because I think doing an 8 mile hike (6 mile hike?) in the summer with a dog and an infant seems crazy. I wouldn’t do it with my dog and preschooler either. Even if it were milder summer temps like 85, and not 105.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What time was the nanny supposed to come take over childcare? Did the nanny not report the fact that the family was not home? Not saying she should have thought it was an emergency at that point. But it makes me wonder if they’d have been found alive if she had.

It was a Sunday so it probably was not a regularly scheduled block for the nanny and might have been a last minute overtime job so she might have figured there was a change of plans.

Sorry you’re confused. The family went for the hike on Sunday. Nanny showed up for work as planned on Monday morning. Family reported missing late Monday night. Police discovered bodies on Tuesday morning.

No exactly sure why people are trying to blame someone for not reporting them missing sooner.

I’m the poster who originally asked about the nanny. As I said, I’m not saying she should have sounded the alarm at that point. I was just wondering why nobody noticed anything the day of the hike. Wouldn’t family, friends, neighbors, nanny or whomever have noticed none of the family came back the day of the hike? Especially if they were supposed to be back by lunchtime or early afternoon. But they were not reported missing until the next night. Not even the next morning, but at the end of the next evening.

The nanny works weekdays. They went hiking on a Sunday. I don’t find it surprising at all that no one noticed they were missing until the Monday morning, when both the nanny and people at the husband’s work were concerned and started making calls.

Would they have definitely all have perished by Sunday afternoon/evening? I don’t know what the timeline was. It’s just so awful. I’m also a little surprised there were no other hikers either Sunday or Monday. I’m not a huge hiker but whenever I do go I see at least two other groups during the hike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they were novices who were enthusiastic about hiking, but had no idea what they were doing and died of heat stroke. Hence, a fur covered dog and baby in 105 or 109 degree hiking for MILES. They just had absolutely no idea what they were doing, weather, difficulty, they didn't know trail at all, nothing. Basically scooped up whole family to hike miles into death valley type heat with no easy way out.

[phone]
This is exactly what I wanted to say.

Yup this. Stop saying they were expert hikers. I did a few hikes in rock creek park with a Dunkin’ Iced coffee in keds and thought I was an expert hiker compared to my friends or family who stay in their backyard ha. And now that I live away from DC near actual trails I wised up, and yes there were a few scary moments as I learned.

[Anonymous]

The fact that they had expensive equipment and did a lot of hikes before doesn’t mean they were experienced...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What time was the nanny supposed to come take over childcare? Did the nanny not report the fact that the family was not home? Not saying she should have thought it was an emergency at that point. But it makes me wonder if they’d have been found alive if she had.

It was a Sunday so it probably was not a regularly scheduled block for the nanny and might have been a last minute overtime job so she might have figured there was a change of plans.

Sorry you’re confused. The family went for the hike on Sunday. Nanny showed up for work as planned on Monday morning. Family reported missing late Monday night. Police discovered bodies on Tuesday morning.

No exactly sure why people are trying to blame someone for not reporting them missing sooner.

I’m the poster who originally asked about the nanny. As I said, I’m not saying she should have sounded the alarm at that point. I was just wondering why nobody noticed anything the day of the hike. Wouldn’t family, friends, neighbors, nanny or whomever have noticed none of the family came back the day of the hike? Especially if they were supposed to be back by lunchtime or early afternoon. But they were not reported missing until the next night. Not even the next morning, but at the end of the next evening.

The nanny works weekdays. They went hiking on a Sunday. I don’t find it surprising at all that no one noticed they were missing until the Monday morning, when both the nanny and people at the husband’s work were concerned and started making calls.

Would they have definitely all have perished by Sunday afternoon/evening? I don’t know what the timeline was. It’s just so awful. I’m also a little surprised there were no other hikers either Sunday or Monday. I’m not a huge hiker but whenever I do go I see at least two other groups during the hike.

Was there a heat warning on the news that told ppl to stay home?

[Anonymous]

Seems like it must be heat stroke. Those are death valley temps and they were there during the heat of the day. Haven't like 3 people in the past week died of heat stroke in death valley? Simplest explanation is usually the one...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I just crazy out of shape? Because I think doing an 8 mile hike (6 mile hike?) in the summer with a dog and an infant seems crazy. I wouldn’t do it with my dog and preschooler either. Even if it were milder summer temps like 85, and not 105.

That's the part that confounds me. Why did they think it was a good idea to take the baby out in that kind of weather? It just doesn't make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I just crazy out of shape? Because I think doing an 8 mile hike (6 mile hike?) in the summer with a dog and an infant seems crazy. I wouldn’t do it with my dog and preschooler either. Even if it were milder summer temps like 85, and not 105.

That's the part that confounds me. Why did they think it was a good idea to take the baby out in that kind of weather? It just doesn't make sense.

Because the dad may have a been a clueless and overly confident rich techie? Tons of them here in CA