"Some of the tests take days, weeks, months," says Alan Hall, MD, a board-certified toxicologist and consultant in Laramie, Wyo. The final toxicology report, he says, draws not only from multiple test results and confirmation of the results, but also on the clinical experience of the toxicologists and pathologists involved in the investigation, as well as field work.

Here is what toxicology tests include, why they take so long, and why they can be tricky.

What is toxicology testing?

The toxicology testing performed after a person's death is known as forensic toxicology testing or postmortem drug testing.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know why drug screens and toxicology take so long?

One reason is they must have an idea what to test for. Sounds daunting but perhaps autopsies gave a few hints as to a starting point.

Does anyone know why drug screens and toxicology take so long?

Furthermore, insurance companies and probate courts need death info. This could get quite ugly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap when are they going to figure out what happened to these people already

More snd more looks like FA to me.

Does anyone else wonder if the long delay and lack of info from law enforcement signals this? Or am I reaching?

I know previous reports said they searched their car and home and found nothing significant and had gotten a court order for social media access. I can’t remember hearing anything about the results of that access though or if anything significant was found.

I wonder if it was FA but where they were extremely careful to make sure it didn’t look like FA to spare their families the pain.

Absolutely not! The investigators will release true findings to both families once toxicology tests are returned. Looks like we can rule out everything but FA or MS. Drug screens take a long time to complete, often months.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can’t read this whole thread but does anyone know if the sheriff’s office has ruled out homicide/suicide? Like, on purpose poisoning? Heat stroke makes some sense, as does the toxic algae, but sadly, despite how attractive this family looked, statistically it’s usually the dad.

It’s not clear. In a previous article, the sheriffs office said that murder was “not high on their list”, but I interpreted that to mean from an attacker on the trail. Others on this board have said that they think it would mean any kind of murder (including something like family annihilation).

The biggest confusing factor to me is apparently no one hikes this trail in the summer. And there were much nicer places they could have gone. It’s just hard to understand why they chose to do this hike at all. It seems unavoidable that they would have known there would be no other people on the trail.

Dopamine chasing thrill-seekers; so they could brag about it after.

Exactly!

Anonymous wrote:Are there signs of heat stroke that would show up on an autopsy?

It's more of a process of elimination. They would have to rule out toxins first. That's why it's taking so long, to rule out other possible causes.

Anonymous wrote:Why would they commit family annihilation? Makes no sense, and dragging their little girl and their family dog into it. Perhaps if it was the mom, since she had traumatic brain injury, so her thinking was cloudy. Even that makes very little sense. They had everything going for them.

From the outside it appears they had everything going for them. But what was “really” going on?

Anonymous wrote:
Maybe they'll never release a cause?

Maybe they'll hope that we'll all just forget about this and move on with our busy lives?

If it was FA, I'd think they'd want to drag this out for as long as possible, rather than have to announce that this was the cause.

I still don't understand why she was found away from the other bodies if this was the case?

I assume she tried to run.

I think the dog ran into the poison water, dad went to get it. Mom also got exposed too, but after dad which is why she was farther away. Baby died either from toxin or heat stroke.

I think the dog is key, especially after reading this https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-found-that-a-dangerous-algal-bloom-toxin-can-be-found-in-the-air

Anonymous wrote:
Maybe they'll never release a cause?

Maybe they'll hope that we'll all just forget about this and move on with our busy lives?

If it was FA, I'd think they'd want to drag this out for as long as possible, rather than have to announce that this was the cause.

I still don't understand why she was found away from the other bodies if this was the case?

They may never release a cause. But they aren't hoping that if they stall long enough that the public will forget. Police don't do that (and the public doesn't forget either).

There's really no reason to think it was a murder-suicide. There are posters who seem to be addicted to drama.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family annihilation

That’s what I’ve said from the start. They don’t want to say thing without getting as much proof as possible, so that’s why it’s taking so long.

Agreed. They’d have to narrow down who planned it, was it a joint decision, what killed them and how it all went down - in what order.

Agree

Let's say they find a poison in each person's body. Was is given to the family by dad? Mom?
And how do we know for absolute sure that it wasn't given to them by an outside party?
Lots to investigate and no easy answers even if they find a toxin.

Maybe they'll never release a cause?

Maybe they'll hope that we'll all just forget about this and move on with our busy lives?

If it was FA, I'd think they'd want to drag this out for as long as possible, rather than have to announce that this was the cause.

I still don't understand why she was found away from the other bodies if this was the case?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any updates on this? I am so curious to find out what happened.

I came here to check too… wonder why there isn’t any new info?

If the FBI was pulled in, there’s probably a criminal element and extra layers of investigation.

Wouldn’t the FBI need to be involved because they were found in a National Forest?

The National Park Service has their own investigative unit. Not sure if/how they partner with the FBI.

National forest isn’t a national park though. They weren’t in Yosemite park so I don’t think national parks are involved nor would they have better capabilities to address this weirdo case than the FBI

Anonymous wrote:Why would they commit family annihilation? Makes no sense, and dragging their little girl and their family dog into it. Perhaps if it was the mom, since she had traumatic brain injury, so her thinking was cloudy. Even that makes very little sense. They had everything going for them.

Who knows why anyone does FA?

Some who do FA include the pets too. It’s sick but their thinking is better we all die together.