A family who died of heat exhaustion during a strenuous summer hike in northern California sent one last desperate text message pleading for help, authorities said Thursday.
The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office released information taken from the cell phone of Jonathan Gerrish after months of working with an FBI forensic team.
A text message sent shortly before noon on August 15 to an unnamed person asked: “Can you help us?” and I add: “On Savage Lundy trail going back to Hites Cove trail. No water, overheating with the baby”, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
But the area had poor cell phone service and the text message was never sent. Five phone calls to various people were also not connected, investigators said.
Ellen Chung31 years old, her husband 45 years old, their 1-year-old daughter Aurelia “Miju” Chung-Gerrish and his oski dog were found dead on a hiking trail near the mercedes river last August.
Their deaths baffled investigators. The case involved more than 30 law enforcement agencies that thoroughly reviewed and ruled out causes such as murder, lightning strikes, algae-contaminated water poisoning, abandoned mines that could emit toxic gases, illegal drugs, and suicide.
last fall, investigators concluded the family died of extreme heat stroke. Temperatures that afternoon reached 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) in the steep mountainous terrain and the family had run out of water. A forest fire had burned away any shade canopy.
Authorities found the family two days after relatives reported them missing. The family had walked 6.4 miles (10.2 kilometers) with the baby in a backpack carrier.. They were 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) away from his car.
The family had an 85-ounce (2.5-liter) water container with them that was empty.
The cell phone was found in the pocket of Gerrish. Shortly after noon, Gerrish and Chung tried calling and texting for help multiple times, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Five phone calls, four of them in quick succession, went to various phone numbers, but the family did not call 911, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The first call was made at 12:09 pm Starting at 12:35 pm, the family made the last four calls in quick succession, investigators said.
However, none of the calls connected.
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