On Sunday, the couple John Gerrish and Ellen Chung went on a trip with their one-year-old daughter Miju.
They had just moved from San Francisco, California, to Mariposa, which is close to the hiking area.
But they never returned, and were reported missing by a friend of the couple.
“Please get in touch if anyone has been in contact with John Gerrish and Ellen Chung,” the couple’s friend Steve Jeffe wrote on Facebook early Tuesday. A few hours later he heard the tragic news.
Search crews had found the family dead near Devil’s Gulch in the Sierra National Park.
– We have never seen anything like it before
None of them had visible injuries. Apparently the young family, and their dog, had just fallen over, the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office explains to the news magazine Inside Edition.
– It is very unusual to find an entire family and their dog, who were all apparently healthy and in good shape, died without any visible injuries. No gunshot wounds, no bruises, nothing. We have never seen anything like it before and we have therefore chosen to declare the place a “hazmat area”, says police chief Kristie Mitchell to the newspaper.
(The case continues below the picture)
In this area of the Sierra National Park, the family was found dead. Foto: Craig Kohlruss / The Fresno Bee/AP/NTB
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“Hazmat” is an abbreviation for hazardous materials, and refers to materials or areas that are considered dangerous to come in contact with or stay in.
Police suspect that the family may have died of carbon monoxide poisoning from the mines in the area.
Toxic algae
Recently, the authorities went out and warned against swimming and drinking from the Merced River in the area due to the discovery of toxic algae in the water. The family was found near the river, writes CNN.
The dead have been transported for autopsy and the police are now waiting for the results of the blood tests.
– This is a tragic and terrible case, and we fear that it will take a long time before we get to the bottom of this, says Mitchell to CNN.
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