Brit found dead alongside wife, baby and dog on US hiking trail

août 18, 2021
Jonathan Gerrish, Ellen Chung and Muji found dead in Mariposa County area of Yosemite National Park
Jonathan Gerrish, from Lancashire, lived with his American wife and daughter in California (Picture: Rossana Heaslett)

A British man, his American wife, their baby daughter and their dog have been found dead in mysterious circumstances in a US national park.

Jonathan Gerrish, 45, Ellen Chung, 31, and one-year-old Muji were found on Tuesday evening near Devil’s Gulch, a creek in the Yosemite Mountains.

The family was last seen on Saturday and were reported missing by a relative on Monday, with police locating their car that same day.

Their bodies were found outdoors around two miles from their car, in an area with no mobile phone reception that sits atop several disused gold mines.

Police are treating the scene as a potential hazmat situation, it has been reported.

The local sheriff’s office suggested a number of possible explanations for the ‘bizarre situation’ including carbon monoxide effusion from the mines and exposure to toxic algae.

A spokesperson said the recovery team is ‘taking precautions’ for any poisonous gases or particles in the area, but none have yet been found.

Sheriff Jeremy Briese said the scene ‘does not indicate a clear picture of what occurred or a clear cause of death’.

Jonathan Gerrish, Ellen Chung and their one year old daughter Muji A Northern California family of three that had been reported missing was found dead Tuesday along with the family?s dog on a hiking trail in a remote area of the Sierra National Forest, authorities said. Search teams initially located the family?s vehicle near a gate to the Sierra National Forest and then found the bodies of all three ? identified as John Gerrish, Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter, Muji ? and their dog near an area known as Devil?s Gulch in the Southfork of the Merced River, the Mariposa County Sheriff?s Office said. A family friend had reported them missing Monday evening. There was no clear cause of death, prompting authorities to treat the area as a hazmat scene, said Kristie Mitchell, a spokeswoman with the sheriff?s office. ?It could be a carbon monoxide situation. That?s one of the reasons why we?re treating it as a hazmat situation,? she said. The sheriff?s office is investigating the deaths along with the California Department of Justice. The remote area where the bodies were found had no cellphone service, Mitchell said. It was close to the Hite Cove trail, known particularly in springtime to have spectacular wildflower displays.
The family were found in a remote area with no mobile phone reception (Picture: Rossana Heaslett)

He told the Mirror: ‘This is never the outcome we want or the news we want to deliver, my heart breaks for their family.

‘Our Sheriff’s Chaplains and staff are working with their family and will continue to support them during this heartbreaking time.

Mr Gerrish, a Google software engineer, was originally from Lancaster, while Ms Chung was from Orange, California.

The couple are said to have lived in San Francisco before moving to Mariposa.

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