Californian Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese has scheduled a press conference this Thursday in which he plans to reveal the causes of the death of a family in a remote hiking area, a case that has puzzled authorities by the apparent absence of evidence of how they lost their lives.
Ellen Chung and John Gerrish;
his one-year-old daughter, Miju;
and his dog were found dead on August 17 after a family friend reported him missing.
They had hiked along a trail near the Merced River, in the Sierra National Forest.
California's Sierra National Forest, File, AP
Mariposa County investigators have worked with toxicologists, environmental specialists, the FBI, and other experts.
They have already ruled out that the causes [of the deaths] are related to a gun or any other weapon, extreme heat, lightning, carbon monoxide or dioxide, exposure to cyanide, illegal drugs, alcohol or suicide.
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One of the theories not yet ruled out is that the high levels of toxic algae detected in the Merced River played a role in the tragedy.
Researchers have the results of water samples taken in the area, but are still awaiting the results of other tests to help determine if the levels were high enough to end their lives.
The deaths prompted the Bureau of Land Management to close campsites and recreation areas along 28 miles (45 kilometers) of the river, between the towns of Briceburg and Bagby, when water samples below where the woman died family showed high levels of toxic algae.
