Dad of Brit found dead with wife & baby on US hike says family were NOT murdered
THE heartbroken dad of a Brit found dead with his wife and baby on a hiking trail says he doesn’t believe they were murdered.
Jonathan Gerrish, 45, his wife Ellen Chung, 31, and their one-year-old daughter Miju were all found dead by search teams in a remote area of the Sierra National Forest in California last week.
Detectives at first launched a murder probe – but cops now say they are ruling out homicide, despite not yet having an explanation or cause of death.
Mr Gerrish’s dad Peter, 70, told from his home in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire: “We don’t believe they were murdered. We just want people to get on with the task at hand.
“We are mystified like everyone else. I don’t want to say a great deal as there is a lot going on.”
He said his family is “heartbroken” by the deaths of Jonathan, Ellen, and Miju.
Cops are hoping that the autopsy of the family’s dog Oksi, who was also found dead at the scene, could help solve the mysterious case.
They said the toxicology reports from the family could help shed some light on the baffling case.
Cops have however pledged they will not give up the trail until they get answers.
Mariposa County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kristie Mitchell told : “Initially, yes, when we come across a family with no apparent cause of death, there’s no smoking gun, there’s no suicide note, there’s nothing like that, we have to consider all options.
“Now that we’re five days in, no, we’re no longer considering homicide as a cause of death.”
She added: “We’re hoping that within the next week, two weeks, we’ll have a better idea.
“There’s toxicology that we’re waiting for from the autopsies themselves, and then also from the [necropsy for the dog].”
Investigators are still considering a number of possible causes including toxic algae that were reported in a river nearby and noxious gases from abandoned mines.
In July, the US Forest Service warned that toxic algae had been discovered in the Merced River and urged people not to swim in it or to allow their pets to drink from it.
We’ve never seen anything like this, and I don’t think this is a typical case that any agency throughout the nation has seen.”
Kristie Mitchell
Cops initially treated the mysterious case as a “hazmat situation” – and Mitchell said cops are carrying out toxicology reports from nearby water sources.
She said: “We’ve never seen anything like this, and I don’t think this is a typical case that any agency throughout the nation has seen.
“When you come across, like I said at the beginning, a family, seemingly healthy family, and you come across mom, dad, dog, and baby all deceased, that’s not normal.”
Real estate agent Sidney Radanovich, one of the couple’s friends, said the family had recently moved from San Francisco after “falling in love” with Mariposa.
Radanovich told the : “They were such a loving couple, they loved each other quite a bit.
“He loved showing the baby all sorts of things and explaining them to her. She didn’t understand, but he would explain them to her anyway.”
According to the , Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said: “I’ve been here for 20 years, and I’ve never seen a death-related case like this.
“There’s no obvious indicators of how it occurred.
“You have two healthy adults, you have a healthy child, and what appears to be a healthy canine all within a general same area.”
None of the bodies had physical wounds such as gunshots or signs of trauma, and no suicide note was found, according to Mitchell.
She said: “It makes for a very unique, very strange situation. I think it’s going to be a very long and in-depth, thorough investigation because it isn’t as clear cut as what some cases are.”
The couple had reportedly moved to Mariposa from San Francisco to raise their daughter in “a quiet, slow-paced environment, surrounded by open-air and close to the mountains for hiking and camping adventures”.
Jonathan, who was originally from Lancashire and had worked for Google and Snapchat, was out on Sunday with his family for what was supposed to be a day hike.
But when their nanny arrived at the family home to look after little Miju, no one answered the door and friends became worried.
They were reported missing by a relative on Monday and authorities found the family’s car near the Sierra National forest gate the same day.
Their bodies were located on Tuesday evening two miles from their car in an area with no phone reception.
Close pal Steve Jaffe described the mysterious deaths as “freaky and strange”.
“You had to figure it wasn’t an overnight hike because it’s been hot, and they had the baby with them,” he told the Mirror.
“Jon was supposed to work Monday and never showed up. That raised more concerns.”
‘DEVASTATED’
He added: “We’re all just devastated. They were really beloved by the people. A super generous, sweet, and loving couple that was devoted to their daughter.
“It’s just a tragedy. You have people who pass away and die. And that’s always sad.
“This one is just so freaky and strange, and it’s really, really sad. They had so much going for them.”
Following the discovery of the bodies, cops could not initially rule out carbon monoxide emitted from old mines as the cause of death.
But Sherriff Briese said detectives couldn’t find any disused shafts in the area.
“We have not found any old mine shafts near the area,” he said.
“There are some mine shafts, but we can’t confirm if that’s the cause yet.”
