The last calls and text messages sent by a California family that was found dead last year under mysterious circumstances while on a hike in Mariposa County have now been revealed.
On Aug. 17 last year, 45-year-old John Gerrish, 31-year-old Ellen Chung and their 1-year-old daughter, Miju, were found dead along with their dog, Oski, on a remote hiking trail.
After months of analysis and speculation, the cause of death for the family was determined in October to be hyperthermia and probable dehydration.
While on the hike in the Sierra National Forest, the family was exposed to extreme heat, temperatures ranging from 107 to 109 degrees, while hiking a steep incline on the section of the trail where they were found, KCBS Radio previously reported.
The newly released phone records, which for the past several months have been in the FBI's possession, have shed new light on what the family's final moments might have been like.
"The details found on the phone support the findings of a heat related incident," the Mariposa Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post last Thursday, providing detail on what was found on Gerrish’s phone.
According to the post, there were at least 17 photos taken while on the hike, starting just before 7:45 in the morning and ending at 12:25 p.m.
The majority of the photos were of the trail, the river, or selfies of the family. The last photo was a screenshot of a location on the Trail App.
Phone records also included one text message and five phone calls, none of which actually connected due to the poor reception on the trail.
The text message, sent just before noon, read: "[name redacted] can you help us. On savage lundy trail heading back to Hites cove trail. No water or ver [over] heating with baby."
Then, calls were made to multiple different numbers, not including 911, over the span of under 30 minutes.
"The cell phone data results were the last thing both the family and detectives were waiting on," the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook.
The Mariposa County Sheriff's Office did not respond to KCBS Radio's request for comment at the time of publication.
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