Officials have ruled out homicide and are awaiting toxicology reports as an investigation into the mysterious death of a young family at Sierra National Forest last week continues, according to multiple reports over the weekend.
John Garrish, Ellen Chung, their one-year-old daughter Miju and their dog, Oski, were discovered dead at a remote hiking trail near the entrance of the forest on Aug. 16, however their bodies suspiciously did not show any signs of trauma and there were no smoking gun clues at the scene.
"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, spokesperson for the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office, told Fox News on Saturday. "When you come across […] a family, seemingly healthy family, and you come across mom, dad, dog, and baby all deceased, that's not normal."
"Now that we're five days in, no, we're no longer considering homicide as a cause of death," she added.
Officials are considering a range of possibilities, most notably exposure to toxic algae bloom.
The scene was originally ruled a hazmat situation, however that designation was lifted after 24 hours.
Mitchell told the outlet that initial autopsies did not reveal any information, however officials are hopeful that forthcoming toxicology reports from both the family and the golden retriever will help solve the mystery.
"Toxicology can take up to six weeks, sometimes even longer,” Mitchell told The Fresno Bee last week. “Unfortunately we don’t have a great time frame for that yet."
They are also awaiting results from a toxicology report on both nearby water sources and the water the family was carrying.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife warned in July that water testing along the Merced River near Hite’s Cove, the area southeast of Yosemite where the family was found, showed a high concentration of algae bloom which could pose risk to humans and pets. The agency warned people not to swim in the water.
The area surrounding Hite’s Cove was also a gold mining site during the 19th century, which some theorized could produce toxic gases, however Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said Thursday he didn’t think that was a factor.
Chung, a yoga instructor and graduate school student, and Garrish, a software engineer at Google, originally lived together in San Francisco before residing in Mariposa prior to their deaths.
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