LOS ANGELES (KNX Newsradio) — The bodies of Jonathan Gerrish, Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter, Miju, and a family dog were found by Mariposa County sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday. The family reportedly left home for a hike on Sunday near an isolated patch of Yosemite National Park called Devil’s Gulch.
The Fresno Bee reported the family moved to the Mariposa area during the COVID-19 pandemic from San Francisco, craving proximity to nature. Gerrish worked remotely as a software engineer for Snapchat. Chung was in graduate school studying to become a family and marriage therapist.
On Monday, when a nanny for the family’s daughter arrived at their home, no one answered the door. Friends and family became worried and filed a missing persons report that day.
“You had to figure it wasn’t an overnight hike, because it’s been hot and they had the baby with them,” family friend Steve Jeffe told The Bee. “Jon was supposed to work Monday and never showed up. That raised more concerns.”
How the family died has puzzled investigators. Mariposa County sheriff’s deputies had a hazmat team handle the on-site investigation, as there was no clear cause of death. The bodies showed no sign of trauma, such as knife or gunshot wounds.
“It could be a carbon monoxide situation,” deputy Kristie Mitchell told The Bee, citing fumes from open mines in the area. The department is also exploring exposure to toxic algae as a possibility.
“It’s just a tragedy. You have people who pass away and die. And that’s always said,” Jeffe told The Bee. “This one is just so freaky and strange.”
An investigation into the family's death is ongoing. This story will be updated with new information as it is received.