Family + dog hiking death mystery near Yosemite:

[marino760]

Originally Posted by happygrrrl

You should educate yourself about toxic blue-green algae. Also educate yourself about California, how hot it gets. I spent most of my life in California & spent a lot of time camping & hiking in the Sierra NF, where this happened. So many people think that if they are hiking in a "forest", that it will be shady & cool. They go hiking mid-day in summer & don't bring enough water to stay hydrated.

I can see that happening with this couple. The husband was highly educated but maybe not informed about outdoor survival. He and wife's judgment may have been effected by heat & dehydration, & if their baby & pup were sick, they may have panicked, which further clouded their judgment about how to safely proceed.

I'm not buying that. There was still a little bit of water left. That should have been entirely empty. If you and your baby are dying of dehydration, you suck up every drop of water you can. You don't die all at the same time, including your dog and leave even a tiny bit of water sitting there. They were experienced hikers and had hiked this area before.
The dog especially is puzzling, to lay down and die next to them without making an attempt to find a stream or source of water and then dying a little further away.

There has to be an autopsy done on all of them. What's taking so long for results?

I hate to say this and hope I'm wrong, but it may end up being murder suicide with poisoning their drinking water with cyanide or something similar. It's horrible to think about. Sometimes family photos are all smiles and looks of happiness when the truth may be far different.

[happygrrrl]

Was their drinking water tested? Was the water from the Merced River?

[wasel]

The article posted above mentioned this is a popular trail. It is hard to imagine that there was not one single soul who happened to come across this family either while they were in distress or after they died. It took a call to the police to find them. Is it really that remote?

How long would it have taken them to hike this relatively short trail? Whatever made them unable to continue on happened in a matter of a couple of hours it seems. That's pretty quick.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by happygrrrl

Was their drinking water tested? Was the water from the Merced River?

You'd think that would have been reported by now, if the area was considered a hazmat site, which it was from the start. I don't know why there's not more info forthcoming. But the Forest Service had posted warnings about the water in previous months, so there may not be anything new there. The only way to know if they'd ingested the water is to test them.

But the dog, who one would think would have lapped up the river water, didn't show any toxic algae in his system? No signs of any kind of poisoning in the dog?

[springfieldva]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

You'd think that would have been reported by now, if the area was considered a hazmat site, which it was from the start. I don't know why there's not more info forthcoming. But the Forest Service had posted warnings about the water in previous months, so there may not be anything new there. The only way to know if they'd ingested the water is to test them.

But the dog, who one would think would have lapped up the river water, didn't show any toxic algae in his system? No signs of any kind of poisoning in the dog?

I don't think the dog's necropsy results have been released. We do know that the authorities are no longer investigating this as a homicide.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by otterhere

Presumably they were all adequately hydrated when they began the hike and took what they assumed would be enough water and, finally, still had water left when they were found.

I'm not buying the "four lives simultaneously snuffed out by insufficient water in a few hours" theory.

However, the way people can't walk two steps without holding a plastic water bottle these days, I can see where many would believe this.

What is your source that they were adequately hydrated and had enough water? Everything I have read says exactly the opposite. From what I read they had one hydration bladder between them, which was almost empty. That would likely have been about 3 liters of water which would have been mostly consumed at the time of their deaths. The normal recommended amount of water is 4 liters per person.

[Mikala43]

It would be a one in a million for 4 beings to all die of HS at essentially the same time.

Sure maybe one, with some preexisting conditions, just a freak accident. But 4?

The conditions weren't extreme. If it were that easy to die, then the hundreds that do the Koko Head hike daily would be dropping like flies. (Near vertical climb, high 80s, high humidity)

I did that hike hung over, and out of shape. I WANTED to die, but alas, I survived.

[otterhere]

If you'll read what I wrote, you'll see that I said "presumably" and "what they assumed would be."

I still say they didn't all four die from lack of water in a few hours.

If you're dying of thirst (usually after a few days), you don't leave water on the table -- or in the bladder -- or anywhere.

[marino760]

The article does say autopsies gave no immediate clue. That rules out dehydration which would be extremely obvious in an autopsy.

[springfieldva]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

What is your source that they were adequately hydrated and had enough water? Everything I have read says exactly the opposite. From what I read they had one hydration bladder between them, which was almost empty. That would likely have been about 3 liters of water which would have been mostly consumed at the time of their deaths. The normal recommended amount of water is 4 liters per person.

They were towards the end of their hike, about 1.5 miles away from their car so I'm not sure how much water they brought with them or how hydrated they were. We only know how much water they still had with them.