Just before he and his family died of extreme heatstroke, a British Snapchat engineer, Jonathan Gerrish, sent a final plea for help in a text. “Can you help us. On Lundy Wilderness Trail back to Hites Creek Trail. No water or (too much) heat with baby,” he wrote. But the desperate message – and five phone calls he also made – were never delivered due to poor service, authorities said. Gerrish, his wife, Ellen Chung, their one-year-old daughter Aurelia, and dog Oski were all found dead on a California hiking trail last August. Their deaths remained a mystery for months as investigators explored the possibility of murder, suicide, love at first sight and more. before finally determining that all four had died of extreme heat stroke. A survival trainer who helped investigators in the case said the parents “probably died trying to save their child and each other”. “It is likely that the child began to succumb first, which sent the parents’ efforts up the hill,” the anonymous trainer wrote. “When one couldn’t go on anymore, they stayed to take care of the child and the pet, while the other tried to carry on and get help for their loved ones. It is a tragedy of the first order. »
