Mariposa, California. John Gerrish, his wife Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter Miju and their dog Oski all lived together in Mariposa, California.
John worked as a software engineer, and Ellen worked as a yoga teacher.
John and Ellen were very outdoorsy, so they decided to recently take their family to the Sierra National Forest.
The Sierra National Forest is well-known for having gorgeous mountain views, stunning lakes, and a variety of different activities visitors can participate in, including hiking, fishing, sailing, skiing, and boating.
John, Ellen, Miju, and Oski weren’t in the Sierra National Forest for very long when one of their loved ones reported all of them as missing on August 16th at around 11 at night.
Sadly, the day after this family of four disappeared, they were all found dead under very strange circumstances.
Instagram; pictured above are John and Ellen
“Search teams located the family’s vehicle near the Sierra National Forest gate leading to Hites Cove in the Jerseydale area,” the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“A short time later the family; John Gerrish, Ellen Chung, one-year-old daughter Miju and the family dog were located deceased near the Devil’s Gulch area in the Southfork of the Merced River drainage.”
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
“Sheriff personnel with the assistance of the California Department of Justice are conducting the investigation and processing the area.”
“Current scene information does not indicate a clear picture of what occurred or a clear cause of death, the scene is currently being handled as a hazmat and coroner investigation.”
Instagram; pictured above is John and Ellen’s dog Oski
Sheriff Jeremy Briese pointed out that this is certainly not what they were all hoping to find when they set out to search for the family missing in the forest.
“This is never the outcome we want or the news we want to deliver, my heart breaks for their family,” he said.
Autopsies and toxicology reports are being done on the family and authorities are waiting to see if the results yield any answers into their mysterious deaths.
Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office; pictured above is a statement regarding the family that went missing in the forest