Experts look at toxic algae after California family is found dead on hiking trail

Investigators are confused and worried about the unexplained deaths of a California family who were found dead on a hiking trail.

John Gerrish along with his wife, Ellen Chung, their one-year-old daughter, Muji, and their dog were found dead on a hiking trail in Mariposa county. The family was reported missing by a family friend on Monday evening.

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After the family friend was reported missing, the local police started a search and rescue mission to find the California family. Their vehicle was located near a gate of the Sierra national forest on Tuesday.

A little later the dead bodies of the family were found a mile away. The area the family was found in did not have any cellphone service and there was no obvious reason behind their death.

As of now, the experts have said there is a possibility that the nearby toxic algae could have been responsible for the sad demise of the family. There is also a possibility that this incident might have been due to exposure to carbon monoxide or to gas from mines in the area.

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"We haven’t ruled anything out yet," Kristie Mitchell, a spokesperson with the Mariposa county sheriff’s office, told the Guardian.

Gerrish is known to be a software designer who "fell in love with the Mariposa area" and had also bought several homes in that area, said his friend.

The couple loved hiking and were "a loving couple, they loved each other quite a bit".