USA: Family dies on a hike – is a killer alga to blame?

Mariposa (USA) – John Gerrish (45) and his wife Ellen Chung (31) beam into the camera. Her pride and joy in her arms, daughter Miju (1). Now all three are dead, possibly killed by a killer alga.

As reported by several media unanimously, the young family had set out on an excursion. Witnesses last saw parents, baby and dog Oski alive on August 15.

A week later, ALL of the bodies were found on a hiking trail in the Sierra Nevada.

Mysterious: “There are no bullet holes, no medicine bottle, not a hint. It’s a big mystery, ”said Jeremy Briese. The sheriff of the town of Mariposa, near which the family lived and was found, rules out the current heat in California as the cause of death.

It was true that at the time of the tragic excursion there were temperatures of 40 degrees. But the family had enough water with them. Even now, a week after the gruesome discovery, the investigators are still groping in the dark. The most likely right now is that the family may have been poisoned.

Feverishly – but so far without success – the investigators combed the region to find a disused mine, from which poisonous gases could have escaped. “But we don’t think that the death of the three could have anything to do with it,” said Jeremy Briese.

Investigators are now concentrating on nearby streams and rivers and their potentially toxic algae infestation.

Has a killer alga killed three young people and a dog?

Possible. Because about a month ago, the water protection authorities in the region warned against swimming in the Merced River because of harmful bacteria. The algae apparently formed in the water due to the persistent drought. According to the US health authorities, they are “extremely poisonous and can make people and animals sick or even kill”.

An autopsy of the corpses was carried out, the result of the toxicological examination is not expected for a few weeks.