Page 2 - John Gerrish News Today

A California couple, their 1-year-old daughter and their dog died due to extreme heat while hiking last summer.

A California couple, their 1-year-old daughter and their dog died due to extreme heat while hiking last summer.

Nearly six months after a Northern California family and their dog died of extreme heat exhaustion and dehydration while hiking, phone data was released on Thursday shows a text message and several phone calls did not go through due to poor cell phone reception.

A view of the Sierra National Forest and the Hites Cove Trail. Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images A family of 3 was found dead on a

John Gerrish and Ellen Chung tried desperate to text for help. But the area had bad cellphone service and the messages never went through. Neither did five phone calls to various people, investigators said.

The Mariposa County Sheriff's Office released information pulled from the cellphone of Jonathan Gerrish after months of work with an FBI forensics team.

The deaths initially mystified authorities who looked into possible causes ranging from murder to algae poisoning before concluding heat was the killer

Renton police said: "Determination of cause and manner of death consequently have to wait for further scientific testing, which is a multi-week process."

A family friend had reported them missing after they didn’t return from their one-day hiking trip.

A family friend had reported them missing after they didn’t return from their one-day hiking trip.