The desperate last message a dad sent before dying alongside his family in suffocating temperatures has been revealed - but tragically it never went through.
Jonathan Gerrish, 45, wife Ellen Chung, 31, their one-year-old daughter Muji, and the family's dog, Oski, were all found dead in the Sierra National Forest in California on August 17, 2021.
A police investigation into the mysterious deaths lasted months, but ultimately concluded that they died from hyperthermia and dehydration while hiking in 38C temperatures.
Now, the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office has released the devastating messages the software engineer had tried to send out before dying, the Mirror reports.
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The final message read: "[Name redacted] can you help us. On savage lundy trail heading back to Hites cove trail. No water or ver [over] heating with baby.”
Tragically, the text never reached the intended recipient because of poor service.
The Lancashire dad - a software engineer - had also attempted to make five calls to different numbers, none of which ever went through.
Sheriff Jeremy Briese said the data from Jonathan's phone "confirmed the team's initial findings."
Detectives had initially launched a murder probe but they then ruled out homicide.
Jonathan, Ellen and Muji were found 1.6 miles from their vehicle in temperatures that could have soared above 100F (37C), Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said.
They were found with one empty water bottle and a bottle of formula between them, which indicated the heat and lack of sustenance likely contributed to their death.
"For Mariposa County, this is rare," Sheriff Briese told reporters at a conference.
"This is the first hypothermia cause of death that I've witnessed here in 20 years."
A friend of the couple, Sidney Radanovich, told the San Francisco Chronicle they had recently relocated from San Francisco after "falling in love" with the Mariposa area.
Radanovich added: "They were such a loving couple, they loved each other quite a bit."
Their family had previously thanked police for having "truly gone the extra mile"' in trying to find answers.
In a statement, they said: “The loss of the family is pain beyond words and when that pain is compacted by lack of knowledge about their death, the questions of where, why, when and how to fill the void, day and night.
“Some questions have been answered, and we will use this to help us come to terms with this.
“They will remain with us wherever we go, or whatever we do”.
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