Who was the family at the center of mystery deaths on a Mariposa County hiking trail?

A Bay Area family who moved to Mariposa County last year to raise their daughter on hiking and camping adventures among the mountains has become the center of months-long mystery.

The bodies of Jonathan Gerrish and Ellen Chung, along with their 1-year-old daughter, Aurelia Miju Chung-Gerrish, were found dead in August, along a remote hiking trail in the Sierra National Forest, just southwest of Yosemite National Park.

Since then, there has been much speculation but few details give on the mysterious deaths. On Thursday, the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office will give a "final investigative update" and is expected to release a cause of death.

A Google engineer and yoga instructor who loved hiking

Originally from England, Gerrish was a 45-year-old software engineer who had worked for Google since 2006 in the company's London and San Francisco offices. Chung was 30 years old and originally from Southern California.

Steven Jeffe, a family friend, told The Bee that Chung had worked as a yoga instructor before her pregnancy and was going to graduate school to become a marriage and family therapist.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Gerrish used the opportunity to work from home and relocate the family to Mariposa.

It was a quiet, slow-paced environment to raise their daughter. Prior to her birth, the couple had enjoyed attending events like Burning Man, but once Miju was born, she became the focus, Jeffe told The Bee in August.

The area was also close to hiking and camping opportunities.

The couple loved the outdoors and were experienced hikers, Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said just after the deaths in August. Gerrish was a member of the website Alltrails.com and has many hikes listed on his profile.

That final hike was supposed to be a day-long family outing with the dog, Oski, an 8-year-old Aussie/Akita mix. The dog was also killed.

"They're smart, they know hiking and what type of gear you need or don't need for the amount of time you're out there," Briese said at the time.