'Missing 411', by David Paulides: Tracking unusual missing persons cases

Hyperthermia seems applicable but, wouldn't' vomit have been a telltale sign early on..?

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https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heat-stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20353581


For more than two months, California authorities could not say what killed a young family of three and their dog along a hiking trail in the Sierra National Forest.

The bodies of John Gerrish, Ellen Chung and their 1-year-old daughter, Miju, were found close to the Merced River with no physical wounds or signs of trauma. Baffled investigators ruled out a number of possibilities, from lightning to carbon monoxide exposure and toxic algae. Now they have an answer: hyperthermia and possible dehydration, Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese announced Thursday.

The family had hiked a steep incline with little shade at temperatures reaching up to 109 degrees, possibly running out of water at some point during the trip, Briese said. Investigators believe their dog Oski died of heat-related issues.

Briese explained hyperthermia is a condition when body temperatures reach an abnormally high level.

“This is an unfortunate and tragic event due to the weather,” Briese said.

In a statement, the Gerrish and Chung families expressed “pain almost beyond words” amid a void of answers during the investigation.
“Our hearts will never forget the beautiful lives of Jonathan, Ellen, Miju and of course Oski,” they continued.

The cause behind the mysterious deaths of the family was determined after a litany of tests, including autopsies and toxicology reviews.

The sheriff said a team of detectives had worked on the case “round-the-clock,” methodically reviewing evidence like cellphone data and more.

Gerrish, 45, Chung, 30, and their daughter and dog were discovered after a family friend had reported them missing on Aug. 16. Miju’s babysitter had alerted family members that Gerrish and Chung were not home that day. The day before, a witness saw the family traveling toward the trailhead.

A couple, their baby and their dog died on a California hiking trail — and officials don’t know why

Law enforcement combed the trail after spotting the couple’s truck parked near the trail’s entrance, The Washington Post previously reported. Later that morning, in an area known as Devil’s Gulch, search-and-rescue officers discovered Gerrish in a seated position with Miju and Oski near him, while Chung was found farther up a hill.

Authorities later closed the 28 miles along the river the family was found near after test results of the water downstream revealed high levels of toxic algae — but algae blooms were ruled out as a cause of death. The family did not drink the water from the river, Briese said.

The sheriff said investigators also considered possible exposure from nearby mines, but they determined the family did not visit those mines.

On Thursday, Briese showed footage of the eight-mile trail the family had nearly completed, with sloping terrain that had little tree cover due to a wildfire in 2018. They were 1.6 miles away from completing the hike.

A sole container for water found with the family, an 85-ounce water bladder backpack, was empty.

Briese said he has not encountered another hyperthermia death during his work at the sheriff’s office. But he warned others to take precautions when outdoors during sweltering summers.

“My message would be to prepare, if you’re going to hike, prepare,” he said.

The loss of the young family came as a shock to those in the Mariposa community who knew them.

“It’s just so tragic and mysterious,” Steven Jeffe, a close family friend, previously told The Washington Post.

The couple moved to Mariposa from San Francisco in March 2020. Gerrish worked at Snapchat, and Chung was working toward a master’s degree in family therapy, Jeffe said.

Those who knew the couple described their love of outdoor adventures and hiking, questioning what could have happened during their trip to Hites Cove.

“We’re just devastated by the loss,” Jeffe said. “But I think the community is more like, ‘What the heck happened?’ It’s just so crazy.”

The Gerrish and Chung families said they would use the new revelations “as a way of helping us come to terms with the situation.”
“However,” they added, “the question of why can never be answered and will remain with us.”
Read more here:
A New Zealand family was feared dead after a mysterious disappearance. They had been camping the whole time.
For more than two years, a wild elk had a car tire stuck around his neck. Now, it’s free.
Unidentified remains found in search for Gabby Petito’s fiance Brian Laundrie, authorities say
 
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Ellie says Cleo woke up at 1.30am asking for a drink of water – and that was the last time she spoke to her daughter.

The parents woke up again at around 6am to find Cleo had gone, reports News.com.au.

Thankfully, Cleo Smith has been found early this morning:


Missing four-year-old Cleo Smith has been found "alive and well" after disappearing from a camp site in Western Australia more than two weeks ago.

A team from Western Australia Police broke into a locked house in Carnarvon around 1am on Wednesday morning where they found the little girl in one of the rooms. A man from the area is in custody.


"It's my privilege to announce that in the early hours of this morning, the Western Australia police force rescued Cleo Smith," deputy commissioner Col Blanch said. "Cleo is alive and well."

In a news conference, he explained how Cleo identified herself.

"One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her, 'what's your name?'
"She said, 'My name is Cleo'."

Cleo was reunited with her parents a short time later.

Sounds like it was a "mundane" abduction then..
 
Thankfully, Cleo Smith has been found early this morning:




Sounds like it was a "mundane" abduction then..
I was just thinking about this little girl and wondering what happened to her. Thank the DCM that she was found alive (and hopefully wasn’t violated by some creep).

It seemed more like a terrestrial abduction when I initially read the story. The sleeping bag being gone raised a flag in my mind, a person would have used that to muffle her making any sounds/it would be easier to pick her up still in it.

I still cannot fathom camping and putting my young children in a separate “room”. It’s not like you can lock a tent! SMH. Anyway, I’m glad this sweet little girl was spared.
 

Sasquatch Director Josh Rofé talks about his investigation of weed-farm in the Emerald Triangle in Northern California.
And found more High Strangeness than he ever could have imagined.

By Lauren Kranc Apr 20, 2021 Snip:
Sasquatch is not a true crime documentary, really. It’s a journey back to the dark, unruly woods of the Emerald Triangle for investigative journalist David Holthouse, where he attempts to piece together the truth about his strange memory from 1993. But it turns out there’s nothing mythological about the woods where Sasquatches are legend to roam—the remote area is a very real, drug-fueled, sinister place where a journalist poking around about a twenty-year-old triple homicide is not particularly welcome. And as David delves further into the history of the Emerald Triangle, cannabis culture, and the people who live there, it slowly seems less insane to believe in monsters. Esquire talked to director Josh Rofé about the chilling documentary before its Hulu premiere—how it came to be, his experience filming in the woods of Northern California, and the many times in the process that he genuinely feared for his friend David’s life.
Mar 16, 2021HD
 
A missing woman and her dog, who disappeared on a trip to the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, have been found dead in Del Norte County.

Courtney Bryan, 33, worked for Patagonia in Reno and was taking time off to grieve the death of her grandfather, Bryan's sister Katana Curven told Dateline. Bryan planned to visit Hunt Hot Springs, about an hour north of Redding. When she didn't check back in with family by Sept. 27, they reported her missing.

"She’s a free spirit and would often travel alone," Curven told Dateline. "But she would’ve let us know when she was coming back. She would’ve checked in with somebody."

Reno police said her last known contact was on Sept. 23, the same day she posted an Instagram photo at Hunt Hot Springs.

A hiker stumbled across a car in an embankment off Highway 101 in Del Norte County, and alerted authorities to the crash site. Inside, CHP found the body of a woman and a dog, which authorities announced Wednesday they believe are Bryan and her pet. An official identification will be issued by the Del Norte County Coroner's Office. Foul play is not suspected, and it's believed both died of injuries from a car crash.

Bodies believed to be Courtney Bryan and her dog, Booch, were found this week in a wrecked vehicle off a steep embankment in Del Norte County, California. The pair had been missing since September. #Dateline Reno woman found dead at crash site off steep embankment month after she went missing with her dog in Shasta-Trinity National Forest pic.twitter.com/Hj4H2tQLfQ
— Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) October 30, 2021

Curven confirmed her sister's death on TikTok, where she posted a video with photos of Bryan.

"My sister was found," Curven wrote. "Thank you everyone for all your kind thoughts and prayers and effort. We are going to take this time to grieve."

Oct 29, 2021

Tragedy in Joshua Tree National Park, Vanished on Camping Trip 6/2020
Nov 3, 2021 "Opinion"

Map:
33.878176, -118.098704


Flashback Thursday of the 4th kind:
Friday, October 13th 2017 Video East Fresno County. Video
 
David Paulides discusses the strange and "out of character" (according to his mother) disappearance of the 18-year-old Belgian Theo Hayez in Byron Bay, Australia. He disappears after being thrown out of a bar at 11 p.m. and was never seen again.

Dave only mentions a few things and continues to say that he doesn't know what has happened, @31 minutes:


But what I thought was interesting was the digital trail that 60Minutes Australia subsequently constructed which shows his phone activity, leading him away from the bar, and his walking towards the coast (bear in mind that it was dark and cold!).

After being kicked out of the bar (his friend stayed behind) he is captured on CCTV looking up directions, because he didn't know how to get back to his hostel and he continued to do so, even though he was already heading towards the coast!

The next morning his phone indicated that he was moving over "the steep and rocky terrain". What specialists who reviewed this trail don't understand is why his phone didn't ping off the light house in the area as he walked into that direction, so perhaps he was going around the headland. What I thought was odd was that the people in the video talk about his phone moving instead of Theo moving as if he had already disappeared...

It reminded me of the Noah Donohoe case where some of his last movements and his inexplicable behaviour were captured on CCTV, although his casting a backpack aside is NOT. But perhaps this case doesn't 'match totally with 411 cases' either, as Joe said when he wrote about Noah's death, so I could be missing something.

@34.03, they discuss the above.
 
I just heard about this story yesterday about a missing boy from Nova Scotia, Canada. He has been missing since May 6, 2020.
Quote from the story -
Anyone who has ever lost sight of their child, even for just a fraction of a second, knows the terror that sets in. Jason and Ashley have been living with that excruciating feeling for the past 18 months. With tears streaming down her face, Ashley says, “We don't know if he was taken. We don't know if he drowned. We don't know if he's alive. We are just stuck in limbo.”

The only evidence ever found is Dylan’s rubber boots, discovered six hours after his disappearance, submerged in a brook behind his grandmother's neighbour's house.
 
I just heard about this story yesterday about a missing boy from Nova Scotia, Canada. He has been missing since May 6, 2020.
Quote from the story -

There is a W5 Part II & III video story to this (right side bar on the original link) that includes accusations (Part II) against the mother (based on TikTok videos and a social media storm) and grandmother separately. There is a retired RCMP detective interviewed, and he doubts parts of the story because of x and y. There is much "friction" in the case. Part III looks to the police and search and rescue response (lack of amber alert notifications, which is explained) and their (SAR's) 2 hour late response - protocols dictate they can only be activated by police, and that was slow.

Much speculation to the case, and as far as can be seen, Paulides did not comment on this missing boy.
 
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Fits the 411 profile? [Note: corrected name and date in headline]

BREAKING: Body Found In River Near MSU Campus Believed To Be 18-Yr-Old College Student Brendan Santo...Missing Since Oct 29

JANUARY 22, 2022

18-Yr-old Rochester Hills resident and Grand Valley State University student Brendan Santo was visiting friends at Michigan State University for the weekend of the MSU vs. UM football game. Santo was last seen leaving Yakeley Hall, a dorm on the MSU campus, around midnight; according to the police report, he was heading to another dorm on campus.

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Fox 2 Detroit – Brendan Santo’s phone was last pinged near Michigan Avenue and Beal Street shortly before midnight.

His parents said he seemed to be in good spirits the night he disappeared, and his last texts were to his friends telling them he was on his way.

“He shared his location with one of the friends so that all seemed normal. You know, that’s our challenge, you know. They’ve communicated that with police. They’re like, ‘Yeah, he was texting us normal,’ and his phone just went out,” Brad Santo said.

Police initially believed Santo hadn’t gone too far since his vehicle was found in the same place he first left it. His last known location was outside of Yakeley Hall on Oct. 29. Police believe the Red Cedar River, which meanders through campus, would offer proof about what happened to the teen.

Adding to the struggles of searching for Santo is the information that some of the security cameras at Yakeley Hall were not working at the time Santo went missing.

As more time elapsed, hopes for finding Brendan alive began to fade for many, but his parents continued to keep the faith that their son would be found.

Only moments ago, MSU Police released a devastating statement about a body they found about 1.5 miles downriver of where Santo was last seen. They believe the body is Brendan’s.

Here is a portion of their statement:
After an extensive search, MSU Police and Public Safety and our law enforcement partners recovered a body in the Red Cedar River at 12:30 p.m. today in Lansing, approximately 1.5 miles downriver of where Brendan Santo was last seen. The body is believed to be that of Santo, but identification is still pending. The discovery was made possible as part of a collaborative effort between law enforcement and other partner resources.

The Santo family has been informed, and we are providing them with as much information and support as possible during this difficult time. We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the Santo family and all those who knew Brendan.

Body believed to be Brendan Santo found in river months after disappearance on Michigan State campus

18-year-old Grand Valley State student went missing nearly 3 months ago

Officials focused their search on the Red Cedar River, and they recovered a body believed to be Santo around 12:30 p.m. Friday (Jan. 21).

Foul play is not suspected at this time, authorities said. An autopsy is pending.

Police said their search led them down the river about a mile and a half west of where Santo was last seen. Debris -- mainly trees and brush -- had gathered in the area and needed to be cleared to get a boat in the water, according to officials. That’s where they located the body.

In the days and weeks that followed Santo’s disappearance, family members, police and hundreds of volunteers organized several searches. They combed the surrounding area on campus, with the primary focus being on the Red Cedar River. Divers started searching the river as early as the Monday after Santo vanished.

“There are a lot of challenges in searching the Red Cedar River,” Rozman said. “The river is a lot wider and bigger than a lot of people realize. But the current of the river itself is about 5-6 mph, so it does have a current. The depth of the river is 8-12 feet, at times, and the visibility is 0-2 feet.

“There are also a lot of obstacles present in the river and other underwater entanglement hazards that present a lot of danger for the divers. So we have utilized not only canines, but sonar and other underwater technology to assist us in identifying areas of interest to put divers in the water.”

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard released the following statement regarding the recovery of the body.

“Our search and rescue team joined with other agencies in a coordinated effort to help bring closure to a grieving family.

Our team which totaled 10 deputies, spent 11 days and more than 800 hours -- with some team members working 14 hours a day -- in the effort to find this young man. Our deepest sympathies are with the family and his friends. We know that there is a void they will never fill from this tragedy but sincerely hope this brings them a sliver of peace.”


Several vids in this article. It was said the river was 3 feet higher at the time of Santo's disappearance. The FBI joined investigators and the river was searched repeatedly by a Marine Division as it was in the path Santo was believed to be walking.

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Possible he was a victim of a crime as his phone and gold necklace haven't been found. Guess it will depend on the autopsy results and whatever evidence there is. One of the comments to the article noted this fact:
Not really sure what happened here as I read many reports of that river having been searched on multiple occasions and why is he turning up now? I am wondering if he could have been put there after the fact?
Another instance:
My nephews good friend fell in a river and passed away a few years ago. They were drinking and the “kid” - over 21 - decided to walk home. He lived only a few blocks away, but went a different way for some reason. Such a horrible thing.
 
More details on the Brendan Santo body recovery story:

LANSING, MI -- A day after authorities recovered a body in the Red Cedar River believed to be that of Brendan Santo, police are crediting a private investigator’s underwater camera work with helping make the discovery.

Michigan State University Police on Saturday, Jan. 22 said that Ryan Robison notified police just after midnight Jan. 21 that he detected something on his camera that was “completely submerged in the water at the logjam that he strongly suspected was the body of Brendan Santo.”

The logjam area is a part of the river about 1.5 miles downriver of where Santo was last seen when he went missing Oct. 29.

Police on Saturday said they were planning to search the exact same area beginning the week of Jan. 24. The plan was complex because it would involve clearing logs and debris to make it safer to put a boat and divers in the water.

Police said the area already had been identified as an area of “significant interest” for police and the Santo family.

Santo, 18, a Grand Valley University student, was last seen leaving Yakeley Hall on the MSU campus shortly before midnight Friday, Oct. 29.

As the days went by, a reward for information on his whereabouts climbed to $30,000, and a petition was recently created urging East Lansing Mayor Ron Bacon to dam the river to make it safer for divers to avoid debris and search the area.

Police have said they do not suspect foul play or self-harm in Santo’s death.

Robison had been working with the Santo family on the case.

After police received his tip early Jan. 21, they put together “multiple dive resources” to explore the exact area pinpointed by Robison. They were at the scene at first light and the body was recovered about 12:30 p.m.

MSU police, in a Saturday statement, said the did not mention Robison’s name in an initial release about the body because they were not certain if he or Santo’s family wanted the information revealed.

“Our original news release said that we have worked collaboratively with the Santo family and their supporters, and that partnership was essential in our effort to find Brendan. Not only is that statement true, we cannot thank Ryan enough for his relentless efforts,” according to the statement.

A message left for Robison was not immediately returned Saturday.


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One of the articles stated that dental records were used to identify the body. So, it would seem that makes this case perhaps not a 411 one.
 
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One of the articles stated that dental records were used to identify the body. So, it would seem that makes this case perhaps not a 411 one.

I wouldn’t discount it as a missing 411 because of this. His body was probably badly decomposed if they just found him, it has been three months and he was in water. Everything else seems to fit: Co-ed/drinking/point of separation/near a body of water. The search dogs clearly didn’t pick up a scent. I’d be interested to know if he was German in heritage.
 
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