Family that died in California mountains made desperate plea

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a family that died of heat exhaustion during a grueling summer hike in Northern California sent a last, desperate text pleading for help. The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday released information pulled from the cellphone of Jonathan Gerrish, who died last August along with Ellen Chung, their 1-year-old daughter and their dog. They were on a rugged trail near the Merced River. Their last text asks someone for help, says the family is out of water and their baby is overheating. It never went through. The deaths initially mystified authorities who looked into possible causes ranging from murder to algae poisoning before concluding heat was the killer.