A British man, his wife and their young baby found dead on a hiking trail died of overheating and probable dehydration, authorities say.
John Gerrish, 45, his wife, Ellen Chung, 30 and their one-year-old daughter, Miju had gone hiking on a remote trail close to the Merced River in the Sierra National Forest.
They were found dead August 17 after a family friend reported them missing.
The family were found just 1.6 miles from their car in temperatures of up to 40C in the central California area.
They were found with an 85 ounce Camelbak bladder for water with them, which had been emptied and had no other water sources with them.
The family in a statement: "The loss of the family is pain beyond words.
"When that pain is compacted by lack of knowledge about their death, the questions of where, why, when and how 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.
"In the future when we sit beneath the trees, hearing the wind soar beneath the branches, we will think of them and we will remember."
Jeremy Briese of Mariposa County Sheriff's Office said that dehydration can cause dizziness and ultimately death.
He said: "Our message to the hiking community is please take into account aquifers as well as geographics.
"Prepare appropriately. The community is resilient, the community is safe, but this is an unfortunate and tragic event due to the weather."
