Family sent final, desperate text before dying on hiking trail

A family who died in the searing heat on a Northern California hiking trail last year had tried to send one last text message pleading for help, authorities have revealed.

Software engineer Jonathan Gerrish, 45, his wife Ellen Chung, 31, their 1-year-old daughter, Miju, and dog, Oski, were all found dead on a remote Sierra National Forest hiking trail in August.

Phone records released by the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday show that Gerrish had tried to send a text to an unnamed person shortly before noon on Aug. 15, saying: “Can you help us.”

“On savage lundy trail heading back to Hites cove trail. No water or ver (over) heating with baby,” his text read.

But the text never went through because there was no cell service in the area, investigators said.

Five phone calls to various people — not including 911 — also didn’t go through, the records showed.

Investigators, who were left baffled by the deaths, have spent the last few months examining the data from Gerrish’s phone to track the family’s final movements.

Authorities found the family two days later on Aug. 17 after they were reported missing by relatives.

Investigators ruled the family died of extreme heatstroke after temperatures soared to 109 degrees Fahrenheit.

The family had hiked 6.4 miles with their daughter in a backpack-type carrier — and had an 85-ounce water container with them that was empty when authorities found them.

They were found about 1.6 miles away from their car, authorities said.