Toxic algae blooms eyed in deaths of family of 3 and their dog on remote California hiking trail
CBSN
Investigators are considering whether toxic algae blooms or other hazards may have contributed to the deaths of a Northern California couple, their baby and the family dog on a remote hiking trail, authorities said.
The area in the Sierra National Forest where the bodies were found on Tuesday had been treated as a hazmat site after concerns were raised about the deaths being linked to potentially toxic gases from old mines nearby. But the hazmat declaration was lifted Wednesday, and Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese said he didn't believe the mines were a factor, the Fresno Bee reported Thursday.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.