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http://www.examiner.com/x-19632-Salt-Lake-City-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m2d23-Entire-McStay-family-missing-in-Southern-California
Entire McStay family missing in Southern California
February 23, 2010

(http://image3.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID19632/images/100223091506resized_ky3z2m_b78608073z_120100219134238000gj9mmd9k_3.jpg)  Joseph McStay and family have been missing since February 4




Monday, a close relative of a missing California family said that he fears the McStay family has been kidnapped. Joseph and Summer McStay, and their two children, Gianna and Joseph went missing February 4 and have not been heard from since.

Michael McStay, Joseph’s brother said Monday: "My gut feeling is telling me that they are being held against their will in some way. That's my personal opinion. That's what I think." Michael usually speaks to his brother once a week.

Joseph McStay, 40, Summer, 43, Gianna, 4, and Joseph, 3, did not appear to make plans to be gone from their home for very long. The dogs in the backyard didn’t have food or water. The family lived in Fallbrook, about 45 miles north of San Diego. Their SUV was found two blocks from the Mexican border.

"I think there were some food items left out that should have been refrigerated," sheriff's Lt. Dennis Brugos said. "Those types of things sparked our attention, and on the chance that this turns into a criminal investigation, we want to be on the ground floor with this thing."

"There is nothing illegal about disappearing," Brugos said. "[But] in this particular case, according to relatives, it would be out of character just to disappear without notifying family members."

"There is nothing in Joseph or his wife's life or background that would suggest [or] that would put them in a high risk of any criminal activity," he said.

See the video below for photos and video of the family. (Click on link to article at top of this page)

The police have asked anyone with information contact Sgt. Dave Martinez of the San Diego County sheriff's office at 858-565-5200. Anonymous calls can be made to 888-580-8477.

In a related case, Susan Powell has been missing from Salt Lake City, Utah for several months and her whereabouts are unknown. Her husband, Josh Powell has been named the only person of interest in the case. He moved out of their Salt Lake City home about a month ago and moved their children to Washington state to be closer to his family.

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http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/25/california.missing.family/

California police search for missing family
February 25, 2010
CNN) -- Police in Southern California are working with Mexican authorities in the search for a missing family and poring over hundreds of hours of border security videotapes, hoping to find some clues.

"We are reviewing a lot of surveillance tapes," said Lt. Dennis Brugos of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. "On a daily basis, there may be up to 100,000 people who cross that border."

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children is also assisting in the scrutinizing of the tapes, he said.

Joseph McStay, 40; his wife, Summer, 43; and their two children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph, 3, have not been seen or heard from since February 4. Concerned relatives contacted authorities, who checked the family's home February 15, the sheriff's department said.

A vehicle belonging to the family was found abandoned near the Mexican border. The McStays' home is in Fallbrook, an unincorporated area about 45 miles north of San Diego.

The sheriff's department said two Mexican liaison detectives are conferring with their counterparts across the border.

"They were on this investigation right from the start," Brugos said. "They check the morgue, the airport, bus terminal, contact the taxi drivers who frequent the border area.

"At this point, it just seems to be a mystery," Brugos added. "There is a chance the family could have voluntarily left and disappeared, but it's unlikely."

Michael McStay, Joseph McStay's brother, fears that they may have been kidnapped.

"My gut feeling is telling me that they are being held against their will in some way," he said.

See a Web site set up for the missing family

Michael McStay said he usually speaks to his older brother at least once a week. "Every Friday, he would call me, and we'd be talking for a while. We were tight. We've always been tight."

The sheriff's office said evidence at the family home "suggested that the family had not left on a planned vacation" and that "the totality of the circumstances surrounding their disappearance was quite out of character for the family."

Brugos said the McStays' two dogs were left at the home unattended and without food or water.

"I think there were some food items left out that should have been refrigerated," Brugos added. "Those types of things sparked our attention, and on the chance that this turns into a criminal investigation, we want to be on the ground floor with this thing."

After the family's SUV was found in San Ysidro, two blocks from the Mexican border, "it was processed with a search warrant," Brugos said. "There was nothing in the car ... suggesting that this was some criminal act."

However, investigators are not ruling out the possibility of foul play and have assigned the case to the sheriff's homicide detail.
They are as close as newlyweds. Everyone needs to be on the lookout for them, because something is wrong.

"There is nothing illegal about disappearing," Brugos said. "[But] in this particular case, according to relatives, it would be out of character just to disappear without notifying family members."

Brugos also said it was unlikely the McStays were targeted by a Mexican drug cartel.

"There is nothing in Joseph or his wife's life or background that would suggest [or] that would put them in a high risk of any criminal activity," he said.

He said interviews with relatives and friends indicate no internal signs of marital trouble or conflict.

"Everyone has issues in every family, but as far as a family just disappearing, there is nothing to suggest they would do just that," he said.

A good friend of the McStays', who did not want to give her name because she said she feared for her safety, echoed that sentiment.

"They wouldn't have left. They didn't flee," she said. "They are as close as newlyweds. Everyone needs to be on the lookout for them, because something is wrong."

The friend said she spoke with the McStays on February 3 or 4, right before they disappeared.

"Everything was fine. [Summer] was excited. She was painting the kitchen. Everything was good. The kids were playing outside," the friend said. "Nothing out of the ordinary that would give us any reason to think there was a problem."

She also said the couple would not have willingly traveled to Mexico.

"We had talked about a year and a half ago about going on a vacation together and said it would be nice to go to Mexico, but it's too unsafe," she said.

Visit the Center for Missing and Exploited Children site

Michael McStay said his brother is fun-loving and easygoing.

"He's creative, he's just, you know, people like to hang with him, both of them," Michael McStay said. "Summer is very intelligent, very educated, a heck of a mom. ... This doesn't add up."

Joseph McStay is self-employed, creating and installing indoor water features, Brugos said.

Brugos called the disappearance of the McStay family unsettling and unusual.

"We've had cases where there have been incidents, but relatively quickly, we are able to determine what happened," he said. "In this particular case, it's been quite a while."

Joseph McStay is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. Summer McStay, also known as Lisa Aranda-Martelli, is 5 feet 5 inches tall and 115 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the McStay family is urged to contact Sgt. Dave Martinez of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department at 858-565-5200. Anonymous calls can be made to 888-580-8477.

http://www.10news.com/news/22676691/detail.html
Drones Aid In Search For Missing Family
February 25. 2010
SAN DIEGO -- A high-profile search-and-rescue team is joining the hunt for a missing Fallbrook family and bringing some high-tech equipment with them.

Over the next several days, a drone will be used to search for the McStay family, who have been missing since Feb. 4.

Joseph McStay, his wife Summer and sons Gianni and Joseph Jr. have not been seen or heard from in almost a month. Family members reached out to Texas Equusearch, the same agency that helped in the search for Natalee Holloway and Jesse Davis.
"Generally, if there's an abduction or if there's a murder most time I do not take them very far they don't want to be traveling with a body in a vehicle," said Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch.

Miller said the search would stretch from the family's Fallbrook home to the San Ysidro parking lot where their white Isuzu Trooper SUV was found.

Drone pilot Mike Hennig said, "As we fly, digital camera systems on board … high-resolution, 9- or 10-megapixel digital cameras on board to do still imagery. We also use streaming video from the aircraft."

The radio-controlled drone aircraft are based out of San Diego State University. When they are launched, they can search every inch of a 15-mile area in a matter of minutes. The drones feed high-resolution digital images and GPS locations back to the search team.

"If we find something of particular interest in an image, all the material that is recorded in the aircraft is GPS logged so we can sit there, find the image, pull the GPS data and be able to direct people on the ground to search specific areas," said Hennig.

Texas Equusearch claimed one search with a drone aircraft can take the place of 100 ground searches. In the past three-and-a-half years, seven bodies were found, and two people who were still alive. With science on their side, the group hopes to find the McStay family alive.

Anything that's found during the search this weekend will be turned over to San Diego County Sheriff's investigators on Monday.

The searchers and drone pilots are all volunteers, and SDSU helps program some of the software used in the search-and-rescue missions.

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12025976
Candlelight vigil for missing Fallbrook family
February 22, 2010
Video Gallery Available
(http://kfmb.images.worldnow.com/images/12025976_BG2.jpg)
(http://kfmb.images.worldnow.com/images/12025976_BG1.jpg)


Joseph McStay, his wife and two young sons haven't been seen in more than two weeks and Friday evening on February 19, friends gathered in Laguna Nigel - where the McStays lived there until a few months ago.

The vigil was an emotional gathering where family and friends of the McStays, who had recently moved from that area to Fallbrook, refuse to give up hope.

Joseph and Summer McStay, along with their boys, four-year-old Gianni and three-year-old Joey Junior were last seen February 4, and their SUV was found abandoned at the San Ysidro border.

One of the last people to speak on the phone with Summer was one of their close friends, John Cirignani.

"She was just talking about how good things were, and how they were happy in their new house and getting things done and moving forward and looking forward to all kinds of things," explained Cirignani.

The McStays both have real estate licenses, and Summer previously worked for the Cirgnani's real estate business. Joseph McStay ran a company designing water fountains.

The couple also appeared to be doing well in their relationship.

Adding to the mystery: the family's beloved dogs were left at home with no food or water.

Friday, detectives used cadaver dogs to search the McStay's home and property and are hoping a backpack, computer system and video camera will provide clues.

The sheriff's department is also working with Mexican authorities to determine if the McStay family may have crossed the border, but say so far there are no solid leads in the family's disappearance.

Updated: 6:33 a.m.
Private agency joining search for family

Tim Miller knows what it's like to have a child go missing, so when the father of a San Clemente businessman who has been missing three weeks called him for help, he decided to involve his search agency in the hunt for Joseph McStay and his family.

Miller said his nonprofit organization called Texas Equusearch didn't plan on jumping into any new cases because of tough economic times. But "when I hear a father's or mother's voice at the other end of the phone, I can't say no," he said.

Patrick McStay, Joseph's father, knew about Miller's agency because he lives in Texas and the group has made a name for itself there, Miller said.

Texas Equusearch has been involved in several high-profile cases. It offered its free services to help search for Natalee Holloway, who went missing in 2005 during a high school graduation trip to Aruba, and Caylee Anthony, a Florida 2-year-old who was missing and later found slain. Her mother is awaiting trial on murder charges.

Miller's group spent $108,000 on the Anthony case and $2 million in the search for Holloway, who has not been found. The group is funded through donations and sponsorships, according to its Web site.

Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their two sons, Gianni, 4, and Joseph, 3, were last heard from Feb. 4, according to police. The family, who had lived in San Clemente for years, moved to Fallbrook in December. Joseph McStay operated a water-fountain business in San Clemente called Earth Inspired Products. The family's car was towed as an abandoned vehicle from a San Ysidro parking lot near the Mexican border Feb. 8. A worried family member reported them missing Feb. 15. Police have searched their Fallbrook home and said it looked like the family left in a hurry because they left their cell phones behind and their two dogs outside without food or water.

As authorities continue to mine phone and financial records, Miller's group will be carrying out ground searches. Miller plans to fly to California on Friday from the nonprofit's headquarters in Dickinson, Texas. He said Texas Equusearch takes cases only if a family member asks for help and law enforcement agrees.

"We talked to the detectives for a long time on the phone about the case," Miller said. "They're scratching their heads, too. They're really frustrated."

Miller's group uses state-of-the art aerial and sonar technology to help find missing people. Miller plans to use a drone airplane that weighs about 4 pounds and is flown remotely. It flies at about 500 feet and captures thousands of high-resolution images. The group will then piece those images together to search for clues.

"If we know the person was wearing blue jeans and a red shirt, we can wash out all the colors except red and blue and find the GPS coordinates for all the spots that show red and blue," Miller said. The technology is made by RP Flight Systems.

Michael Hennig, RP's West Coast director, said he plans to fly the drones this weekend over the off-road areas in the roughly 60-mile distance between the McStays' home to where their car was found. He said the drones can capture infrared imagery that highlights man-made materials.

Miller said his group may take its search over the border, as San Diego County law enforcement has asked for help from Mexican officials. Texas Equusearch also will be looking for any mounds or graves.

"I pray to God they're OK, but I'm not going to sugarcoat anything," Miller said. "This does not look good."

The National Center for Exploited & Missing Children also is helping with the case and has circulated a flier about the family. The center focuses more on spreading awareness, while Texas Equusearch is more hands-on, Miller said.

Lt. Dennis Brugos, a spokesman for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, which is leading the investigation, said Texas Equusearch will not be working under his department's direction. When asked whether police plan to use search technology similar to that used by Texas Equusearch, Brugos said, "We're not doing that."

In 1984, Miller's daughter Laura went missing. Her remains were found months later about two blocks from Miller's Texas home. In 2000, Miller started helping families search for missing loved ones using his horses. That small operation has grown into a team of thousands of volunteers that has carried out about 1,100 searches. About 300 missing people have been found with the group's help, many of them dead, Miller said.

"If someone told you they wanted to help bring your family home, would you say no?" said Joseph McStay's brother, Michael, 37, who lives in San Clemente.

Some have said the McStays bought granite for their new home from a store close to where their car was found. But Michael McStay said he doesn't think that's why the car was there.

Summer McStay's white Isuzu Trooper was found near the border with child seats inside, while Joseph McStay's pickup was left in the family's driveway.

"If you needed to pick up materials, would you take a little SUV or a pickup truck?" Michael McStay said.

Before Joseph McStay operated Earth Inspired Products, he owned a store called Naturally Dana Point, which has been closed for years, Michael McStay said. His mother and stepfather (who have since divorced) operated a deli in Dana Point while Michael and Joseph attended Dana Hills High School. The brothers grew up in Texas but moved to Dana Point during their high school years, Michael McStay said.

Family members have organized a fund that may be used as a reward or for other purposes, depending on what happens. Donations can be made through www.McStayfamily.com.

Michael McStay said he doubts his brother would just pick up and leave his business behind, jeopardizing his source of income, because he had three children to support. In addition to the missing boys, Joseph McStay has a 14-year-old son, Jonah, from a previous marriage.

"This just absolutely drains me emotionally," Michael McStay said. "Everybody's leaning on me. My mom is devastated. My dad is rattled. All his friends are rattled. I don't know what the future holds. I just got to keep my legs moving and my ear to the ground."

http://www.ocregister.com/news/miller-236424-mcstay-missing.html

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=7301175

Search continues for missing McStay family
Friday, February 26, 2010

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (KABC) -- Search crews will step up their efforts this weekend to find a missing Southern California family.

A businessman, his wife and their two young children vanished shortly after moving from Orange County to San Diego County. They have been missing for weeks now. A vigil for the family was held in Laguna Niguel Friday evening.

Three-year-old Joseph McStay Junior and his 4-year-old brother Gianni have been missing for more than three weeks, along with their parents, 40-year-old Joseph and 43-year-old Summer.

"As time goes by it's more and more overwhelming," said Joseph McStay's brother Michael.

Flyers are posted. Family members have searched near the San Ysidro-Tijuana border where the McStays' vehicle was found abandoned four days after they were last seen at their home in Fallbrook.

Now family members are about to get some extra help from Texas Equusearch. The non-profit agency used sonar to look for Natalee Holloway after she disappeared in Aruba.

"This is one of our fully autonomous aircraft," said Mike Hennig, San Diego State University researcher.

Hennig will help fly the remote-control aircraft, equipped with cameras and GPS, to search the area from the Mcstays' home to the Mexico border, looking for the smallest detail.

"Anything that's out of place, a trail or clothing or personal effects," said Hennig.

Originally from Orange County, the McStays moved to San Diego County three months ago.

Family members say there were happy, financially stable and were in the middle of renovating their new home.

What happened is a mystery. The family's two dogs were found wandering in the back yard.

Authorities searched the house last week and gathered possible evidence, but there are no new leads.

"Nothing to suggest foul play or violence and to leave eggs on the counter -- they left the house in haste," said Michael McStay.

Friends and family hold vigils, pray for answers and hope for their safe return.

"I'm grateful for the support," said Michael.

JVM show from 2/25/10

Mind-blowing new developments in the case of a missing family of four, Joseph and Summer McStay and their two kids vanished from their California home without a trace. They have been missing for three weeks.

Tonight, the mystery deepens: shocking new revelations about this mom. Who is Summer McStay? Police say she has as many as six aliases. In a very bizarre twist, she reportedly changed her name from Virginia to Summer, just days before she disappeared. Why?

Take a look at this new flier, featuring the missing family. It reveals Summer didn`t just change her name. Sometimes she used a fake birth certificate, as well. And it`s not like she was shaving off just a couple years. There is a 12-year difference between the two.

So what`s going on? By every account, the McStays are normal, loving family. Check out this home video they posted on YouTube.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH MCSTAY: All right. Gee, come on, let`s go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it can`t get any worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And look, who is this? Whew, our new Cadillac bike.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Does this seemingly, happy, caring mom of two have something to hide, or is she hiding from someone? Family members fear the McStays were kidnapped.

Investigators still considering that theory, but they do find it odd that there were no signs of struggle in the family`s home or their car, which was found abandoned two blocks from the Mexican border.

Cops sifting through hours of surveillance tape from the border. Also tonight, police searching airports and bus stations.

Straight out to my fantastic panel: joining me, Director of Texas EquuSearch, Tim Miller. Tim, they are now assisting in this case; you are. Tell us why you have decided to step into this.

All right. We lost him. So we`re going to go to Jim Moret, chief correspondent "Inside Edition" and also the author of this fantastic book, "The Last Day of My Life".

You have been looking into this very bizarre story. What have you found, Jim?

JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": Well, I mean, as you say it`s interesting that the mom had six aliases and she just changed her name recently to Summer. When the police went to the house and the family has been missing since February 4th, they went to the house around the 15th and they went in and they noticed that the dogs were outside, no food, no water. No apparent packing for any long vacation.

Summer`s prescription eyeglasses were still there. She needs those to see. There were eggs on the counter. By every indication, there was no foul play and no packing for a vacation.

But their car -- their -- Isuzu Trooper was found just about four miles from the Mexico-U.S. border and the car seats were still in the car. They have two small children, 3 and 4. The family simply vanished and they don`t know why.

And we talked with Summer`s mom and she is obviously distraught; she is fearing the worst. She doesn`t understand why they would go missing. There was no indication they wanted to be on the run for any reason. The husband`s brother --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right.

MORET: -- they talk once a week, they`re just gone.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What is in a name? Summer McStay was born Virginia Lisa Aranda and local reporters caught up with summer`s ex-husband. He says he knew her as Lisa when they were married back in 1994 and she was also previously known as Lisa Aranda, Lisa Aranda-Martelli and Lisa Martelli. She basically used 5 or 6 variations of the same few names.

What does that tell you, Tim Miller, director, Texas Equusearch? Is that a disturbing sign?

TIM MILLER, DIRECTOR, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: Well, you know there`s been some new information coming out that`s a little bit disturbing. But you know what, we`ve got one fact Jane and the fact is that they are missing. We know that -- you know the family business was successful business.

You`re right, there`s no sign of any foul play. There`s no indication they`ve planned on going, neither. So we`ve got to --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hang in there, Tim. We`re going to be back in a moment with more analysis of this total mystery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE ARANDA, SUMMER MCSTAY`S MOTHER: Just a beautiful, wonderful mother, wife, daughter. I love her. And I hope my whole family is safe. I want them to come home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was the mother of missing woman, Summer McStay.

Tonight the McStays and their two beautiful young children, ages 3 and 4, have been missing for three weeks. And we want to say that whatever we`re speculating about or asking about, it`s not to cast any aspersions on this family. It`s to try to find them. And we have to ask the tough questions, because that could lead to them. So that`s where we`re coming from. Our heart`s in the right place.

Dr. Dale Archer, clinical psychiatrist, what do you make of all of these names? What does that tell you?

DR. DALE ARCHER, CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIST: Well, Jane, you change your name for one reason only and that`s to hide something. And I will predict that if you can answer the question why here that would be the key to this entire mystery.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Investigators are now talking to Joey McStay`s business partner, a metal worker and welder, a 50-year-old gentleman. The two apparently worked together making indoor fountains and we`re going to show you the Web site that they have, these beautiful indoor fountains.

This business partner allegedly served time in prison for burglary in `78 but he`s not considered a suspect, Jim Moret.

MORET: That`s right. 1978 and then again in 1987 for receiving stolen property; the police say he was one of the first people to notice absence of his business partner but he`s not considered a suspect and there`s no indication he`s done anything.

But you know, there are all of these different things that bother you. What`s wrong with this picture? Clearly something happened.

You don`t just leave your house. You are don`t dump your car near the border and then vanish with two small kids. They`re either on the run or they`ve been kidnapped which is what the family fears but there`s no indication of any foul play so far and police are stumped.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and Tim Miller, volunteers for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are reviewing hundreds of hours of border-crossing footage but what I hear is that 100,000 people cross the border between U.S. and Mexico daily so that`s like really looking for a needle in a haystack.

MILLER: Well, you know, they`ve got a lot of work cut out for them. I spent a long time on the phone with the detectives yesterday and of course they are scratching their head. They don`t have any indication foul play or anything.

And you know we`ve got 60-plus miles from their house to where their vehicle was found down by the border, with 40 miles of that being just extremely isolated. And so these are the areas we`re going to start in first.

We`re actually going to be doing a lot of stuff by air, with the drone airplanes again and starting the process of elimination. You know, Jane, we hope that phone call comes in next week.

Listen, we had some problems. We had to get away and things are going to end up safely.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, absolutely.

MILLER: But if something has happened, we need to get out there, start eliminating these areas, if it`s possible for them to be found. We know the sooner they`re found, if something happened --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

MILLER: -- better chance for us to determine the cause of death.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I hear you.

Jim Moret, 30 seconds. The car was found in a crowded parking lot two blocks from the Mexican border. And you know experts are saying, that wouldn`t be a place where you would leave a car if you were kidnapping, forcibly -- forcing somebody out of the car because it was very crowded.

MORET: When there`s no indication in the car of any foul play and the car seats. The children`s car seats were in the car. You`ve got kids 3 and 4 years old.

You know, there`s just so many questions. Everything is out of character and that`s the big mystery.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got to leave it right there. Thank you, fantastic panel for joining me tonight.

I want to send out my thoughts and prayers for Andrew Koenig`s family. This incredible actor, activist, man found dead tonight. He was a close friend and he will be missed.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1002/25/ijvm.01.html

Don't know if there is any connection but...

http://www.10news.com/news/22713518/detail.html

Body Found Floating In Pond In East Village

POSTED: 5:00 am PST March 2, 2010
UPDATED: 9:05 am PST March 2, 2010


SAN DIEGO -- San Diego police Tuesday investigated the death of a man whose body was found floating in a small body of water in the East Village.

The body was found in a drainage pond near San Diego Bay in the 1200 block of Imperial Avenue around 11:10 p.m. Monday, said San Diego police Officer Dino Delimitros.


The body was that of a man who appeared to between 40 and 50, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/mcstay-family-still-missing-texas-equusearch-joins-hunt-2585739.html
McStay Family Still Missing: Texas EquuSearch Joins Hunt
by Jordan Yerman | March 3, 2010 at 09:06 am
McStay Family Still Missing; Private Search Firm Texas Equusearch to Assist
The McStay family is still missing, a month after their 1996 Isuzu Trooper was found in a San Ysidro towing lot two blocks away from the the US-Mexico border. The McStay family (Joseph McStay, Summer McStay, and sons Gianni and Joey McStay), who live in Fallbrook, California, were last seen on February 4.

Law enforcement officials from both sides of the border have been searching for the McStay family, but have turned up no leads. Texas Equusearch, a private, nonprofit missing-persons firm, has joined the search for the missing California family at the request of Patrick McStay, Joseph McStay's father. Texas Equusearch was also involved in the searches for Natalee Holloway and Caylee Anthony.

Tim Miller, the founder and director of Equusearch, said detectives handling the case in California told the group they could use "as much help as they can get" in locating the missing family.

http://www.kabc.com/Article.asp?id=1716719&spid=
San Diego Family of Four Vanishes, Missing for Three Weeks
March 3,2010
A search group experienced with investigations of several other high-profile missing persons cases has joined the search for a missing California family of four who have not been seen or heard from in nearly a month.

Texas Equusearch plans to send four members of its team to San Diego, Calif., tonight and comb the area where the McStay family was last seen Feb. 4.

Joseph McStay, 40, and his wife, Summer, 43, went missing along with their two children, Gianna, 4, and Joseph, 3.

The McStays' disappearance from their serene San Diego-area community of Bonsall has since prompted an investigation by police who still have no idea what happened.

Tim Miller, the founder and director of Equusearch, said detectives handling the case in California told the group they could use "as much help as they can get" in locating the missing family.

Miller said his crew will use drone airplanes that can spot footprints and clothing from above, as well as manpower to comb the nearly 40 miles of isolated roadway between the McStays' home and the location where their car was found.

Lt. Dennis Brugos of the San Diego Sheriff's Office said authorities located the McStay family car, a white 1996 Isuzu Trooper, with the kids' car seats still intact, two blocks from the U.S.-Mexican border and 80 miles from the family's home, prompting questions about any possible ties the family may have had to Mexico
Read more here. http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/mcstay-family-missing-calfornia-weeks/story?id=9957171

http://stephww.wordpress.com/
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE McSTAY FAMILY?
March 3, 2010 by Steph
Early Monday morning, myself and Tim Miller from Texas Equusearch were met by Mike McStay, the younger brother of Joseph McStay to try to piece together what happened to his brothers family.
 Joseph, along with his wife, Summer, and their 2 children, Gianna, 4, and Joseph, 3. vanished from their home Feb 4th and have not been seen or heard from since. We were joined by Kenneth Aranda, the younger brother of Summer, who flew in from Hawaii, where he lives. They allowed myself and Tim Miller from Texas EquuSearch inside the McStay family home. The brothers, bonded together through this tragedy, then take us to the location where the family’s car was found — just minutes from the Mexican border — all in hopes of digging up answers as to what happened to the McStays.

Entering the McStay house in Fallbrook, a nice middle-class suburb of San Diego, you can’t help but notice the eerie silence of an empty home, and ponder; what happened here in those minutes before the family left and literally vanished?

The home, which they had just moved to in Nov 2009, was being remodeled, so there was minimal furnishings. The stark white kitchen was almost finished being remodeled, except for a few unattached kitchen cupboard doors. According to Mike, their furniture was still in a container, awaiting the painting and re-tiling to be completed. But still, something seemed odd. Kenneth, a handsome kind guy, had not been in the house since his sister disappeared, and he appeared uneasy as he quickly darted from room to room.
What the house revealed was a busy family just moving in, living in slight disarray, but it also revealed that Summer was not the best housekeeper in the world. A dirty baby diaper lay on the floor, inside a morning jumper, beside the toilet in the bathroom off the kitchen. Piles of unwashed clothes were scattered about. “Something ain’t right here,” Miller says.

We headed upstairs to the master bedroom. The beds had been stripped, exposing blow up mattresses, one queen and one single. It looks like the whole family was sleeping in the master room. In what would be considered the kids’ rooms, there was a lot of new items, mirrors, etc. that had been purchased but not hung up. Although the house was in renovation, it was still oddly disorderly, cloths piled up in the master closet, not on hangers, actually there was no hangers at all. Except for 2 pairs of extremely high heel shoes, and a pair of never worn “Uggs,” there were no other shoes. Two new men’s shirts hung on what would be his side of the closet, and 4 fur coats were the only items hanging on her side of the large walk in closet. As Tim Miller from TES poked around the house, he was also struck by the lack of shoes. “Where are all the damn shoes? And where are their clothes and underwear, there’s no underwear here. Somethings not right here.”

The kid’s room looked barley used. His office was neat and full of papers. The garage was packed with clutter. We could barley walk around it most of the stuff looked new. “She was a bit of a hermit, so she bought alot of stuff online, she was a big online shopper” Mike said. “She was a bit of a recluse. Things were always arriving via UPS or Fedex, it drove my brother nuts.”
In defense of the condition of the McStay’s house, Police had also been through the house several times, and they have a tendency to be a little disruptive, to say the least.

The house was not homey, it was cold and unfinished…”You can still be renovating and have some sense of order.” Miller says. “There’s no order here, clothes piled everywhere.” Perhaps this disorder is a window into what was happening inside the lives of the McStay family.

Our next stop was to meet with law enforcement. Kenneth said goodbye — he had to return to Hawaii to tend to his wife and children, and continue on with his business.

Law enforcement had some evidence they needed Miller and Mike to see. I cannot, at this time, reveal what was discussed as it is part on the ongoing investigation. I can tell you this — it is crucial evidence, and as soon as I can release the information, I will. You will get it here first.

We then continued on to the place where the car was found. It was a nice, touristy strip mall, walking distance from the border…they allegedly parked there sometime late in the afternoon on the 8th, the mall closed at 9:00pm, and by 11:00pm that same evening, their car had been towed. The car could not have been there since the fourth because cars are towed from that mall nightly, so a car could not sit there for four days. So the big mystery is; Where were they prior to leaving their house on the 4th and parking the car sometime on the 8th??? We walked the short distance to the border entrance.
No signs of a struggle in the home, no ransom, no phone calls, no activity on their bank accounts. Nothing. Did they simply vanish on their own? Walk across the border? Or were they abducted and/or murdered.

Puzzled, we stand on the freeway over the border crossing into Mexico, I ask Miller, “so how do you start searching?” Miller replies “One of our resources is currently analyzing satellite photos from the border crossing” Perhaps that will begin to confirm or deny that the family even went into Mexico, willingly or unwillingly. “But, law enforcement has alot more investigating to do before TES can conduct an effective search.”

And that’s where the story ends for now..or is this where it begins? A family of 4 has literally vanished. Did they leave willingly? Are they the victims of a horrific crime, or is there something else going on?

ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
Aired March 3, 2010 - 19:00:00   ET
<snipped>
What happened to the McStays? How does a family just disappear? Relatives, they don`t know what to make of it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s been almost a month and still no signs of the missing family who mysteriously vanished from their California home.

Joey and Summer McStay and their two beautiful young children were last heard from on February 4th. Two days later their car found abandoned in a busy shopping center two blocks away from the Mexican border. By all accounts this was a happy, normal family. How and why did they just vanish into thin air?

At first, Joey, the dad`s brother, Michael feared they were kidnapped. Now he`s not so sure. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MCSTAY, JOEY MCSTAY`S BROTHER: I really thought that someone was holding them against their will. But there`s been no ransom so -- and you know, for him to just up and run and not tell anybody, it would have to be something pretty heavy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What is that pretty heavy thing? Investigators search the McStay home for clues. Found no sign of struggle. But fresh eggs and other perishables were left out on the counter. And the McStay`s two dogs -- dogs, friends say Summer called her children -- were left in the backyard with no food or water.
Now police are searching phone records and bank statements and watching hours of border surveillance video. They believe the family may have crossed the border at Tijuana. Police have brought in search group -- the search group, the premiere search group, Texas Equusearch.

And we`re delighted to have Tim Miller, director of Texas Equusearch with us tonight. Tim, what have you found out on the ground?

TIM MILLER, DIRECTOR, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH, (via telephone): Well, Jane, hey, thanks for all the kind words. We did a lot of work up around the family`s house the day before yesterday. Actually went in the McStay`s family home.

Mike had to go in there and get some things and law enforcement said it was fine to go in.

We drove down to the border. We were standing in the exact spot where the vehicle was. We feel as though we got a pretty good idea; not exact by no means, when the vehicle was there.

We`re actually working with one of our members that has access to some satellite imaging and we know that more satellite activity happens down there by the border because of, you know, Homeland Security and drug activity and stuff. So we`re hoping that we can get lucky and the satellite can say the vehicle wasn`t here at this time, it was here at this other time.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. So basically no breakthroughs at this point? You`re still just doing the groundwork?

MILLER: Absolutely. No breaks.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jim Moret, I just want to jump to you. You`ve been studying this case. It doesn`t add up. It does not make sense. What are your theories?

MORET: I agree with you. And you know what? When things don`t make sense, clearly something`s wrong. You`re not talking about one guy. You`re talking about a man, his wife and their two kids.

And what the brother said is interesting. First he thought it was a kidnapping. Now he said it would have to be something pretty heavy for his brother to take off with his family. So it makes sense to check the business records. It makes sense to see if there were some financial issues.
We know that there was initially some attention being focused on the business partner who had a criminal record. Police say he wasn`t a person of interest or even a suspect. And he was one of the first people to notice they were missing.

I don`t know. When we talked to investigators they said to their knowledge this family was not part of the witness protection program. I hadn`t even thought about that. But obviously people do get up and move if there`s something like that.

But investigators are stymied by this because it just seems so out of character for this family. And I suspect it`s going to take a bit more research before we can have any meaningful theories about what`s going on.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s a total mystery, and the idea that the mom had several aliases is also very fascinating.

We are out of time. We`re going to stay on top of all these cases, especially the terrible murder of Chelsea King.

You are watching ISSUES on HLN.

END

http://www.twominutenews.com/2010/world/mcstay-family-mysteriously-missing-4260.html
McStay Family Mysteriously Missing?

Posted on 04 March 2010
McStay Family - – The news in San Diego is spreading of the family that mysteriously went missing in close proximity to the Mexican border.

The white trooper of the Mcstay family was found abandoned a few blocks from the Mexican border and the company Texas Equusearch has undertaken the task of locating the missing persons.

The circumstances of the disappearance have left the local police departments in a fix as they cannot exactly identify circumstances. Joseph Mcstay who is forty years of age was reported to be missing from work since the fourth of February and neighbors are expressing the inert nature of the Mcstay family which usually stayed to themselves. The Mcstay family had just recently moved to their new home in San Diego a couple of moths ago and the neighbors were somewhat surprised when they heard of them being missing.

The Mcstay family was out in its trooper some eighty miles away from their home. Joseph Mcstay was with his wife summer who is forty-three years of age and their two children Gianna and Joseph who were just toddlers of four and three years of age respectively. The 1996 trooper of ISUZU make was found near the border by the Sheriff’s department but there were no indications of violence which made the investigators even more suspicious. Now a team of men will be combing the areas surround the vehicle and automated drones will also be used to look for any evidence of their existence.

The word from Equusearch is that it cannot be declared as a crime scene but it definitely comes across as odd because it seems that the Mcstay family wasn’t scheduled for any vacation

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/New-Lead-Surfaces-in-Missing-Family-Case-86669587.html

New Lead Surfaces in Missing Family Case
By R. STICKNEY
Updated 2:24 PM PST, Fri, Mar 5, 2010

(http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/410*307/McStays1.jpg)
San Diego County Sheriff's investigators have a new lead in the case of the Fallbrook family last seen by relatives more than a month ago.

Joseph McStay, 40; his wife Summer, 43; and their two young children, Gianni and Joey Jr. left their dogs unattended and rotting food in their home. There were no signs of a struggle at their house.

Now, deputies say they've spotted images of a group of people similar to the McStay family going hand in hand into Mexico through the pedestrian gate. The video is dated around 7 p.m. Feb. 8, the same day the family's  white Isuzu Trooper was and towed from San Ysidro.

Investigators aren't sure if the people in the video are the McStay family but consider it a positive lead. They are working to enhance the image so it can be released to the public.

Acquaintances told investigators the McStays never would have left on vacation or for any other reason without telling someone.

Authorities say they are baffled about the disappearance.

"Quite frankly, I've never seen a case like this before," said San Diego County Sheriff's Lt. Dennis Brugos.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department said it had contacted a liaison in Baja California and asked for a search of airports, bus stations and other major travel hubs.
   
Brugos also said that when a family is missing, the people are usually found either safe or victimized within a day or so. He added that since the case is so unusual, he is not sure how long the investigation will remain open.

Relatives of the McStay family has set up a Web site with information and pictures. Anyone with information about the case is being urged to call deputies at 858-974-2321 or 858-565-5200 after-hours. Tips can also be called in anonymously to CrimeStoppers at 888-580-TIPS(8477). A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered by CrimeStoppers for information leading to an arrest.

Authorities Obtain Video Possibly Showing Missing Family

UPDATED: 3:34 pm PST March 5, 2010

SAN DIEGO -- A surveillance camera captured footage of a man, woman and two children resembling a missing Fallbrook family as they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Tijuana on foot last month, around the time they dropped out of contact with family, friends and business associates, a sheriff's investigator said Friday.

The video images were shot at the San Ysidro Port of Entry about 7 p.m. on Feb. 8 -- four days after the disappearance of Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their sons, Gianni, 4, and 3-year-old Joseph Jr., homicide Sgt. Roy Frank said.

The people on the surveillance tape seemed to be casually strolling into Mexico, with each adult holding hands with one of the toddlers, according to Frank. There was no signs that the four, who match the general descriptions of the McStays, were distressed in any way or leaving the United States against their will, he said.

Roughly four hours after the footage was recorded, security personnel towed an apparently abandoned vehicle from a commercial parking lot on Camino de la Plaza, about a five-minute walk from the border. The white 1996 Isuzu Trooper turned out to belong to the McStays.

On Feb. 15, deputies conducting a welfare check at the McStays' Avocado Vista Lane home at the request of a concerned relative found their two dogs in the back yard and no signs of a struggle.

Detectives have uncovered no evidence that the family fled financial problems, threats of violence or the consequences of some sort of criminal behavior, Frank said.

There have been no known sightings of the family or contacts with them since they went missing, the sergeant said.

Authorities have described the family's disappearance as baffling and "out of character."

"It's a mystery right now," Frank said Friday afternoon.

The family is white, and all four have brown hair and brown eyes, according to sheriff's officials.

Joseph McStay, the owner of a company that installs indoor fountains, is 5 feet 9 inches tall and about 175 pounds, with tattoos on his shoulders. His wife is 5-foot-5 and 115 pounds; Gianni is about 3 feet tall and 40 pounds; and Joseph Jr. is 2 feet 6 inches tall and weighs roughly 35 pounds.

Relatives have created a Web site -- www.McStayFamily.com -- to keep the case before the public, and San Diego County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Anyone with information on the McStays' whereabouts was asked to call the Sheriff's Department at 858-974-2321.
http://www.10news.com/news/22757580/detail.html

Roughly four hours  after the footage was recorded, security personnel towed an apparently abandoned vehicle from a commercial parking lot on Camino de la Plaza, about a five-minute walk from the border. The white 1996 Isuzu Trooper turned out to belong to the McStays.


Not very many locations can you be towed away after only 4 hours..

If the car was parked on any street that legaly allows parking then it probably would not be towed away for a long time.. days /weeks depending on who notices or calls in on the car..

bottom line is the car was put there so that it would be imponded..
On Purpose.. apparently by the husband and wife.

IF That video is accurate info, and WHY did not the border cams see them come back through after possibly shopping for something...something what ? why leave the car ? because of no mexican insurance possibly... well anyways..
Mr. and Mrs alias names walked off into a new life inside of a nation that is in near civil war ?
 That does appear to change everything for me..  ::MonkeyWink::

Thank you for the update..

This is a message on the website that the family of the McStay's has set up.  This is their response to the information regarding the family being seen walking into Mexico.


"Blogger Releases Sensitive & Inconclusive Information
By admin on March 7, 2010

Rumors are swirling about sightings of the McStay family crossing the border into Mexico and video tapes catching it on tape. A blogger known as Steph Watts, in the interest of himself, released the info on his blog, with total lack of regard for the missing family and did the same on another case less than a week earlier.

I (Mike McStay) have seen the videos firsthand along with my mom, the Aranda family, and a family friend. The video quality is very poor. I personally could NOT make a positive identification.

Careful review of the video shows that there are of two or three different families passing by, one with a little girl actually, and the other with a man who walks nothing like my brother.

This blogger Watts has released confidential information that detracts from the pursuit of finding my family, splits energies, and is simply for his own gain. This blogger has landed Texas EquuSearch in hot water with the San Diego Sheriff Department once again, just as he did on Monday March 1, 2010. I was in the vehicle when Watts told Tim Miller that he would not blog anything about TES’ cases unless Miller approved it, because of what happened on another missing persons case in San Diego county.

The vehicle was found near the border, but there are no eye witnesses as to who actually got out of the vehicle, contrary to Watts’ blog. The vehicle could have been parked by others, we simply do not know at this time.

We do know that a sweet, loving family is missing and the leads are far a few between. We know that the community has showered us with emails, concerns, and offers to help. We know that the Detectives are hard at work on this case. We know that cases like these bring out the best in many people and the worst in a few others."


http://www.mcstayfamily.com/steph-watts-rumors

Damn..
Well there goes Steph..

Inconclusive..
  But the wife has 6 alias names for no apparent reason..?
 Has anyone ever considered that she may have had a previous life ?
Owed people in another world ?
There is something more then they just walked across the border and disappeared into the sunset..

jmho

Even if he did where is this family ?

This isn't new..I do not know why it is dated today. ?

Possible Lead in Family’s Disappearance
March 11, 2010       

A San Clemente businessman and his family remain missing after more than a month, and a videotape of a family of four thought to be the family crossing the border is inconclusive, said the missing man’s brother. Joseph McStay, his wife Summer and their two young children Gianni and Joseph have been missing since early February. Authorities found the family’s SUV near the San Ysidro border crossing with Mexico, but other than the video have turned up few clues.

McStay’s brother, Michael, is not convinced the footage—which was shot Feb. 8 at the San Ysidro Border Crossing—is of the missing family. “My brother is the only one in the family with a valid passport,” he said. “Summer’s passport is expired and the two boys don’t even have passports.” Michael also added that the footage was of poor quality and that his brother “doesn’t walk like that.”

According to ABC’s affiliate KGTV in San Diego, a San Diego Sheriff’s Department spokesperson has confirmed that Interpol is assisting the investigation along with U.S. Border Patrol.

A charity has been set up for the family to hire a private investigator and to fund other operations to ensure the missing family comes home. “We’ve raised about $1,500 so far,” Michael said. “It’s not enough to hire a private investigator, but it’s a start.”
http://www.sanclementetimes.com/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=2196&cntnt01dateformat=%25B%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=99

I do not trust Interpol after watching them in Venezuela with Hugo Chavez. Unless this family is in Europe.

Get the F.B.I. .. They are Americans !

jmho

http://www.sdsheriff.net/opencases.html
Information Sought - McStay Family from Fallbrook Missing

The video above shows pedestrians walking south toward Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. At approximately :30 seconds into the video, a man and woman can be seen walking, each holding the hand of a child. The woman is wearing a light colored jacket with dark trim. Information is being sought from the public to determine if this is the McStay family.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff's Homicide Detail at (858) 974-2420, or after business hours contact the Sheriff’s Communications Center at 858-565-5200.

http://www.youtube.com/v/23M3K_XkmQg&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1

I have thought all along they went to Mexico. I have no idea why they would do that. And with all the violence on the border - you have to wonder why anyone would take two children there. It doesn't make alot of sense.

I have read that everyone seem to think very highly of them, but was the husband or wife involved with any sort of trafficking? That's the only reason I can see anyone voluntarily crossing the Mexican border. Those cartels are bad news and if they are wrapped up in anything like that or were abducted by cartel members, well, there's probably not much hope that they will be found alive.

Every time I go across the boarder it looks just like this.. TONS of people walk across the borders to go shopping because IF you drive over you MUST HAVE Mexican insurance as American insurance will not cover you.
You can see in the video LOTS of cars in the video and LOTS of foot traffic of people.

When you get there, shopping is close and restaurants are many. There are good streets to walk on and there are rough streets where a person could be accosted/robbed if they are not careful.

The kidnapping of a whole family... hmm  Not many cases of this historically.
The husband looks Mexican to me and maybe he was mistaken for a machismo male ?
Anyways kidnappings are normal and it is done to get money from other family members.
Kidnappers are BRUTAL and will cut off body parts and send them to make family members pay up.
 I am not saying this happened.. I have no idea why they are missing. But to take a whole family who are on foot is not the normal abduction scenario. Drug lords and gang members make terrible baby sitters.

Look for this family in Guatemala or Costa Rica ? BUT Why ? Maybe they were in debt ?
The wife's alias names mentioned is the only thing I can think of.. IF She owed money from the past then Drug Lords have good memory and offer rewards for those that owe them.

Anyways I hope they are just basking on the beach someplace.

 
 

I just wanted to post this item for people to understand....
I normally redcord this in another thread at BFN where I have been tracking the situation for 5 years or so...

But I find it Could be relative to this family ..

Anyways Now that Government workers from our side got hit NOW The White House is paying attention.. It has been going on for a long time..

========================================================================

The White House issued a statement Sunday pledging support for Mexico's government to break drug trafficking in the country after recent violence took the lives of three people associated with the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Jaurez.

The three individuals, not named by the National Security Council, were a U.S. citizen employee, her U.S. citizen husband, and the husband of a Mexican citizen employee, according to NSC spokesman Mike Hammer.

"The president is deeply saddened and outraged by the news of the brutal murders of three people associated with the United States Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico," Hammer said in a statement.

"He extends his condolences to the families and condemns these attacks on consular and diplomatic personnel serving at our foreign missions. In concert with Mexican authorities, we will work tirelessly to bring their killers to justice."

Meanwhile, the State Department told U.S. government employees at six U.S. consulates in northern Mexico to send their family members out of the area. The six consulates are in the border cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros.

The department said in a statement Sunday that recent violent attacks have led the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to advise American citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of the Mexican states of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua.

"The situation in the state of Chihuahua, specifically Ciudad Juarez, is of special concern," reads the State Department's travel advisory. "U.S. citizens should pay close attention to their surroundings while traveling in Ciudad Juarez, avoid isolated locations during late night and early morning hours, and remain alert to news reports."

Drug-related violence has killed almost 18,000 people throughout Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drug traffickers in December 2006.




http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/14/associated-consulate-mexico-murdered/

The only reason I can think of  a family running away from their home is that they are running out of money, running out of business, or are in big trouble and had to get away as fast they can, or maybe they went somewhere they found big money, found a new business a new apartment (no dogs allowed?). That or the husband hurt the wife and kids and left or vice versa..Not many possibilities...If I were them I would be in las vegas or somewhere by there. Maybe the husband and wife enjoy gambling and decided it would be okay to go on a road tripfor a couple of days..the dogs don't eat much so they should be fine...not a big deal, maybe they got lost on their way and met somebody not so nice.

By the way.. I found out this morning that one of the American consolate people murdered was pregnant AND that a 1 year old was in the back seat "Unharmed" But the word on the street is this..

THEY WERE RUNNING FOR THE BOARDER !!

Yes they were running for there lives from a threat of murder..

They did not make it..


So anyways.. Could a family walk across the border and be kidnapped and murdered ?

Yes... For all we know either one of them could work for the government of the united states and could/would explain the multiple identities of the wife ?

Who Knows.. hmm

The news is NOW telling/writing that the consolate woman and her family were in fact running for the border when they were attacked.

A total of 14 murdered this last weekend over all .. with 4 police having there heads cut off near Acapulco.


ALL Americans have been advised of a travel alert to only certain areas of Mexico and Americans are coming for Spring Break !!

I've been reading the same horrible things. Along with the cartels hanging a banner that says they are united against the Zeta Cartel and want the military out and let them fight it out.

I think the Zetas are better armed and have better tactical skills. They will wipe out La Familia, Sinaloa, and Pacific if you ask me. I think they will give the Mexican military a huge battle... it's gonna be a blood bath in the weeks and months to come... not that it isn't already - it's just going to get much much worse.

As for the McStay family - this is going to go down as a case that was never solved - unfortunately. I think we all know what happened here.

http://texasequusearch.org/2010/03/improper-request-for-donations-mcstay-family-website/
Improper Request for Donations — McStay Family Website

Posted on 16. Mar, 2010 by smckinney in Featured Articles

03/16/10 — It has come to the attention of Texas EquuSearch that donations are being solicited on the McStay Family Website for travel and lodging for Texas EquuSearch, among other things. Texas EquuSearch paid all travel expenses, hotel bills, food and any other expenses that were associated with the search. No monies have been received from any donations made for the search for the McStay Family through their website. We did receive a $100.00 donation prior to the search through our Website. The proper way to make donations to Texas EquuSearch is (i) through our Website, or (ii) by check sent to our office. Unfortunately, if you have made a donation through the McStay Family Website intended for Texas EquuSearch, you will not receive a tax donation for said donation. While we appreciate all donations and requests for donations, they must be made in the proper manner.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Published: March 03, 2010
Op-Ed Contributor
There's a Hidden Version of Events in The McStay Missing Persons' Case!
By John Kays

I reviewed everything I had last night. Two dozen articles, photos, a half dozen videos, the McStay web site and some notes of my own, mostly random speculation or theories of mine about what might have happened. There have been very few new developments in the past two weeks, but rather only a consolidation of what we already know.

Tim Miller with Texas Equusearch is conducting a search of the nearly 40 miles of isolated terrain between San Diego and the Mexican border of San Ysidro, where the McStay vehicle had been parked. Note that it's 80 miles from the McStay house that is in Bonsall, Ca., north of San Diego.

It was reported yesterday that Lt. Dennis Brugos of the San Diego Sheriff's Office wanted to interview the brother again, Michael McStay. Perhaps there are still loose ends that could use some tying up. Michael was interviewed by phone on Jane Velez-Mitchell on Monday, February 22nd. Michael's theory is: "I think my family was kidnapped!"

Jane asked him about the large gap of time from when the family seemingly disappeared, and when family members became aware enough of this problem that it was time to report it to the police. This is an 11 day gap of time, from Feb, 4th to Feb. 15th. On the 6th the cell phones went dead. The Isuzu trooper was towed on the 8th, but connecting the vehicle with the family occurred much later.

Again, why wasn't there more panic in the family or friends right after the 4th? It's been said that family members were close to the McStay's? Yet no action was taken until 11 days later. Michael gives us a timeline, but it's incomplete. He says that by the 9th they were calling the house constantly. This would include the business partner of Joseph, whose name I haven't heard mentioned so far.

Michael says the house was checked on the 9th and again on the 12th. Does this just mean that the doorbell was rung? If no one was home and they wouldn't answer their cell phones, I don't see why they weren't reported missing, at least by the 9th? I don't believe family considered it feasible that they had gone on vacation and yet didn't tell anyone.

As far as the vehicle being left in a parking lot of a popular shopping center strip mall in San Ysidro, I don't believe it was Joseph and his family that drove that vehicle there and parked it. What I'd like to know, is what fingerprints did the police find on the steering wheel or anywhere on the car? Granted, there were two child safety seats intact in the Isuzu, but those could have already been there.

The reason I don't believe that the family ever drove down to the border, is that they wouldn't have left the dogs, Bear and Digger, without food and water. The mother, Summer would have put the fruit and vegetables back in the refrigerator. And the most telling sign that they never drove away on a short day trip, is that Summer left her prescription sunglasses on the counter. This just didn't happen!

Therefore, the culprit or culprits must have planted the car in San Ysidro to make it look like the family went to Mexico. The perpetrator probably wore gloves so as to not leave any fingerprints. I'm sure San Diego detectives are working this angle, but will not reveal these vital clues to the public. The McStay's never left Falbrook/Bonsall!

I've heard also that the mother Summer changed her name around frequently. Was she hiding something from her past? Or was there someone who she was trying to avoid? For one thing, it's been reported (on Jane Velez-Mitchell) that she had a fake birth certificate. Her age is 42, but I've seen it different in various articles I've read.

Here are some mutations of her name: Lisa Aranda, Virginia Lisa Aranda, Summer Martelli, Summer McStay and Lisa Aranda Martelli. On Jane's show Issues, Dale Archer said that if we can answer why she changed her name, we will have the key to the whole mystery. The question of a changing name does make you wonder why 'Summer' would want to do this, if she wasn't trying to dodge someone?

So we don't really have any new hard facts that will help us solve this missing persons case. What could the motive possibly be to cause some bad people to do such a bad thing? Sex, drugs and money are the usual reasons given for such misdeeds. Drugs and money can be tied together as one and the same, in a sense.

And yet this family seems so normal, wholesome and happy! It does not fit. Yet there is another story under the surface. It's our job to expose that story that's sequestered between the lines of the 'public version.' What we're hearing now is not the True Version. It can't be because it does not jive with what we know has happened.

Michael's theory is that it's economic. He knows the family best, so I'll agree with him. "With what's going on in today's economy and how close his car was found to the border, the first thing I'm thinking is that it has something to do with money." More of the brother's words: "People do stupid stuff for money, but I'm praying for the best."

Aren't we all!

http://newsblaze.com/story/20100303061833kays.nb/topstory.html

Aerial Drones Join Search for the McStay Family


http://www.sanclementetimes.com/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=2211&cntnt01dateformat=%25B%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=99 (http://www.sanclementetimes.com/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=2211&cntnt01dateformat=%25B%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=99)


March 18, 2010    
By Jamal Al-Sarraf, San Clemente Times

A San Clemente businessman and his family are still missing after six weeks. Joseph McStay, his wife Summer, and two sons Gianni and Joseph vanished on Feb. 4. Authorities have found the family’s SUV near the San Ysidro border but still haven’t found any conclusive evidence on their whereabouts. Phone records were given to Joseph’s brother, Michael, but provide no new clues. “I’ve confirmed that the day they disappeared was February 4 according to the phone records,” he said. “They show that he used about 3,464 minutes and after that date it’s totally blank, no pings, nothing.”

The search continues for the family and aerial drones have joined in. With pinpoint accuracy, the planes can see the tiniest details, including footprints and clothing according to Tim Miller, founder and director of Equusearch. Along with the San Diego Sheriff’s department, Interpol (an international police organization) has joined in the search for the missing family.

“I’m frustrated that other avenues of the media have stopped covering our case,” Michael said. “It may not be a high profile case and there isn’t a ‘crime scene’ like other crimes but this is my family and my two nephews that are missing. They could certainly be in harm’s way and the nation needs to know about it.”

Equusearch will use their aerial drones to scan the San Ysidro border. Funds raised from online efforts have helped pay for the aerial drones.

To find out more, see  http://www.mcstayfamily.com/ (http://www.mcstayfamily.com/)

Brother Offers Tour of Missing Family's Home


*** my note: video tour is at link below, don't know how to bring the video here ***

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Brother-Offer-Tour-of-Missing-Familys-Home-88462082.html (http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Brother-Offer-Tour-of-Missing-Familys-Home-88462082.html)


By ARTIE OJEDA
Updated 8:39 PM PDT, Thu, Mar 18, 2010


For the first time, relatives take the medie inside the McStay's house.

Joseph and Summer McStay and their two boys -- Gianni, 4, and Joey, 3 -- have been missing since Feb. 4.

Mike McStay, Joseph's brother gave reporters a tour of the home located on the 3400 block of Avocado Vista Lane in North County. He said the home has been cleaned and vacuumed in the time since the family disappeared.

Inside, the house is in a moderate level of disarray -- mostly because the home was in the process of being remodeled, according to Mike. Four upstairs bedrooms are, for the most part, empty. Several children's toys, including a large playhouse remain in the house.

(see video at link above)

The master bedroom is empty. Furniture had yet to be delivered, said Mike McStay. In a walk-in closet, Mike Mcstay said, several purses were found but did not appear to be currently being used. Downstairs, strips of masking tape protect the edgings of several walls --- the kitchen was being repainted. Two sets of sunglasses, one of which has prescription lenses, were found on a counter.

In the garage, a double stroller sits with several wetsuits resting on top of it. Mike McStay said his brother would always take the stroller on planned trips.

Earlier this month, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept released surveillance video that may have captured the McStay family entering Mexico.

The video was recorded at the San Ysidro border crossing Feb. 8, the same day the Mcstay's white Isuzu Trooper was found illegally parked at a nearby strip mall.

At the bottom left corner of the video, you can see a man walking hand in hand with a child.  Following him is a woman in a white jacket, holding the hand of another child.

San Diego County Sheriff's investigators say this could be Joseph McStay and his wife Summer with their two kids, crossing the border into Tijuana.

"There's a very high probability it's them,” said Sheriff's homicide Lt. Dennis Brugos.

Detectives showed the video to their family. Some recognized the white jacket that the woman is wearing in the video, but other family members aren't sure it's them because of the poor quality of the video.

"It's very grainy, overshadowed, there's no definition to shape,” said Mike McStay.

Since their disappearance, investigators said, the McStays haven't used their bank accounts, credit cards or cell phones.

"They could be down there on their own volition, and just wanted to drop out for awhile, that's one theory,” said Brugos.  "They could have gone down there for the evening and got into a situation they couldn't get out of."

Anyone with information about the case is being urged to call deputies at 858-974-2321 or 858-565-5200 after-hours. Tips can also be called in anonymously to CrimeStoppers at 888-580-TIPS(8477). A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered by CrimeStoppers for information leading to an arrest.

Tim, are those drones bullet proof ?

wtf on this Interpol bullcrap ? send them back to Europe.. Go find that missing girl in Spain.
Where is the F.B.I. or Special forces for U.S.
This is our issue..Not Europes.

The following seems to be the same kind of report we've been reading about so far.  With the info that LE (at some point) considered this to be a homicide investigation.  What caught my attention is one of the comments made below this article, at the following link.  I included this comment at the end. 

----------------------------------

Joey, Summer McStay Family Missing in California


http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/02/joey_summer_mcstay_family_miss.php (http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/02/joey_summer_mcstay_family_miss.php)


By Pete Kotz   Monday, Feb. 22 2010 @ 4:18PM

They had just moved into a new home in Bonsall, California last fall. Joey McStay's business, Earth Inspired Products, seemed to be taking off. But something apparently went very wrong for Joey, his wife Summer and their two young children...

Joey's brother hadn't heard from him, so he asked police to do a welfare check on the family's home. No one was there. The dogs had been left unattended. And though police aren't saying what they found, it was suspicious enough for them to call in homicide detectives.

​The family's Isuzu was later found abandoned near the Mexican border. A canvass of friends, relatives and business associates revealed that none of the McStays had been seen since February 4. Their two boys, aged 3 and 5, are also missing.

Relatives say the family had no trips planned, nor was it usual for them to leave without telling anyone. But the fact that their dogs were left without care signifies that tragedy is a likely scenario.

Police won't say why the matter is already being considered a homicide investigation, but we'll keep you posted.

----

(one of the comments posted at link above)

 puffin dusty said:

I have been following this case because it did not make any sense. Then I did a little snooping in Pacer which is the Federal Court public record site. Here is what I found: Joseph McStay filed a Chap 7 Bankruptcy in 2004 while living in San Clemente. Almost all debts were large credit cards from AM EX to Discover. Then in 2009, he and his wife, who has several aliases, were EVICTED from the San Clemente rental property they were living in. Plese tell me how he was able to get a mortgage in 2009. Impossible. But it gets better. In 2002, his brother and his wife had filed their own Chap 7 Bankruptcy for large credit cards bills. And even better, Joseph, Michael and the father were all in business together at one point. I would be willing to bet that this DISAPPEARANCE has been planned for a long time and Joseph's family know all about it. That's why there is no panic, no rewards. They skipped out; staged the disappearance etc. They are on the run. Shame on these family members from using Texas Equasearch and even asking for donations.
Posted 03/22/2010 at 03:30:41 PM

Hmmm.. over at InSessions, family and friends of the McStay's have been posting, answering questions, etc.  Along with many many threads of discussion on this case.  In case anyone is interested in reading more:

http://boards.insessiontrials.com/forumdisplay.php?f=709 (http://boards.insessiontrials.com/forumdisplay.php?f=709)

From a family friend posting at InSessions:

---------

03-25-2010, 04:04 PM

http://boards.insessiontrials.com/showthread.php?t=365983 (http://boards.insessiontrials.com/showthread.php?t=365983)

Here's the latest:

A search/flier posting is being planned for this Saturday, the 27th, in FALLBROOK only. If you wish to participate, please use the email on the Mcstay Family Website. This will go directly to Mikes phone, and you will be contacted. A time has not been set as of yet, nor a meeting place, but these will be established.

Thanks all,
GHJ

--------

Family Website:
http://www.mcstayfamily.com/ (http://www.mcstayfamily.com/)

Whew Dusty, THAT is some greasy info...
We need you over here as researcher.. ::monkeywine2::

One report indicates a possible home invasion with a family murdered and disposed of and there car left near the border and the culprits well inside of Mexico by now..

The other report by Dusty indicates that this family has RUN !!
if so Tim is on a wild goose Chase.
It would Also explain WHY Interpol is involved..By now this family could be someplace like Europe or Australia..
 

Update on the Missing McStay Family


http://sanclementetimes.com/view/full_story/6829169/article-Update-on-the-Missing-McStay-Family? (http://sanclementetimes.com/view/full_story/6829169/article-Update-on-the-Missing-McStay-Family?)


Thursday, March 25, 2010
by Jamal Al-Sarraf

New leads have been uncovered in the disappearance of the McStay family. Joseph McStay, his wife, Summer, and two children went missing on Feb. 4 and authorities are still having a difficult time tracking them down. Even with the help of aerial drones, no new leads have surfaced until last week when a surveillance tape from a neighbor’s home security system was released. According to McStay’s brother, Michael, the tape shows the family heading out together. “The tape shows everyone getting in the car at 7:47 p.m.,” he said. “They actually went out to eat that evening, and I am positive that the car in the driveway is the Isuzu.”

Michael also has his brother’s phone records for that evening. “The last call my brother made was at 8:28 p.m. to an associate of his and that lasted for a minute,” he said. “After that there are no further pings and no other minutes that are used by my brother’s phone or Summer’s phone.”

Michael McStay fears the worst. “I can’t sleep at night,” he said. “I’m constantly thinking about my brother and his family. Is there a possibility that there was foul play outside the house? Yes, it’s definitely plausible. There’s been no ransom and that makes me think that the worst has happened to Joey and Summer and that my nephews are kidnapped.”

Michael mentioned that his brother was an avid fan of YouTube, and would often broadcast his family’s escapades and celebrations and post them online. “Joey had a YouTube account. It’s possible some sick criminal pedophile saw his profile and tracked him down,” he said. “In one of the videos you can literally see where the house is located and its address.”

Bold by me..  and lol .. yes!!! 

I agree, they could be anywhere.  Including north in Canada, with the SUV being left at the Mexican border as a decoy.  I've heard of other cases where some have crossed the Mexican border to throw off a trail, only to board a plane and fly back across the States into Canada. 

Have read on another forum that it was discovered that Joey has property in Mexico.  Still trying to find the source of that info/rumor.   If that's true, then am betting that's where they headed, if indeed they went somewhere of their own free will. 

http://www.thevillagenews.com/story/46479/
Debbie Ramsey
Managing Editor

Thursday, March 25th, 2010.
Issue 12, Volume 14.

The investigation into the disappearance of the McStay family of four last seen on Feb. 4 is more focused in Mexico at this time, authorities said, after video surveillance tapes revealed a family generally matching their description was spotted crossing the US/Mexico border at approximately 7 p.m. on Feb. 7.

However, Sheriff’s Lt. Dennis Brugos said authorities cannot positively identify that it was the McStay family in the film footage they reviewed.

"Family members looked at the video and the clothing the family was wearing, and were ‘pretty certain’ it was them, but the film was shot from the rear, so there is a little bit of uncertainty about it," said Brugos. "We are saying there is a high probability it was the McStays. Some of the family members were more certain about it than others."

Brugos also said the family depicted on the tape "didn’t appear to be under any kind of duress when they were crossing the border."

Assuming the family crossed into Mexico, Brugos said the focus of the investigation is now centered in Mexico.

"Our international liaisons are working with the Mexican officials," he said. "It is definitely still an ongoing investigation."

Brugos also confirmed that the investigation has not yet revealed any suspected wrongdoing, criminal involvement, or evidence of foul play.

"There is nothing that has jumped out at us that suggests criminal activity," said Brugos. "If [the McStays] voluntarily left the country, there is nothing unlawful about that, but it’s a little unusual."

Brugos said numerous questions have come to his mind, "Was this planned?" "Were they just going out for the evening?" "Did they plan on going out to dinner in Tijuana and something went wrong?" Brugos said if the family had been victims of a kidnapping, a demand would probably have been made.

"Generally if people get in trouble, family or friends hear about it," he said. Brugos said relatives of the family have continually reported they have not heard from them.

"Many we have interviewed have said the family would never, ever go to Mexico," said Brugos. "Now, as the investigation has progressed, some say they ‘might’ have gone there; that the husband may have gone there for a business purpose."
Brugos said the family Advertisement
West Coast Auto Registration
West Coast Auto Registration did use various cell phones in the past, but the corresponding phone they made calls from on Feb. 4 has not been recovered in the investigation.

"Those phones have not been found," he confirmed.

Brugos remains baffled. "I’ve never seen a case like this. Sometimes people will take off for a weekend or slightly more without notifying anyone, but they don’t leave their dogs without food or water, leave food on their kitchen counter, and drop out of sight."

Detectives have examined the Mc Stay family’s 1996 Isuzu Trooper that was discovered in an impound lot about four hours after they were believed to be seen on the video tape crossing into Mexico, as well as their home located in the Lake Rancho Viejo area of the Fallbrook/Bonsall area.

"We have not found any evidence of a struggle or a forced entry anywhere," said Brugos. "If [the family] met with tragedy, I just have a feeling we would have known that by now."

Joseph McStay’s business associates appear to be just as puzzled as law enforcement. "They are just as baffled as we are and concerned about the business that he was a partner in," said Brugos.

Brugos did give significant credit to the Center for Missing or Exploited Children for a role they played in the investigation.

"We are very appreciative of what they have done for us in this investigation; they have worldwide contacts," said Brugos. "They also brought in a team and spent hours going through the border surveillance tapes and narrowed it down to the segment we believe may have been the McStay family." Brugos said the review of the tapes was no small task.

"The number of people that cross that border daily is around 100,000; I can’t say enough good things about that organization; they were very gracious," he said.
The McStay family’s relatives have created a Web site, www.McStayFamily.com, to keep the case before the public and San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477 has offered a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information on the McStays’ whereabouts has been asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at (858) 974-2321.

http://www.mcstayfamily.com/

Photos of the family, updates and paypal for donations. 

Joey has 2 partners in his business.  One is Chase Merritt, but the other partner has not been 'named' publically yet.  It feels odd to me that he/she hasn't been named or spoken of by the family or LE. 

Summer worked for Vernazza Realty in Rancho Santa Margarita at one time:

http://www.socalmls.com/Office/OfficeInfo.aspx?OfficeID=212932

Under the name of Summer Martelli:

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o100/klaasen3/SummerMartelli.jpg)

A search of the email gives you this:

http://www.spokeo.com/email/search?e=summergrl%40hotmail.com

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o100/klaasen3/SummerMcStay.jpg)


FWIW - Chase Merritt is a Real Estate Investment company in Newport Beach, CA

(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o100/klaasen3/Mcstay.jpg)

http://www.earthinspiredproducts.com/about-us.htm

My personal opinion is that the family has disappeared themselves.  They are running away from debt.  They may have been putting money in a Mexican bank account for some time?  IMO they are flakes.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/29/e-mails-link-mcstays-mexico-authorities-say/
E-mails link McStays to Mexico, authorities say

By Leslie Berestein, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Monday, March 29, 2010 at 3:54 p.m.

FALLBROOK — Sheriff’s investigators say a missing Fallbrook family’s computer records indicate they had been looking into passport rules for children traveling to Mexico.

Homicide Lt. Dennis Brugos said investigators found e-mails sent to unspecified recipients in late January that indicated Joseph and Summer McStay were asking about entry into Mexico.

The couple and their two small children, who lived in Fallbrook, were last seen Feb. 4. Their sport utility vehicle was found parked near the border four days later.

“It appears they went into Mexico of their own volition,” said Brugos, who would not say to whom the e-mails were sent. “There is nothing to suggest any coercion or anything like that, at least that we have uncovered…this still isn’t a criminal investigation.”

Relatives, however, say they are worried and baffled as to their disappearance. They said the family had not given any indication to relatives that they were going anywhere.

Joseph McStay, 40, is a businessman who operated an indoor water fountain business.

“The whole thing does not make any sense to me at all,” said Joseph’s brother, Mike McStay, who lives in Orange County.

Friends and relatives have also said that Summer McStay, 43, had expressed concerns about safety in Mexico in the past. While her husband had traveled there, she wasn’t interested in going with the children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3.

Their home showed no signs of a planned trip: Perishable food had been left out in the kitchen, their two dogs were left uncared for, and Summer McStay’s passport was expired. Investigators confirmed that Joseph McStay had a valid passport, though the children did not. Mike McStay said that a grandmother had their youngest son’s birth certificate, required for re-entry to the United States for minors under 16.

Sherriff’s investigators have been working with Baja California state police, which has followed up on tips and checked hotels, transportation centers, hospitals, the Tijuana morgue and and other sources with no success.

The McStays’ white Isuzu Trooper was found in a parking lot by the border in San Ysidro Feb. 8, the same night a Border Patrol video recorded two adults and two small children walking toward the border turnstile into Mexico. However, investigators have not been able to enhance the video enough to identify its subjects.

Investigators have also viewed a surveillance video taken by a neighbor’s security camera Feb 4. that shows a vehicle backing out of the McStays’ driveway at 7:47 p.m. The tape ended at about midnight, said Mike McStay, who has also seen it, and there is no sign of the car returning before then.

Brugos said that because of its angle, the surveillance tape does not show people getting into the car, and that it is also difficult to identify the vehicle.

Leslie Berestein: (619) 293-1542; leslie.berestein@uniontrib.com

volition ...
Latin word, Medevil term.. for desire or will..


check them out is Zacatecas there is a nice hotel made out of an ancient bull ring..
Or Oaxaca, they made a nice hotel out of Montezuma daughters, Isabel Moctezuma home/palace.

I ate red crickets there once thinking it was red peppers.. later I noticed the legs..  ::MonkeyJnBox::

They are probably hiding out in any number of out of the way places..
It is easy to get lost in deep Mexico.

http://www.10news.com/news/22995212/detail.html

New Clues Uncovered In Disappearance Of McStay Family
McStay Family Missing Nearly Two Months

POSTED: 8:48 pm PDT March 29, 2010
UPDATED: 9:04 pm PDT March 29, 2010

SAN DIEGO -- It's been nearly two months and a Fallbrook family's disappearance remains a mystery but new clues are emerging that suggest the McStays might have gone willingly.

Sheriff's deputies told 10News they just got the forensic results back from the McStay family computer and what they found leads them to believe their disappearance was very well planned.

"They were making inquiries concerning travel in Mexico and passports which would indicate there was some type of planning ahead that we weren't aware of before today," San Diego Sheriff's Lt. Dennis Brugos said Monday.

Brugos says the McStays made that computer search on Jan. 28, one week before the family was last seen. The new information falls in line with the theory investigators had when they found video taken at the border of two adults and two small children crossing into Mexico. The video was shot on Feb. 8, the same day Joseph and Summer McStay's SUV was found abandoned just a few blocks from the border.

"We had been somewhat focused on the fact there's a high probablity they had entered Mexico on their own volition and this somewhat reinforces that," Brugos said.

With an entire team of sheriff's deputies, Mexican liasons, and the Center For Missing And Exploited Children devoted just to this case, the question now is: how many resources should they continue to lend?

Brugos said, "Law enforcement has put in a great deal of time and effort trying to locate them and if they could simply contact someone and let us know they're all right that would be a huge relief to a lot of people."

I think that people do have a right "although it is not written" to RUN !!

As long as they are ok and have not been hurt or hurt anyone..Then..Run !

I have no probelm with this.. There are people that need help.

These people are obviously professionals.

I envy them, there are many times in my life I should have run.. but I am a dummy I just stand there and take on lifes battles, like it is gonna prove something..

 ::CowboySmiley::

http://www.foxnUpdated March 30, 2010
Computer Records Give Clues in Case of U.S. Family Missing in Mexico

FOXNews.com

Investigators find e-mails indicating California couple was asking about entry into Mexico shortly before they disappeared with their children.ews.com/us/2010/03/30/records-clues-case-family-missing-mexico/
(http://www.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/U.S./033010_mcstays_monster_397x224.jpg)
San Diego County sheriff's investigators say a missing California family's computer records show they had been looking into passport rules for children traveling to Mexico.

Homicide Lt. Dennis Brugos says investigators found e-mails indicating Joseph and Summer McStay were asking about entry into Mexico shortly before they disappeared.

The couple and their two young sons were last seen on Feb. 4.

"It appears they went into Mexico of their own volition," the San Diego Union-Tribune quoted Brugos, who would not say to whom the e-mails were sent. "There is nothing to suggest any coercion or anything like that, at least that we have uncovered … this still isn’t a criminal investigation."

Last month, investigators said surveillance video may have captured images of the missing Fallbrook, Calif., family crossing the border on foot. The McStays' white Isuzu Trooper was found in a nearby parking lot.

Investigators have not been able to enhance the video enough to confirm the identities of the people in it.
However, relatives have called the disappearance out of character, especially since the couple left their dogs at home and food rotting in their kitchen.

Family members said the McStays did not give any indication they were going away, and are skeptical that the family is in Mexico. They added that Summer, 43, had openly expressed concerns about safety in Mexico, the Union-Tribune reported. She did not want to travel there with Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3, according to family.

Joseph McStay, 40, runs an indoor water fountain business, and his brother Mike told the Union-Tribune that nothing about the scenario makes sense to him.

Detectives have found no evidence that the McStays had financial problems or were facing threats.

Click here to read more on this story from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Thanks Trimm!   ::CowboySmiley::

From that article just posted above, this sounds like an actual "bombshell"....

"Investigators find e-mails indicating California couple was asking about entry into Mexico shortly before they disappeared with their children"

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/30/california.missing.family/
Police: Missing California family may have disappeared intentionally
By Gabriel Falcon, CNN
March 30, 2010 8:17 p.m. EDT
CNN)  -- New evidence strongly suggests a Southern California family that disappeared in early February voluntarily left for Mexico, investigators said Tuesday.

But key questions about the mystery remain, and the apparent inactivity of bank cards, credit cards and cellphones since they vanished continues to baffle police and trouble family members.

"I've been in this business for over 35 years but never seen anything like this," Lt. Dennis Brugos of the San Diego Sheriff's Department told CNN.

"This whole thing doesn't add up," Michael McStay, the brother of Joseph McStay, said in a phone interview. "If they left, I don't need to know why. The bottom line is, I need to make sure they are OK."

Information gathered on the home computer of Joseph and Summer McStay indicates the couple was making travel inquires about Mexico on the Internet a week before they were reported missing, Brugos said.

"It had to do with travel in Mexico with children and whether you needed to have passports for children," Brugos said. "It looks as if there were some planning."
The McStays and their children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph, 3, have not been seen or heard from since February 4.

The McStays' two dogs were found unattended, without food or water, in the San Diego-area home, investigators said.

McStay's brother, who initially feared the family might have been kidnapped, still believes they are in danger.

"They can't fend for themselves," he said. "If something did happen in Mexico, I would not be able to live with myself."
A sport utility vehicle belonging to the McStays was found abandoned on February 8 two blocks from the San Ysidro border checkpoint into Mexico, authorities said.

Surveillance video taken that evening appears to show the family "casually" walking into Mexico, the sheriff's department said.

Brugos believed the four individuals seen on the security footage bear a strong resemblance to the missing family, including the hats the children wore and the woman's boots and coat.

Brugos said the sheriff's office was meeting Tuesday with the department's liaison detectives in Mexico.

"There is nothing to suggest any criminal involvement in their disappearance, but we would like to find the family," Brugos said.
Michael McStay, who said he will be handing out fliers at the San Ysirdo checkpoint and canvassing the stores, is desperate for any information.

"Who knows what happens once you leave U.S. soil?" he said. "We've all seen the news about what goes on down there. Even if they left voluntarily, were they going down for a weekend and never made it back? What would compel someone to go? I have no idea. If they left it would have had to be something heavy.

"It just doesn't make sense."

Joseph McStay is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. Summer McStay, also known as Lisa Aranda-Martelli, is 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 115 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the McStay family is urged to contact Sgt. Dave Martinez of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department at 858-565-5200. Anonymous calls can be made to 888-580-8477.

A Web site, http://www.mcstayfamily.com/, has been set up in an effort to help locate the family.

http://www.knx1070.com/New-Info-About-Missing-San-Diego-Family/6690383
New Info About Missing San Diego Family
03/31/10

LOS ANGELES (KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO)  -- New information is coming out about a San Diego County family that's been missing for nearly two months.

Joseph and Summer McStay and their two young sons haven't been heard from since leaving their Fallbrook home in early February. And their car was later found abandoned near the Mexican border.

Now, investigators say the family's computer shows that the parents had been looking-up information about the rules for taking kids into Mexico. Police say as far as they can tell, the family crossed the border deliberately. But what happened after that is still a mystery.

It may be a first but ... this wannabe detective is one with Jane Velez-Mitchell on this issue.  The quick trip may have been anticipated but ... something went terribly wrong immediately upon crossing the border.  Was a potential business client waiting to pick the family up?

I get a hinky feeling about Joseph McStay's business associate ... the last person that McStay spoke to prior to disappearing with his family.  Why did the red flags not start waving when McStay did not show up for work for eleven days?

Janet

+++++++

ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
Aired March 31, 2010 - 19:00:00   ET

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: That was Joseph McStay`s mom. Brand new details tonight. Police say the McStays searched for information about traveling to Mexico and passport rules for kids in the days before they vanished. Did they stage their own disappearance? Dunnie Texas (ph), your question or thought, ma`am.

CALLER: Yes. My question is why did they wait 11 days to call them in missing when they`d seen the house?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. Let`s go over the timeline. Leslie Berestein, they disappeared February 4th, a Thursday, and they called a business associate that night at 8:37 p.m. It was just about an hour after they left their home. The leaving of the home was caught on surveillance video by a neighbor. And they made a call to the business associate of the dad that lasted one minute.

That was the last activity either of the families, two cell phones, had. And four days later their car shows up near the Mexican border at around the same time as the surveillance video of what some believe are them crossing the Mexican border. That`s correct, right?

LESLIE BERESTEIN, REPORTER, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE: That night, yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: My theory is OK, they get a phone call or they make a phone call to a business associate. Something is said to them that triggers this desire to suddenly go to Mexico. They go to Mexico. They think they`re going to have a rendezvous or some business transaction, they`re going to come right back. But something untoward happens down there.

http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/31/ijvm.02.html

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/01/fbi-join-search-missing-family/

FBI to join search for missing family

By Leslie Berestein, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 5:25 p.m.

FALLBROOK — The FBI is joining the search for a Fallbrook family that has been missing for almost two months and is believed to be in Mexico.

Homicide Lt. Dennis Brugos of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department said the federal agents will be briefed on the case Friday. “They have more resources in Mexico,” Brugos said.

FBI special agent Darrell Foxworth in San Diego acknowledged the briefing and provided no other details about the agency’s involvement.

Businessman Joseph McStay, his wife Summer and their two young sons were last heard from Feb. 4. Their white Isuzu Trooper was found in a San Ysidro parking lot near the border four days later.

Brugos said that while the investigation continues in both countries, the primary focus is on Mexico. Earlier this week, investigators said the couple’s computer records revealed that the week before they disappeared, inquiries were made about passport requirements for traveling to Mexico with children. The McStays have two children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3.

Sheriff’s homicide investigators have been working with the state Department of Justice and with law enforcement agencies in Mexico, including Tijuana police, Baja California state police and the Baja California attorney general’s office.

Investigators there have checked transportation centers, hotels, hospitals and other sources within Baja California and followed leads beyond the border region, including in the Los Cabos area.

Jesus Quinones, an international liaison for the Baja California state attorney general’s office, said information about the missing family has been shared with state agencies throughout Mexico and with the national immigration service, which checks foreign travelers’ documents at airports and highway checkpoints.

While it’s presumed that they crossed the border, he said, to date, nothing has turned up.

“We are searching, but so far, there has been no indication that they are in Mexico,” Quinones said.

Joseph McStay’s brother, Mike McStay, said the computer inquiries were made to About.com, a site to which users can send in questions. The inquiries were made Jan. 27 and 28, he said.

McStay said he is glad the FBI will be joining the search. But the recent news that the family might have planned to go to Mexico has not put relatives any more at ease.

Relatives of both Joseph, 40, and Summer, 43, say it would be uncharacteristic of them to simply pick up and leave the country without telling family members.

“I know I should feel a little bit better, but I don’t,” said Summer McStay’s sister, Tracy Russell, 40. She last spoke to her sister on the phone Feb. 4.

“My mother is distraught. I don’t think my sister would torture my mom like that.”

Russell, who lives in Rancho Cucamonga, said her sister had told her during that last conversation that she was planning to visit her next week.

She said that her sister had visited Baja California many years ago, but that given the violence there in recent years, she had no interest in returning and would not take her sons. Furthermore, she said, her sister is a stickler for proper use of car seats; the family Trooper was found with the childrens’ car seats inside.

Mike McStay, 37, who lives in Orange County, said the news this week has prompted more tips about possible sightings to a Web site he has set up, which he has forwarded to authorities. So far, he has heard no word from investigators as to any possible destination, if there was one.

Neither of the McStays is fluent in Spanish, according to relatives. And only Joseph McStay has a valid passport; his wife’s is expired. Their youngest son’s birth certificate, required for re-entry to the United States by minors under 16, is with a grandmother.

Mike McStay said he has applied for a passport so that he can travel to Mexico if necessary. He still has a hard time with the idea that the family would pick up and leave, but at least there is more direction to the investigation, he said.

“I don’t know that they are safe,” McStay said. “All I know is that I have a direction to go in with the case. If I have to go there myself, I am going there myself.”

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/02/possible-sighting-of-missing-california-family/
April 2, 2010
Possible sighting of missing California family?
Posted: 10:00 AM ET
Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

Possible sightings in Mexico of a missing California family have been reported to a relative's web site.

According to an update on www.mcstayfamily.com, the potential sightings were received on Thursday and the information was forwarded to authorities.

In related news, the FBI has now reportedly joined in the search for Joseph and Summer McStay, and their children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph, 3. They have not been seen or heard from since February 4.

Police said the family's two dogs were left in the McStay's San Diego area home unattended and without food and water.

Their abandoned SUV was found blocks from the San Ysidro checkpoint on February 8, the San Diego Sheriff's Department said.

They also believe four individuals who appeared on security tape walking across the border on that same day are the Mcstays.

In addition, officials this week revealed that travel inquiries to Mexico, including questions about passports for children, were made from a computer in the Mcstay home days before the family vanished.

"I've been in this business for over 35 years but never seen anything like this," Lt. Dennis Brugos of the San Diego Sheriff's Department told CNN.
This whole thing doesn't add up," Michael McStay, the brother of Joseph McStay, said in a phone interview. "If they left, I don't need to know why. The bottom line is, I need to make sure they are OK."

Michael McStay, who created the Mcstay Family web site, plans on conducting his own search in San Ysidro this weekend.

"In light of the new information from the SD Sheriff's Dept, I am coordinating another flyer distribution down at the border crossing this Saturday April 3rd 10  a.m., he said."

He is asking volunteers to meet him in the parking lot near the Sunrise Buffet and Bancomer Bank where the Isuzu Trooper was towed. The address is 4498 Camino de la Plaza.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the McStay family is urged to contact Sgt. Dave Martinez of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department at 858-565-5200. Anonymous calls can be made to 888-580-8477.

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/02/mcstay-brother-distribute-fliers-saturday/

Missing McStays: Kin to gather at the border

By Angela Lau, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Originally published April 2, 2010 at 3:56 p.m., updated April 2, 2010 at 5:28 p.m.

FALLBROOK — Family and friends of a missing Fallbrook family will hand out fliers Saturday at the San Ysidro shopping center where the McStays’ white Isuzu Trooper was found four days after they disappeared.

The fliers will ask in English and Spanish, “Have you seen us?” and will print the photographs of businessman Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and children Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3.

“This is a starting point,” said McStay’s brother Mike, who is driving down from San Clemente to distribute 3,000 to 5,000 fliers.

He said he has obtained a passport and is prepared to go to Mexico to search for his relatives if clues lead him in that direction.

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12251603

Multiple sightings of missing family in Mexico
Posted: Apr 03, 2010 8:31 AM PDT Updated: Apr 03, 2010 8:31 AM PDT

SAN DIEGO, Calif (CBS 8) - A family friend of the Mcstay's has told News 8 that the family has been sighted several times in a small village in Mexico, providing some hope.

The FBI was briefed today on this baffling case, and will now use their resources south of the border to re-energize the search.


Like I said before, my personal opinion is that this family disappeared themselves.  There's a reason why Summer has had multiple alias's  ::MonkeyCool::

I tink Yer Right  ::MonkeyCool::

I agree with you.  I think the family disappeared themselves.  I have seen this noted a couple of times in articles:
Edit to add link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/01/fbi-join-search-missing-family/
<snip> Neither of the McStays is fluent in Spanish, according to relatives. And only Joseph McStay has a valid passport; his wife’s is expired. Their youngest son’s birth certificate, required for re-entry to the United States by minors under 16, is with a grandmother.<snip>

The family seems to use the above as some sort of reason or proof they didn't disappear themselves across the border.  It doesn't matter if the youngest son has birth certificate or not.  Either a new certified copy could have been obtained OR the entire family is using false identification which can be obtained with the right connections and money imo.  And maybe the family went across the border without any intention of returning to the U.S., so the fact they didn't have the youngest son's birth certificate for re-entry to the U.S. would be a moot point.  Besides, a birth certifcate can even be made.   BTW, where is Joeseph McStay's passport?  Anyone find it anywhere?  Has it been used?

Here's one man's theory on what happened to the McStay family.  Have to say, it makes just as much sense (if not more) than anything else I've read so far... IMO

------------------


Published: April 03, 2010

Op-Ed Contributor

The McStay's 'Simple Plan'- Mired in a Metamorphosis of Mystery!

By John Kays

http://newsblaze.com/story/20100403100625kays.nb/topstory.html (http://newsblaze.com/story/20100403100625kays.nb/topstory.html)


I had my doubts before about the surveillance video of the McStays approaching the turnstile to cross over into Tijuana, Mexico. But now I have developed my own photo of the family in silhouette, and am more convinced than ever that this is indeed the McStays. The figure of Summer with her long black hair is the most recognizable.

The investigation into the February 4th disappearance of the McStay family is morphing in the direction of a flight into Mexico, and probably deliberately. This only muddies the waters all the more. My theory is that with their fleeing into Mexico by choice, they must have been trying to avoid someone. They left behind a beautiful brand new home and a very happy existence. Or so it would appear on the surface?

I am going to back up here and spell out a handful of new facts that cast this case in a different light. The best reporting is coming from the Union-Tribune in San Diego and specifically from staff writer Leslie Berestein. Leslie seems to have the inside scoop with the McStay family and with the San Diego Sheriff's Department, who is oh so selective in what clues they'll disclose to the public.

A primary new clue is that the McStay's were researching passport requirements for traveling to Mexico with children. These inquiries were found on their computer and were made on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28; they visited the site About.com. However, it doesn't look as if they followed through with obtaining the proper legal documents.

Joseph was the only one who had a valid passport. Summer's had expired and the youngest son's birth certificate, required for reentry into the United States, was left with a grandmother. Therefore, I believe that a sudden unexpected event or development (a third party intervention) hastened their plans to depart Fallbrook on February 4th. (Union-Tribune-FBI joins search for McStays by Leslie Berestein-Friday, April 2, 2010)

A new fact that I find significant is that a neighbor's security camera shows a vehicle backing out of the McStay's driveway at exactly 7:47 P.M. on Feb. 4th. Why were the family of four leaving so late on their trip? Some event, perhaps a phone call, must have triggered an impetus to move up the clock of departure?

Why leave so late for Mexico? This makes no sense. And remember, it would be four more days until their car was towed from a strip mall parking lot in San Ysidro. Where were they during this time and what were they doing for those four days?

The last phone call made was by Joseph McStay, on his cell phone at 8:37 PM to his business partner. The call was for only one minute and was made one hour after their departure for an unknown destination. After this time the cell phones go dead. Also, bank activity completely drops off the earth.

Could they have been living on cash alone? They would have to. A sizeable withdrawal of cold cash is required to make this fit. Yet the police haven't mentioned any cash withdrawal such as this? This is the key to a fundamental hypothesis of mine that I will postulate for you shortly.

What I find most odd is why hasn't the business partner come out with a statement to the press? This partner of Joseph in his home fountain business has not even given his name. Is he hiding something? What did he discuss with Joseph in this last one minute phone conversation? If he has nothing to hide, why not just come out with a statement to the press? Perhaps he has a piece of information that could unravel this unsolved mystery?

Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch was a guest on Jane-Velez Mitchell on Wednesday, March 31st. When Tim looked over the McStay house, he observed that it appeared that many clothes were missing. This implies that the family packed these belongings with the idea of leaving on a planned trip. Maybe a trip of some length, I might add. There were only high heels for Summer, and where were Joseph's shoes and shirts? Packed in luggage, I would think.

And what about the notion that they staged their disappearance? What's for sure, is that they left in haste! Food was left out. And Summer forgot her prescription sunglasses! The dogs were left without food and water (most puzzling). Trays of paint and rollers were abandoned, as if some event altered Summer's flow of work, her painting of the kitchen, a dramatic gear shift. A statement of Summer's friend for ten years, Jesi Silveria, reinforces my theory of a rapid change in plans.

"I was one of the last people speaking to her and for three days straight it was all about moving in and setting in. There was no mention about hesitancy or challenges she was having. If she had any stress or strain or worry you could have heard it in her voice. It just doesn't make sense to anyone who personally knows them."

A life altering development occurred on February 4th. This event was reinforced by previous happenings, however. This is cause and effect here. Think of when you shoot a pool ball with a cue stick. The ball hits other balls and they move to a new location on the pool table. In turn, this affects the player's strategy on his next shot. The 'McStay Plan' was a work in progress. It shifted with the sifting sands of fate.

Testimony from Susan Blake, Joseph's mother, adds to my belief that something BIG went down on February 4th. Susan Blake felt as if something was out of place when she spoke to her son on that day. "Joe told me he wasn't feeling good that day. His equilibrium wasn't right and I felt something was wrong." I think that Joe knew it was time to get away. Not doing so would be a more negative decision for his family.

I'm going to lay out my theory, so don't scoff at me for idle speculation. I'm sure that the FBI is doing that very thing even as I type these words. But here goes nothing. A favorite movie of mine, 1998's A Simple Plan, directed by Sam Raimi, is my model for what happened to the McStays. In the film Hank Mitchell, his brother Jacob, and a friend Lou stumble upon a downed airplane. They find a dead man inside the crash and $4.4 million dollars in cash, stashed in cargo bags.

The brothers and the friend devise a 'simple plan' to lay low and to keep the money as a sort of retirement account for their old age. This is where the irony comes in, this is anything but a 'simple plan' as a rapid sequence of events put a tire iron in the spokes of a well-oiled scheme. In this parallel the McStays must have discovered some money that they weren't intended to have. I think it was a sum of more than a million dollars. This cash may have been hidden in one of the fountains that Joseph purchased from Mexico. Narco-traffickers may have been attempting to launder vast amounts of drug money by way of these fountain craftsmen on the other side of the border. The McStays were not supposed to be aware of this scheme.

As such their men on the American side would retrieve this money and smuggle it away to another safehouse. But Joseph accidentally discovered this money when he was working on one of these fountains. The amount was so great, that he decided to keep it after discussing the situation with Summer. In the film Bill Paxton does something similar with Bridgett Fonda. The money pushes their button. This is where a 'simple plan' comes into play.

And so this would explain why the bank accounts suddenly went dead. The McStays would operate strictly on a cash-only-basis, going forward. They figured that could hide out in Mexico undetected, maybe in some simple village up in the mountains, away from civilization. And their cash would stretch out as far as the eye can see.

Fitting in with my theory, the McStays had to hide out in the states from the 4th to the 8th. They didn't want to cross over into Mexico too rapidly, lest the traffickers might surprise them at the crossing. Why leave the white Isuzu Trooper in San Ysidro? Because the Bad Men knew of the vehicle from the news, so they had to get rid of it. And what about the last call to the business partner?

This is why I think he knew. He may have tipped off the McStays that 'they' were looking for them. This would also explain why he won't give his name or provide the media with a statement of some kind. Also, I believe the police know of his involvement and are providing him with a makeshift 'witness protection program.' This would also explain why it took so long to report the disappearance to the authorities. Enough time was allowed for the McStays to hide away in the remotest regions of Mexico.

And then you might wonder why the McStays didn't just return the money to these traffickers? The reason why is this wasn't even an option! Even if they did return the money, they would still be killed to silence them. This is how these ruthless criminals operate, in say, Ciudad Juarez. The McStays had no choice but to flee with the money in tow. They had but one choice-a permanent departure from their once beautiful life.

My theory of what might have happened to the McStays is the only one that fits all the known facts we that we have at our disposal. Today Michael McStay is distributing fliers down on the border. He intends to go to Mexico very soon, and has already gotten his passport. And now the FBI is taking a stake in this case.

This is further support for my theory. I don't believe they would get involved if they didn't believe their case had taken on wider parameters. As such maybe it's more international in scope, involving U.S. citizens and narco-traffickers, who operate without impunity on both sides of the borders.

You may think I'm spinning cotton candy here, but how can one juxtapose these disjointed facts into a cogent theorem that fits for their sudden disappearance? My theory works. And don't you look upon me as if I'm lingering on the Dark Side (I don't live in a Gingerbread House)!

I do believe that they are still alive! I'm an optimist. Two possible sightings have already been reported. The case may break tomorrow or it may remain unsolved. Words of Lt. Dennis Brugos best characterizes the McStay case: "I've never seen anything like this in over 35 years of experience in the business."

http://newsblaze.com/story/20100403100625kays.nb/topstory.html (http://newsblaze.com/story/20100403100625kays.nb/topstory.html)

would Summer McStay and her husband be charged with child endangerment if they are all found alive?

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/03/mcstay-family-relatives-hand-out-fliers/
McStay family relatives hand out fliers

By Michele Clock, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Saturday, April 3, 2010 at 7:18 p.m.
SAN YSIDRO — Family and friends of a missing Fallbrook family fanned out Saturday near the area where the family’s sports utility vehicle was abandoned nearly two months ago in hopes of gathering any possible leads.

Armed with colorful, photo-filled fliers, Mike McStay, the brother of missing businessman Joseph McStay, said somebody had to have noticed something. The family of four hasn’t been seen since Feb. 4. Four days later their car turned up in a San Ysidro parking lot near the border.

“Did somebody, with all these people around, see something from here to the border?” said Mike McStay, 37, standing in the same shopping center parking lot where the family’s white 1996 Isuzu Trooper turned up.

A grainy video showed two adults and two young children approaching the San Ysidro border crossing on Feb. 8, though authorities haven’t been able to determine for sure whether it is the missing family
McStay and more than a dozen family friends yesterday passed out more than 4,000 fliers with photos and descriptions of Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and two children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph, 3.

McStay and family friend Don McCutcheon, of Mission Viejo, said several leads pointing to sightings of the family in Mexico were passed along to authorities this week. The tips leads have placed the family across Mexico, from the Yucatan area on the Gulf of Mexico to the Jalisco area on the Pacific Coast.

Asked if he thinks the family is still alive and in Mexico, McStay said, “I’m leaning that way.”

Standing near stacks of fliers, McCutcheon insisted the family just had no reason to leave their lives.

“Nice house, cars paid off, business doing good and you leave?” McCutcheon said. “Doesn’t make sense...We believe they did not go on their own accord.”

San Diego Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Jan Caldwell confirmed Friday that the FBI had been briefed on the case, joining an effort headed by sheriff’s investigators.

“The FBI has sources south of the border, and that is what we would like to tap into,” she said.

honestly why mexico, does anyone know if Summer or Joseph Mcstay had a lot of gold jewelry? If so, maybe they cashed it somewhere, just wondering.

Good questions, piwannaberookie!   Sorry I don't know the answers, hopefully someone may. 

Mexico is the closest place for them to go.  Also, I believe it's very possible that the husbands business was getting supplied through Mexico.  The husband had a indoor fountain business and my bet is the fountains were being made in Mexico.

Wyks, that was a very interesting article you posted that is by John Kays. There are a lot of similarities between the movie "A Simple Plan" and the McStay's disappearance.  I never saw the movie "A Simple Plan", however, drugs in a fountain to be smuggled to the border to America, that is scary! If Joseph Mcstay found money in a fountain he bought from Mexico and was working on it, how would he expect someone would be watching him and his family, I wonder if they had his address and phone number. I wonder if they called him or sent him threatening messages. I wonder if Mexico has a phone book and their fountain business is located in the phone book as fountain craftsmen etc.  Or maybe they are high tech individuals who are sending threatening emails to Joseph and/or Summer. The FBI needs to arrest them, they, the culprits,  may have the answers!!! Or maybe the money was not american currency or mexican currency, it could be some foreigner who visited mexico, and the drug dealers gang bangers murdered him/her and took all their money/jewelery and stuffed it in the fountain, just adding on to the unthinkable crime ...

'

I don't want to buy anything from Mexico like on ebay like textbooks, or anythin that money can be hidden in. I wonder how many other people have had this situation. All shipping/sales from mexico to the u.s. and vice versa should be monitored...? or maybe cost extra? banning that would make the problem worse. I know that a lof good money is being made from exports and imports between usa and mexico, but i dont know for sure because i havent studied this.

or maybe joseph mcstay planned to buy that fountain and have all the money with it, in return for something else, aybe that something else was to go to mexico and pay back for all the money he found, maybe he told to go to mexico and do something with that money, maybe help someone with a business, maybe this was a contract.

Agreed, it's an interesting theory he has!  Makes as much sense as any other that I've read so far. 

It was reported in one of the news articles that the McStay's have some type of property in Belize.  And one of the supposed sightings of Joey and the boys was in the area just next to Belize.  So it *could be* that's where they headed to. 

You've been doing a lot of thinking and brainstorming on this case!  I sure wish there was a way we could have our questions answered, either by LE/media/family/friends.  But unfortunately it seems that any info coming from any of these have come to a screeching halt.  Total silence as of lately. 

Over at the InSessions forum, a few supposed friends of the family have come in and answered questions etc, and yet... seem to have created even more questions than they answered.   So I guess we wait.. and wait.. and see if there's any word from Joey and Summer. 

Hard to know what to believe and think in the meantime. 

The DOJ (dept of justice) now has Joseph/Summer each listed as "Voluntary Missing Adult", and both children listed as "Unknown Circumstances".    Also has them 'last seen' on February 1st, not the 4th.   Hmmmm...   ::MonkeyEek::

You can see this at the following link, just enter the first and last name:
http://dojapp.doj.ca.gov/missing/default.asp (http://dojapp.doj.ca.gov/missing/default.asp)

Two possible sightings of the McStay family

posted 2 hours ago

http://www.sanclementetimes.com/view/full_story/7004236/article-Two-possible-sightings-of-the-McStay-family?instance=eye_on_sc (http://www.sanclementetimes.com/view/full_story/7004236/article-Two-possible-sightings-of-the-McStay-family?instance=eye_on_sc)


Possible sightings of the McStay family in Mérida and Barra Navidad, Mexico, have been reported, according to the McStay family Web site.

Joseph McStay, his wife Summer and two children went missing abruptly on Feb. 4. Since then, no traces of phone calls have been found or evidence of foul play. Four days later on Feb. 8, the family’s Izuzu Trooper was found in San Ysidro, next to the Mexican border. After authorities scanned the computer of the family, the history of their internet browser showed that someone was seeking to find a way into Mexico without visas. Since their disappearance, the FBI, aerial drones and a large distribution of fliers have all aided in the search.

Michael McStay, Joseph’s brother, also maintains there is promising evidence of the family’s whereabouts. “Two sightings occurred in Merida and Barra Navidad,” he said. “Joey owns property in Merida and he wouldn’t take off without telling us.”

Last week, Michael McStay was handing out fliers on the border in hopes of finding someone who might have seen the family. “While I was on the border a Mexican police officer from Tijuana walked up to me,” he said. “I grabbed the person closest to me to interpret what the officer was saying. According to the translator this is the first time the officer heard of the investigation.”

Michael McStay is also convinced that authorities have not done their best to find the family. “One of my questions was that if someone did a search on the PC, did they look for a specific destination,” he said. “The detective simply said ‘no’ and I’m not convinced. Truthfully I should be able to know this information.”

Michael McStay will travel with the FBI to Mexico this week.

Visit www.mcstayfamily.org for more information.

I should say that two 'new' pieces of info have come to us recently. 

One, that the McStay's are now listed as "voluntary missing adults" by the DOJ, which is different than what they originally had them listed as, 'missing'. 

And second, that along with the property in Belize that Joseph owns, which LE discovered, they have also discovered that Joseph owns property in Merida, Mexico. 

Seems that either Joseph's family/friends didn't know about either of these before, or they weren't being honest with the media.  Cuz what they've repeatedly said is that the McStay's would "never" go to Mexico and especially not without telling someone. 

I dunno what to think about any of this anymore...   ::MonkeyNoNo::

doesn't sound good... but if they voluntarily went back to merida, mexico or belize, i hope that they are found there, and haven't bought more property somewhere else and living in another area. buying land or real estate dont know about in buying in foreign countries, but in America it can be profitable, or so i've heard, maybe this was what was going on. maybe they were tired of the U.S. economy.

Actually I think it DOES sound good, good at least that they are likely alive and well and have disappeared themselves.  Too bad that people are wasting resources and time looking for them if that is the case.   ::MonkeyNoNo::

It seems that news of this case has reached Ireland.  Their Sunday Tribune has an interesting article, which includes mention of 'message boards and conspiracy theories'.   ::MonkeyHaHa::


Why would this family disappear?
The vanishing without trace of an apparently happy Californian family has baffled police and spawned many conspiracy theories, writes Dave Hannigan 

http://www.tribune.ie/magazine/article/2010/mar/28/why-would-this-family-disappear/ (http://www.tribune.ie/magazine/article/2010/mar/28/why-would-this-family-disappear/)

you are right about that klaasend, that is all the time and resources being wasted. The part that is not so good for the kids is that their parents could go to jail if they were trying to avoid paying their taxes, unless that was not their plan. The charges that could I think could at least be filed against them are real slim and could start with animal abandonment, but I guess it's too early to tell now, just my opinion.

Seems this case has come to a screeching halt.  Sad. 

http://www.mcstayfamily.com/new


Two Gutwrenching Weeks – Nothing

By admin on April 16, 2010

April 2nd was the day the FBI was briefed on our case and we met with them on Monday April 5th the day after Easter, and still we are waiting. That’s the hardest part, the waiting.

SC Times puts out an article a week or so ago, 4 errors and inaccuracies. I got tons of emails for clarifications and it simply adds to the frustration. I have been receiving lots of emails for updates, and there just aren’t any. No sightings, no videotapes, no nothing.

The detectives are still on the case north of the border, as the FBI is handling south of the border. I will go to Mexico myself if we get a credible lead, but at this time, there is nothing to compel me other than these beautiful faces on the website. For them, I would do anything.

I am shocked that two weeks went by like a blink of the eye. We all miss Joey, Summer and the boys terribly. I just miss my every Friday talks as Joey drives to Aliso Viejo for soccer. We talked about everything and nothing, but it was always good just to talk with my bro and hear his voice. Gianni’s birthday is coming up in a few months, and he’s turning the big – 5.

I know that this article isn’t much, but hopefully we will get some news that will help us all breath easier. Thanks everyone for caring.


Again, IMO the McStay family has disappeared themselves.

I agree, They have.
Some form of start over fantasy.

Video Steph took of Tim Miller inside of the McStays home.

I find it odd that they let the dog in to roam around the house/poss crime scene and you will hear "Mike say to the dog "Its okay Bear, this is your house too" (or something to that effect in the beginning of them entering the house)

 Also, "Mike" the guy in the baseball hat (I think he is Mr McStays brother??) Well, his demeanor to me is unusual to say the least. I will leave it at that, but I didnt get a good vibe from him. No real emotion from him. Summer's brother Kenneth is also in the video but doesn't take center stage like Mike. JMO....

Any thoughts??

http://stephww.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/exclusive-video-inside-the-mcstay-family-home/ (http://stephww.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/exclusive-video-inside-the-mcstay-family-home/)

From what I understand, LE had already tossed the house and done their thing.  I don't think they ever looked at the home as a crime scene.  IMO.  Could be then why they let Bear inside.  And I think it was Kenneth who didn't want to be on camera at all.  And Mike is a strange one, IMO.  Have read a lot of his posts over at InSession.  His nic is 'Mike Dirt', lol.

Thanks Wyk.

I followed a link to  a story last night that brought me to Insessions and I was amazed at the info they had dug up on this family. I didn't read through the whole forum, but members have found/claim the following:

Summer: has no biological father listed on her birth certificate. Her Mother, Blanche, claims Summer changed her name when she was a teenager.Summer grew up in Big Bear. Ex-husband only knows her as Lisa.

This one caught my eye the most:
Mike Mcstay:(the brother) is not a "biological" brother, they are step-brothers. His father "adopted" Joseph when he married Joseph's mother. Mike, has taken over Joseph's fountain business..... (what? no existing job for Mike Dirt?) ::MonkeyNoNo::

Joseph's business partner is an ex-con, possibly initials CM, maybe "Cora". I didnt read further into it to figure out who CM was.

My head was spinning after reading over there at Insessions. I have to conclude though after reading what I did, if true, that the family took off on their own.

Still following along too. I agree with Klaas that they did indeed disappear themselves, but I have a slightly different take on this case.

First off, McStay's occupation as a "indoor fountain installer" - or whatever you call this job - wouldn't seem to bring in an income that could sustain a family, but hey, what do I know. Where I live there is not a huge demand for this type of thing, but maybe in California people have that money to burn. I have never seen one of these things - ever. I can only think of one person who would even consider one - and that's my father and he's nuts - like the McStays.

I don't honestly think that this fountain business is long term career thing, but again, what do I know.

Second, I realize that Summer / Lisa had a job too. Not sure what she makes or if she is the main bread winner. I haven't seen that anywhere.

I think most will agree that they did go to Mexico "voluntarily". Or so it would appear.

If you believe the drugs / money in the fountain scheme - you need to ask - why would they go to an area where the drugs / money most likely originated. If you believe that angle - you should probably consider; who would be crazy enough to cross the border and go to Mexico. I would think they would be heading toward Canada. And as far away from drug lords as possible.

This is where my theory may get complicated and I have been thinking about this since the drug / money fountain angle arose.

There was that call and all of a sudden the McStays were gone - they left in a hurry and then seemed to hang out for about 4 days along the border before actually crossing. I found that odd. Almost like they were hiding out and waiting for the coast to clear so they could make a run for it. In the video released they are not carrying any bags or suitcases from what I can discern.

Tim Miller says that items were missing from the home and it seems as if they were taking enough stuff to start over, yet on the video, I don't see anyone carrying anything. I found that unusual.

After the call - the McStays left - almost as if they were tipped off and whoops - the jig is up - better move it NOW.

I have some sort of sneaky suspicion that parts of the story we have heard are correct - and that seems to be confirmed by the cop that said he has never seen any case like this. And this case has me intrigued.

If the drugs / money in a fountain thing is true - I feel it's possible that the call was a set up and the McStays were "reverse lured" to Mexico. Does that make sense? They were set up to run to Mexico and right into the jaws of the lion.

In any event - they have been gone and missing for 2 + months and no one seems to have really seen them again. I know there have been some sightings, but how reliable are they? I don't know. ((shrugs))

I still think that they are dead, and I hope I am wrong, but no one in their right mind would run to Mexico with this drug war raging on the border. I also understand that these people are not normal. How far could you really walk with two little kids once you got into Mexico? So - someone was probably waiting on the other side for them - and that's logical. Most logical.

Summer's multiple identities tell me she has been involved in all kinds of things over the years and who needs six aliases?

They key to the case is logically the call they received right before they hightailed it out of there.

"reverse lured" to Mexico..



I can see that happening.. and once there they were brought to whom ever they owed and were murdered.

Would the drug lords kill the children?

 I definitely think they were into something illegal. Perhaps laundering money through the business. Someone should do an audit of the business. If it was so profitable who purchased these fountains? Was it local and they had installers? Did they ship to locations? Where they just plug it in fountains? If they did figure out a new way to launder drug money they would have been paid commission in cash. Perhaps they got greedy.

There is an airport in Mexico. Couldn't they have taken a flight out of Mexico to another country. If they had belongings they could have shipped the belongings ahead of them and then they crossed the boarder to follow the shipment.

For the brother to just jump in and take over the business with no knowledge of the business, the fountains would have to be nothing more than a cheap quick turn around product.

They kill all witness..
They have killed men women and children many times over the last 3 years..

The children could be sold off if there was money owed.

   
         
         
       
         
             
               
         
         
   
  I think a part of this story was posted early on, I hadn't seen the partners name mentioned till I read this in it's entirety.

Search for missing Fallbrook family continues
Posted: Feb 22, 2010 2:53 PM CST Updated: Mar 09, 2010 5:39 PM CST

http://www.cbs8.com/global/story.asp?s=12025015 (http://www.cbs8.com/global/story.asp?s=12025015)
   
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) - There's still no sign of a family from Fallbrook that has been missing for almost two weeks.

Joseph and Summer McStay were last seen with their two kids earlier this month. Investigators found their car at the border. So far, there haven't been any solid leads.

In the meantime, Summer's family searched the McStays' home over the weekend trying to turn up clues.

A video of the McStays, along with dozens of photos have been posted on a new web site, with the hope that someone will see it and come forward with information to help locate the missing Fallbrook family.

"I can't imagine where they are... I have no ideas. Where they would go?" Summer's mother Blanche Aranda said.

Aranda says it doesn't make sense that her daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons vanished without a trace.

"They were just a loving family. She was a wonderful mother to her children," Aranda said.

Joseph and Summer McStay, along with their two boys -- four-year-old Gianni and three-year-old Joey -- were last seen February 4. Four days later their car was found abandoned in San Ysidro.

"I don't understand why it was there. I know she didn't like Mexico," Aranda said.

Summer's family had a chance to go through the family's Fallbrook home over the weekend and says there were no obvious signs of a struggle, but there were signs that Summer had no plans to be gone long. The kitchen had obviously just been filled with groceries, the dogs were left outside with no food and Summer's prescription sunglasses were sitting on a counter.

"She would have taken them because she can't see without her glasses," Aranda said.

Family and friends say they can't think of any reason someone would want to hurt the McStays.

Sheriff's investigators say they still have no solid leads to go on, forcing detectives to take a closer look at the couple and everyone they know.

Summer McStay's actual birth name is Virginia Lisa Aranda.  A review of public records shows the 43-year-old mother also uses the names Summer Martelli, Summer Aranda-Martelli, Lisa Aranda, Lisa Martelli and Lisa Aranda-Martelli.

Her first husband told News 8 he always knew her as Lisa until their divorce in 1994.

News 8 has also learned that detectives are taking a close look at Joseph McStay's business relationships.

Family members say McStay's business partner is a metal worker and welder named Chase Merritt, whose birth name is Charles Ray Merritt, age 52.

Merritt is an ex-con according to court records, who also was one of the first persons to notice the McStay's were missing.

Department of Corrections records show Merritt served time in prison for a burglary conviction in 1978.  He was then sent back to prison in 1987 for receiving stolen property, according to State records.

An acquaintance who knew Merritt in the 1980s told News 8 he has a checkered past.

"I think police should look at him and anyone associated with him," the female acquaintance said.  She asked not to be identified.

Reached by cell phone Monday, Merritt declined to discuss his criminal past and told News 8, "I would just prefer to have no comment to any press right now.  We want to find Joseph."

Sheriff's officials say Merritt is one of several people they are speaking with and at this time he has not been named as a suspect in the case.
(Edit - to remove extra junk posted in error-MB)

Sorry, I really messed up my "cut and paste" on the above article. Please ignore all the junk before the actual article. ::MonkeyNoNo::

Edit:  I fixed it cartfly.  It's happened to me before. MB    ::MonkeyCool::

I think Rob  you could be right about them being lured to go to Mexico and then being pulled into the "jaws of a lion". There was an older lady in san diego county who went missing, her name is Maria Laura Chavez Sandoval, here's the link to the article if you are wondering what I am talking about http://www.examiner.com/x-15910-San-Diego-Crime-Examiner~y2010m3d17-Missing-woman-reportedly-suicidal-sought-by-deputies (http://www.examiner.com/x-15910-San-Diego-Crime-Examiner~y2010m3d17-Missing-woman-reportedly-suicidal-sought-by-deputies). SD sheriff deputies found Mrs. Sandoval's body in river in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico in March 201, they said she had a long history of depression and was suicidal. I am just thinking about all the families in california or other well populated areas who have lost their jobs and committed familicide (killing kids and themselves) in 2009, maybe the McStays were not doing so good as you were saying Rob, maybe their jobs were not helping to support their two children, but that it probably the least reason why they could have gone to Mexico but I wouldn't rule out familicide...

good article, lets hope that Merritt does cooperate if he knows something....he could be the key that unlocks the McStays whereabouts or maybe an open door that needs to be shut, according to the article he hasn't been named a suspect, I guess that means he hasn't beeen cleared or what does it mean?

the article says Merritt declined to discuss his criminal past and told News 8, "I would just prefer to have no comment to any press right now.  We want to find Joseph." he made interesting comment though. "We want to find Joseph", what about his wife and two kids... does he have another family in mexico, is there another family that we don't know about that has ties to the McStays..? if so did the mcstays leave their  two kids with that family..? I don't think familicide is what happened, maybe they had a family in mexico that wanted to take care of their kids while they were doing some kind of money making business in another country, this is just getting more and more strange. i hope the mcstay's families' get  the answers soon

Map possibly left behind by missing family studied

May 11, 2010

http://bit.ly/c85hut

A map allegedly left behind at a Baja California  restaurant, where two waiters think they may have served a missing Fallbrook family, has been turned over to authorities, the missing man’s brother said.

Michael McStay said family friends have traveled to Mexico to distribute fliers with photos of missing businessman Joseph McStay, his wife and two young sons. In the course of that effort, a friend learned last month from waiters at a restaurant about halfway down the Baja California peninsula that a family the waiters thought resembled the McStays dined there in late February, he said.

The family has been missing since Feb. 4. Their SUV was found in a parking lot near the border in San Ysidro four days later.

McStay said the waiter described the father as looking “ill and kind of stressed” and commented on a mark on the youngest child’s forehead — the couple’s youngest son, Joseph Jr., has a birthmark. McStay said that the waiters saved a map left at the restaurant by these diners, and that it has since been turned in to authorities.

Lt. Dennis Brugos of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department would not confirm any developments in the case, saying only that the investigation into the missing family continues. Mexican law enforcement agencies have participated in the search, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation joined in last month.

<snipped from the above article>

McStay said the waiter described the father as looking “ill and kind of stressed” and commented on a mark on the youngest child’s forehead --

~~~

The above said by Mike McStay.. yeah, well right there I am suspicious.  Much of what Mike has had to say has ermmm, not been 'exactly' reported correctly, shall I say. 

But even without knowing that Mike said it, I'd be suspicious of the part about the child.  Trying to put myself into the shoes of the McStay parents, on the run or trying to start a new life........ THE last thing I'd do out in public is to call attention to an identifying mark on the child's forehead.   ::MonkeyNoNo::  Nope, not buying it.  Am thinking this is likely more 'wishful thinking' on the part of Mike, than a convincing lead. 

All IMO, of course. 

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/12/investigators-sent-to-baja-town-in-mcstay-search/

Investigators sent to Baja town in McStay search

By Leslie Berestein, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 1:53 p.m.

Investigators from Baja California’s state police have been dispatched to a small town in the central part of the state to follow up on a possible sighting of missing Fallbrook businessman Joseph McStay, his wife and their two children.

Alfredo Arenas, an international liaison with the state police, who are collaborating with U.S. authorities, said that seven investigators arrived Tuesday night in the town of El Rosario, long a popular pit stop for tourists and surfers headed south along the peninsula’s main highway. It is there, Arenas said, that a family resembling the McStays, missing since early February, was allegedly seen later that month by staff at a local restaurant.

“Seven of my best agents are in that location right now, looking for the family,” Arenas said. “This morning I got an early message from them saying they were up and doing the investigation. They had a six-pack of pictures they were going to show around.”

The information came to authorities by way of McStay’s relatives and friends. Brother Michael McStay, who lives in Orange County, said a family friend who has traveled to Baja California to distribute fliers happened upon the restaurant last month and spoke to waiters there, who said they recognized the family as diners who had eaten a couple of meals there around late February.

One waiter mentioned a mark on the youngest child’s forehead, McStay said – the couple’s youngest son has a prominent birthmark on his forehead. According to Michael McStay, the staff had held onto a map that these diners had supposedly left behind, and which has since been handed to U.S. authorities.

A staff member contacted at the restaurant, Mama Espinosa’s, said she had not personally seen the family but that there was a flier with their photographs affixed to the door. She also said police had been there making inquiries today.

The restaurant, which has a small motel next door, is an institution among U.S. travelers who for years have stopped in for lobster burritos and fresh seafood. El Rosario, which lies a short distance north of the boundary with Baja California Sur, is also near some hard-to-access but well known surf spots.

Joseph and Summer McStay, along with their sons Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3, have been missing since Feb. 4, the last day friends and relatives say they heard from them. Their white Isuzu Trooper was found in a San Ysidro parking lot near the border four days later, the same day that a grainy Border Patrol video shows two adults and two small children walking hand in hand toward the turnstile leading into Tijuana.

Some family members have said the woman’s light-colored jacket and the children’s hats look familiar, though efforts made by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department to enhance the video have failed to yield positive identification. The subjects are shown from behind, and the video was taken at night.

Family members have said they are baffled as to why and how the family disappeared, and that the couple gave them no warning they might leave. McStay, 40, who ran an indoor water fountain business, and his wife had recently purchased their Fallbrook home after relocating from Orange County. Summer McStay, 43, who worked in real estate before becoming a stay-at-home mom, had told former colleagues that she was planning to resume her career in San Diego County.

A forensic search of the couple’s computer records indicates that shortly before they went missing, they made inquiries about traveling with children in Mexico. However, only Joseph McStay held a valid passport. His wife’s passport was expired.

Since early in the investigation and especially following the computer search, it has been presumed that the family is in Mexico. While there have been previous reports of sightings elsewhere, Michael McStay said this latest sighting in Baja California has given him more hope.

“It sounds like this is more substantial,” he said. “It is way more substantial than the first two. It seems more credible. He wasn’t prompted to make a comment about the birthmark.”

Arenas said that state agents would spend the next two days combing the region surrounding El Rosario, which sits inland from the Pacific. The area, which is dotted with small ranches, tends to attract a few U.S. retirees, he said, though most northerners just pass through. While it’s unlikely the family is still there, he said the hope is that there will at least be more concrete evidence that they indeed passed through, and if so, pointers as to their whereabouts.

“We are being hopeful that they bring back some positive identification, that they were there,” Arenas said. “Or even better, that they find them.”

Arenas said the agency will share any evidence gathered with the FBI, which joined the Sheriff’s Department in the investigation last month.

Lt. Dennis Brugos of the Sheriff’s Department would not comment on details of the search for the McStays, only saying that the investigation is ongoing.

Michael McStay said that according to the friend who stopped at the restaurant, one staff member had mentioned that the father in the family looked unwell, and this worries him.

“If they went down there and everything is peachy, that’s fine, but I need to know,” he said.

Leslie Berestein: (619) 542-4579; leslie.berestein@uniontrib.com

sounds like overkill for people that left on their own, but hey, who knows. I hope they are alive, but one part of me wonders why they would leave and why this many investigators (maybe safety in numbers - SIN). It will probably never be revealed exactly why - these things aren't usually disclosed. Hard to imagine this much effort for people that have left of their own volition. And I'm not being cold-hearted - just wondering why this colossal effort that could be used elsewhere - and not to mention the risk of travel to Mexico. Yesterday, a groom, his brother and uncle were found shot to death in the back of a pick-up, they were missing since Saturday. Nobody makes the trip to the outskirts of Mexico without total disregard for their life and those traveling with them.

sounds like that cop was right - they got involved in something. I hope they are alive. I would love to be wrong, but Mexico is no man's land and people tells all kinds of tales.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ijvm.html
ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
May 12, 2010
<snipped>
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The bizarre new twist in the McStay mystery. This beautiful family of four vanished without a trace three months ago. Now, new reports say a family resembling the McStays was spotted inside a restaurant. And they left a map. Could this lead to the missing family?

Plus, shocking new developments in desperate search for Kristi Cornwell: she was abducted while walking on a country road. She`s been missing for nine long months. Tonight, a break in the case: cops say a man killed during a police standoff could be connected to Kristi`s kidnapping. I`ll talk to Kristi`s desperate mother.

A family of four goes missing without a trace. Nobody has seen Summer and Joseph McStay and their two adorable young children since they vanished from their California home three long months ago.

Tonight, does a mystery map hold the clue to their disappearance? Joseph`s brother says a waiter in Guerrero Negro, Mexico in Baja has come forward and says, "I waited on the family after they disappeared."

He recognized the distinctive birthmark on the forehead -- right there, you see it -- on the youngest McStay. He said the family left a map behind on the table. And he took the map and kept it. The waiter also says the dad, Joey McStay, you`re looking at him right there, he looked, quote, "ill and sick".

The McStays left their home in a big rush three months ago, fresh food left on the table to rot. Their beloved dogs left outside in the yard with no food or water.

Their family feared the worst. They all feared they`d been kidnapped. But then the McStays were allegedly spotted on surveillance video calmly walking across the border into Mexico.

Was this seemingly normal family of four planning on vanishing? If so, why on earth would they do that? And will this mysterious map yield any clues? Wow, this is such a mystery.

Straight out to my fantastic, expert panel: HLN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks; psychotherapist Stacy Kaiser back with us; reporter with the "San Diego Union Tribune" Leslie Berestein who has broken a lot of stories on this case.

But first out to investigative reporter Michelle Sigona. Michelle, you`re on top of this. What is the very latest?

MICHELLE SIGONA, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: About 45 minutes ago I spoke with San Diego County sheriff lieutenant Burgos and he does confirm that he does have the map. It was sent to the lap. And either tomorrow or the next day it will be run for fingerprints.
Now what`s interesting is that Michael McStay, who is Joseph`s brother, told me earlier today that because Joseph and his wife Summer are both realtors, that their fingerprints are actually in a California database. So it would be very easy if their fingerprints are on that map to be able to match them up.

The lieutenant also told me that in the last three weeks they`ve not had one new lead in this case. So thank you so much for being able to cover it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. This is a big lead.

SIGONA: It is a big lead. It`s the biggest so far.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Come on, if their fingerprints are on that map, that`s game, set, match at lest in determining that they`re there.

SIGONA: And here`s the thing. The problem is that they were seen probably at the end of February, early March. It does help to close in the timeline, but it`s not as recent as yesterday or last week. But it does help to fill in some of the pieces, for sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What is this waiter talking about when he said that Joseph McStay, that`s the dad, was acting ill and sick? Joey`s brother who has been here on our show ISSUES said he could be referring to the vertigo symptoms Joey was having.

What? Well, we had the brother on ISSUES, but this is the first time today that we`re hearing about this. His brother never mentioned anything about vertigo before.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MCSTAY, JOSEPH MCSTAY`S BROTHER: I originally thought that someone was holding them against their will, but there`s been no ransom. So and -- you know, for him to just up and run and not tell anybody, it would have to be something pretty heavy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Joey`s brother Michael now says, quote, "In the last year he`d been having these vertigo type symptoms. He was in the hospital for a couple of weeks on February 4th. He was talking to my mother and he had to pull over when he was driving home because he felt vertigo-type symptoms," end quote.
Guess what, people, February 4th was the very last day this family was seen. Wow, Stacy, what do you make of that?

STACY KAISER, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: I definitely think it`s fishy. You know I always say that people are either running to something or running from something. And the fact that their dog and their food was left behind isn`t strange to me. They could have left that there to make it look like there was foul play when they were trying to get away quickly.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But the vertigo, you`re the psychotherapist -- I think those are good points. But what do you make of this whole vertigo symptom that we`re just hearing about now?

KAISER: Well, first of all, that could be a sign of somebody using drugs or alcohol. That also could be a sign of some sort of mental disorder that he`s describing as dizziness.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Interesting.

And, of course, we don`t want to put this family down. For all we know, they were kidnapped. But it`s starting to look more and more like they left voluntarily.

My big issue tonight, running from what? By all accounts this was the perfect family. They even posted family videos on YouTube.

Got to check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEY MCSTAY, MISSING FATHER: Go, Shelby (ph), go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. How happy they look. But the McStays` computer showed they researched passport rules for traveling with children. They were possibly spotted on surveillance video crossing the border.
Leslie Berestein, you`re with the "San Diego Tribune". You`ve broken a lot of the developments on this case. What do you make of this latest development of them showing up in Baja, California, according to this waiter?

LESLIE BERESTEIN, "SAN DIEGO TRIBUNE": Well, it`s being taken seriously enough to where -- we just ran a story today on sunonsandiego.com. Baja, California state police have dispatched seven investigators to a town called El Rosario. It`s not actually Guerrero Negro. It is to the north of Guerrero Negro.

It`s a small town on the main road; popular pit stop for travelers. There`s a restaurant there. There`s a gas station. That`s the town that investigators have gone to. They arrived last night. They`re going to be there for a couple of days combing the area, knocking on doors.

But the restaurant that they were supposed to have been seen at is a restaurant that I know well. It`s right off the main road; very popular, again, with travelers going up and down that highway. So it`s being taken seriously enough for that, to warrant that kind of investigation.

Now, also, the spokesman for the state police mentioned that they are collaborating with the FBI on an investigation. They`re sharing any information, any evidence --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Can I ask you a question? I want to jump in, Leslie. How far from the U.S. border is this restaurant?

BERESTEIN: It`s quite a haul. I would say it`s a good 12-hour drive.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, really?

BERESTEIN: It`s 200 miles roughly -- yes -- the line between north and south, Baja, California Norte and Sur is in Guerrero Negro. So there`s about 200 miles to the north of that. It`s quite a haul; it`s a very small town.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Fascinating. Now, the family the McStays left behind are completely sick with worry. Listen to this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to find them. I worry about those babies and are they fed? Are they warm? Are they, you know, happy? Are they fed? My nights are hell. You pray and then you, I`m sorry, cry yourself to sleep.
(END AUDIO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There are so many unanswered questions, Mike Brooks. And the possibilities are really endless. I mean, we were today at the office thinking about, well, it could be this. It could be this.

I mean could Joseph McStay have been involved in some sort of shady business dealing? We know that he sometimes imported parts from Mexico for his fountain business. I was thinking well, what if some drugs were put in one of those fountains? But then it occurred to me, if you were fleeing from some Mexican drug dealer, you wouldn`t go to Mexico. You`d go north to Canada to get away from them.

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, you wouldn`t flee to Mexico to get away from anybody, that`s for sure, Jane.

The way is economy is, his business he had, he made waterfalls for houses and this kind of thing, you know, maybe it wasn`t doing well. And they didn`t leave many clothes at all in the house. And that was another thing that I found -- you know, if they were just going to go out for a while and come back, they wouldn`t have taken their clothes and most of their shoes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It just doesn`t add up, Michelle Sigona. They had no reports of financial problems and no reports of legal problems except for the fact that the wife had a couple of names, which the family says is an innocent thing.

SIGONA: That`s correct. She did have a couple of names. But they`re not saying that -- no one really thinks that that is suspicious at all. In addition -- you know, Joseph`s family, not just Michael, but all of his family and friends, I mean, they are scouring the area, they`re passing out flyers, they`re tracking down leads, they`re pulling up phone records. This family is sick to death and if the McStays are out there, if they are watching this, please just come back home.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Come back home, if you`re out there. We know this cable show goes to Mexico. So don`t keep hiding.

Fantastic guests thank you so much.
<snipped>

http://www.10news.com/news/23536548/detail.html

Possible McStay Family Sighting Investigated
Waiter Says He Served McStays, Map Could Show Fingerprints

POSTED: 10:50 pm PDT May 12, 2010
UPDATED: 7:10 am PDT May 13, 2010

SAN YSIDRO -- Investigators in Baja California are knocking on doors on Wednesday in search of the missing McStay family after new clues give family members hope that the McStays are still alive.

New information suggests the McStays may have been spotted in late February in a Mexican town about 230 miles from the parking lot where their car was found abandoned Feb. 8. a few blocks from the San Ysidro border crossing.

A waiter at a restaurant in El Rosario Baja California told a McStay family friend who was distributing missing flyers there in late April that a child who looked just like Joseph McStay, Jr. stepped in for a bite to eat in late February with a family that closely resembled the McStays.

“This brings a ray of hope because you know, it takes the worst out of the equation,” said Michael McStay, the brother of Joseph McStay.

The ray of hope is a map that the family may have left behind. Staff at Mama Espinosa’s restaurant said the family that resembled the McStays left the map after they ate.

Michael McStay said the FBI is now testing fingerprints found on the map and expects the results within a few days.

“If they can get a partial or anything then I’m gonna know they definitely had their hands on it,” said McStay.

Leslie Berestein, from The San Diego Union-Tribune, which is also a media partner with 10News, said the Baja California State Police Department is taking the tip seriously.

“Seven investigators were sent yesterday. They arrived last night and they’re going to spend the next couple of days just combing the area looking for clues, looking for more concrete evidence,” said Berestein.

Baja California state police also told Berestein that they want people to confirm sightings of the family.

“Look, it was late February. We don’t expect them to be there. It’s unlikely they’ll be there, but we’re just hoping to find people who can just tell us, yes, they were here,” said Berestein.

IMO this is going to turn out to be a drug deal either gone BAD or gone exactly as planned.  I still say they have disappeared themselves. 

Rob - I don't get why all the effort for this particular family either especially when there is no sign of foul play.

Maybe all the effort is because its connected to drugs and not necessarily about the safety of the family. Maybe they are investigating based on a drug connection but under the guise of searching for the family for their own safety?

klaas - yep, I don't get it, and they have left on their own. As far as I have read - they have not committed any crimes. Maybe some of Summer's / Lisa's alternative personalities have committed a few crimes? They want to be gone - let them be gone. Maybe someday they will call their respective families and tell them why they left. (provided they are still alive - which I doubt).

Either way, I don't like these people and feel badly for their kids. Who wants parents like this?  ::MonkeyNoNo::

This Mr. McStay seems like a real assh*le and his wife is a certifiable loon. Some people should not have kids. Ever.

I'm starting to think this thread is a bigger waste of bandwidth than Sierra Dick's. I know I shouldn't say that, but good lord - it's not against the law to leave and start over - *if that's what's being alleged and most people are eluding to that very aspect*

Maybe these people hate their families - who knows. Maybe they didn't think it was worth even telling them. I don't know, but some people don't like their families and I remember an old sayin'

you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your family.

About 15% of the disappeared cases we follow are people that leave on their own, and in this case their is little doubt that whatever happened initially - they made a choice to leave on their own. What happened next is anyone's guess as it involves Mexico.

without more info from the police regarding that phone call that set this all off - there is little we or anyone else can do.

But the way - how hard would it be to spot four gringos that just moved to town?

I think they should be looked for but only for the children's sake.  Are they school age?  The children don't need to be with them and this is MOO!  I'm sure they'll say they didn't want to part with their kids but that is no kind of life for children.  They didn't run to some beautiful mansion and a better life I'm sure.  Children need stability and this screams "my parents are nut jobs"!  Leave the babies with people who care and can provide a home for them, not uproot them at someone elses whim.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/13/BAQ51DEBS7.DTL

Family missing 3 months - Baja search fails
Associated Press
Friday, May 14, 2010
05-14) 04:00 PDT San Diego - --

Mexican investigators have ended a search in a tiny tourist town for a California family, marking another dead end in an investigation that began three months ago when the family disappeared.

The Baja California state police said Thursday that seven investigators searched over three days for Joseph and Summer McStay and their two young boys after an FBI alert of a possible sighting in El Rosario, 200 miles south of the border.

The McStays were last heard from Feb. 4. They left their dogs hungry and food spoiling in their kitchen in Fallbrook (San Diego County). Their car was found in a parking lot near the border.

Orange County Register (California)
 
June 15, 2010 Tuesday 
 
Missing family to be on 'America's Most Wanted'
 
By BRITTANY LEVINE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

An episode of "America's Most Wanted" about a former San Clemente family who has been missing almost four months is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Saturday on Fox, according to a show representative.

Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph, 3, disappeared in February soon after moving from San Clemente to Fallbrook.

Michael McStay, the elder Joseph's brother, said he hopes the exposure on "America's Most Wanted" will help law enforcement solve the case.

The family's Isuzu was towed as an abandoned vehicle from a parking lot near the Mexico border a few days after they went missing.

They were last heard from Feb. 4, friends and relatives say.

Police have said their house appeared to have been left in a hurry.

A family member has paid to place full-page missing-persons fliers in three Mexican newspapers, according to a post on Michael McStay's website, mcstayfamily.com.

Several possible sightings of the McStays have been reported in Mexico.

Friends and relatives have said they do not know why the family disappeared.
 
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1205280131&start=6

just wonder why a family would leave their home especially when they have to pay so much money a month for mortgage and insurance and all that, if they were making or getting easy money i can see why they would leave and not care. if i was a drug dealer, my neighbors would be my buyers, I suspect whereever the mcstays are hiding that's where their business is, fallbrook isn't my kind of place to sell drugs it's too small and probably not too much of a business for drugs there, I mean I don't know anything about selling drugs but fallbrook is a high risk area for cops to catch you, it's right by vista and escondido and well i wonder if police ever found any drugs in their house or any trace, or if summer or joseph mcstay have any history of drug experiementation or growing marijuana or whatever like that. I wonder if joseph owes his brother michael mcstay money if that is why he wants the family found, but i don't know much about what is going on  so I probably should't assume this is all about money.... just have to wonder why the parents didn't leave the kids with somebody, would the mcstay's kids rat on their parents? is it possible that a 4 and 3 year old would know how to tell someone what their parents are doing...does anyone know?

By admin on January 5, 2011
Three Basic Paradigms

I feel that it is important to indulge the three basic paradigms that the media and cynical America tend to thrust to the forefront of our family’s story.

1. NO – Joey & Summer are NOT part of a Cult.
2. NO – There is NOTHING unsavory about Joey’s business dealings like Geraldo implies.
3. NO – 100% they’re NOT in protective custody – per DOJ, SDSheriff, FBI.

The overwhelming response from most people following our story has been very compassionate. People can see that the missing family is a loving, everyday American couple with two young kids. The media is always looking to sensationalize and extract a scoop that may or may not even exist. Joey is a great brother, friend, business partner

I would like nothing greater than to resolve this case, prove the safety of my family, and dissolve this website and move on. Unfortunately, at this time, it is impossible to do so until our family is convinced that this case is a voluntary missing. If you were in our shoes, I’m sure you would do the same thing;

Thank You for all the love and support.

http://www.mcstayfamily.com/three-basic-paradigms

http://www.ocregister.com/news/family-287069-mcstay-joseph.html

Published: Feb. 4, 2011
Updated: 1:16 p.m.
One year later, vigil planned for missing family
By BRITTANY LEVINE
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Michael McStay can't wait for the day that he gets to call up friends and family and exclaim: "They're back!"

But a year after four members of his family disappeared, that moment still seems far away.

"It's taking its toll on family members. I'm not the same you know," said the San Clemente man. "This has affected me pretty deeply. It's like there's a perpetual emptiness in a section of my heart. This is my brother, my family, my only brother, two out of three of my nephews, my sister in law."

Joseph McStay, 41; his wife, Summer, 44; and their two children, Gianni, 5, and Joseph, 4, were last seen Feb. 4, 2010.

Since then birthdays have passed, their home has gone into foreclosure, and tips constantly flow to police, with few promising outcomes.

To commemorate their disappearance, friends and family plan to gather at 6:30 p.m. Friday at a Laguna Niguel park, where Joseph McStay used to pay soccer every week.

The missing family moved from a San Clemente bungalow near the beach to a house on a cul-de-sac in Fallbrook two months before disappearing. Summer McStay, a realtor, had called friends about choosing paint colors and picking out new real estate stationary. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Then Feb. 4, 2010 family members reported the McStays missing to the San Diego Sherriff's Department. The McStays had left their two dogs outside with no food and wet paint and food was left on the kitchen counter. One dog is being taken care of by Joseph McStay's mother, the other by a family friend.

((snipped))

If they were in protective custody, for whatever reason, I doubt that anyone (including family members) would be told that by LE.  IMO

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015208517_missing02.html
California family's 2010 disappearance still a mystery
June 1, 2011

(Long informative article)
 ::snipping2::
Weeds grow knee-high in the front yard of the McStays' home on Avocado Vista Lane.

On the welcome mat by the front door recently was a letter: a foreclosure specialist offering his services. When the bank learned the couple were missing, it froze their accounts, pushing the house into foreclosure.

It's due to be auctioned off this month.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/book-408887-family-mcstay.html (http://www.ocregister.com/news/book-408887-family-mcstay.html)


Published: Jan. 23, 2013 Updated: 11:09 a.m.
What happened to McStay family? New book revisits disappearance

By JOSH FRANCIS / FOR THE REGISTER

The story of the McStays, a former San Clemente family who vanished from their home in Fallbrook in 2010, is the focus of a new true-crime mystery book set to be released Feb. 4, the third anniversary of their disappearance.

The case of Joseph McStay, his wife, Summer, and their two children, Gianni, 4 at the time of the disappearance, and Joseph, 3 at the time, has been featured on several TV shows and is the topic of quite a few theories about what might have happened to the family.

Some of those scenarios are laid out in the new book "No Good-byes" by North Carolina resident Rick Baker, who said he happened on the story while living in Fallbrook soon after the family disappeared.

The McStays' home had food on the counter when police investigated, and their two dogs were unattended with no food, causing authorities to believe they left in a hurry. The family car had been towed as an abandoned vehicle in San Ysidro, near the Mexico border.
 ::snipping2::

(http://images.onset.freedom.com/ocregister/gallery/mh377u-b781054364z.120130123082758000gdr1c593c.1.jpg)

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/26/justice/mcstay-family-disappearance/index.html?iref=obnetwork
Three years later, no sign of missing family
January 26, 2013

 ::snipping2::
Next week marks the third anniversary of the disappearance of Joseph McStay, 43; his wife, Summer, 46; and their two young children, Gianni, 7, and Joseph Mateo, who would be 6 this month.
February 4, 2010 was the last day anyone saw the family or heard from them. When police entered their Southern California house more than 10 days later, they found eggs on the kitchen counter and bowls of popcorn in the living room. Their two dogs were also in the home. But not a single trace of the McStays.
Did they voluntarily leave? Are they in Mexico? Are they in danger? Are they dead?
Despite hundreds of tips and several high-profile television reports and interviews, no one has a clue.
"This is definitely an unusual case," says Lt. Glenn Giannantonio of the San Diego Sheriff's Department's homicide division "At this point we are no closer to finding them than on the day they disappeared. I know that sounds horrible, but we just don't know what happened to them."
The sentiment is shared by Dennis Brugos, who led the sheriff's department investigation into the McStays' disappearance before retiring last year. "Nothing makes any kind of rational sense that you can put together," Brugos says.
More...

Photo slideshow & videos at link.

This doesn't change my thought that they are all deceased.

'I will turn on you': Revealed, the shocking emails sent by wife to husband before they vanished without a trace with their two children three years ago.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270316/I-turn-Revealed-shocking-emails-sent-wife-husband-vanished-trace-years-ago.html

The mother of the McStay family who vanished without trace in 2010 sent abusive emails to her husband in which she vowed: ‘I will turn on you’, it emerged today.

Summer McStay told Joseph to ‘mind your own ****** business’ and if he didn’t she said: ‘I will not forgive you and I mean it.’

It's claimed that Summer also repeatedly threatened to leave Joseph in the years before they disappeared because she didn’t want to look after his son from a previous marriage.

 ::snipping2::

Even if what this story and the person who has written the new book claims are true - there has been no evidence they are alive - none whatsoever.

Lastly, even if Summer was a member of a drug cartel, which I think is likely, she is dead - and anyone thinking otherwise doesn't understand what's happening in Mexico.

I suggest going to borderlandbeatdotcom and seeing for yourselves what is truly happening.

You will never see those folks returned, sad to say.

Rob, I could see one of the parents killing off all the family members and disappearing but I can also see that it's very likely there was drug involvement and they were whisked away right in the middle of life and done away with just as many, many other have and continue to do! No, they are not alive, my theory too. Sad but true. The only other thing I can think of involves drugs again! Marital probs or not if one parent was involved in the drug business then to save the family it would have to appear that they were kidnapped (or worse) just to try to escape the killer cartel. You do not ever have the pleasure of "quitting" them so you would have to make it look like you were kidnapped and try to hide for the rest of your lives with absolutely no contact with family or friends!

Just heard on the radio the case has been turned over to the FBI. 

hopefully the FBI can fig out where they are after 3 yr


New Developments in Search for Missing McStay Family
3 hours ago
by Kennedy Ryan
Web Producer
 ::snipping2::
FALLBROOK, Calif. — The FBI is taking over the search for a Southern California family that has been missing for 3 years, officials say.
 ::snipping2::
In a statement Tuesday, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said it pursued hundreds of leads to find Joseph and Summer McStay and their sons.
 
The investigation is being turned over to the FBI due to the agency’s experience working outside the United States.
 
Its believed the family likely went to Mexico voluntarily, but relatives aren’t convinced.
 
Investigators say that on Jan. 28, days before they disappeared, someone used the McStay’s computer to find information about travel to Mexico and passports for children.
more
http://ktla.com/2013/04/09/new-developments-in-search-for-missing-mcstay-family/#axzz2Q1hRpJ00

Desert remains may be McStay family

The Fallbrook family of four disappeared in February 2010

 By Susan Shroder7:13 p.m.Nov. 14, 2013Updated7:38 p.m.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/nov/14/remains-missing-mcstay-fallbrook-victorville/

The remains of four people found Monday in the San Bernardino County desert might be those of the McStay family — a father, wife and two young sons who went missing from their Fallbrook home in 2010.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore told U-T San Diego on Thursday night that he would not confirm if the remains could be the McStays, but he said he has spoken to the sheriff in San Bernardino County.

Gore would not say what he and Sheriff John McMahon discussed. Any details about Monday’s discovery on the outskirts of Victorville would have to come from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, he said.
 ::snipping3::

The family — Joseph and his wife, Summer, and their sons, Gianni and Joey Jr. — haven’t been heard from or seen since Feb. 4, 2010. At the time, Gianni was 4 and Joey was 3.

The family apparently left in a hurry, leaving eggs out on the kitchen counter and their two beloved dogs in the backyard with no food or water.

Four days later — before anyone realized they were missing — the family’s Isuzu Trooper was towed as an abandoned vehicle from a San Ysidro shopping center parking lot near the U.S.-Mexico border crossing. Two car seats and a child’s asthma medicine were inside.

On the family’s computer, investigators found Internet searches for passport requirements to bring children into Mexico.

San Diego County sheriff’s investigators looked into the disappearance for three years. This past April, investigators said evidence indicated the foursome traveled into Mexico of their own free will, so they transferred the case to the FBI in San Diego.  ::snipping3::

Video at the link

http://www.10news.com/news/sources-investigators-looking-into-possibility-remains-of-mcstay-family-found-near-victorville

Sources: Investigators looking into possibility remains of McStay family found near Victorville
Posted: 11/14/2013
Last Updated: 2 hours ago

SAN DIEGO - Sources say investigators are looking into the possibility that the remains of four people found in San Bernardino County are those of the McStay family -- a family from Fallbrook missing since 2010.

10News learned a San Bernardino County sheriff's detective met with a relative of the missing family Thursday afternoon, but the details of that meeting were not disclosed.

San Bernardino County sheriff's investigators are continuing their probe and have not confirmed any identities, 10News learned.

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon will discuss the human remains discovery at a news conference Friday at 11 a.m. You can watch the news conference live on 10News.com or the 10News mobile app.

 -- Download the free 10News mobile app for iOS: http://bit.ly/19oDu50

 -- Download the free 10News mobile app for Android: http://bit.ly/1dvZHm6
 ::snipping3::

WOW!!!!

Remains Found in Desert May Belong to Missing San Diego Family
A motorcyclist found the skeletal remains of what turned out to be four people earlier this week
Friday, Nov 15, 2013  |  Updated 4:22 AM PST

 ::snipping3::
A motorcyclist found skeletal remains Monday morning in the area between Quarry and Stoddard Wells roads, just north of Victorville
 ::snipping3::
When investigators began to analyze the bones, they came across another set of remains in a shallow grave about 6 to 8 feet away
 ::snipping3::


http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Skeletal-Human-Remains-Found-San-Bernardino-County-Desert-Bodies-Grave-Missing-San-Diego-Family-McStay-232012651.html

Source close to family says remains of Joseph and Summer McStay found near Victorville
Posted: 11/14/2013
Last Updated: 52 minutes ago

SAN DIEGO - A source close to the family told 10News that the remains of Joseph and Summer McStay were found in San Bernardino County earlier this week.

However, the source did not disclose any information regarding the couple's two young sons, Joseph and Gianni.

 ::snipping3::

Sheriff's investigators also confirmed at least two shallow graves with skeletal remains in it were found, as well as skeletal remains near the graves. No evidence was found at a third gravesite, sheriff's investigators said.

 ::snipping3::

http://www.10news.com/news/sources-investigators-looking-into-possibility-remains-of-mcstay-family-found-near-victorville

Family: Bodies in desert are missing McStays
Posted: Nov 15, 2013 2:20 AM EST
Updated: Nov 15, 2013 2:56 AM EST

VICTORVILLE, Calif. (AP/ CBS8) - A relative of a missing Fallbrook family confirmed to CBS News8 Thursday night that bodies found in the desert near Victorville belong to their loved ones.

Patrick McStay says two of the four bodies found in a shallow grave have been identified as his son Joseph and daughter-in-law Summer McStay. But the couple's two missing sons are still unaccounted for, while investigators confirm the identities of the other two sets of remains.

 ::snipping3::

http://www.cbs8.com/story/23976542/source-relatives-told-bodies-in-the-desert-for-missing-mcstay-family

Talk about finding a needle in a hay stack.

What are the chances that two graves are found in the middle of a desert. Hopefully authorities can determine just what happened to this family.

Their SUV had been previously found near the Mexican border.

http://scaredmonkeys.com/2013/11/15/remains-found-in-victorville-desert-belong-to-joseph-and-summer-mcstay-missing-since-february-2010/

Unbelievable recovery.

Talk about finding a needle in a hay stack.
wow,sure is, home car bodies
http://goo.gl/maps/dvRuv
close up body area
http://goo.gl/maps/54auf

looking closer,someone out there knows something,thats not a place you could
bury 3 bodies and someone not wondering what your doing out there,there are
homes and other buildings,they can prob hear a car coming 1/2 mile away
switch to sat view to see buildings
http://goo.gl/maps/im2c1

Coroner seeks to ID bones of 4 in Mojave graves

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Coroner-seeks-to-ID-bones-of-4-in-Mojave-graves-4982218.php#photo-5461987

(http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/24/65/37/5461986/3/628x471.jpg)

(http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/24/65/37/5461987/3/628x471.jpg)

November 15, 2013 10:07 AM
McStay Family Update: Human remains found in Mojave Desert belong to Calif. family missing since 2010, relative says

 ::snipping3::

Meanwhile, the couple's two young sons are still unaccounted for as authorities work to identify the remains of two others found in the shallow graves, according to the station.

However, police have not officially confirmed that the remains belong to the McStay family. In fact, medical examiners said Wednesday the process of identifying who the bones belong to may take months.

 ::snipping3::


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57612521-504083/mcstay-family-update-human-remains-found-in-mojave-desert-belong-to-calif-family-missing-since-2010-relative-says/

Will move when official word is released

http://www.10news.com/news/father-of-joseph-mcstay-outraged-over-handling-of-missing-family-case-111513

Father of Joseph McStay outraged over handling of missing family case
Posted: 11/15/2013
Last Updated: 24 minutes ago

SAN DIEGO - The father of Joseph McStay confirmed with 10News that that two of the bodies discovered in the Mojave desert are his missing son and his wife Summer.

Patrick McStay spoke Friday morning from his home in Texas.

He said investigators are still determining if the other two bodies found in the shallow graves are his grandsons, Gianni and Joseph Junior.

The McStay family, from Fallbrook, have been missing since 2010.

Authorities are expected to hold a press briefing at 11 a.m.
Watch the livstream here: http://bit.ly/16W1GN3 MOBILE: http://media.10news.com/livestreampage

“I want whoever did this to know… I will not let up. I will find you,” Patrick McStay said. “I want you out there because I’m going to get you.”

Patrick McStay said he has no faith in law enforcement and believes the Sheriff’s Department missed important clues in the investigation. Patrick McStay said he told Sheriff’s investigators about three people that could be connected to the disappearance of his son’s family, but feels he was ignored.

“I have to hang on to the anger because the anger keeps me from cracking up," he said. "I think it hasn’t really sunk in."
 ::snipping3::

 ::MonkeyEek::  wow

 ::rhino::

Press Briefing
November 15, 2013 Twitter

https://twitter.com/10NewsHunt

Kimberly Hunt ‏@10NewsHunt  15m 
Bodies of the McStays were found in shallow grave with clothes and other items. No indication that these murders are cartel related.

Kimberly Hunt ‏@10NewsHunt  21m 
#BREAKING: Joseph McStay's brother Michael says through tears: "it gives us courage to know that they are together and in a better place"

Kimberly Hunt ‏@10NewsHunt  24m 
#BREAKING: 2 more bodies in grave have not been identified, but are believed to be the McStay's two young sons.

Kimberly Hunt ‏@10NewsHunt  25m 
#BREAKING: San Bernardino Sheriff's department confirms 2 bodies found in grave near Victorville are those of Joseph and Summer McStay

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Skeletal-Human-Remains-Found-San-Bernardino-County-Desert-Bodies-Grave-Missing-San-Diego-Family-McStay-232012651.html

Remains in Desert ID'd as Members of Missing San Diego Family: Sheriff
Friday, Nov 15, 2013  |  Updated 11:30 AM PST

Human remains found in a Southern California desert were identified Friday as members of a San Diego family who have been missing since 2010.

McStay Family Mystery: Timeline of Events

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said the remains of Summer and Joseph McStay were identified through dental records. The other remains found nearby are believed to be those of their children, McMahon said.

A McStay family members at the Friday news conference said the confirmation "gives us courage to know they were together and in better place"

A motorcyclist found skeletal remains Monday morning in the area between Quarry and Stoddard Wells roads, just north of Victorville, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Victorville Station said. When investigators began to analyze the bones, they came across another set of remains in a shallow grave about 6 to 8 feet away, sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said.

Investigators said they believed the remains were that of four people, and it appeared that the remains had been there for "an extended period of time."

Friday's announcement, made at a news conference, is a key development in solving the 4-year-old mystery about what happened to the San Diego family (pictured below). McMahon said he could not confirm that the deaths are linked to a drug cartel after being asked several times about that possibility at the news conference.

"We're looking at all options in investigating who the suspects are," said McMahon. "It's too early for us to identify anybody as a suspect."
 ::snipping3::

I really didn't expect that we would ever know what happened.. whether they were still alive or not.

So sad...so do we know if all four were in graves?  Also, so I don't have to go back and look does anyone recall who the three people are that Patrick McStay suspected?

So glad they have been found, I wondered if we'd ever know what happened to them too.

Now I hope they'll have justice.

Sad...   ::MonkeyNoNo:: ::MonkeyTears::

Nor did I  ::MonkeyNoNo::

^^^^
I agree with everything you said texasmom. 
It's amazing their remains were discovered, considering their location. 

WOW May the family find some peace now that their loved ones have been found. I don't think they will ever know what happened. So sad a whole family gone.  ::MonkeyAngel::

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-victorville-bodies-20131116,0,4073608.story#axzz2km1918bs

After discovery, mystery of McStay family's disappearance deepens
November 15, 2013, 5:56 p.m.

 ::snipping3::
It was about 10 a.m. Monday when sheriff's deputies got the report from the off-road biker. He didn't know if the bones he found were animal or human, but he felt compelled to report them.

Investigating a tumbleweed-strewn patch of desert near Quarry Road, within sight of Interstate 15, the deputies found two graves, about 2 feet deep and 20 feet apart. It appeared the remains had been there for "an extended period of time" and that animals had scattered some of the bones while leaving most of the skeletons intact.

Dental records helped identify the bodies of Joseph and Summer. The Department of Justice will conduct DNA analysis to confirm that the other bodies are Gianni and Joseph Jr.

Investigators also found clothing with the remains, though they declined to describe it or to say much else. McMahon would say only that there was "evidence at the scene that will help complete the investigation."
 ::snipping3::

http://**/news/ci_24532690.html

How did this family of 4 end up in shallow graves in a California desert
Posted:   11/15/2013 03:23:02 PM PST | Updated:   about 5 hours ago

 ::snipping3::
San Bernardino County Deputy Coroner's Investigator Bob Hunter said he contacted the Department of Justice about missing four-person families after a motorcyclist discovered the remains Monday about 60 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Hunter said dental records matched the family, whose remains had been buried in two graves that were one to two feet deep.

“There were obvious signs of wildlife activity in the close proximity of the graves,” sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said.

Sheriff's officials close to the investigation confirmed at least one set of remains had been bound with an electrical cord. Clothing also was found in the graves.
 ::snipping3::

 ::MonkeyEek::   This is very sad.   ::MonkeyTears::

I had hoped they were off on a lark, living in peace in some beautiful hideaway in So. America or somewhere. 

Didn't believe that tho.  Just hoped they were still alive and at peace.

Many of us felt at the beginning that they just did not 'walk away' from everything, and this sure seems to prove it.

I still have my suspicions of who could have done this. 

It was much discussed back then about the finding of their vehicle at the border.  And that someone (either the McStay's or an abductor etc) may have intended for the police to assume the McStay's went over the border.  I remember several of us were hoping back then that the police would look in the opposite direction.  Like north, not south.   And now their bodies are found north, not south.   I sure do hope the police or FBI, whomever has this case now, factors in that whoever did this to the McStays, seems to have MEANT to mislead them from the start.

As for the bodies... I'm so relieved that they have been found at long last, and can be given a proper burial.  May they rest in peace.   ::MonkeyAngel::

I'm very curious about this, which was written in an article upthread:
 
<snipped> ... "evidence at the scene that will help complete the investigation."  <end snip>

I cannot think of anything that could help them at this point to complete the investigation. 

Any ideas on what that evidence might be?   ::MonkeyEek::

(http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq117/Wyks_/News/McStay4_zpsd8765b69.jpg)

(http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq117/Wyks_/News/mcstay-kids_zps9dd70b06.jpg)

IMO, there has to be a drug connection.  It's just sad they all had to die for it, especially the kids. 

After discovery, mystery of McStay family's disappearance deepens

Nearly four years ago, the McStays left their snug home in suburban San Diego County on a chilly February evening. Piling into their Isuzu Trooper, parents Joseph and Summer and young sons Gianni and Joseph Jr. left behind two dogs, two bowls of popcorn and, soon, a mystery.

http://discussions.latimes.com/20/lanews/la-me-victorville-bodies-20131116/10

(Interesting discussion comments)

I can't stop  ::MonkeyNoNo:: over this one ::MonkeyNoNo::

Have they found the children?? I'm confused.

Hi Cadillac.  Four bodies were found.  Because there were no dental records for the children it has not been legally found to be them however it has been reported that the remains of two children were found in a shallow grave and clothing items were found as well.

I don't know how a reporter could claim the mystery 'deepens' now that bodies have been found, especially if Joseph's father states he gave the names of three people who could be involved.  It sounds like the father has an idea what happened and now we know the family is deceased and has been murdered so the trail should be more clear for LE than ever.

@ Klaas, I agree with you that there is a drug connection.  It would be amazing if the perps were caught because it's certain their criminal activities are far and wide and leaves many victims in their wake.

O/T: for anybody who has followed the missing Jamison Family out of Oklahoma, they have been found as well. They were found 2 miles away from their truck.

Do we have a thread for the Jamison family?

Yes, we do have a thread for the Jamison family.  I hadn't heard the news prior to your post.  Very sad.  ::MonkeyNoNo:: The thread will need updating.
 
http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=6343.0
Bobby Jamison, Sherilynn Jamison & Madyson Jamison disappeared in Eufaula, OK

iluvmua, do you have a link to the news about the discovery of the Jamison family?  I'm not seeing it in the general news yet.

I am in absolute shock that both the McStay's and now the Jamison's have been found this week.  I'm saddened that they have been found deceased...I now pray for justice and peace for their loved ones. 

https://www.facebook.com/FINDTHEJAMISONS

http://m.newson6.com/story.aspx?story=23993442&catId=112042

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1311/15/ng.01.html

NANCY GRACE

Bodies of Missing California Family Found
Aired November 15, 2013 - 20:00   ET

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2508766/Mystery-McStay-money-Family-dead-barely-afford-rent-despite-100k-bank.html

EXCLUSIVE - Mystery of the McStay family money: Missing couple found dead in a shallow grave with their children could 'barely afford' cheap rent months before vanishing with $100k in the bank
PUBLISHED: 09:37 EST, 17 November 2013  | UPDATED: 17:50 EST, 17 November 2013

The McStay family - whose bodies were found in a shallow grave in the Californian desert almost four years after they mysteriously vanished - could barely afford to pay $210 a week on rent just months before they disappeared with $100,000 in the bank, it was claimed today.

Joseph and Summer McStay were also apparently being chased by debt collection agents, the IRS and lawyers representing business clients they owed money to.

Despite their apparent financial difficulties, they managed to find the cash to buy a $320,000 house around two months before they vanished on February 4 2010. They also had $100,000 in the bank when they vanished which remained untouched.
 ::snipping3::

 :2thinky:  I wonder if the money wasn't really theirs, but belonged to or was owed to an illegal entity.  Drug running?  Prostitution? 

Thanks Amy Sister for the clarification about the children - that makes sense to me now.

Something untold about their money, if they owed the IRS, then the IRS would get the money if it was sitting around in a bank account.  That's how the IRS rolls.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57612672-504083/mcstay-family-update-joseph-mcstays-father-says-he-suspects-three-people-in-familys-2010-disappearance-murders/

November 18, 2013 9:11 AM
McStay Family Update: Joseph McStay's father says he suspects three people in family's 2010 disappearance, murders

CBS) - The father of Joseph McStay says he has a list of three people he suspects may have had something to do with the disappearance and murders of his son, daughter-in-law and two young grandchildren.
 ::snipping3::
"I have exhausted and have so much information on three possible persons of interest," Patrick McStay told CBS News' Crimesider over the phone Friday. "All have a motive."

McStay says that while these three individuals are "totally separate," one of them stands out above the rest due to a long criminal history that includes charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and burglary.

"He has money, was in prison... He absolutely had a motive," McStay said.

McStay says he's felt all along that multiple people were involved in the February 2010 disappearance of his son, Joseph; Joseph's wife, Summer; and their children; 3-year-old Joey and 4-year-old Gianni, from their home in Fallbrook, Calif.
 ::snipping3::
"Somebody hired somebody," Patrick McStay told Crimesider. "To kill a child is something totally different. You have to be a cold-blooded killer."

"Only two things could have happened," he continued. "Either there was a hired killer who killed them or the children could have recognized them - this person."


McStay said that while he always hoped in the back of his mind that his family was still alive, he knew that his family members didn't flee to Mexico voluntarily.

"I knew there was more to this. I knew they didn't walk away," he said.

This person might be one of the three suspects mentioned by Joseph McStay's father in the article above.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2508766/Mystery-McStay-money-Family-dead-barely-afford-rent-despite-100k-bank.html

EXCLUSIVE - Mystery of the McStay family money: Missing couple found dead in a shallow grave with their children could 'barely afford' cheap rent months before vanishing with $100k in the bank
PUBLISHED: 09:37 EST, 17 November 2013  | UPDATED: 17:50 EST, 17 November 2013

 ::snipping3::
Joseph's business dealings have come under scrutiny in the past in relation to his disappearance.

Back in 2010 CBS News claimed detectives were looking into his association with an ex con called Chase Merritt.

The former metal worker and welder was Joseph's business partner and he was one of the first people to notice the family were missing

Department of Corrections records show Merritt served time in prison for a burglary conviction in 1978. He was then sent back to prison in 1987 for receiving stolen property, according to State records.

An acquaintance who knew Merritt in the 1980s told CBS News 8 he has a checkered past.

'I think police should look at him and anyone associated with him,' the female acquaintance said. She asked not to be identified.
 ::snipping3::

Families like this are murdered when the father is involved with drug dealers, happened here in 2006.. Same type of family

Video at the link

http://ktla.com/2013/11/20/memorial-planned-for-mcstay-family-at-site-where-remains-were-found/#axzz2lFvAvbcY

Crosses Erected for McStays at Site Where Remains Were Found
8 hours ago

(http://tribktla.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/doves.jpg?w=300&h=168)

A small public memorial was held Wednesday afternoon in honor of the McStay family, a couple and their two young sons whose bodies were discovered last week in the Mojave Desert.
 ::snipping3::
Chase Merritt, a friend and business partner of  Joseph McStay, believes he was the last person to speak with McStay the day the family disappeared. He has also been considered a suspect in the case, even taking a lie detector test shortly after the disappearances. in an interview with the Daily Mail, Merritt said, “I don’t want to upset anyone, I just want people to know the truth.”

“The McStay’s were not perfect like some people would have you believe, but they weren’t criminals or drug runners like others have said, they were just a normal family. Well, a normal family other than Joseph, who was the nicest man I have ever known,” Merritt said.
 ::snipping3::

Video at the link

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/20/us/california-family-killed/

Kin to killers of family found dead in desert: 'You guys are cowards' 
updated 11:23 PM EST, Wed November 20, 2013

Victorville, California (CNN) -- Mike McStay has come to this remote swath of Southern California desert to say goodbye.

To his brother, Joseph McStay. His sister-in-law, Summer. His two nephews, 4-year-old Gianni and 3-year-old Joseph Jr. All four ended up here, in an unincorporated area north of Victorville, in a pair of shallow graves, for reasons no one has been able to explain.

There's no bringing them back. But Mike McStay promises they will get justice, once their killers are found.

"You guys are cowards," he said. "And all of America is coming after you. And we're going to find you. And we're going to prosecute you."
 ::snipping3::
The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department has deemed their deaths homicides, but it did not give a cause in order "to protect the investigation."

"Every available resource will be utilized in this investigation to identify the suspects involved in this heinous crime and bring them to justice," said Sheriff John McMahon.

Their bones gone, large crosses now mark the spot where the McStays ended up. Approaching their makeshift grave for the first time, Mike McStay said what he sees indicates to him that the guilty party knew what they were doing.

"You see how this is kind of sunken down?" he said. "It gives you a little cover from the road. Somebody had to know the area, had to know you needed a four-wheel drive."

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-mcstay-family-mystery-20131120,0,6776780.story#axzz2lFwZBjZU

Man last phoned by McStay father says he took polygraph test
November 20, 2013, 1:52 p.m.

Chase Merritt, the business partner and friend of Joseph McStay, gave an interview to a British tabloid newspaper, saying that he wanted to speak out to help catch the McStay family's killer.

The McStay family vanished without a trace in 2010. Their remains were discovered last week and San Bernardino County Sheriff's officials said the family had been killed.

Merritt told the Daily Mail he spent more than an hour with McStay the day he and his family went missing from their home in suburban San Diego County. Merritt, who said he was also the last person McStay called from his cellphone, said he does not know anything that could help solve the family's disappearance.
 ::snipping3::
Speaking to the Daily Mail this week, Merritt said he decided to tell his story now -- after years of silence -- because he wants to help find the family's killer.

"Now things have changed," Merritt told the British tabloid. "It is not about finding them, it’s about finding the people who did this, and if anything I say can help jog someone’s memory or offer some clue, then I’ll be happy."

Merritt and McStay ran a fountain-making business. He told the Daily Mail that in 2010, business was better than ever and their company had just landed a lucrative foreign contract.

He said he and McStay had lunch in Rancho Cucamonga the day McStay went missing; they talked on the phone several times later in the day. He said he ignored a call from McStay about 8:30 that evening because he was in the middle of watching a movie.
 ::snipping3::

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2510247/Prime-suspect-McStay-murder-mystery-breaks-silence.html

EXCLUSIVE - Best friend, business partner and suspect: Man who was last to see McStay father alive breaks silence to reveal new clues in mystery murder of family who vanished
PUBLISHED: 20:20 EST, 19 November 2013  | UPDATED: 06:26 EST, 20 November 2013

Thanks grace-land! That was a very interesting story! alot of insight plus stuff i did not know...

You're welcome, flamom!  It was an interesting story...and informative.  Hopefully, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department will do a thorough investigation and find answers/evidence in this perplexing case.

 

Photos at the link

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2511190/Mystery-digger-track-marks-McStay-family-grave-site.html

EXCLUSIVE: Police investigate mystery 'digger' track marks found at McStay family desert grave site 'left by killer who had local knowledge' as victim's brother insists 'everyone is a suspect'
PUBLISHED: 11:14 EST, 21 November 2013  | UPDATED: 12:03 EST, 21 November 2013

Police are investigating whether killers 'with local knowledge' used a digger to bury the four bodies of the McStay family in desert graves, MailOnline can reveal today.

Two sets of tell-tale track marks – believed to have been made by a small earth moving vehicle - have been found leading directly up to the spot where the remains of Joseph, Summer and their boys Gianni and Joey Jr were discovered last Friday nearly four years after they vanished.

Police are looking at the theory that a digger was used after Joseph’s brother Michael visited the site yesterday, spotted the markings and called a detective working on the case.

A police spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'Our investigators would not have used heavy lifting machinery during the excavation for fear of damaging evidence. I am glad to hear Mr McStay contacted us with with this information.'
 ::snipping3::

http://www.10news.com/news/business-partner-chase-merritt-says-he-was-last-known-person-to-see-joseph-mcstay-alive

Business partner Chase Merritt says he was last known person to see Joseph McStay alive
Posted: 11/21/2013
Last Updated: 16 minutes ago

SAN DIEGO - The man who was the last known person to see Joseph McStay alive claims he was considered a suspect by San Diego County sheriff's investigators after the McStay family's disappearance nearly four years ago.

Chase Merritt also said he expects to be scrutinized again now that the bodies of the family were found buried in the desert near Victorville.
  ::snipping3::
10News contacted Patrick McStay, Joseph's father, who said, "In no way do I suspect Chase."

McStay said his son spoke highly of Merritt.
 ::snipping3::
10News contacted the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department to see if they consider Merritt a suspect now that they are handling the investigation. A department representative said although investigators do plan to re-interview some people, they would not say whom nor would they reveal the names of any suspects.

Patrick McStay said he has given the names of three suspects with criminal histories to investigators and hopes they follow up.

"These guys, San Bernardino's, got a tough job ahead of them," said McStay. "I've been screaming for four years. All I want is a new investigation, a complete, thorough, competent investigation, take it out of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. Give me a new investigation. That's what I've been saying, well, unfortunately, under these circumstances I've got that, so let's let them do their job, let's see what they come up with. If they screw it up, I'll be out there screaming just like I was over in San Diego.

This family has been on my mind off and on. Lately it has been most of the time...
then I start wondering..
They disappeared sometime after that last 8:30pmish phone call..
but it could have been into the next day, the wee am hours.
They were taken as a family..
The father was bound by an electricsl cord.
The brother found tracks at the recovery site from heavy equipment they now suspect dug the shallow graves.
He was getting his fountains from Mexico..was he unwittingly used by someone who came a calling?
His friend seems credible to me, same with the brother. what a cold SOB you have to be to kill a child.  ::MonkeyNoNo::

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Officials-ID-Remains-of-McStay-Children-233098091.html

Officials ID Remains of McStay Children
Friday, Nov 22, 2013  |  Updated 5:54 PM PST

Officials have confirmed the remains of two children found in the desert in Victorville, Calif., are, in fact, the missing McStay children of San Diego County.

At 3:30 p.m. Friday, the California Department of Justice DNA Lab notified the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Coroner Division that the remains have been positively identified as 4-year-old Gianni McStay and 3-year-old Joseph Mateo McStay.
 ::snipping3::

Two-page article

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/nov/23/mcstay-friend-chase-merritt-speaks-out/

Friend hopes McStay killers found
noon Nov. 23, 2013

 ::snipping3::
San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators have classified the case a homicide and taken it over from sheriff’s investigators in San Diego County and the FBI.

A spokeswoman for the sheriff in San Bernardino said Friday that the department now has all of the evidence gathered thus far, including the family’s Isuzu Trooper, which was found in San Ysidro four days after the family disappeared.

Joseph McStay’s mother said on Friday that she wanted to thank everyone who has reached out to offer condolences since authorities announced on Nov. 15 that the remains found in the desert were of her son and his family.

“We are getting so many emails from other countries and states,” Susan Blake said. “It’s mind-boggling how many people were touched and loved by this family.”

Blake said she was also grateful to a Victor Valley group that put up four crosses at the Mojave Desert site where the remains were found. The crosses went up Wednesday on what would have been Joseph McStay’s 44th birthday.

“That really touched my heart, especially on my son’s birthday,” she said.
 ::snipping3::

 ::MonkeyReindeer::
It is all so incredibly sad....and hinky ....

I hope that LE is investigating thoroughly the person who threatened Summer and Joseph over the CPS investigation....

http://www.cbs8.com/story/24256729/mcstay-murder-mystery-who-is-vick-johansen

McStay murder mystery: Who is Vick Johansen?

Posted: Dec 18, 2013 7:44 PM EST


Updated: Dec 19, 2013 8:59 AM EST
 


By David Gotfredson, Field Producer - email

Video Report By Phil Blauer, Anchor/Reporter - bio | email



SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (CBS 8) -- Before Joseph and Summer McStay and their two sons, Gianni and Joey, Jr., went missing from their Fallbrook home in February of 2010, the family lived in the beach community of San Clemente.

The remains of the family of four were discovered buried in the desert near Victorville last month. No one has been arrested and no suspects have been named.

Summer Martelli met Joseph McStay in 2004, when she lived with her boyfriend in the Southern California mountain community of Big Bear Lake.

The boyfriend, an ex-marine named Vick Wyatt Johansen, had purchased the Big Bear home – located at 796 Conklin Road – in 2002 for $226,000, property records show.

Email records obtained by McStay family members indicate that Summer met Joseph McStay and became pregnant with their first son, Gianni, while she was living in Big Bear in 2004.

Johansen added Summer's name to property records associated with the Big Bear Lake home in January 2005. He quit claimed the home to Summer Martelli one year later in January 2006.

Court records reveal Johansen made criminal threats against a neighbor and her 12-year-old daughter in 2004, while Johansen was living in Big Bear with Summer Martelli.
 ::snipping3::

http://ktla.com/2013/12/20/mcstay-family-memorial-set-for-jaunary-4/#axzz2oRPGpjpB



McStay Family Memorial Set For Jaunary 4

• See bio, contact info, and more articles from KTLA 5 Web Staff   
4 days ago
by KTLA 5 Web Staff



From the McStay Family Website.

Location for the McStay Family Memorial will be Vineyard Community Church:
27632 El Lazo Road
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677


Read more: http://ktla.com/2013/12/20/mcstay-family-memorial-set-for-jaunary-4/#ixzz2oRWoxPb0

Church Ceremony starts at 12pm Noon January 4, 2014 seating is limited.

Paddle out at San Clemente Pier 2pm 1/4/14 afternoon. There will be a beach ceremony to release four leis symbolizing each of the McStay family members Joseph, Summer, Gianni & Joey Jr released into the ocean.

There will be Orchids to release and Candles to light as well.

Please join us in honoring the true essence of the McStay Family who loved the beach, ocean, and others.

OC Sheriff will be helping with traffic abatement at the San Clemente Pier as parking and access may be congested.


Read more: http://ktla.com/2013/12/20/mcstay-family-memorial-set-for-jaunary-4/#ixzz2oRXRUxsK

http://www.cbs8.com/story/24277118/mcstay-murder-mystery-who-is-dan-kavanaugh

McStay murder mystery: Who is Dan Kavanaugh?

Posted: Dec 20, 2013 8:46 PM EST


Updated: Dec 24, 2013 11:39 AM EST
 


By David Gotfredson, Field Producer - email

Video Report By Phil Blauer, Anchor/Reporter - bio | email


SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) -- Joseph McStay, 40, his wife Summer McStay, 43, and their two sons, Gianni, 5, and Joey, Jr., 4, went missing from their Fallbrook home in February 2010.

It would be almost four years before the skeletal remains of the family were discovered in shallow graves near Victorville on November 11.

Within a week of the family's disappearance in 2010, large sums of money started being transferred out of Joseph McStay's business bank account.

Where was the money going? Who was transferring it and why?

CBS News 8 caught up with the employee who admitted to his involvement in some of those transactions.

At first, Dan Kavanaugh, 32, was reluctant to talk about his former employer, Joseph McStay, when a CBS News 8 camera crew came knocking at his apartment door in Little Italy.

"No news questions right now bud, sorry, can't do it," said Kavanaugh.

A web designer by trade, Kavanaugh had been in charge of developing the online presence for Earth Inspired Products, Joseph McStay's custom fountain design and manufacturing business.

Eventually, Kavanaugh opened up to CBS News 8, denying that he had anything to do with the family's disappearance or murder.

Kavanaugh said he was in Oahu, Hawaii on a surfing trip at the time the family went missing.

"I was in Hawaii. You guys know that, right?" said Kavanaugh as he stood in the threshold of his apartment.
 ::snipping3::

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jan/04/mcstay-service-memorial-fallbrook-paddle/


A final goodbye for the McStay family
 By Teri Figueroa1:37 p.m.Jan. 4, 2014Updated6:05 p.m.


ORANGE COUNTY — Four surfers, wearing wet suits and white leis, waded into glistening water just south of the San Clemente pier Saturday afternoon.

Well more than a dozen surfers followed. On the pier above, dozens of mourners watched.

The leis represented the four slain members of the McStay family. Three years and 11 months to the day since they were last heard from, friends and family offered a final goodbye for the Fallbrook foursome, whose disappearance and deaths remain shrouded in mystery.

The paddle-out — at the same spot Joseph McStay had surfed for years — followed a church memorial service in Laguna Niguel for McStay, 40, wife Summer, 43, and their sons Gianni, 4, and Joey Jr., 3.

The family went missing February 2010. Their remains were found Nov. 11 in two shallow desert graves in San Bernardino County.

Authorities have not released their causes of death, and investigators have remained mostly mum since a Nov. 15 news conference announcing the grim discovery. No suspects have been named.

The McStays had roots in Orange County, and had moved to Fallbrook from San Clemente less than three months before they disappeared.

About 200 people, many clutching tissues and sharing hugs, turned out for the memorial at Vineyard Community Church to share remembrances of the family. Some spoke of Joseph and Summer’s adoration for each other and their children.

“There was so much love in there today,” said Susan Blake, Joseph’s mother, as she left the church service.

“I need justice,” she said. “I waited almost four years and never gave up.”

 ::snipping3::

http://www.760kfmb.com/story/24235590/mcstay-murder-mystery-who-is-michael-mcfadden

McStay murder mystery: Who is Michael McFadden?

Posted: Dec 16, 2013 7:54 PM EST


Updated: Dec 17, 2013 8:45 AM EST
 


By David Gotfredson, Field Producer - email

Video Report By Phil Blauer, Anchor/Reporter


LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (CBS 8) -- It has been five weeks since the skeletal remains of Joseph and Summer McStay and their two young sons were found buried in the high desert near Victorville.

CBS News 8 investigated several people associated with the Fallbrook family that went missing in February 2010, and then was found murdered on November 11.

Michael James McFadden is the current husband of Joseph McStay's ex-wife, Heather; and the step-father of Joseph's McStay's now 17-year-old son by the first marriage.

A few months before the McStay family disappeared from their Fallbrook home on Feb. 4, 2010, Summer McStay filed a Child Protective Services complaint against McFadden, according to Joseph McStay's father, Patrick McStay.

CPS investigations are confidential, so the exact nature of the complaint cannot be confirmed.

"No one knows what the CPS report said because we're not allowed to see it," Patrick McStay told CBS News 8 in an interview from his home in Texas. "I have evidence that there were threats made, after the CPS report, to Joey and Summer."

 ::snipping3::

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/03/justice/mcstay-murder-mystery/
Who killed the McStay family?
June 3, 3014

For the latest on the McStay murders, watch "Buried Secrets: Who Murdered the McStay Family?" Tuesday, July 1, at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.
 ::snipping3::
The McStays disappeared from their home in suburban San Diego in February 2010.
There were no signs of a struggle. No apparent plan to flee.
Nearly four years later, the mother, father and two boys were found slain in the Mojave Desert -- their bodies buried in shallow graves.
How did they get there? Who killed them?
From the beginning, the case has baffled investigators, but they aren't giving up.
Said John McMahon, sheriff of San Bernardino County, in an exclusive interview with CNN: "It is certainly my hope that at some point in the future, we'll be able to solve this, and bring the suspect or suspects to justice."

Video

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/01/justice/mcstay-case-five-questions/
Desert deaths mystery: Five questions about the McStay case
July 1, 2014

Editor's note: For the latest on the McStay murders, watch "Buried Secrets: Who Murdered the McStay Family?" at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday on CNN.
(CNN) -- It's been more than four years since the McStay family went missing, and nearly eight months have passed since their remains were found in the Mojave Desert.
Who would want to kill Joseph; his wife, Summer; and their two young kids, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3? How did their bodies end up in two shallow graves some 100 miles north of their home?
Investigators still have not named any suspects or persons of interest, but those involved aren't giving up.
A new detective recently joined the investigation, bringing new energy and new ideas to the table.
As the investigation continues, here are five questions that could provide clues about the case:

1. Who used Joseph McStay's phone shortly after he disappeared?
On February 4, 2010, Chase Merritt received a phone call from Joseph McStay. It was 8:28 p.m.
Chase, Joseph's close friend, picked up the phone, looked at it, and set it back down.
"I had a bunch of other things I was doing, and I was just tired," he told CNN.
Joseph ran a custom water feature business, and he often bought custom indoor waterfalls from Chase. The two talked frequently. Chase had already talked to Joseph multiple times that day, and they had also met in person for a couple of hours.
"I had no idea that something like this was going to happen," said Chase.
Was that just a regular call from his friend, or could it have been a call for help?
"There are hundreds of scenarios. I have gone over all of them in my head," he added. "Of course I regret not picking up the phone."

2. Who used Summer McStay's credit card the day she disappeared?
According to phone records, Summer McStay made a call from her home phone at 2:11 p.m. February 4 regarding purchasing herbal medicine. Financial records show her credit card was used 25 minutes later at a store in Vista, California, about 20 minutes from her home.
More...

 http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/11/07/sheriff-to-release-new-information-in-mcstay-family-murder-investigation/

Press conference today at 9 PS time....an arrest is being reported

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/07/justice/mcstay-case/index.html

Suspect in McStay family disappearance arrested, sheriff says
 

By Michael Pearson, CNN

updated 12:18 PM EST, Fri November 7, 2014

(CNN) -- [Breaking news update, posted at 12:17 p.m. ET]

California authorities this week arrested Charles "Chase" Merritt in connection with the deaths of the McStay family -- a southern California family of four that vanished in 2010, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said Friday.

 ::snipping3::

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/McStay-Family-Disappearance-Missing-Family-Investigation-281913121.html

Business Partner Arrested in McStay Family Slayings

More than three years after the family disappeared in 2010, skeletal remains were found in and around shallow graves in the high desert north of Los Angeles

By  Jonathan Lloyd

Friday, Nov 7, 2014 • Updated at 9:35 AM PST


The business partner of a man whose remains were found along with his wife's and children's in the high desert north of Los Angeles has been arrested and charged with killing the McStay family in 2010, authorities announced Friday.

Charles Chase Merritt, 57, Joseph McStay's business partner, was arrested Wednesday in the San Fernando Valley community of Chatsworth "without incident," according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. McStay operated a custom water fountain business and was working on a project with Merritt when he and his family disappeared

District Attorney Mike Ramos called the slayings "cold and callous" when he announced that four murder charges had been filed against Merritt, who has a criminal record, according to the sheriff's department.

Joseph McStay's brother Michael praised investigators' work at Friday's news conference.


Images: The McStay Family


"I just wanted to see it through to the end. Joseph was a great brother, a great father. He would have done anything to protect those boys and summer," he said.

"He tried to provide work for Chase and help Chase," he said of his brother, adding of Chase: "He'll get what he's got coming to him."


When asked whether the was a break in the case that cast suspicion on Merritt, investigators said there was "no smoking gun." Investigators said they reviewed evidence provided by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department that led to the arrest.

 ::snipping3::

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/McStay-Family-Disappearance-Missing-Family-Investigation-281913121.html

"The investigation revealed that the victims were killed in their home, and all were victims of blunt-force-trauma, sheriff's officials said Friday."

 ::snipping3::

"Merritt had said in an interview with the Daily Mail that he was the last person to have seen McStay."

 ::snipping3::

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqLES4fC7zY

Detectives Arrest Charles Ray Merritt in Connection with the McStay Family Murders: Raw Footage
San Bernardino Sheriff

Published on Nov 7, 2014
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Detectives arrest Charles "Chase" Ray Merritt in connection with the murders of the McStay Family whose skeletal remains were found in the desert near Victorville, California in November of 2013.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/07/missing-mcstay-suspect-arrested/18652391/
Business partner suspect in murder of SoCal family
November 7, 2014

(http://i.imgur.com/uOPjXOb.jpg) (http://imgur.com/uOPjXOb)
(Photo: McStay family)

 ::snipping3::
San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon announced Friday that deputies arrested Charles "Chase" Merritt for the murders of Joseph, 40, and Summer McStay, 43, and their two sons, Giannni, 4, and Joseph Mateo, 3. During an afternoon court appearance in Victorville, his arraignment was postponed until Wednesday.

The skeletal remains of the family were discovered last year in shallow graves in the California desert 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles after the family went missing for more than three years. Wednesday's arrest of Merritt caps a four-year-long mystery that largely stumped investigators and family members.
 ::snipping3::
Merritt, 57, was arrested Wednesday and transported to the West Valley Detention Center, where he was booked for murder and is being held without bail. The District Attorney's Office filed four counts of murder against him, the statement said.

The cause of death for all four was determined to be blunt force trauma. Investigators believe the murders took place at the family home in Fallbrook, about 50 miles north of San Diego. They wouldn't disclose any motives for the killings.

The McStays were last heard from on Feb. 4, 2010. Relatives said they were happy and had recently moved into a five-bedroom home. Their bank accounts contained tens of thousands of dollars.

Days later, police found no signs of forced entry at their Fallbrook home. Rotting food was found in the kitchen, and their dogs were in the backyard without food or water. Their SUV was found parked two blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border, raising suspicions that they may have fled there.

Merritt and Joseph McStay ran a fountain-making business that appeared to be doing well. Merritt's name surfaced early in the investigation when it was reported that Joseph McStay's last cellphone conversation was with his business partner. Merritt denied knowing the family's whereabouts.

After the family's remains were discovered in the desert, Merritt sat down for an extensive interview with CNN. He described talking several times with Joseph McStay the day he vanished and receiving a missed call from his business partner.

"I was tired," Merritt said, explaining why he didn't pick up the call.

Asked if he regretted not answering, he said: "Hindsight's 20/20."

This always made the most sense...I hope they have the evidence they need for justice for the McStays.

Charles “Chase” Merritt Charged With 4 Counts of Murder in the Deaths of McStay Family (Joseph, Summer & Their Two Children Gianni and Joseph) (VIDEO)

ARREST FINALLY MADE IN THE MCSTAY MURDERS …

::snipping3::

Sheriff Office press conference
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/crime/2014/11/07/sot-mcstay-investigation-update.cnn.html

McStay slaying suspect arrested; business partner has criminal history

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-accused-mcstay-family-killer-criminal-past-20141107-story.html

Charles "Chase" Merritt had a long criminal history, but nothing as heinous as the quadruple murders of the McStay family.

::snipping3::

 ::rhino::

This is just so sad . . . another family gone because of . . . greed, perhaps, who knows for sure.
But was it really worth killing a family?
 ::MonkeyMad::

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/07/justice/mcstay-case/'
Cold and callous' murders of McStay family solved, authorities say
 ::snipping3:: 

By Michael Pearson, CNN
updated 7:33 AM EST, Sun November 9, 2014
     
In November 2013, the McStays were found slain in the Mojave Desert -- their bodies buried in shallow graves. From the beginning, the case has baffled investigators, but they aren't giving up.   

Who killed the McStay family?


STORY HIGHLIGHTS
 NEW: Charles "Chase" Merritt appears in court
Merritt is charged with four counts of murder in the family's 2010 deaths
Their bodies were found in the Mojave Desert in November 2013
Merritt was a business partner of Joseph McStay's, police say
 
 ::snipping3::
(CNN) -- Almost a year to the day after an off-road motorcyclist found the remains of a California family who had vanished from their home in 2010, authorities announced Friday they had arrested the man they believe is responsible for the deaths.

Charles "Chase" Merritt is charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of Joseph and Summer McStay and their two small boys, San Bernardino County, California, District Attorney Michael Ramos told reporters at a news conference.

Merritt, 57, was arrested Wednesday without incident in Chatsworth, California, Detective Chris Fisher said.
Did a friend kill the McStay family?
 
Police say they believe the family died of "blunt force trauma" inside their home north of San Diego, but they declined to discuss specifics of the deaths or a motive.
 ::snipping3::
 
Merritt, who was a business partner of Joseph McStay's, appeared in court Friday but his arraignment was postponed until Wednesday. No bail was set.
 ::snipping3::
Despite finding the family's SUV in San Ysidro, California -- where it had been towed from the Mexican border -- and video surveillance that showed a family matching the description of the McStays crossing the border, authorities had no clue what happened to them until the discovery of their bodies on November 11, 2013.

A motorcyclist passing through the area found the remains in two shallow graves not far from Interstate 15 in San Bernardino County, more than 100 miles from the family's home north of San Diego.
 ::snipping3::

 ::MonkeyGavel:: ::justice2nj2::

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/15/after-months-silence-prosecutors-to-make-case-in-death-family-4-buried-in/
After months of silence, prosecutors to make case in death of family of 4 buried in desert
June 14, 2015

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. –  Authorities have kept quiet for months about what drove them to charge a California man with killing a family of four and burying their bodies in shallow desert graves.

San Bernardino prosecutors on Monday are expected to finally reveal their case against 58-year-old Charles "Chase" Merritt for the murders of his business partner, Joseph McStay, the man's wife and their two young sons.
 ::snipping3::
Merritt has pleaded not guilty. After a preliminary hearing, a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence for a trial.

Merritt's lawyer, Jimmy Mettias, says he expects prosecutors will allege his client killed the family with a sledgehammer after a business dispute. Prosecutors declined to comment.

http://news.yahoo.com/man-held-trial-sledgehammer-killings-california-family-003020727.html
June 15, 2015

 ::snipping3::

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (Reuters) - A California judge ruled on Monday that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for an ex-convict to face trial in the 2010 sledgehammer killings of a family of four whose remains were found more than two years later buried in the desert.

 ::snipping3::

https://abc7.com/mcstay-murder-trial-charles-merritt-found-guilty-of-killing-family/5340410/
McStay murder trial: Charles Merritt found guilty of killing family
June 10, 2019

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- Charles "Chase" Merritt was found guilty of murder in the killing of a family of four, who disappeared in 2010 and were later discovered three years later near Victorville.

After a trial that spanned more than four months, Merritt was found guilty in the killing of the McStay family in 2010. The 62-year-old Merritt had pleaded not guilty to charges he murdered his business partner, Joseph McStay, his wife Summer, and the couple's four and three-year-old sons.

Merritt was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. The jury also found the special circumstance of multiple murders. Prosecutors have said they would seek the death penalty if Merritt was convicted. The penalty phase of the trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday.

The family vanished from their home in 2010.

The remains of the family were discovered in two shallow graves in 2013 near Victorville. Merritt was arrested a year later.

The prosecution believes Merritt murdered the family because he was being cut out of McStay's water-feature business and that he was also stealing money from the business - which McStay discovered.

A verdict was reached Friday by jurors, but it was not announced publicly until Monday.

Video

May they rest in peace.   ::MonkeyAngel:: ::MonkeyAngel:: ::MonkeyAngel:: ::MonkeyAngel::

 ::MonkeyGavel:: ::justice2nj2::

 ::justice2nj2:: ::MonkeyGavel:: ::monkeyflag3::

https://kmph.com/news/local/california-man-sentenced-to-death-for-killing-family-of-4

California man sentenced to death for killing family of 4
by JOHN ROGERS Associated PressTuesday, January 21st 2020

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California man was sentenced to death Tuesday for the 10-year-old killings of a family of four whose bodies were found buried in shallow graves in the California desert.

Charles “Chase” Merritt was convicted in June of killing his former business associate Joseph McStay, McStay's wife, Summer, and their 4- and 3-year-old sons, Gianni and Joseph Jr. Prosecutors say he bludgeoned them with a sledgehammer.

The family disappeared without a trace in February 2010. Their bodies were not found until 2013, when an off-road motorcyclist came across them in the Mojave Desert. Merritt was arrested the following year.

San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Michael Smith upheld the jury's recommendation of death following a two-day sentencing hearing that included a flurry of last-minute motions from Merritt and his lawyer, who accused prosecutors of misconduct, Merritt's earlier attorneys of incompetence and, on Tuesday, tried to remove the judge himself from the case. All of the motions were denied.

The hearing, which consumed more than 10 hours, concluded with several emotional statements from McStay's mother, brother, in-laws and surviving son, as well as from Merritt himself, who continued to maintain his innocence,

“I loved Joseph," he said, his voice shaking a times. “He was a big part of my life and my family’s life. I would never have hurt him in any way. I would have never raised my hand for a woman or child. I did not do this thing."

Merritt lashed out at prosecutors he said framed him, some witnesses he accused of lying and the judge he said allowed it to happen.

The victims' family members, meanwhile, dismissed Merritt as, in the words of McStay's mother, Susan Blake, “a despicable, evil monster.”

“How could you beat two precious little babies? How scared were they, Chase? Crying for Mommy and Daddy? Chase, you are a low-life baby killer," Blake said as Merritt stared at her impassively.

Prosecutors told jurors Merritt killed the family after learning McStay was cutting him out of his business making and selling custom water fountains.

They said McStay told friends Merritt was doing shoddy work and pilfering money from him. Prosecutors eventually discovered that about the time the family vanished thousands of dollars in checks allegedly from McStay to Merritt had been written and cashed.

Investigators said they also traced Merritt's cellphone to the area where the bodies were buried in the days after the family disappeared and to a call seeking to close McStay's online bookkeeping account.

Smith ordered Merritt transferred to San Quentin State Prison until an execution date is scheduled.

California has not executed anyone since 2006. Gov. Gavin Newsom has placed a moratorium on executions while he's in office.