Author Topic: Remains found in Calif. desert ID'd as those of missing San Diego area family  (Read 1487 times)

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Offline Rapunzel

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http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/15/21480854-remains-found-in-calif-desert-idd-as-those-of-missing-san-diego-area-family?lite

Remains found in Calif. desert ID'd as those of missing San Diego area family


The skeletal remains of four people were found this week in the desert outside of Victorville, Calif. Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their two kids Gianni, 4 and Joseph, 3, vanished in 2010 from their home. The remains of two of four bodies have been identified as the missing husband and wife but it remains unclear if the other bodies are the two young sons.


More than three years ago the McStay family -- Joseph, Summer and their two young sons – seemed to vanish into thin air, but Friday authorities confirmed that four sets of skeletal remains found in California’s Mojave Desert are likely those of the couple and their two boys.

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said at a press conference that the remains were identified through dental records as those of Joseph McStay, 40, and his wife, Summer, 43.

Authorities are in the process of identifying additional skeletal remains that are believed to be those of the couple's sons, Gianni and Joseph Jr., who were 4 and 3, respectively, at the time of their disappearance.
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The case is now being investigated as a multiple murder. McMahon said no suspect or suspects have been identified but held out hope that evidence at the scene where the bodies were found would eventually lead investigators to whoever was responsible for the killings.

"We will put the pieces together with all hope of solving this crime, McMahon said. "There is ... evidence at the scene that will help the investigation. The investigation will lead us in the direction of the suspects as we get more information."

The family was last heard from on Feb. 4, 2010. Detectives found no signs of a struggle at the family's Fallbrook, Calif., home and their empty white Isuzu Trooper later was found in San Ysidro mall parking lot, a short distance from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department, working with the FBI, fielded hundreds of tips and, as part of its investigation, reviewed border crossing records and security videos on the suspicion that the family might have crossed into Mexico of their own free will. But no clear evidence emerged pointing investigators to the family's whereabouts or their fate.

The break in the case came Monday when a motorcyclist off-roading through a remote desert area reported finding bones and called authorities.


San Bernardino County Sheriff's homicide investigators and coroner's officials examined the bones and discovered two shallow graves, where additional skeletal remains were found.

Identification of the remains solves one part of the nearly 4-year-old mystery, but officials said it is far from clear why the family may have been targeted or who carried it out.

McMahon said there is no information where the family members were killed, adding that there is no indication that the killings were "cartel related."

At the time of their disappearance, Joseph McStay owned a company that built custom water features for high-end commercial businesses.

Summer McStay was a stay-at-home mom to her sons.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline truth_seeker

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I watched this on TV program Disappeared, I believe.

"God must love the common man, he made so many of them.�  Abe Lincoln

Offline Rapunzel

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I watched this on TV program Disappeared, I believe.

Yes, they did a program on them.  A journalist who lived in Fallbrook wrote a book based on what he found in emails the wife had been writing for quite some time.  What is strange is they had $45,000 in their checking account and $65,000 in the business checking account and no big withdrawals, but the wife had a "history" of changing her name and there was some sort of kerfuffle between her and Joseph (according to their email exchange) before they were married because he had tried to contact her father and she was very angry saying she and her mother wanted no contact with him....  the husband seems like a pretty normal, hard-working husband......  read this interesting blurb on a site written in 2011 discussing the book  - in light of how they were found I found this interesting:

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Personally, I think one of the parents was involved in something shady, involving a considerable amount of money. I think they were threatened and left the house very quickly...nobody would really leave their house in the way they did without it being some kind of imminent threat. Sadly, I think one day they will find their bodies out in the desert somewhere. That's just my theory though, for what it's worth.

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The Mom was involved with pyramid scams and Mtg. scams...she had at least 8 alias' ....it's uncertain if the husband ever knew to what extent. The guy she worked with in these scams had been arrested just 3 or 4 days prior to them disappearing. But his step brother extorted all kinds of $ out of the accts. too.! Like I said, they were surrounded by some really unscrupulous people!
Some lady (waitress) in Co. swears she saw the 4 of them just a few months ago....But, like you guys, I think they are all buried in a shallow grave somewhere. Those poor kids.....
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�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline flowers

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I just heard the brother or some family member say the dead husband was the greatest guy ever. Yet he is in a shallow grave with his family.   I think they saw something or pissed someone off real bad.


Offline truth_seeker

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I will speculate they were dead soon after the disappearance. The vehicle was taken to he border, for a misdirection. Sightings were in error.

So why kill four people? Prior to moving to Fallbrook, they lived in San Clemente close to the beach, for surfing.

They bought a short sale or bank foreclosure home in Fallbrook, which needed some work. They were living in the home while doing the work.

It is noted they had some money (over $100,000). Could someone during the home purchase or through business dealings have learned they had the money, kidnapped them and tried to get the money, but failed? Had to kill them.

Did he cross somebody in business? Customer, worker? Did she? Who kills little kids?

Did either of the adults do drugs, or have friends that did?
"God must love the common man, he made so many of them.�  Abe Lincoln

Offline Rapunzel

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The home was only a couple of miles from the 15 and their bodies were just in off the 15 in the area where people go on weekend to off road bike...I agree with TS they were killed right away..and they left that house in a very abrupt manner... why did the wife have as many as six different names???  Finding their bodies gives a lot more questions because the police had been convinced from the start they were in Mexico, partly because of the car and also from the grainy video, but also searches a week earlier on the computer inquiring into info regarding travel in Mexico and passports.  The husband had an indoor water features business, reported successful.. the bank account tends to confirm that.... supposedly the wife had a lot of money in another account... not in California and speculation is he didn't know about since it was in another one of her names...
« Last Edit: November 16, 2013, 08:36:59 pm by Rapunzel »
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline flowers

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They also left the house without the family dogs.


Offline flowers

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Drug cartel assassins did NOT murder the McStays, claims author who spent years on case of family after they vanished with two young sons in 2010

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2508305/Author-McStay-book-claims-drug-cartels-involved-death-family-disappeared-2010-remains-buried-Mexico.html

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The author of a book on the McStays - the family of four who disappeared in 2010 - says drug cartels couldn't possibly be responsible for their deaths after their bodies were recently found in a shallow grave in Mexico.

'Why would they stage their car at the border, cartels don’t do that,' said Rick Baker, author of 'No Goodbyes: The Mysterious Disappearance of the McStay Family'. 'Someone killed all four and wanted them to think the family crossed the border.'

Police confirmed yesterday that the skeletal remains found in shallow graves in the Mojave desert belong to Joseph McStay, 42, and his 45-year-old wife, Summer. The couple and their sons have not been seen since leaving their suburban California home in February 2010.

Captain Kevin Lacy, from the coroner's division, told a news conference on Friday they had also found children's remains but a positive ID had not been made. Joseph's father Patrick McStay said he believes the other bones belong to his grandsons Gianni, three, and four-year-old Joseph Jr.

The remains of four people were dug up after an off-road biker came across one grave in the remote San Bernardino County, California on Monday.


Offline happyg

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They also left the house without the family dogs.

I don't think the family left in a hurry, and when they left, they expected to come back. They were probably coerced to meet somewhere by someone they trusted, and found out otherwise. Perhaps the woman was in on it, wanting her husband killed, but it went awry. I'm just guessing, of course, and would not make a good detective.

Offline flowers

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I don't think the family left in a hurry, and when they left, they expected to come back. They were probably coerced to meet somewhere by someone they trusted, and found out otherwise. Perhaps the woman was in on it, wanting her husband killed, but it went awry
  That makes sense about the dogs. the expected to come back.


Offline Rapunzel

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  That makes sense about the dogs. the expected to come back.

The dogs were also left in the yard without food or water - it wasn't until almost two weeks later when the neighbors complained about them barking that the police obtained a search warrant and entered the home, though the brother was reported to have climbed in through a window a week earlier and claimed nothing was amiss (uhhh dogs without food or water and food rotting on the counters is not amiss???) 
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline flowers

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The dogs were also left in the yard without food or water - it wasn't until almost two weeks later when the neighbors complained about them barking that the police obtained a search warrant and entered the home, though the brother was reported to have climbed in through a window a week earlier and claimed nothing was amiss (uhhh dogs without food or water and food rotting on the counters is not amiss???)
wow interesting.


Offline happyg

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The dogs were also left in the yard without food or water - it wasn't until almost two weeks later when the neighbors complained about them barking that the police obtained a search warrant and entered the home, though the brother was reported to have climbed in through a window a week earlier and claimed nothing was amiss (uhhh dogs without food or water and food rotting on the counters is not amiss???)

Maybe the brother was up to no good?

Offline flowers

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The dogs were also left in the yard without food or water - it wasn't until almost two weeks later when the neighbors complained about them barking that the police obtained a search warrant and entered the home, though the brother was reported to have climbed in through a window a week earlier and claimed nothing was amiss (uhhh dogs without food or water and food rotting on the counters is not amiss???)
Where did you hear about the brother climbing thru a window?


Offline flowers

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This is the wifes brother right?


Offline Rapunzel

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Maybe the brother was up to no good?

According to articles written the family cleared a lot of personal items and computers out of the house and the police had to get a court order to have them returned for forensic analysis..... there is - however - video of the police examining the husbands unlocked pickup truck in the driveway and other officers carrying computers, etc., out of the house.  The brother has run a family blog tracking the case almost from the start.  The husband also had another son from a previous marriage - he lives in San Diego - and everyone said he would never just abandon the son.  The interesting thing about the emails covered in the book about the case the wife (Summer) did not like the other son coming and staying with them...    it does seem the husband was a pretty normal guy, but the wife is the big question mark here.  It is also reported she was not happy about leaving the beach and moving inland, it was the husband who wanted a more normal urban life for their young sons.  They had only been in the house two months when they disappeared.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline happyg

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Here is the FB page dedicated to them: https://www.facebook.com/BringTheMcStayFamilyHome

Offline Rapunzel

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Here is the FB page dedicated to them: https://www.facebook.com/BringTheMcStayFamilyHome

The photos there all show what looks like a normal, happy, family...   like TS said - who kills little kids like this?
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776