Murder Mystery: What Happened To This Family?

[Rain Man]

I remember reading about this when it happened, and was mildly intrigued. At the time, it was easy to conclude that they just ran off to Mexico, but that apparently wasn't the case. There's a lot of stuff here that doesn't add up.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/15/us/cal...html?hpt=hp_t2


(CNN) -- The search is over for a California family who disappeared under mystifying circumstances three years ago.

Authorities confirmed the identity of two of four sets of remains found Monday in the California desert near Victorville as those of Joseph McStay and his wife Summer, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said Friday.

They were identified through dental records, he said. Two other remains found nearby are believed to be those of their sons Joseph and Gianni, McMahon said.

He said positive identification will be done through DNA testing.

The four were killed, McMahon said. No suspects have been identified and the sheriff did not elaborate on how they died.

Some family members became emotional during Friday afternoon's news conference.

"It gives us courage to know they are together, and they're in a better place," said Joseph's younger brother Mike McStay, choking back tears. "It's been a tough road."

A motorcyclist reported finding possible skeletal remains Monday in an area not far from Interstate 15 near Victorville, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Police found two shallow grave sites, with two sets of remains in each grave, McMahon said.

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.

The McStays lived in Fallbrook, about 18 miles from the Pacific Coast and some 50 miles north of San Diego.

The family's locked and abandoned Isuzu Trooper was located February 8, 2010, in San Ysidro, California, just two blocks from the border. Surveillance video taken that night shows a family fitting the description of the McStays walking into Mexico. But from there the trail goes cold.

The sheriff said his office said it will look at this crime from the beginning, and will work with the FBI to find the suspects.

Although investigators said someone had been researching travel to Mexico on the family's home computer, the McStays' sudden disappearance and the fact that their credit cards and bank accounts went unused raised suspicions.
When they disappeared three years ago, Joseph was 40, his wife, Summer, was 43, and their children were 4 and 3 years old.

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

[mesmith31]

[Simply Red]

I'd be interested in knowing their employment history.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

I'd be interested in knowing their employment history.

Why? What would that tell us?

My first hunch was that they'd gotten caught up in some criminal activity and just decided to flee to Mexico. It seemed weird that they'd just up and leave their dogs and their house with nothing, but if you get a call that says, "Guido's on his way, and he's medeival", I could see it. And it would match up with them walking across the border, I guess.

But they walked across the border and then ended up dead in the California desert near Los Angeles. How did that happen? If they were into drugs, they probably wouldn't have fled to Mexico. And if it was other criminal activity the mafia wouldn't haul them back across the border to kill them.

So they must've walked across the border to give the impression that they went to Mexico, and then they crossed back and went to LA. And it was there that the criminals found them again and killed them. Sound reasonable?

[In58men]

George Zimmerman

[Al Czervik]

I watched an interview with the Father and he said that it was absolutely NOT his son and family in the video at the border. It does appear to be a drug killing thou....Only heartless bastards kill young children.....

[CrazyPhuD]

I hear they might have handled the finances for one of the larger Mexican cartels. Unfortunately it appears that while having coffee down in San Diego, someone ended up swiping their 'sweet laptop' with the record of all the numbered accounts they were using to launder the money.

Without said laptop they were unable to access the accounts. Lose untold millions of cartel money and well....this happens.....

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Al Czervik

I watched an interview with the Father and he said that it was absolutely NOT his son and family in the video at the border. It does appear to be a drug killing thou....Only heartless bastards kill young children.....

Y'know, I wondered about that, but figured that since the SUV was there that it had to be them. Do you think that someone staged a fake family crossing the border?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by CrazyPhuD

I hear they might have handled the finances for one of the larger Mexican cartels. Unfortunately it appears that while having coffee down in San Diego, someone ended up swiping their 'sweet laptop' with the record of all the numbered accounts they were using to launder the money.

Without said laptop they were unable to access the accounts. Lose untold millions of cartel money and well....this happens.....

Seriously?

This is why you always back up your data.

[Simply Red]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Why? What would that tell us?

My first hunch was that they'd gotten caught up in some criminal activity and just decided to flee to Mexico. It seemed weird that they'd just up and leave their dogs and their house with nothing, but if you get a call that says, "Guido's on his way, and he's medeival", I could see it. And it would match up with them walking across the border, I guess.

But they walked across the border and then ended up dead in the California desert near Los Angeles. How did that happen? If they were into drugs, they probably wouldn't have fled to Mexico. And if it was other criminal activity the mafia wouldn't haul them back across the border to kill them.

So they must've walked across the border to give the impression that they went to Mexico, and then they crossed back and went to LA. And it was there that the criminals found them again and killed them. Sound reasonable?

I think the FBI knows more, maybe. -- I don't know; that's an odd deal. Very interesting though.

[BigRock]

Some guy put out a book earlier this year that, if I'm remembering right, had hacked e-mails and leaked financial records and stuff like that. No idea if the stuff he had was legit, but the evidence supposedly pointed at the wife being both somewhat mental and taking part in a financial scam of some sort.

[Simply Red]

wait, I'm trying to grasp this.

So did they find kid skeletons also?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

wait, I'm trying to grasp this.

So did they find kid skeletons also?

Yeah. Out in the California desert next to the husband and wife.

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Seriously?

This is why you always back up your data.

No. He's alluding to a douchebag poster that was here for a cup of coffee a few years back. His name escapes me. He stole a laptop, bragged about it and caught a snootful of blowback.

[ClevelandBronco]

Midnight Vulture. Was that it?