The McStay family mysteriously disappeared from their home on February 4th, 2010. The family members included the parents, Joseph and Summer McStay, and their two children Gianni and Joseph Jr. Joseph ran a business creating water fountains and Summer was a real estate agent. Their children were very young in age, Gianni was 4 and Joseph Jr. was 3.

Before it was confirmed that they were missing, family members and friends tried to get in contact with them, but had no success. On February 15th, Joseph’s brother finally ended up going to the family’s house and broke in through a window. He discovered the house to be empty, and their two dogs in the backyard. When he observed the house, there weren’t any signs of a struggle whatsoever. But, there was evidence of a hasty departure. There was an egg carton sitting on the counter and two little bowls filled with popcorn still sitting on the couch. It should be noted that police were aware of the missing family before Joseph’s brother got into the house but did not act on investigating until afterwards.

On February 4th, neighbor’s surveillance cameras caught recording of a vehicle very similar to the McStay’s driving by. This was later confirmed to not be their vehicle, so this wasn’t considered evidence. A phone call from Joseph’s phone was made to his business partner Chase Merritt around 8:28 p.m. the day they went missing. Merritt says he saw that McStay was calling him, but chose to ignore the call because he was watching a movie. After that, family members began trying to get in contact and this led Joseph’s brother to breaking into the home. Then very important information was given to the police. They learned that the family’s vehicle had been towed from a strip mall in San Diego on February 8^th, 4 days after they allegedly went missing. The location of the vehicle during these days is unknown.

Where could this family have gone? How does a full family simply disappear? There were some hopeful sightings recorded on February 8^th of a family crossing the border to Mexico that looked eerily similar to the McStays. Their family was very hopeful that it could be them, but didn’t think that they would voluntarily travel there due to recent violent drug wars. There was also some suspicion revolving around the family’s financial standings. It was reported by a friend after they disappeared that they were indeed experiencing financial issues after they had purchased their home in a town called Fallbrook. Also, it was thought to be suspicious that Summer had several different aliases that she went by throughout her life. She also lied about her age and said she was 10 years younger than she actually was, although she did not use this on any legal documents. Friends and family attribute these facts about Summer to her “eccentric personality.” Two years went by with no word from the McStay family, and no evidence besides alleged sightings was surfacing.

On November 11^th, 2013 in Victorville California a motorcyclist discovered four human bodies buried in two graves. Could this have been the family? The police were immediately phoned and so was the family of the McStays. Two days later, it was confirmed that the bodies were positively identified as Joseph, Summer, Gianni, and Joseph Jr. McStay. It is believed that all four family members died of blunt force trauma possibly inside their home. It was ruled a homicide.

It was discovered on the family’s home computer that someone had searched “what documents children need for traveling to Mexico” and “Spanish lessons.” Because of this, it is speculated that the family left voluntarily. But the family vehemently denies that they would just voluntarily leave.

The police started to zero in on suspects. The person that they really started to focus on was Chase Merritt, Joseph’s business partner. Merritt didn’t have the cleanest record, with a felony for burglary and receiving stolen property being linked to him. He also admitted to seeing the family the day of their disappearance. He then wrote a book claiming that it’s possible Summer could have been poisoning Joseph, because he seemed to have a very strange illness. He also mentioned that Summer was very possessive, but he did say that he didn’t believe she was responsible for the murders.

On November 4^th, 2014 Chase Merritt was arrested for the deaths of the McStay family. Forensic evidence found his DNA in the McStay’s car. He also wrote checks on Joseph’s business account totaling more than $21,000 days after the family went missing. He went on gambling sprees spending thousands of dollars at nearby casinos. It is believed that the family was tortured before they were killed, and were murdered with a 3-pound sledgehammer that was found in the grave along with them.

The motive for the McStay’s murders by Chase Merritt seems to be financial gain. It’s a shame what this poor family had to go through, four innocent lives were lost. Merritt is awaiting trial as of 2016.