McSTAY FAMILY - Found Dead 4 Years After Vanishing

[Donovan]

The immediate questions that now must be answered are: if not the McStays, then WHO drove the vehicle to San Ysidro, parked it and made a very good imitation of them crossing the border?

[Midwest Spy]

And think about the search on the McStay computer on Jan 28^th. You know, the one searching about Mexico?

Did someone 'plant' that search too? If so, who would've had access to the computer? IMO, either the business partner or a family member.

I'd love to hear the alibis again for the night of the 4^th.

[Donovan]

Exactly. Somebody tried very hard to make it look like they were going for the border. It's clear they never got that far, in all likelihood never even willingly left the house. So who gained from their absence? Follow the profit...

[Midwest Spy]

I love how the business partner was raving about how good business was.

I wonder if he was in the middle of something that could've gotten himself in trouble with Joe, i.e., skimming profits, etc. Maybe about to be found out?

He says Joe was his best friend, but let 4 days go by without contacting him or checking on him. This after talking to him 4 times the day they disappeared. Very interesting.

I know he took a lie detector test but I'm not convinced he didn't do it.

I love how he has publicly declared he has never thought the Mc Stays would go to Mexico and that the wife was jealous, but not capable of murder. He looks rational saying that. If he had been adamant that they'd gone to Mexico, if their bodies get discovered, well, he'd appear more guilty. Smart.

I'm guessing that someone can prove he's very familiar with the burial area?

I think it's the business partner.

[HairOfTheDog]

Personally, I think the McStays either really did cross the border or the family in the video just happened to look and dress a lot like the McStays.

Just don't think that imitators were used to stage a border-crossing video; seems too elaborate and requires involving another person or people to pull it off. Really risky and, to me, unnecessary.

If the computer searches regarding Mexico entry requirements for kids (and possibly the Spanish language software inquiries) were parts of a ruse to get everyone thinking the family was off living it up in Mexico or some other getaway, those red herrings (along with the Trooper being planted at the border) would have been enough without having to involve others.

Would have been easy enough for authorities to assume the family crossed in disguise or slipped in with a large group. But, then, it's possible that the computer searches and software inquiries were legit, unrelated to the disappearance, and whoever made the McStays disappear was unaware of them. In that case, the video may have been more essential.

Anyway, if the border crossing really was staged, whoever was behind it was very focused, committed and detailed - the imitator(s) may have even been wearing McStay clothing.

I do think the video helped LE feel more confident about what they'd almost immediately assumed: voluntary disappearance.

It's possible to me that the Trooper was driven to San Ysidro by someone who found it abandoned at/near the gravesite too.

This case gets me going in circles; no strong opinions here, but lots of questions.

Hope it gets solved soon.

[Donovan]

One thing is for sure, those bodies were supposed to stay buried. Somebody somewhere is sweating bullets tonight.

[Cheyne]

I do not believe that Susan McStay had anything to do with the disappearance or murders of the McStay family.

Do you think Michael was involved or knows more than he's saying, Cheyne?

~Respectfully snipped~

Just my musings, but yes I do believe that Michael was involved. Whether he was the "trigger man", ordered the hit, or just knows a lot more than he's saying-I believe he was involved.

Midwest Spy wrote: He says Joe was his best friend, but let 4 days go by without contacting him or checking on him. This after talking to him 4 times the day they disappeared. Very interesting*

In the linked article Mr Merritt said: ‘Three or four days went by and I called Joseph several times a day, but couldn’t get hold of him. That was unheard of because we talked six or eight times a day.

‘On the fourth day I drove out to his house, stopping at his mother’s on the way. I asked if she’d heard from him and she said she hadn’t. She called Mikey (Joseph's brother) and I suggested he meet me out there. I drove out, but Mikey didn’t call me.

If Mr. Merritt called Joseph several times a day, there are cell phone records to confirm this. I question the fact that Merritt, a business partner, was concerned enough to physically check on the McStays when Joseph's own mother and brother were not? Susan even called Michael and relayed the message to go with Merritt on day 4, but Michael didn't show and didn't call.

I don't believe that this was a professional hit or a Cartel hit either. A professional would have buried the bodies farther than 50 yds. off a major highway, and the Cartel would have left them where they lay. The Trooper being parked in San Ysidro suggests someone who wanted to place a red herring for the police. (The video of a family walking through the border was a "happy" coincidence IMO). The fact that the children were each buried with a parent suggests to me that whomever murdered them had a personal relationship with the boys and their parents. The fact that the bodies were buried so close to the road and so shallowly suggests the person who did the burying was lazy/out of shape, or his (her?) heart wasn't in it. If a family member murdered the McStays, they wouldn't want them to lay in shallow graves forever, just long enough to take the heat off the murderer. (There is over $100K in bank accounts that need to be inherited.)

As to Michael's "sobbing" at the press conference, take a good look at the video. His face works and he brushes his eyes with his hand at first, then he manages to squeeze a tear out of his right eye and leaves it there. Later his face works again and he brushes his eyes. I only saw that one tear on his face the entire time. Now I can understand if he wasn't shocked with grief due to his statements on 10 Jan 2012, since he believed his brothers family had met with foul play, but his performance was over-the-top to me. I don't believe his act, but that is just my opinion.

*Sorry, I don't know how to double quote*

[HairOfTheDog]

As to Michael's "sobbing" at the press conference, take a good look at the video. His face works and he brushes his eyes with his hand at first, then he manages to squeeze a tear out of his right eye and leaves it there. Later his face works again and he brushes his eyes. I only saw that one tear on his face the entire time. Now I can understand if he wasn't shocked with grief due to his statements on 10 Jan 2012, since he believed his brothers family had met with foul play, but his performance was over-the-top to me. I don't believe his act, but that is just my opinion.

I don't know what to think about Michael McStay's actions.

Family members of the missing/dead are flawed like everyone else, doesn't mean they're responsible or involved. Then again, family members often ARE involved. So, I'm open minded.

In any event, Rick Baker is an idiot, IMO. I gave him the benefit of the doubt when he first wrote the book, claiming it was only to help bring attention to the case and he we was going to donate all the proceeds to the search effort. There was no movement in the case at the time and although his theories were seriously flawed by connecting dots that I thought were a huge stretch (and making claims without providing proof to substantiate them), I figured as long as it was clear he was presenting his opinions/theories only, couldn't hurt and might help. Plus, freedom of speech still reigns supreme.

Since then, he's backtracked, whined about the family members' reactions to him accusing them of hiding the McStays and accusing Summer of killing her husband and running off with some unknown other man (Jesus, of course they didn't like it)... He's taken his blog up an down whenever he felt that he was getting too much heat. He's inconsistent with his own claims regarding his motives - like his new blog first entry where he says no one is accusing Michael McStay vs. his latest blog entry directly accusing Michael McStay. He's inserted himself all over media pieces as an "expert" on the case, on and on... I wish he'd shut the eff up and go away. But, freedom of speech still reigns supreme and he seems to crave the attention, so I expect he'll still be popping up all over the place.

Anyway, if LE uncovers anything to indicate that Michael McStay might be involved or responsible, I'll be really interested in hearing it.



^ PEOPLE magazine's next issue will feature the McStays on the cover. I don't think there will be any new information therein, but do hope that the person/people responsible for the family's deaths are alive and aware of the continued massive nationwide exposure - and shaking in their boots.

If anyone's interested in the ongoing drama between Michael McStay, other family members, and "author" Rick Baker - here are some links to sites they manage or follow:

mcstayfamily.org
Find the McStay Family Facebook page
Search for the McStay Family Facebook page
Justice for the McStay Family (rickgbaker.blogspot.com)

[HairOfTheDog]

IS HE A VIABLE SUSPECT?
MICHAEL MCFADDEN - MARRIED TO JOSEPH MCSTAY'S EX-WIFE



Good to see some investigative reporting kicking into gear on this case.

Mr. McFadden may be completely uninvolved with the McStay's disappearance and murders, but he'd be at the top of my list of POIs to rule in or out based on his previous criminal history and connection to the family (even without Patrick McStay's claims).

Snip:
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.

"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."

"I know that Joey had discussed going for custody of his eldest boy. I know that there was a CPS report. I have found evidence that there was a threat. I found my son's notes that tell me what was going on, and McFadden is named in the notes," Patrick McStay said. "To me, that is enough to investigate this guy."

McFadden, 49, works at a jewelry store in Laguna Beach, once owned by his father-in-law.

Court records show McFadden is an ex-con who served prison time following a felony, domestic violence assault 15 years ago.

In July of 1998, Huntington Beach police officers arrested McFadden after the brutal assault that caused great bodily injury to his then girlfriend, a mother of four children, according to court records.

McFadden, then age 33, was charged in Orange County Superior Court with eight felony counts, including burglary, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, corporal injury to a spouse (or significant other), terrorist threats, and attempted murder.

In January 2000, McFadden pleaded guilty to a pair of felonies: assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, and terrorist threats. He was sentenced to two years, eight months in prison; and ended up serving 15 months.

"What can you take from this? I mean, I gotta figure this guy is pretty dangerous," said Patrick McStay, Joseph McStay's father.

Full story: http://www.760kfmb.com/story/24235590/mc...l-mcfadden

[Cheyne]

Damn, that dude looks mean.

It sounds like he has the history of being violent, and a motive if he had anything to do with the McStays murders. Hope the dude has an alibi if he wasn't involved.

Why weren't these people investigated, questioned and (possibly) poly'd when the McStays disappeared? Now years have gone by and memories fade, people move and what seemed significant at the time to potential witnesses is all but forgotten now. I wish the police would take missing persons cases a bit more seriously.

[Cheyne]

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.

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.

Another possible suspect?

Well, we may have another suspect in the McStay murders. Johansen sounds like he may have mental issues, and an irrational attachment to Summer.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, we may have another suspect in the McStay murders. Johansen sounds like he may have mental issues, and an irrational attachment to Summer.

And, a history of threatening women and children with murder.

He's definitely a POI, for me. I really hope San Bernadino PD is going over all of the alibis and communications for the business associates (Kavanaugh and Merritt), Joseph's ex-wife's violent ex-con husband (Michael McFadden), and Summer Martelli's violent convict ex-boyfriend (Vick Johansen).

It takes a special kinda hate/evil to kill little kids; the fact that Johansen has done time for threatening to do just that is a big red flag that San Diego PD should have investigated as soon as Summer and her kids went missing, IMO.

Snip:

Vick Johansen - ex of Summer Martelli McStay

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.

The neighbor, who requested that she not be identified, wrote a description of the 2004 incident in a restraining order declaration obtained by CBS News 8:

On April 20, 2004 I was standing in front of my dining room window facing my driveway when I saw a person with bleached blonde hair pass by and head for my back yard. I went to my sliding window off of my living room and opened the door to see this defendant walking up on my patio deck. He started taking off a dog run leach that he loaned us months ago. It was hooked around two trees next to my deck. As he was up on my patio deck to take the cable off of the trees he was looking at me yelling, "I am going to kill your son" over & over & over. And then said, "I am going to kill you and your daughter." I told him that my son doesn't live here anymore and he said, "You better stay away from my house." As he was going to the other tree to finish taking down the dog run he was shaking a 1 ½ foot metal pipe and yelling, "I am going to kill you, your son and your daughter. I was a Marine and I know how to kill." As he was leaving my back yard he was still yelling, "I am going to kill you, your daughter, and your son" over & over.

[Cheyne]

This is what perplexes me about "missing" persons in this country. From Katelyn Markham to Michelle, Gina and Amanda to the McStays. Why does LE assume that hard working people with no history of mental illness or criminal activity just walk away from their lives? Shouldn't we focus a bit on why they would have left and check into their associates and families?

Bah, it must be because I don't believe that drugs or prostitution should be illegal. Think of the resources LE would have for stopping (or at least investigating) violent crimes if we could get rid of the vice squads and put them to work elsewhere.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think part of the reason that LE too often assumes normal people walk away from their lives is because that's most often what in fact happened.

But, I agree with you, Cheyne, the stats shouldn't determine to what extent something is investigated.

I'd also like to see less focus on drugs and prostitution, and more focus on doing deeper than surface level investigations into missing persons cases where there is no history of flight (along with more focus on violent crimes and pursuit of scam artists who exploit the most vulnerable).

As for the McStays, I think the number of shady characters in their world might have contributed to how San Diego PD handled the case; like they figured the family mighta gotten involved over their heads in something and just wanted to escape it all. Why not instead assume that one of those shady characters made the family disappear and thoroughly investigate both possibilities in parallel? SD PD really effed up on this case, IMO.

I wonder how San Bernadino LE is handling the homicide investigation and who they've ruled out or in. Very much hoping that there's an arrest and this case gets solved quickly.

[HairOfTheDog]

4 YEARS - MYSTERY STILL UNSOLVED



Tuesday, February 4^th, marked the four year anniversary of the family's disappearance.

Next week, on February 11^th, it will be three months since their remains were discovered in the San Bernadino, California desert.

There's been no news or updates from the San Bernadino PD since the bodies were first located and the case formally became a "homicide investigation".

Article with recap of case twists over the years:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/4-...94481.html

[Midwest Spy]

Just read another update on the McStay family.

I'm drawn to brother Michael more and more as a prime suspect. What I don't know is what was his intimate relationship with his brother (Joe) and sister-in-law really like?

The search on the McStay family computer about Mexico one week before they disappeared could only have been made by Joe, his wife or someone who was considered 'right at home' in the home', I.e., a parent, sibling, etc. What a nice convenient search to have on the computer's record.

He also cleaned up the house, and had access to other aspects in the home well before police could obtain a search warrant.

I only struggle with how he'd be able to kill everybody, unless there was an accomplice.

IMO, he's the one.

If I'm late to the party with this hunch, I apologize.

[HairOfTheDog]

I really don't think Mike McStay killed his brother Joey and Joey's wife and kids, MS. But, I do think he took advantage of the disappearance and did some shady stuff to profit from it financially. I think he probably figured that Joey and the family had taken off somewhere and didn't want to be found.

But, I understand why you and a lot of other case followers are suspicious of him being the murderer or involved in the murders -- you all might be right.

Anyway, today authorities are set to hold a press conference on the status of the murder investigation. I hope investigators have made good headway and we learn some new details. But, the press conference might have been prompted simply because it's just a few days short of the 1 year anniversary since the bodies were located, or because they've gotten nowhere and now want to ask for the public's help.

Ref: http://us.cnn.com/2014/11/07/justice/mcs...?hpt=ju_c2

[HairOfTheDog]

The press conference is being held in San Berandino, CA and will be live-streamed by KTLA in Los Angeles.

http://ktla.com/on-air/live-streaming/

It's set to begin any minute (meanwhile they're running LA news).

[HairOfTheDog]

SUSPECT ARRESTED -- CHARGED WITH 4 COUNTS OF MURDER

Wow -- huge development.

Chase Merritt -- the business partner who claimed to consider Joey his best friend and claimed to be desperately seeking justice for the family -- was arrested on Wednesday and is charged with four counts of murder with special circumstances.

He is being held without bail.


Chase Merritt (old mug shot and recent photo)

San Bernadino PD and the FBI believe that Merritt killed all four family members by blunt force in their Fallbrook, CA home (San Diego PD always said there was no evidence of a crime at the house and that's why they figured the family might have left willingly -- that was a major misstep, it seems).

LE believes that Merritt acted alone; LE is declining to reveal a motive at this time.

Joey's brother Michael and his mom Susan were introduced by the sheriff at the press conference, as were Summer's mother Blanche and her sister Tracy.

[Midwest Spy]

I love how the business partner was raving about how good business was.

I wonder if he was in the middle of something that could've gotten himself in trouble with Joe, i.e., skimming profits, etc. Maybe about to be found out?

He says Joe was his best friend, but let 4 days go by without contacting him or checking on him. This after talking to him 4 times the day they disappeared. Very interesting.

I know he took a lie detector test but I'm not convinced he didn't do it.

I love how he has publicly declared he has never thought the Mc Stays would go to Mexico and that the wife was jealous, but not capable of murder. He looks rational saying that. If he had been adamant that they'd gone to Mexico, if their bodies get discovered, well, he'd appear more guilty. Smart.

I'm guessing that someone can prove he's very familiar with the burial area?

I think it's the business partner.

I love quoting myself.