McStay Family Murdered: Will Desert Graves Yield Their Killers?
Deserted in the Desert
Gianni Family Photo
Gianni Martelli McStay had rock star hair at only 4years old. His little brother Joseph, affectionately nicknamed Chubba- did as well. They both rocked a beanie like no other little dudes.
Chubba Family Photo
Gianni and Chubba were as inseparable in life as they were in death when they were recovered in a shallow grave in the Mojave Desert on November 11.
Their parents, Joseph, 40 and Summer McStay, 43, were located in a separate grave nearby.
A 3rd gravesite was found-but empty. A protected source not authorized to speak to the media has confirmed that at least one of the parent’s remains was bound by an electrical cord.
While formal DNA comparisons and autopsy protocols are pending, the manner of death in all four victims have been declared homicides.
Just about 50 yards off the intersection of Route 15 and Quarry Rd the family that San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (SDCSD) believed was “likely” voluntarily missing on their own and living in Mexico, was recovered in a 30 hour excavation process.  An off road motorcycle enthusiast called the San Bernardino County Sheriff when he came across what he suspected was human remains.
Last April SDCSD forwarded the McStay case to the FBI based on their conclusions that the McStay’s had McGone to Mexico, following a lengthy complaint of their handling of the case by Patrick McStay, Joseph’s Father.  Troy Dugal, previous lead investigator of the McStay case, appeared on several news and cable television programs over the last three years explaining there was “overwhelming” circumstantial evidence the family of four that was pictured crossing the border into Tijuana, Mexico the evening of February 8th, 2010 was in fact, the McStays.
Following the recovery, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office will maintain jurisdiction of the investigation.
Frenemies.. Â Frenethieves.. Friends.. Family or Cartel?
Who brutally murders innocent children and dumps them in a hole they dug in the desert?
Logically- someone who is very familiar with the area. Of course it is just as shocking and horrific to murder anyone, but it takes a specific brand of evil to murder a baby. Make that two.
There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that either Joseph or Summer McStay had any ties to drugs, associates with ties to drugs or cartel, at any time.  None.
Contrary to a top selling book on the case, “No Goodbyes” by Rick Baker, there has never been any evidence whatsoever that Summer McStay was some sort of closeted psychotic and homicidal type. The book goes on to malign members of both Joseph and Summer’s families and in some cases outright accuses same of extortion or stealing.  Baker’s subsequent public theory is that Summer murdered Joseph and everyone should be looking for her and the boys in Mexico.
Not surprisingly , Baker has requested Amazon pull his book from available stock and has offered refunds to prior purchases.  Popular online sleuth sites previously promoting “No Goodbye’s” have since either deleted it’s hundreds of posts endorsing Baker, or moved them to a member’s only private viewing area.
Albeit obtusely, Baker does touch on a troubling and serious abuse allegation concerning Joseph McStay’s oldest son from his first marriage, Jonah, and his step-father, Michael McFadden. He writes summer filed a complaint with Child Protective Services after she and Joseph recorded a conversation with Jonah and placed a copy of same with a private party for safekeeping. Blinkoncrime.com has been able to independently verify that is accurate, but that the investigation was not known to be completed until shortly after the McStay’s disappearance. Under California probate law, Jonah would be an heir to the McStay estate or as otherwise provisioned in the instance of an existing will.
Interviewed by Laura Ling for E! Investigation, Joseph McStay’s web administrator Dan Kavanaugh claims he was the first to become concerned. In Baker’s book, he refers to him as a suspect and details how he alleges he was funneling cash from McStay’s business account before he or anyone else knew the family was missing. Kavanaugh has an unrelated open criminal matter in San Diego County according to court records.
Chase Merritt- Joseph McStay’s business partner in his water fountain design and installation business was the last number ever dialed from his phone at 8:28PM on February 4th. Merritt joined McStay in a lunch meeting earlier that afternoon where they discussed a proposal for a very large car wash chain to feature custom fountains in each facility.  According to family friend MacCargar McGyver, McStay was very excited about the opportunity. Merritt claims he passed a voluntary lie detector test, and that he was adamant that Joseph McStay would never have taken his family to Mexico and has always believed they met with foul play.
McGYver spent several days leading up to February 4th at the McStay home due to a painter Summer hired not returning to complete the job. McGyver introduced Summer and Joseph and by all accounts was a close confidant of the couple.
Patrick McStay, Joseph’s Father living in Texas has had some harsh words for the investigation into the disappearance of his son, daughter in law and grandsons.
“…most botched, inept investigation I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
He also believes very strongly that the list of suspects with motive to kill his family members is very short. Three, to be exact.
He said the department didn’t even bother to contact him to tell him his son’s remains had been found.
“I got a message from someone [on Thursday] on Facebook telling me to go and read an article,” McStay said. “The minute I read the article, I knew it was him.”
“I have exhausted and have so much information on three possible persons of interest. All have a motive.”
The three individuals are not connected to each other, but all of them seem like likely candidates. Patrick says one of them seems to be a particularly likely suspect: he’s a wealthy man with a long rap sheet that includes charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and burglary. McStay says he, too, has a motive for killing his son.
Although Mr. McStay did not reference him by name, he may be referring to Michael James McFadden, who was arrested in July 1998 and charged with attempted murder and a litany of other felonies including great bodily harm to a child:
459/460(a) PC – Burglary 07/16/1998 02/25/2000 Dismissed
422 PC – Assault 07/16/1998 02/25/2000 Dismissed
273.5(a) PC – Domestic Violence 07/16/1998 02/25/2000 Dismissed
12022.7(d) PC – Infliction of great bodily injury on a child under the age of five … 07/16/1998 02/25/2000 Dismissed
422 PC – Assault 07/16/1999 02/25/2000 Dismissed
240 PC – Attempt to inflict violent force on another person. 07/16/1999 02/25/2000 Dismissed
245(a)(1) PC – Assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm 07/16/1998 01/18/2000 Pled Guilty
12022.7(d) PC – Infliction of great bodily injury on a child under the age of five… 07/16/1998 02/25/2000 Dismissed
422 PC – Criminal Terrorist Threat 07/16/1999 01/18/2000 Pled Guilty
664-187 PC – Attempted Murder 07/16/1998 02/25/2000 Dismissed
You will note some of the charges are from 1998, others 1999 on the anniversary date, McFadden successfully negotiated a plea agreement and only pled to criminal terroristic threats and assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm. Both felonies.
In the complaint he lodged against the detectives in SDCSD, Patrick McStay specifically references failure to interview key suspects he provided to LE directly.
Given the location of the bodies, it would seem that whoever is responsible would at least want investigators to think McFadden was involved. As a self-proclaimed mountain bike “racer”, McFadden has participated in several bike events in various locations all along the Route 15 Mojave corridor. SBCSO says they will be re-interviewing everyone in the case and have no suspects.
There have been no named suspects to date and the investigation is ongoing. Memorial or Funeral arrangements for the McStay’s have not yet been announced . LATE EDIT: The family and friends of the McStay family will gather at the grave site in Victorville, on Joseph’s McStay’s birthday.
To be continued in Part 2:Â Analysis of the last day of their lives points to involvement by someone they knew.
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wrt: Bip says: February 3, 2014 at 4:01 pm
Thanks Bip for clarifying that the Who’s image had an incorrect date.
I just blindly believed Who’s date of 2/02/2010 without looking for the imagery date.
Bip says:
February 3, 2014 at 4:01 pm
42/whodunnit: I believe that when you zoom in on the linked aerial to the grave sites, the date of that imagery is 3/22/2013, not 2/2/2010
It may be that google uses different images from different dates at different resolution levels… So, as you zoom in, you leave one image and enter another image made on a different date….
Bip is correct.
B
——-
WOW, there goes my whole thing!! I APOLOGIZE TO ALL FOR MY IGNORANCE!!!
I am so sorry I wasn’t aware of google uses different images as you zoom in.
When I zoomed in, there was nothing that indicated a date of march 22, 2013.
So, back too the drawing board!!
You have to pay attention to the date on the lower left, and there are different versions of google.
LOL, @back to the drawing board. Atta girl.
B
Has anyone here seen this?
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/342/460/813/help-arrest-rick-bick-g-baker/
It was sent to me previously- RB signed it I heard, lol.
B
whodunnit says:
I am not discounting the possibility that a vehicle was involved in some connection with the grave sites, all I am doing is providing a link that shows that a vehicle’s tracks were present at the grave site at least two days before the McStay family disappeared.
This refutes a theory that the tracks were made by a vehicle in the process of dumping the bodies.
Intriguing, right?
Who I am confused now, I thought there is no image of tracks at gravesite on feb 2 or prior to 4th.
The only two images I get on google earth are 2/1/2009 which is too blurry and 22/3/2013. Am I wrong or is there an image that shows tracks there prior to disappearance?
Sorry…apparently the petition has been taken down…sorry, it was there when I checked earlier and gone now.
Blink,
How do you know that DK make good on one of his threats in the IM conversation? And which threat was it?
Thanks in advance!
That is not what I said.
B
“I can tell you that DK did follow through on some of the site-related threats for sure.
B”
This was said in response to:
“I still think that IM exchange (if authentic) speaks volumes about DK and his motives to potentially harm that family. Some of his comments could be very telling under the circumstances. My guess is that there was no buyout, DK got mad, and more than followed through on his threats.”
So what threat(s) did he follow through on?
The site-related ones. I assume you also saw a follow up response that I was not going to be more specific at this juncture. I have passed this information on to the FBI. Not being rude Zoo- I just can’t.
B
Inbetween my posts I saw the post that you wouldn’t say where you got that info from, so I only asked which threats were followed up on the 2nd time. Your last response summed it up good enough for me. Thank you.
YW, Zoo
B
Per People’s magazine December article:
“Summer was so protective of her family, and Joe was so loving and such a good dad,” says Melissa Geller, a bridesmaid at the couple’s 2007 wedding who is married to Joe’s best friend Alan. “They loved each other very much.” .. . . “- their friend Melissa Geller speculates on the possibility of cartel interest in Joseph’s business. “Maybe the drug cartel wanted him to put drugs in his fountains and he didn’t want to do that,” . . .
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20763004,00.html
Sunny says:
February 3, 2014 at 10:46 pm
“Sorry…apparently the petition has been taken down…sorry, it was there when I checked earlier and gone now.”
Sunny: I would have loved to have seen that petition, unfortunately it has been removed. Can you tell me what it was about? Thanks in advance to you or anyone else that can tell me the contents of the petition.
bystander writes:
Who I am confused now, I thought there is no image of tracks at gravesite on feb 2 or prior to 4th.
The only two images I get on google earth are 2/1/2009 which is too blurry and 22/3/2013. Am I wrong or is there an image that shows tracks there prior to disappearance/
—–
Bystander, this was a foul up on MY part. I did find a google image that was dated for Feb2, 2010., for Victorville. HOWEVER, when zooming in on that image, evidently, OTHER images from later dates are used.
So the CLOSE UP images in Victorville, were actually from different dates than the original FEB 2, 2010 wide view image of Victorville .
I am so sorry that I did not know how to use this tool properly. I did not look further to see if the date of the close up image was Feb 2, I just assumed that- a HUGE error on my part. I am truly sorry.
. I didn’t mean to cause confusion, please accept my apology!
I want to thank all who have been so gracious in allowing me this learning curve.
It is frustrating that apparently there is no way for a layman to access satellite images of the area of the grave sites during the critical time period of Feb 4 2010 through March 2013.
Sometimes it has taken google maps so long to update images that the terrain has changed radically by the time they put up the more current one. There was even a case of where a slain body, mudered in 2009, remained on the site map for years after the death, and the family had to contact google to remove that image :http://boingboing.net/2013/11/18/google-maps-image-of-boys-de.html
But as for the grave site of the McStays, whatever images collected do NOT show a close up of the grave site during the time period that is relevant to discerning if the tracks were made the day the McStays were buried.
I guess at least the sites were remote enough that they were disregarded by whatever is used to collect the google images in the first place?
wrt: Sierra’s (my own comment) on February 4, 2014 at 3:13 am
Per People’s magazine December article:
“Summer was so protective of her family, and Joe was so loving and such a good dad,” says Melissa Geller, a bridesmaid at the couple’s 2007 wedding who is married to Joe’s best friend Alan. “They loved each other very much.” .. . . “- their friend Melissa Geller speculates on the possibility of cartel interest in Joseph’s business. “Maybe the drug cartel wanted him to put drugs in his fountains and he didn’t want to do that,” . . .
My comment: By referring to the “the drug cartel”, does Melissa have a particular cartel in mind? There are several that operate on the southwest borders.
Specifically, there are at least 63 active drug interdiction targets in 2010, per the “National Southwest Border Counter-Narcotics Strategy Implementation Update” for 2010 (page 14 of 64):
“The Consolidated Priority Target (CPOT) List represents an interagency effort to identify the highest priority international drug trafficking organizations that affect the supply of illegal drugs in the United States, allowing U.S. law enforcement to focus its critical resources on the greatest threats from the Mexican cartels. Of the 63 active CPOTs on the FY 2010 CPOT List, 25 are based in Mexico. In FY 2009 and FY 2010 to date, OCDETF agencies dismantled 10 CPOTs and severely disrupted the operations of another two.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/policy-and-research/swb_implementation10_0.pdf
JM’s phone record shows 17 calls with Alan Geller’s two phone numbers; 1) at Beach Cities Real Estate, San Diego and 2) from Geller’s number in the Vernazza Realty office. Beach Cities Real Estate Telephone was 949-310-7144, with an address at an upscale apartment house at 527 10th Avenue #411 San Diego, California, 92101. The other number for Geller’s is 949-682-5717 at Vernazza Realty. Thirteen calls were from the San Diego number and the other four were from Geller’s number at Vernazza Realty.
Of the 17 calls between Joe’s number and Geller’s two numbers, (which were all made within 1/24 through 1/30/2010), just 4 were actually “from” JM and the other 13 were calls/texts were from Geller to JM. This ratio seems odd given that AG has stated that he considered JM his BF. Interestingly, JM’s four calls were all made to the San Diego number (Joe called the San Diego number twice and texted it twice). Joe did not make any calls to Geller at the Vernazza Realty number.
I wonder if the flurry of calls from Geller had anything to do with finalizing any remaining real estate transactions on the AVO house. If so, it seems that Joe would have called the Vernazza Realty number instead of making his two texts and two calls only to the San Diego number. However, if Summer was the person handling any outstanding issues on the AVO house transaction, perhaps she made any needed calls to Vernazza Realty from her phone.
Shoot! messed up on the link to Geller’s number as show on Vernazza Realty website. Here it is:
http://www.vernazzarealty.com/DynamicContent/Roster/PagedByLastName.aspx?o=1335#G
Here is the cached petition regarding Rick Baker.
Help Arrest Rick G. Baker
author: Alicia Billie
target: Legal Authorites working on the McStay Family Murder investigation
signatures:
1,000
we’ve got signatures, help us get to 1,000
overview
petition
Horry County South Carolina has set a marvelous precedent by arresting two men who played games with people and evidence involved in the case of missing Heather Elvis. “During the course of the investigation, suspect (William) Barrett began posting misleading information on a social media site regarding the disappearance of Heather Elvis.” police said. It was also discovered that in an effort to conduct a separate investigation from law enforcement, he began questioning a witness in an attempt to gain confidential information about the law enforcement investigation, police said.
In addition, he conducted an independent search, where potential evidence was uncovered and did not immediately report it to law enforcement, police said.
“Also during the investigation, (Garrett) Starnes fabricated misleading information regarding the disappearance of Heather Elvis and then relayed the false information to law enforcement,” police said.
This information was then posted to a social media site, causing investigating officers to obtain legal process regarding the information which diverted them from legitimate leads, police said.(source WBTW news).
We are begging the SBSD to do the same for the McStay Murder Investigation. Stop Rick G. Baker, of the Rick and Becky Show, author of the self published book about the McStay family, from continuing to obstruct justice and confuse law enforcement and the public in regards to details of the investigation as well as sharing things that could potentially hamper the investigation.
In comparison to the men arrested in Horry County, Rick Baker has done 10 times the damage to this case for 3 years. Please sign below to stop the man who has fabricated evidence, lied to LE and the public countless times about his information on the Mcstays and their location, fabricated email addresses in order to pretend to be one of the murdered McStays contacting friends and family members, posted personal information of people only wishing to help and sending threats to those who disagreed with him, and refused to relay evidence to law enforcement that he claims to have in his possession. Please sign so the police will stop this man from harming this investigation into the four murdered McStays. Thank you.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AkuMI6IeGs8J:www.thepetitionsite.com/342/460/813/help-arrest-rick-bick-g-baker/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Those of you who are using the free Google Earth to look at the area around victorville should realize that some areas including Stoddard Wells road have been covered by the surface camera car. These were done just recently and have a 2014 copyright. To get this view use the street view- little man icon.
Using this view you can get a better view of the actual terrain without using the cursor to check the ground elevations in the aerial views. This view will allow one to leave the street view and go back to aerial view with much more clarity by having the eye level less than 100 feet above the surface.
One will see that the ground elevation changes provide a lot more concealment for activities than one may think.
There is a lot of information along the bottom of the view. If you move the cursor, you will find that the co-ordinates change with your movement. The co-ordinates show the latitude and longitude of the cursor’s position on the earths surface. It is broken into degrees, minutes, seconds and hundredths of a second.
The newer versions of Google Earth also have a “go back in time” feature to allow one to go back and look at some area that was photographed at a prior date.
WRT: A Texas Grandfather says:
February 4, 2014 at 4:51 pm
Thank you for the 411 on that. Always good to learn something new!
TEXAS GRANDFATHER:
Feb 4, 4:15 p.m.
————
Thanks so much for that info, you always seem to have the right answer when most needed.
Everyone needs a grandfather like you!
True Dat.
B
Who
I checked your link at Victorville and took it North along I-15 to the Quarry Road/ Stoddard wells road area. It appears that the google surface car traveled the I-15 and Quarry Rd area in May of 2012 although the map integration is Copyright 2014.
If one moves to the South lanes of I-15 North of the enter/exit ramps from Quarry road and looks West, the surface or street view shows that the rise in elevation quickly conceals Quarry Road. One can see in that view a dirt road to the West of the pavement that leads up the elevation towards the high voltage power line right of way. It is probably a service road for inspecting the steel towers.
There is concealment from the highway on this dirt road as would be expected. The increase in elevation also would make it more difficult for anyone to notice an activity taking place in daylight. The same thing happens on the West side of Quarry road that is even higher and steep before the land breaks towards the dry wash that carries the main water flow during a rain.
The real problem in desert country with water is that if it rains enough there is no man made systems to move the water fast enough so it has no where to go quickly. All water in this area has to go into the river that is adjacent to Victorville.
Thanks for your kind words. This is why grandfathers make good teachers when they see the need. Experience over time builds a lot of knowledge.
Blink
Has the exact longitude and latitude of the graves sites ever been published?
Below from blink
Yes who, here. I have no broadband at the moment so I can’t search it on my iPhone.
Who says:
Blink
Has the exact longitude and latitude of the graves sites ever been published?
Below from blink
Yes who, here. I have no broadband at the moment so I can’t search it on my iPhone.
34.601651,-117.257237
Hi Blink:
I just wanted to let you and the others know that I live about 15-20 minutes from the grave site so if anyone needs me to go there for any reason please let me know. Thank you for all your hard work and effort in getting this crime resolved. Do you think there might be an arrest made soon or an update from SBSO? Thanks in advance!
laman- my sincere thanks- very kind offer. To the extent that I am able, I can say that any work BOC has done on the crime scene located at the recovery site, is not currently subject to public disclosure.
It is my feeling that folks that visit that site with an investigative interest ( not you of course) that is outside of the current investigation, is at risk of the possibility of criminal charges. I know that sounds intimidating and harsh, and I agree, jus sayin’. Imo, and respectfully, an obstruction charge is overdue in this case.
B
Blink: Can you be so kind as to explain what is the role of the FBI in a case like this, and what would be the circumstances under which a local police department would request such assistance?
Thanks.
It was the FBI’s case from April 2013 until recovery because SBCSD asked them to be the lead agency. All other efforts prior and since are “assisting” in nature unless SDSD asked them to review the case officially- which would then result in investigative feedback on the case.
However, I have personally worked on a case I am not permitted to reference publicly where that occurred, and the investigating PD ignored the feedback and it remains unsolved. Fwiw, I concurred with FBI findings review.
B
Now they can potentially arrest you for going near a crime scene? Wish they would have done that with the house after this family disappeared.
No, not for going near one, but for altering one with one’s own agenda that might interfere with an active investigation by a “layperson”.
B
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/4-Year-Anniversary-of-Disappearance-of-McStay-Family-243594481.html
This article is from yesterday and the 4 year anniversary of their disappearance. The video shows inside a grave, the shallowness of it, the texture of the dirt.
MMc’s quote lifted from BOC:
http://lightingtheirwayhome.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/gianni-and-joseph-jr-mcstay-endangered-missing-february-4-2010-updated-12-22-2011/
If San Diego PD had declared it was probable the family was abducted, would that have forced a turnover to FBI as lead based on childrens’ abduction? (I’m wondering if the “they’re over the border SDPD storyline was to avoid the
alternative abduction conclusion.)
Very likely, yes.
B
I hope that the SDPD really did believe in their theory as to what happened to them and that their theory was not one so that they could avoid an FBI investigation. .. That would not look good and the implications could be extremely complicated.And thank you very much for your replies to previous questions.
I may not agree with the rationale- but I don’t think SDCSD feared the FBI’s involvement as they called them in, and I also do not believe they would have ultimately requested the FBI to handle the case without a valid reason. I continue to believe that their is/was a parallel investigation involving a CI by some means, that had them hand over the case.
B
After using Blink’s posted co-ordinates to place a map pin on the actual location of the graves, the easiest and most concealed access to the area is from a dirt roadway on the East side of Quarry road. This is just North of the road mentioned in my post #19.
In a straight line East,the distance from Quarry road is a little over 600 ft. To get to the grave site in a vehicle would require some additional distance of driving, but not much.
From the grave site Eastward to the shoulder of the Southbound lanes of I-15 is a little over 1,500 ft.
The graves are above a natural wash just to the East. IMO it would take a lot of water falling in a short period of time to flood the wash up to the level of the graves. Most likely soil movement would be by wind action, if any.
What about animal activity? This is high desert country near 3,000 ft. elevation. The primary access would be an animal that forages by digging. Someone mentioned Cyotes who will eat dead animals when the meat is fresh. However, that is the last choice they make for food preferring to kill and eat or forage in the garbage for cooked beef or chicken. They would not dig for food unless they were chasing prey.
We have two possible strong suspects, the IT guy who tried to sell the business and removed funds from the bank accounts and one of the painters. However, the painter as a professional would never leave the lids to paint cans off for longer than it took to remove a portion of the paint for immediate use. Painting out of an original can is a no no to a professional.
Milisa says:
February 5, 2014 at 11:45 pm
Watched the video. Thanks for posting. How very sad.
For anyone that lives close and has visited the area…are there motorcycle tire tracks in the area?
Yes.
B
a brief roster which includes three names that are new (to me anyway: http://m.imdb.com/title/tt2175378/fullcredits/cast
@Blink by CI do you mean a private investigator?
I apologize, CI= criminal informant.
B
@ATG. “We have two possible strong suspects, the IT guy who tried to sell the business and removed funds from the bank accounts and one of the painters. However, the painter as a professional would never leave the lids to paint cans off for longer than it took to remove a portion of the paint for immediate use. Painting out of an original can is a no no to a professional.”
I’m behind. Were there open paint cans? You are right, zero painters would paint out of a can.
Housewives either. Every hardware store has those flat things you pour it in
As I read your bald recap, imo DK (it guy) was a mere quick opportunist.
Painter unlikely also.
This was either a criminal hit enforcing a message
or a case like that man who murdered his wife &
2 adopted sons to be with his paramour sans child support…
a very personal hit with unique motive,
Apparently, drug traffickers have long been hiding their drugs inside metal and tile shipments. Per Patrick McStay, Joey went to “nearby border towns” to buy granite for his kitchen in late 2009. Perhaps unbeknown to Joey, the purchases harbored some drugs.
http://maggiesnotebook.blogspot.com/2010/02/joseph-mcstay-summer-mcstay-missing.html
“Patrick McStay told authorities that he thinks his son had done business in Tijuana as recently as December 2009, and had traveled to “nearby border towns” late last year to buy granite for his home kitchen. Some of McStays smaller fountains are manufactured in Mexico according to the father. Patrick McStay said he was the initial investor in his son’s company.”
http://www.cbp.gov/archived/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/archives/2009_news_releases/nov_09/11162009_8.xml.html
(Monday, November 16, 2009)
“Rio Grande City/Pharr, Texas U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Rio Grande City commercial cargo facility seized approximately 1,725 pounds of marijuana while officers at the Pharr commercial cargo facility seized close to 505 pounds of cocaine. The combined estimated street value of the drugs seized is $17.5 million.
On November 14, CBP officers working at the Rio Grande City, Texas commercial cargo facility came in contact with a northbound commercial shipment of floor tile. After the initial primary inspection, a CBP officer referred the 1992 Kenworth tractor pulling a Ferbus flatbed trailer and the commercial shipment of floor tile to secondary for further inspection. While in secondary, Dusty, a narcotic detector dog, alerted officers to the presence of drug odors emanating from the tile shipment.”
http://www.680news.com/2010/06/01/police-arrest-montreal-man-after-multi-million-dollar-drug-bust-at-port-of-halifax/
“Police arrest Montreal man after multi-million dollar drug bust at Port of Halifax”
Jeff Lansing Jun 1, 2010 02:53:29 PM
“The 343 kilograms of cocaine were found on a Montreal-bound vessel from Venezuela in November. The drugs were hidden in a sophisticated manner, in ceramic tiles and were found using x-ray technology.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-16/trafficker-sentenced-to-jail-over-importing-drugs/5160098
Updated Mon 16 Dec 2013, 8:44pm AEDT
“. . . Chung Yin Tam was one of five people arrested in January after police discovered almost 30 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a shipment of ceramic tiles. It is estimated the drugs had a street value of between $25 and $34 million.”
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1997-03-01/news/1997060038_1_drug-seizure-cocaine-baltimore-warehouse
March 01, 1997|By Peter Hermann | Peter Hermann, SUN STAFF
“In what federal law enforcement officials are calling the largest drug seizure in Maryland history, police have confiscated more than a ton of cocaine, worth $25 million, that had been shipped to a chemical company in Baltimore. . . finding the 2,200 pounds of cocaine . . . Police said they resealed the cylinder and allowed the shipment to proceed to Baltimore. An undercover federal agent then got in touch with the suspects and, posing as a trucker willing to transport illegal loads, arranged to help ship the drugs. . . Police said the drugs were hidden in tin boxes packed inside six of 20 large cylinders. One shipment came to Baltimore directly from South America, the other through Houston.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/7817733/Bizarre-busts-US-Border-Patrol-pictures-of-the-most-bizarre-attempts-at-smuggling-people-and-drugs.html?image=9
“hidden in garden furniture”
http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=194745
“POLICE and customs officers have seized more than 70 kilograms of the drug ice worth up to $42 million after finding it in outdoor furniture shipped from Hong Kong.”
Good research Sierra. As I have stated previously, I have not developed any evidence that leads me to believe that Joey and/or Summer were involved in anything that was not legitimate. He definitely had a need to use various importers and methods of shipping- that is absolutely correct.
B
Did anybody listen to the radio show last night with Rick Baker?
Sorry no, I was treating myself to a hot poker in the eye. It went too fast so I did both.
*snark alert*
B
I am surprised nobody has mentioned the rb interview from yesterday.
To Blink:
forgive me, but I was trying to find a link today ( Feb 7) to the rick baker interview. I found one site where a person writes that she will send the transcripts by email, which I have no desire to do. Point here is that I am in accord with you, I don’t care what Rick baker has to say, and I agree he has done a lot of damage in the perception of this case.
But while searching, the name Israel Keyes cdm up, so I tracked that down. I found this bloodspot with his history:
http://israelkeyes.blogspot.com
What jumped out to me was that within a year prior to Feb 2010, he had been in San diego. He had walked across the border at San Ysidro crossing.
His crimes included taking the victims cars and dropping them off in a parking lot he knew to be un watched by surveillance.
He worked in construction, and in his work history, as well as being a contractor, he supplied sites with things like portable toilets etc.
he admitted to , in one case at least, using the victim’s cell phone to send texts, and removing the battery to prevent the phone from being tracked after the fact.
He claims he used cable ties to render the victims immobile, and used ” murder kits that he would then bury.
He refers to his meticulous planning which included his knowledge of how houses were built ( to guess where exactly the victims would be when he entered the house), and how to use remote locations to deposit the bodies.
He buried stuff = money, the murder kits, etc.
He had a daughter and said in this article that was the reason he ” would never do anything involving children” But IMO that is the only thing he said that
When asked about his crimes, he told LE ” why would I talk about it if they haven’t found the bodies?, meaning that he wouldn’t divulge more information that what the authorities already had.
After his arrest, he was presented with the concept of victims that were considered missing, but may have actually been murdered ( by him). When asked if he thought it would be better for the families of the victims to know what had happened to the victims,( as opposed to just continuing to believe they were missing) He said, no, it would be fine or better if the victims were just considered missing instead of murdered and raped.
He committed suicide in jail in late 2013.
Have you yourself had any thoughts about Israel Keyes?
I have addressed this post to you because i don’t want to ” start a fire” about anyone who has been definitively ruled out. if you would prefer not to post this, that is okay.
Thanks in advance
I listened to the RB interview last night. In a nutshell, he now believes that it was the Sinaloa cartel that offed the McStay family. JM supposedly got in over his head and owed them $250k. LE knew from the beginning that it was drug related, and were reluctant to investigate because they are so afraid of the cartel. Some guy was overheard in a bar in TJ telling the guy next to him that the family had been murdered, as they were watching a story on the McStay case (it was the 3rd anniversary) on the bar’s tv. He was overheard and someone called LE. 3 guys were then secretly arrested by the FBI and held at a secret jail in TJ for 3 weeks. 2 of the men are from TJ, one is from SoCal. They were released, and then the “mysterious” phone tip about the bodies. But LE is suppressing all info because they’re afraid. RB says all of JM’s friends knew he was dead. RB just didn’t believe them.
So he has seen “The Bridge”.
B
I’ve been following a story on NBC29 re Police Captain Kevin Quick who vanished after leaving his mother’s last Friday. His vehicle was eventually located and sadly his body was recovered yesterday. There have been SIX arrests so far. There are links to Cville, Danville, Mannasas, Waynesboro, Afton… Just curious if you think there could be a connection to any other missing or murdered victims – beginning with Morgan Harrington.
Brenda, I’m not certain the RB interview is welcome here based on Blink’s previous comment to my question.
Respectfully Alli- I will sum it up this way. Mr. Baker has zero credibility for me. Patricia Griffin has even less. Both of them outright vilified murder victims and members of their family for kicks in general and during the last interview.
His assertion that a former CIA agent is supplying information to him, is bunk.
Quite simply- if anything he said was true, this case would CONTINUE to be under the jurisdiction of the FBI as the lead agency. It is not. That is just fact. While I do believe and I am on record for months saying I believe there is a parallel investigation that is Federal-based, the fact is this case is in the jurisdiction of SBCSD. I have confirmed that personally more than once.
Lastly- I in no way meant to insult you personally so I hope you do not feel as though I had.
B
I freely admit I don’t have a clue what bought about the demise of the McStay family but I do know this:
Above all else I want to know the cause of death regarding the McStays.
My best guess is there is two possibilities.
One of them means we will ‘know’ the reason for the murders.
The other one means the blow-torch will be applied to those shady characters that are abundant in the McStays circle of family, friends and acquaintances.
Probably!
I struggle with the thought that any of the myriad of POI’s is capable of exterminating a family that included two adorable toddlers.
So how do we find the COD?
For mine Blink is the only one here that has a ghost of a chance of finding the COD.
LE is of course full of human beings. Our species finds it difficult to keep secrets and we all have our little agendas.
Surely someone will leak the COD at some point even if inadvertently.
Larry, thanks for your vote of confidence. I agree with you that potentially the COD’s of all 4 victims has potential to implicate- I am not at all of the opinion it should be the crux of this investigation.
B
Yes, clearly he has seen “The Bridge.” I also found his suggestion that LE and the FBI are essentially rendered completely helpless and unable to do their jobs because of their crippling fear of the cartel just a bit OTT. The interviewer Tricia, literally fawned all over RB throughout the interview….it was a back and forth love fest without the sensational revelations that were teased it would include. And supposedly his “last interview” ever on the subject. And in 10…….9……8……
Sierra
Thanks for your linked stories. Drug traffickers will try any method they can think of to move drugs. The DEA,FBI and other federal agencies often find drugs or have information about a shipment or possible shipment. When that happens, they often co-ordinate with state and local authorities to track it in various ways. Often, if by truck, they will allow a trucker to move hundreds of miles while watching the truck and noting every stop along the way.
I have sat in one of my son-in-laws office while he co-ordinated by phone with other agencies tracking a truck from the border toward San Antonio.
Souther Ca.,Arizona, New Mexico and Texas all have major problems with the drug cartels. Dozens of border tunnels have been uncovered between Mexico and California.
Is this case a drug hit? There is no way to know until LE begins to arrest and charge people thereby releasing some information to the public. We do know that the complete destruction of a family indicates an intense amount of anger by those who killed them.
Agreed and the question then becomes- “Anger at Whom?”
B
Rose
Those little “flat” things are called paint trays and would be used if a roller application is required. Otherwise, a smooth plastic or metal bucket would be used for brushes or by airless spray systems. My big airless system has a pick-up that requires a 2 1/2 gal. or larger bucket for the suction system. I can put one coat of paint on a big building in about 4 hours with that one.
You are right about some non-professional painters (housewives and other do-it-yourselfers) have learned the techniques of professionals.
I have always believed that this was an execution style murder. It gave all indication of pre- planning and precision. It seems also, like these people were hired to kill. Reading the little information there is, and taking everything with a grain of salt for lack of official information, I have entretained my personal conclusion that, if it was not a matter of drug involvenment per se, it was related to that somehow. By that I mean that perhaps there is the distinct possibility that JM borrowed money from a drug related money laundering individual and was unable to come up with payment when it was due. These butchers are not only known to boil people alive for kicks, they love killing entire families .
To speculate on Blinks Question “anger at whom?”
This hit, if it is one, could be against the family to show another family member or some other party that if you don’t do what we want, this will happen to you.
The only way to know is to do backgrounds on all members of families associated with Summer and Joey McStay. It could be someone who sold material to Joey and have no direct family connection.
Alli, the reason i found this site ws becuse of my distain for rb.
Ok, obviously I am new here. I have been trying to digest all that I can about this case rather quickly. So forgive me if I have missed or forgotten something already reported / discussed, but I do have some questions.
I read somewhere that a “white truck” was seen by neighbors parked on the street in front of or near to the McStay’s house on the 4th. I believe that this is even referred to one of the videos of the walk through of the house conducted by MM, with TM and SM’s brother, as filmed by Steph Watts. MM mentions that JM’s partner has a white truck. I have also read where it was intimated that MM also had a white truck. My question: was it ever confirmed by any neighbors that there was a white truck, and did anyone recognize it as being similar to belonging to any of the players in this case?
What are the thoughts now about the border crossing video? Coincidence only, or something more to point LE in the direction of a voluntary flee to Mexico?
I also wonder about the reported sighting of the family by the waiter at the diner in Mexico. He was so sure that it was them, in particular supposedly because of the birthmark. They leave a map behind that they were supposedly studying, and it is tested for DNA which is found to not belong to JM or SM. Does this strike anyone as odd? It seems almost like an obvious plant to further the story that they had crossed the border themselves. Would LE have put those prints through the national database anyway to try to determine who those people were?
Just all so puzzling, and while I don’t think MM was involved in the murders of this family, his actions since very early on certainly seem to suggest that he knew they were not coming back.
Cisero- it is my understanding the presence of a white pickup truck in the driveway of the home has been confirmed, during the day. Time specs undisclosed. There are several white pickups that are traceable to association with the McStay family- in particular, the painter.
There is nothing in anything I have analyzed in this case that leads me to believe that Mike McStay is directly involved in the murders of his brother, sis in law and his nephews.
I can say that as I know his access level to Joey’s accounts, I do have concerns he knows more than he is saying, or he has based his public opinions on same. I can also say that he has a lot to answer for in probate court, at best. At worst, criminal charges wrt his responsibility regarding Joey’s accounts.
Horribly sad.
B
Brenda, I assume you meant disdain for Baker. He does have a way of drawing attention whether positive or negative.
Blink- It seems that LE ‘identified’ (or were confident it was) the skeletal remains of the McStays rather quickly- or at least came to that conclusion very quickly. In most cases I read about it seems it takes them many weeks to get dental records etc to identify remains. It was almost as if they knew right off the bat it was the McStay family- and that is a huge assumption to make. Was this normal to assume so quickly? Or do you feel like they drew conclusions bc of whatever evidence was there & the fact that there were two adults and two small children? Or that an informant gave them the info?
As you know, it continues to be my personal opinion that the recovery is in some way, CI related.
However, that really means nothing in the world of positive identification of skeletonized remains. It could have started with the fact that Summer and/or Joey had ID on them or other items pointing to their identification, but ultimately it is my understanding that both of them were initially identified through dental records which were already on file and this can be done very quickly.
The children had to be identified via DNA, but in order to do that, they either had to have samples of their confirmed DNA (collected previously from say a toothbrush or hairbrush belonging to them, although I don’t believe this was the case) which means at the very least they have a DNA profile for Summer from her remains.
It his not been released what the source of DNA identification was as to mtDNA v DNA but I suspect it is mtDNA.
B