The McStay family murders occurred on or near February 4, 2010, after the family disappeared from their home in Fallbrook, California, United States; their bodies were found in the desert near Victorville, California, on November 13, 2013. Their disappearance was widely reported by the national news media.
On November 7, 2014, police announced they had arrested Charles "Chase" Merritt, Joseph McStay's business partner, and intended to charge him with the murders. The trial began on January 7, 2019, in San Bernardino. On June 10, 2019, a jury found Merritt guilty of murdering the McStay family. He was sentenced to death on January 21, 2020.
Background
In 2010, Joseph McStay (age 40) and his wife Summer (age 43) lived in Fallbrook, California, with their sons Gianni (age 4) and Joseph Jr. (age 3). Joseph owned and operated Earth Inspired Products, a company that built decorative fountains, and Summer was a licensed real estate agent. Summer was born Virginia Lisa Aranda, and had also been known as Summer Martelli.
Disappearance
On February 4, 2010, at 7:47 pm, a neighbor's surveillance system captured the bottom eighteen inches of a vehicle, thought at the time to be the McStay family's 1996 Isuzu Trooper. In the surveillance recording, the vehicle's occupants could not be seen. At 8:28 pm, a call was placed from Joseph's cell phone to his business associate, Charles "Chase" Merritt, which went to voicemail. Merritt later told police that he ignored the voicemail because he was watching a movie. Joseph's cellphone pinged a tower in Fallbrook.
Over the next several days, relatives of the McStays unsuccessfully tried to contact the family. On February 13, Joseph's brother Michael traveled to the McStay residence and climbed in and gained entry to the home upon finding an open window in the back. Michael did not find any family at home, and their two dogs were in the backyard. On February 15, Michael phoned the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSD) and reported that his brother and his family were missing. Officers arrived at the home and requested a search warrant, executed on February 19, 2010. Although a search of the house found no evidence of a struggle or foul play, there were indications of a hasty departure: a carton of eggs had been left on the counter, and two child-size bowls of popcorn sat on a sofa.
During their investigation, the police learned that around 11:00 pm on February 8, the family's Trooper had been towed from a strip mall parking lot in San Ysidro, San Diego, near the Mexican border. It was believed to have been parked there between 5:30 and 7:00 that evening. The car's location from February 4 to February 8 remains unknown.
Discovery of remains
On November 11, 2013, a motorcyclist found four sets of human remains buried in two shallow graves in the desert near Victorville, California. Patrick McStay, Joseph's father, was informed of the discovery and phoned missing person advocate Jerrie Dean to tell her what he knew. Dean stated in her blog she had just finished producing a radio show for San Diego station KNSJ when she received the call, and that she asked whether she could tell her followers what he had told her. Two days later, two sets of remains were officially identified as those of Joseph and Summer McStay. The deaths were ruled a homicide and San Bernardino County authorities said they believed the family died of blunt force trauma inside their home, but declined to discuss specifics of the deaths or a motive.
Reaction and investigation
The circumstances surrounding the family's disappearance and the lack of clues about their whereabouts triggered speculation by amateur sleuths. Radio host Rick Baker published a book, No Goodbyes: The Mysterious Disappearance of the McStay Family. Baker began following the case in 2013 after interviewing Michael McStay on his program. He conducted dozens of interviews on the case (traveling to Mexico, Belize, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic), followed leads, and reported sightings of the family. In the book, he speculated that Summer might have committed the murders. When the bodies were found, he offered a refund to those who purchased his book before November 2013.