The FBI has joined the case of a San Diego County family of four that vanished from their suburban home earlier this year.
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
officials said they
examined the family’s home computers and found evidence that they
had been looking into information about child passports to Mexico
shortly before they vanished. On Thursday, relatives of the family said on their website that there have been several potential sighting of the family in Mexico. The relatives said the FBI is checking out those reports.
The family’s car was found at the U.S.-Mexico border, and a videotape
shows four people who might be the family crossing into Mexico. Family
members have been skeptical that the family is in Mexico and remain
worried about foul play.
No one has seen or heard from the family — Joseph McStay, his wife,
Summer, and their
two children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph, 3 — since February.
Family and
friends describe Joseph McStay, a 40-year-old businessman, and his
43-year-old wife as devoted parents excited by their recent move from
San Clemente to a home they bought on a cul-de-sac in Fallbrook.
Authorities
say they are stumped by the disappearance of a family that had no
apparent financial or marital problems and no known enemies or
connections to drugs or crime.
On Feb. 14, McStay’s brother went to the family’s home to check on
them
after Joseph’s partner in a water fountain business said he couldn’t
reach him. Michael McStay found the couple’s two dogs had been left
unfed, and perishable food was on the kitchen counter.
— Shelby Grad
Photo: Family handout.