Joseph McStay Summer McStay Missing: Children Gianna and Joseph Missing McStay

Joseph McStay and his wife Summer McStay and their two children, Gianna and Joseph have been missing since February 4th, 2010. See a video below. See an update 3-7-10 below.

Joseph McStay 

The McStay's live in Fallbrook in the Bonsall area, north of San Diego. Family contacted authorities and police checked the family home on February 14th. The morgue, the airport, the bus terminals and taxi drivers were checked. The McStay's white 1996 Izuzu Trooper was found in San Ysidro, California, two blocks from the Mexican border, and 80 miles from the McStay home. The car was empty with the children's car seats intact.

Summer McStay

Joseph "Joey" Bryan McStay is 40 years old. His wife Summer is 43, and sons Gianna 4, and Joseph 3.

Gianna McStay                          Joseph Mateo McStay

A search of the McStay home seems to show that the family did not plan to leave home for an extended stay. Their two dogs were left without food or water. Eggs were left on the kitchen cabinet. Police are working to determine if there has been any activity on their passports. Surely by now, the family bank accounts have been checked but I have found no confirmation.

A drone based out of San Diego State University will be used in the search.

Drone pilot Mike Hennig said, “As we fly, digital camera systems on board … high-resolution, 9- or 10-megapixel digital cameras on board to do still imagery. We also use streaming video from the aircraft.”

When they are launched, they can search every inch of a 15-mile area in a matter of minutes. The drones feed high-resolution digital images and GPS locations back to the search team.

If we find something of particular interest in an image, all the material that is recorded in the aircraft is GPS logged so we can sit there, find the image, pull the GPS data and be able to direct people on the ground to search specific areas,” said Hennig.

Tim Miller's Texas Equusearch, a Texas search and rescue team which became a household name while searching for Natalee Holloway, has joined the hunt. Miller said the drones can spot footprints and clothing. One drone search can take the place of 100 ground searches.

Friends and family say that the couple would not have left without notifying someone, especially Joseph. McStay's brother, Michael. The family was close, and Michael said he and Joseph speak at least once a week, but always on Friday.

Joseph McStay was self-employed. His company, Earth Inspired Products, designs, installs and ships indoor fountains worldwide. Joseph and Michael's father, 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. Earth Inspired Products is said to be to successful. The family home is estimated to be valued at $300,000, and the McStay's are new to the neighborhood.

McStay home on Avacado Vista Lane

Lt. Dennis Brugos of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said there is nothing in the McStay's background that would indicate a drug connection or any "high risk criminal activity," and the Department has found no hint of marital problems.

Apparently, the last known contact with the McStay's was on February 4th. Michael McStay broke a window in the family home, after not being able to contact Joseph. That was on February 15, 11 days after someone in the family talked to family friend, Diane Cignani. The McStay's Izuzu was found in a parking lot in San Ysidro on February 8th and towed before anyone knew they were missing. Access the family website here.

Update 3-7-10:

A surveillance camera captured footage of a man, woman and two children resembling a missing Fallbrook family as they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Tijuana on foot last month, around the time they dropped out of contact with family, friends and business associates, a sheriff’s investigator said Friday.

The video images were shot at the San Ysidro Port of Entry about 7 p.m. on Feb. 8 — four days after the disappearance of Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their sons, Gianni, 4, and 3-year-old Joseph Jr., homicide Sgt. Roy Frank said. The people on the surveillance tape seemed to be casually strolling into Mexico, with each adult holding hands with one of the toddlers, according to Frank.

There was no signs that the four, who match the general descriptions of the McStays, were distressed in any way or leaving the United States against their will, he said. Roughly four hours after the footage was recorded, security personnel towed an apparently abandoned vehicle from a commercial parking lot on Camino de la Plaza, about a five-minute walk from the border. The white 1996 Isuzu Trooper turned out to belong to the McStays. Source: San Diego News Network

  Summer McStay's Family Pleads for Information (video)