# What crime could the missing McStay family be charged with? \[Update: Family found dead\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645 "2011-06-07T18:51:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/21 "2011-06-08T14:07:05Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > They could sue you for those costs if they were required. The government isn’t required to keep track of where everybody is. Short of evidence of a crime, they have no justification to search for you. There is circumstantial evidence to suggest the possibility of foul play, and that the family might be endangered. You don’t have to be a suspect in a crime to justify a search: you could be the victim. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/22 "2011-06-08T14:31:10Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > There is circumstantial evidence to suggest the possibility of foul play, and that the family might be endangered. You don’t have to be a suspect in a crime to justify a search: you could be the victim. What evidence? A person’s absence isn’t evidence of a crime. Unless these people acted criminally by leaving false evidence of a crime, or negligently by leaving evidence reasonably interpreted as indicating a crime, they can’t be held responsible for costs of searching for them, because there was no reason to search for them. And leaving without telling anybody is not reasonably interpreted as evidence of a crime. Obviously the search would be done to look for victims. If these people were suspected of commiting a crime, this wouldn’t be an issue. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/23 "2011-06-08T16:46:50Z")
Maybe there is a mundane explanation for all this, and the family turns up unharmed, like previous suspected victims (Runaway bride). If the police / FBI / state then started pressing charges / demanding the money for the search, what signal would that send to all concerned families of disappeared people? Nobody would ever file a “missing person” unless they were rich or completly sure of foul play. Obviously, the interest of the public to prevent foul play by criminals abducting/ murdering people is higher than the interest to get money in a few mistaken cases. Only intentional and obvious obstruction of justice by filing knowingly false reports or leaving false traces is a crime. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/24 "2011-06-08T17:43:13Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Maybe there is a mundane explanation for all this, and the family turns up unharmed, like previous suspected victims (Runaway bride). > > If the police / FBI / state then started pressing charges / demanding the money for the search, what signal would that send to all concerned families of disappeared people? Nobody would ever file a “missing person” unless they were rich or completly sure of foul play. > > Obviously, the interest of the public to prevent foul play by criminals abducting/ murdering people is higher than the interest to get money in a few mistaken cases. > > Only intentional and obvious obstruction of justice by filing knowingly false reports or leaving false traces is a crime. Filing reports with the police, yes - but leaving ‘false traces’ - what if the intent was like a scavenger hunt that went wrong? (iow, the family went on an unexpected trip, but left clues to thier whereabouts that they thought ‘funny’ (“kidnapped and dragged to the grand canyon, come rescue us mom!!”) but that in hindsight might not have been such a good idea? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/25 "2011-06-09T03:12:04Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > As far as I know, there’s no way for the government to get their money back from dead people. Sure there is – you file a claim against their estate. When I worked in state government, we had an employee who every day scanned death notices from all the county coroners, looking for people who owed the state money. Then we filed claims, and often collected. Most of the claims were for unpaid child support, often decades old – the ‘child’ was sometimes in their 70’s or even 80’s at the time. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/26 "2011-06-10T16:45:52Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > What evidence? A person’s absence isn’t evidence of a crime. The case was initiated by reports from family and business associates that their absence was unplanned and unusual. The abrupt departure and complete lack of any trail raises strong suspicions that something nefarious happened. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/27 "2013-11-15T22:06:49Z")
Bumping this thread: "The search is over for a California family who disappeared under mystifying circumstances three years ago. Authorities confirmed the identity of two of four sets of remains found Monday in the California desert near Victorville as those of Joseph McStay and his wife Summer, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said Friday… Two other remains found nearby are believed to be those of their sons Joseph and Gianni, McMahon said. … The four were killed, McMahon said. No suspects have been identified and the sheriff did not elaborate on how they died." > **[Remains found in desert are California couple missing since 2010, police say...](https://www.cnn.com/2013/11/15/us/california-bodies-found/)** > > San Bernardino County, California, authorities call a news conference to discuss what they know of four bodies found in the California desert near Victorville. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/28 "2013-11-15T22:16:22Z")
So the last poster (anson2995) was exactly correct. Anyone see a reasonable scenario of what happened (the location of the house vs where the bodies where found vs the location of the car near the Mexican border…)? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/29 "2013-11-15T22:55:10Z")
It sounds like something completely freaked them out. I can’t imagine a set of circumstances that would make a couple with two young kids dash out the door and (?) make a run for Mexico, though… …that doesn’t involve Heisenberg. But he’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/30 "2013-11-15T22:58:39Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > It sounds like something completely freaked them out. I can’t imagine a set of circumstances that would make a couple with two young kids dash out the door and (?) make a run for Mexico, though… > > …that doesn’t involve Heisenberg. But he’s dead. I’d be freaked out too if somebody murdered me and dumped my body in a shallow grave to be discovered years later. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/31 "2013-11-16T00:40:37Z")
I’m no detective but the husband and wife shared a last name, but their two children had a different last name, that is kind of unusual unless the husband was the step-father. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/32 "2013-11-16T01:00:24Z")
Deleted. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/33 "2013-11-16T01:12:59Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I’m no detective but the husband and wife shared a last name, but their two children had a different last name, that is kind of unusual unless the husband was the step-father. Where are you hearing that the children have a different last name? The missing persons poster gives the names as Joseph McStay, Summer McStay, Gianni McStay and Joseph McStay Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/34 "2013-11-16T01:57:29Z")
However. . .the wife had had numerous names over the years. Don’t know what that was all about. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/35 "2013-11-16T02:05:36Z")
They made it to Mexico. Lived there awhile. > **[Timeline: McStay Family Mystery](https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/timeline-mcstay-family-mystery-fallbrook-disappearance/1936736/)** > > An entire Fallbrook family vanished leaving eggs on the counter and pets unattended. > [@](#): > > Jan. 28, 2010 – Someone using the McStay’s computer searched for information about travel to Mexico and passports for children days before they disappeared. > > \ > March 30 – FBI joins the investigation. > > May 13 - Seven investigators arrived in El Rosario, Mexico after a tip from the staff of a local restaurant. The waiter accurately described a birthmark on Joey McStay’s forehead. > > June 19 – The McStay family mystery was featured on “America’s Most Wanted” ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/36 "2013-11-16T02:53:21Z")
Was there any suggestion he was involved in drugs? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/37 "2013-11-16T04:01:06Z")
NM, joke too dark ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/38 "2013-11-16T13:02:15Z")
Always so wild to see a thread like this in my User CP and wonder, “What jive-ass thing did I say there?” ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/39 "2013-11-16T21:10:28Z")
Earlier this year, a woman who had been reported missing 11 years ago from Pennsylvania turned up [alive](http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/01/us/pennsylvania-woman-reappears/) in the Florida Keys. Police from her hometown indicated that no charges were pending because running away isn’t illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645/40 "2013-11-17T23:27:26Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I’d be freaked out too if somebody murdered me and dumped my body in a shallow grave to be discovered years later. Only is there is an afterlife or you were a zombie. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crime-could-the-missing-mcstay-family-be-charged-with-update-family-found-dead/584645.md?page=3)