It was a crime that shocked the nation. On February 4, 2010, the McStay family, Joseph McStay and his wife, Summer, and their 4- and 3-year sons, Gianni and Joseph Jr, vanished, seemingly without a trace. Nearly four years after their disappearance, the remains of the entire McStay family, including the two young boys, were found in the Mojave Desert.

The McStays were a fun-loving, happy family who’d recently settled into a comfortable life in Fallbrook, California. Situated in northern San Diego County, the community is known as “The Friendly Village.” Sadly, disaster would soon strike the tranquil town.

February 4, 2010, began typically enough for the busy family. Joseph, 40, whose business specialized in decorative indoor fountains, spoke with his father, Patrick, and told him he was in a hurry to get to a lunch meeting. Meanwhile, Summer, 43, who was busy doing home spruce-ups, spoke with her sister, who’d recently had a baby.

It was an ordinary day until 5:47PM. After that, no one heard from them again. All credit card activity stopped. The family simply vanished.

“It was like they went, ‘Poof,’” Joseph’s mother, Susan Blake, told “Killer Motive,” hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Troy Roberts and airing on the Oxygen Network.

Concerned, Joseph’s younger brother, Michael, went to the house and crawled in through a window on February 13. He found no sign of Michael and his family, but their dogs had been left unattended, and there was food rotting in the kitchen. Summer’s prescription sunglasses were also in the house, just one sign making the possibility the McStays took a trip unlikely.

Four days later, investigators executed a search warrant at the residence and found no signs of forced entry or violence. “They didn’t find any blood in the house at all,” journalist JD Crighton told “Killer Motive.”

Detectives later learned that the person to last have contact with Joseph that day was business associate Charles “Chase” Merritt.

“I talked to him at least twice on his way home …” Merritt is heard telling investigators in audiotape obtained by “Killer Motive.” “He may have been stopping to get food. I don’t remember. But he was going home.”

Because there was no evidence of a crime, getting a search warrant to access financial records wasn’t possible. Investigators decided to focus on the McStay’s white 1996 Isuzu Trooper. On February 8, the vehicle had been located and towed from a parking lot in San Ysidro, just north of the Mexico border. The car was inspected for DNA evidence.

Because of the car’s location, it was suggested the family went to Mexico. The theory gained support from border surveillance footage showing a group of people who could have been the McStays walking into Mexico the day they disappeared. The premise gained more heft when a look through Summer’s computer turned up searches about Mexico and Spanish tutorials.

Blake, however, viewed the video and was convinced the four people in it were not her loved ones. She knew her son head to toe. “That isn’t his walk,” she insisted to producers.

On February 23, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) got a heads up to keep eyes peeled for the family south of the border. Various supposed sightings and leads turned out to be dead ends.

Patrick McStay, meanwhile, meticulously combed through his son’s and daughter-in-law’s emails for clues. From his searches, Summer’s ex-boyfriend and Dan Kavanaugh, Joseph’s business partner, briefly became persons of interest. Both men were cleared as suspects, though.

In April 2010, the case was turned over to the FBI, but no answers emerged for more than three years.

A Break in the Case

In the fall of 2013, an off-road motorcyclist found parts of a skull in the desert in Victorville, California, about 100 miles from Fallbrook. There were two shallow graves. Each burial site contained remains of an adult and a child.

Since so much time had passed, there was no useful DNA, but dental records were used to confirm the remains as those of the McStays, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department announced at a news conference. A three-pound sledgehammer was also found at the site. The cause of death for all four victims was determined to be blunt force trauma.

“It gives us courage to know that they’re together and they’re in a better place,” said Mike McStay, who attended the conference and spoke for his family, in video footage obtained by “Killer Motive.” “It’s been a tough road.”

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department took over the case, which went from missing persons to homicide.

Investigators focused attention again on the McStays’ Isuzu Trooper. This time, a search found DNA on the steering column and gear shift — and it belonged to Charles Merritt, Joseph’s business associate.

“A Low-Life Baby Killer”

But why would Merritt, who had served time for burglary and receiving stolen property, slaughter an entire family? Investigators found Merritt was in dire financial straits due to a gambling problem and owed Joseph more than $42,000 because of botched work in 2009. Although McStay had been lenient with Merritt in the past, investigators believed that he’d finally reached his limit.

“What we have here is a man with a huge gambling problem, and that problem dictated his life,” Melissa Rodriguez, of the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, told producers. She added Merritt “had burned everybody he had come into contact with.”

Investigators theorized that he killed the family and drove them to the Mojave Desert, where he buried them. They believe he also drove the family’s vehicle to San Ysidro and abandoned it there to throw detectives off and that it was him who carried out the Mexico-related searches on Summer’s computer.

On November 5, 2014, Merritt was arrested for the four murders. His trial, which lasted 50 days, began in January 2019. He was found guilty of murdering the McStay family.

Merritt, 62, was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Joseph McStay, 40. He was given the death penalty for killing Summer, Gianni, and Joseph Jr.

According to the local news, at the penalty phase of his trial, Blake referred to Merritt as a “despicable, evil monster” and went on to say, “How could you beat two precious little babies? “How scared were they, Chase? Crying for Mommy and Daddy? Chase, you are a low-life baby killer.”

17 thoughts on “Psycho Kills Entire Family and Buries Them in Desert!”
  1. IN MY EYES PEOPLE LIKE MERRITT SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH./ FOR HIM TO LIVE AT THE EXPENSE OF SOCIEETY IS IN MY MIND IS AWAY FOR HIM TO GET OFF FOR MURDER.

    1. The problem with our legal and penal system is justice is slow. The death penalty is appropriate, but it should not take 20 years. It should take 30 minutes.

  2. Anyone who consciously and purposely commits ANY murder should be executed, shot or hung as soon as possible after proper legal actions with corroboroting witnesses and/or indisputable evidence and that also goes for crooked politicians who are costing the American Citizens BILLIONS of American tax dollars in stupid schemes to take care of non-citizens inside our outside of our country!!!!

  3. I suggest bringing the guillotine back. Anyone that does what he did should have the most horrible death, his head should roll, so everyone can see it. Don’t know if any type of punishment will deter these psychos, but we have to start somewhere.

  4. Death is to good for him…take him to the desert put a barbwire fence 10 feet by 10 feet and 10feet high.one meal a day and a 32oz of water per day. Let him slowly die.

    1. You must add the screams of the children mommie mommie …..daddy daddy playing over and over.
      Of course he is paying now and forever his evil deed.

    2. Hes an Animal, How could anyone do that , especially those poor innocent children, he should be getting the death Penalty, nothing too think about, after found guilty of a crime so brutal as this.just execute The Monster Bastard no reason for him to Live.

  5. I remember this case. So sad. I do believethis guy should pay. $42,000 owed so u wipe out a whole family. I am glad the family’s loved know what happened and can bury them. I think the endless thoughtsof not knowing could drive one crazy. Rip to this beautiful family.

  6. Our elections were stolen and most likely future one too. I could torture this guy for a long time before he will beg for death

  7. I agree with everything that is said about this POS !!! With regards to his punishment: but in our society now days there are to many Bleeding Heart Liberals that say this guy is Sick and needs Help ,or Rehabilitation!!!! Death Penalty is to Harsh & Inhumane !!! Criminals have more rights than Victims and their families!!!

  8. I say turn that Son of a b🤬🤬🤬h over to family and friends of his victims!!! After a court conviction and sentencing!!!! Let them deal out the punishment this Bastard deserves!!! Eye for an Eye that’s what I say!!! Let the punishment be dealt out 10 to 100 fold !!! Dispatch this A-hole to Hell !!! Where he belongs like David said we have to start somewhere!!!!

  9. In Illinois there is no death penalty. One could murder and spend the rest of his life getting three meals a day, a bed and medical attention. Of course, Illinois has always been known for having moron governors. And let’s not forget the jerks who voted them in!! Too bad they are not the victims!!

  10. Death is too easy for him. I would rather he went to jail – a really bad (Notorious) penitentiary for life with no provision for every getting out. Plus – it is known that crimes against children is even considered heinous in penitentiaries – which makes the possibility that he would be a pariah even in prison – thus a target for other inmates.

  11. When a person is sentence to death why does it take so long for them to die. Get rid of them so the taxpayers doesn’t have to care for them.

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