11 Days

Summary

---

Podcast Summary

What Happened to the McStays?

Episode 1: "11 Days"
Host: Ashan Singh, ABC News
Release Date: August 11, 2026

---

Main Theme

This episode introduces the mysterious disappearance of the McStay family—Joseph, Summer, and their two young sons—in February 2010. The show dives into the baffling circumstances: a loving family vanishes from their quiet San Diego County home, leaving pets, food, and personal belongings behind. Through firsthand accounts from friends, family, and law enforcement, the episode captures the confusion and growing alarm as days pass with no word from the McStays, setting the stage for an in-depth investigation into what happened during those eleven crucial days.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The McStay Family’s Happy Life ([00:46]-[02:13])

• Introduction to the family: Joseph (“Joey”), his wife Summer, and sons Joseph Jr. and Gianni move into a new house in suburban Fallbrook.
• Home videos and memories: The family is portrayed as joyful, energetic, and deeply connected. “For a couple of months, these were the types of sounds that filled the McStay residence. But one day in February 2010, the house went quiet.” (Ashan Singh, [01:46])

2. Early Signs of Trouble ([02:26]-[05:49])

• Clues left behind: Unattended dogs, rotting food, Summer’s prescription sunglasses, lack of communication—these set off early alarm bells.
• Missed rituals: Joseph’s brother Michael notes the missed weekly phone call as a subtle but early sign.
  • “To miss one Friday, I mean, I didn’t think a whole lot of it.” (Michael McStay, [03:55])
• Friends notice absence: Colleagues and friends grow increasingly concerned, with unanswered emails and calls from Joseph and Summer.

3. The Search Begins ([05:49]-[08:41])

• Welfare check: Police and Joseph’s business associates visit the home, but see nothing overtly wrong at first, so deputies don’t enter.
• Family involvement: Michael McStay and Chase Merritt (business associate) personally inspect the home, finding it messy and sparsely furnished—they were still remodeling, but Michael is especially alarmed by the dogs left outside.
  • “The dogs were left outside unattended. It didn’t make sense.” (Michael McStay, [07:44])

4. Portraits of Joseph and Summer ([10:11]-[16:20])

• Joseph’s personality and relationships:
  • Described as a talker and a generous friend—“He would buy his friends laptops just because he was excited about technology…He was just very easy with money.” (Gina Watson, [12:13])
  • Loved family deeply, as reflected in charming anecdotes of his kids.
  • Entrepreneur behind a thriving custom waterfall business (Earth Inspired Products).
• Summer’s background:
  • Creative, passionate, doting mother, described as “exotic” and full of life.
  • “That phase in her life was nesting.” (Jesse Silveria, [13:35])
• Move to Fallbrook: Sought more space and a backyard—trade-off from the ocean life, settling into their dream home.

5. Escalation: Official Missing Persons Investigation ([16:20]-[20:10])

• Michael’s resolve: After 11 days of silence, Michael files a missing persons report.
• Police investigation intensifies:
  • Lt. Dennis Brugos leads the case, describing immediate red flags: “That raised red flags because by all accounts, they took very good care of their dogs.” (Lt. Brugos, [20:03])
  • Home search yields: dogs outside, rotten food, messy rooms, half-packed suitcases—all uncharacteristic for the family.

6. Alarming Discoveries ([22:17]-[24:09])

• Missing vehicle clue: The family’s Isuzu Trooper is found towed from a parking lot near the US-Mexico border, 60 miles away.
• Lingering doubts: No sign of forced entry or foul play in the home, but nothing adds up. The strange clues—abandoned pets, food, and car—heighten police suspicions.
  • “When you put the whole picture together, it raises the level of suspicion that something's not right.” (Lt. Brugos, [24:02])

7. The Police Interview ([24:09]-[26:44])

• Detectives dig deeper: Michael is asked about possible motives—money issues, enemies, drug involvement (all denied or doubted).
• Critical revelation about the house: Dugal points out, “If they went on vacation, the kids suitcases would have been with them.” (Detective Dugal, [26:38])
• Detectives’ conclusion: No objective evidence of a crime, but growing belief that the family is the victim of foul play.
  • “It is my opinion the McStay family is the victim of foul play.” (Detective Dugal, summarized, [26:44])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On sudden absence:
  “It was as if the McStays had simply vanished into thin air.” (Ashan Singh, [02:36])

• Brother’s quiet dread:
  “This thing has just got me scratching my head.” (Michael McStay, [25:56])

• On the state of the home:
  “You don’t leave perishable food out if you’re going to be gone for an extended period of time.” (Lt. Dennis Brugos, [21:36])

• Critical detective perspective:
  “I’ve never had one like this where a family is just totally missing, ever.” (Detective Troy Dugal, [24:35])

• Skepticism about voluntary disappearance:
  “Joe doesn’t invest, you know, like $30,000 into a house to renovate it because… he’s going to leave tomorrow. That just doesn’t jive.” (Michael McStay, [16:31])

---

Important Segment Timestamps

• Background and Home Videos: [00:46]-[01:46]
• Discovery and Initial Concern: [02:26]-[05:49]
• Family and Friend Perspectives: [10:11]-[16:20]
• Police Search and Findings: [19:10]-[24:09]
• Discovery of the Family Car at Border: [22:17]-[23:50]
• Police/Michael Interview: [24:26]-[26:44]
• Detectives’ Growing Suspicion: [26:44]-[end]

---

Tone and Style

The episode skillfully weaves together emotional recollections, methodical police reporting, and intimate anecdotes. The voices of Joseph’s friends and family express hope, nostalgia, and an undercurrent of dread. The narration remains measured and empathetic, steadily building suspense as evidence mounts and certainties dissolve.

---

Episode Takeaways

• The McStays’ disappearance is deeply mysterious, marked by unsettling but ambiguous physical clues—abandoned pets, food left out, a missing car—that do not fit a tidy narrative of voluntary departure.
• Family and police are confronted with painful uncertainty: no evidence of violence, but too many alarm bells for comfort.
• The episode ends with detectives convinced that foul play is likely, but with zero direct evidence and more questions than answers.

---

For listeners:
This opening episode primes audiences for a sprawling investigation, emphasizing the normalcy and happiness of the McStay family before the shock of their disappearance. It captures both procedural intricacies and emotional fallout, inviting listeners to search for answers alongside friends, family, and law enforcement.

---

Transcript

[Ashwin Singh]

Hey, it's Ashwin Singh with a quick reminder. You can get episodes of this podcast ad free and before they appear in our main feed by subscribing to 2020 True Crime Plus. Click the link in the episode description to learn more.

[Unknown Male 1]

Hey, I like your new RAV4.

[Unknown Male 2]

Thanks.

[Ashwin Singh]

Yours too.

[Unknown Male 1]

What does RAV stand for anyway?

[Unknown Male 2]

To me, it's the remarkably advanced vehicle.

[Unknown Male 1]

Really? To me, it's the Runway approved vehicle for its amazing style. Style.

[Unknown Male 2]

What about remarkably adaptable vehicle because of

[Ashwin Singh]

its versatile cargo space?

[Unknown Male 1]

Or really admired vehicle?

[Unknown Male 2]

Oh, or really awesome vehicle.

[Unknown Male 1]

It really is the recreational activity vehicle. The stylish 2026 Toyota RAV4 Limited. What's your RAV4?

[Ashwin Singh]

In November of 2009, family of four moved into a palm tree dotted cul de sac in the hills of San Diego County. Joseph McStay and his wife Summer were in their early 40s and living a seemingly charmed Southern California life with their two young sons. Their new neighborhood was surrounded by mountains and farmland. Their new house a large Spanish style home on Avocado Vista Lane. He was around 10 years old with a stucco exterior and a red terracotta roof. The McStay's home videos from around this time show an active, fun loving family in one little Joseph Jr. Runs around the first floor of their new home, the House over here. In another video, all four of the McStays bike to the beach.

[Michael McStay]

Jay, come here. Oh my God.

[Ashwin Singh]

Cadillac Mama. And then there's the video where the two McStay boys, Joseph Jr. And his big brother Gianni, swing side by side at a playground swing set together, their mom, Summer, pushes them higher and higher. For a couple of months, these were the types of sounds that filled the McStay residents. But one day in February 2010, the house went quiet. Local station KGTV covered the story.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

The outside of the McStay home remains exactly as the family left it. Their shoes and the newspaper both. Outside, there was a carton of eggs

[Ashwin Singh]

left out on the counter.

[Gina Watson]

And one other thing.

[Ashwin Singh]

Summer McStay left her prescription sunglasses behind. Family left their dogs behind and there had been no activity on their phones. It was as if the stays had simply vanished into thin air. Authorities, friends and family were baffled. But how does a vibrant family of four suddenly go missing from ABC audio in 2020? I'm Ashton Singh and this is what happened to the mixed days. Episode 111 Days. Joseph McStay or Joey, had a weekly ritual with his little brother Michael. In a 2011 interview with ABC News, Michael said that every Friday Joseph would Give him a ring on his way to play pickup soccer.

[Michael McStay]

He would call me, we'd touch base. Hey, how's things going? Hey, Mikey, how's your business? What's going on? How are the girls? I'd ask how the boys were and he'd tell me what was going on.

[Ashwin Singh]

But on Friday, February 5, 2010, Michael didn't get that weekly call from his big brother. For Michael, this was unusual but not alarming.

[Michael McStay]

So to miss one Friday, I mean, I didn't think a whole lot of it.

[Ashwin Singh]

But then several days went by without a peep from Joseph. No calls, texts or emails. It was the same at his work too. Joseph Co owned a business that sold high end decorative fountains, the kind you might see in hotel lobbies. The company was in the middle of a couple of projects when Joseph's colleagues told the McStay family they noticed Joseph had gone completely silent.

[Michael McStay]

There was customer emails not being answered, which is not like Joe. He was usually right on top of it.

[Ashwin Singh]

Joseph's friends started reaching out to Michael to ask, hey, have you heard from Joe? What's going on? He's not answering his phone. Joseph's wife Summer, wasn't returning calls either. So Michael posted to his brother's Facebook page asking friends, if you've seen him, please let the family know. Family and friends got in touch. Michael and Joseph's parents, plus two of Joseph's colleagues, Dan Kavanaugh and Chase Merritt. They shared any relevant information they had and Michael pieced together that Thursday, February 4, was likely the last day anyone had seen or heard from his brother. Michael and Joseph's father said he talked to Joseph that morning. And according to Joseph's business associate Chase, he and Joseph met up that afternoon. Loved ones were worried about the mixed days, but Michael tried to remain optimistic. He thought it was possible the family left on a trip and just didn't tell anyone.

[Michael McStay]

I thought, well, maybe, maybe they're doing a quick vacay. So I didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

[Ashwin Singh]

A few days after the McStays went quiet, Joseph's business partner Dan Kavanaugh called the police for a welfare check. San Diego county sheriff's deputies came out to the home and knocked on the door. No one was home at the time. But with no signs that anything was amiss, deputies followed procedure and did not go inside. Joseph's business associate, Chase Merritt also went to the house a couple times that week, he says, to see if he could find Joseph. No luck. And by February 13, the McStays hadn't been seen or heard from in nine days. Michael says he decided to check the home himself. He took a trip to Avocado Vista Lane. Chase came along, too.

[Michael McStay]

I went down there, started knocking on doors, asking the neighbors had they seen him.

[Ashwin Singh]

Michael says he let himself into the house through a back window that was cracked open. He started looking through the home, he says. It was messy. Kitchen drawers had been pulled out and placed on countertops. Toys, books and clothes were scattered around, and the house was barely furnished. The family was using air mattresses instead of beds. To Michael, it was like his brother and his family were camping in their own home. But this was Michael's first time in the McStay's new house. They'd only moved in about two months earlier, and they were remodeling. Michael says they'd been doing work on the floors and painting cabinets. So to him, this could have been a normal level of untidiness, given the circumstances and given that Joseph and Summer had two young children. But there was one thing Michael noticed right away that he clocked as being very, very off.

[Michael McStay]

The dogs were left outside unattended. It didn't make sense.

[Ashwin Singh]

The McStay family dogs were left to sit in the hot California sun. By all accounts, the McStays loved their dogs. A big akita called Bear and a golden retriever puppy called Digger. Friends say they were like second kids to Joseph and Summer. To leave them alone outside for days on end, this just didn't sit right with Michael. He asked a neighbor to keep an eye on the dogs, and then he left, hoping his family would show up soon. But the McStays had disappeared, leaving a puzzle that would soon mystify their friends and family.

[Shopify Advertiser]

Starting a business can seem like a daunting task unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website to marketing to selling and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz and Allbirds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into sign up for your $1 per month [e-mail] specialoffer.

[Narrator/Actor]

Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word.

My championship. I have sold my chariot on Carvana. Twas a lovely suv. An inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight we feast. An offer you can feast on.

[Ashwin Singh]

Sell your car today on Carvana.

[Super Troopers Advertiser]

Pickup fees May apply sophistication, class, restraint, dignity. None of these words have anything to do with Super Troopers three.

[Unknown Male 2]

One, two, three, go. Barbara in the house.

[Ashwin Singh]

Hope you guys aren't too drunk already.

[Super Troopers Advertiser]

Now in theaters.

[Narrator/Actor]

No new info on the guy who did it.

[Michael McStay]

Oh, so it couldn't have been a woman?

[Lt. Dennis Brugos]

Sexist.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

You ever see Ocean's 8?

[Super Troopers Advertiser]

Enough. Super Troopers 3. Meow. Playing only in theater. Rated R under 17. Not admitted without peril.

[Gina Watson]

One thing about Joseph is he would always talk for hours. And I'm not exaggerating, like, sometimes two hours.

[Ashwin Singh]

Gina Watson was one of Joseph McStay's friends. They'd met because Gina also worked in the decorative fountain industry. She says they'd gotten to know each other well. And according to Gina, Joseph was a talker.

[Gina Watson]

I would call him before I'd left for lunch to like, talk about whatever the problem of the day was. And then it would evolve into just, I don't know, like, conversation goes from one thing to another and then I'm like, the phone's getting hot because it's been in your ear so long. Like, can we wrap this up?

[Ashwin Singh]

Gina said that Joseph adored his wife Summer and their two boys.

[Gina Watson]

Joseph's kids and his wife were everything to him.

[Ashwin Singh]

Gina says Joseph would share stories about his rambunctious little boys. Like the time they snuck out of their beds early one morning and started rummaging through their kitchen cabinets.

[Gina Watson]

He said one night, Gianni and little Joey had gotten into the flower. I guess they kept it in a lower cabinet and you're a parent and you're tired and your little kid sneaks out of bed and gets into the flower and they had it all over themselves and they had like handprints and footprints everywhere and they were covered head to toe.

[Ashwin Singh]

Gina describes Joseph as, as a surfer dude. He had wavy, shoulder length, light brown hair. In pictures, he looks like he would be more comfortable in shorts and a T shirt than a suit and tie. Joseph and Summer, sons gianni and Joseph Jr were four years old and three respectively at the time they vanished. Photos of the little boys show their hair down to their shoulders, just like their dad. In one photo, Joey Jr. Holds an ice cream sandwich, chocolate all over his mouth. And Gina says their dad, Joseph Sr. Was generous with his friends.

[Gina Watson]

He would buy his friends laptops just because he was excited about technology and he wanted them to be as excited as he was. And, oh, you gotta check out this gaming laptop. Like, oh, you need top of the line. No, that's not good enough. Let me get you this one, he was just very easy with money. He never was too uptight about it. He was more so than any person I've ever met, to be honest.

[Ashwin Singh]

Joseph and Summer were introduced in the early 2000s. One of his friends set them up and everyone says they hit it off right away.

[Jesse Silveria]

Summer was a very passionate woman who went after what she wanted.

[Ashwin Singh]

That's Jesse Silveria, a friend of Summer's.

[Jesse Silveria]

I met summer around 2006 and I was living in Laguna beach and I think both of us were Laguna ites.

[Ashwin Singh]

Jesse and Summer were both photographers at the time and met while working the same shoot.

[Jesse Silveria]

To me, Summer was exotic. You know, she had dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin, really big, cute smile.

[Ashwin Singh]

Jesse says she and Summer would go out together. Two creatives joined the beachy art scene of Laguna. Once Summer got pregnant, Jesse says she scaled back her active social life, stopped working and became a stay at home mom.

[Jesse Silveria]

They were nesting. That phase in her life was nesting.

[Ashwin Singh]

Friends and family say Joseph and Summer loved the beach. For a time, the couple and their sons lived in San Clemente. Their apartment was on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean, with world class surfing right outside their door.

[Jesse Silveria]

The kids, they were growing up to be surfer dudes too. They definitely took after Joey, you know, wanting to be close to the ocean.

[Ashwin Singh]

Another big part of the McStay's lives was Joseph's work. Earth Inspired Products. It sold elaborate custom decorative waterfalls. These were large scale standalone objects, often 6ft tall. Water would be pumped invisibly to the top of tall glass panes and then cascade down into pools that sparkled with hidden light fixtures. Earth Inspired Products also had an online retail side where they sold pre manufactured water features. Gina Watson worked for one of Joseph's manufacturing partners. That's how the two met and became friends, she says Joseph was a designer at heart.

[Gina Watson]

He actually started his business, I think, like in his garage designing his own features by hand.

[Ashwin Singh]

Gina says Joseph was taking on more and more custom work and the business was doing really well. According to people familiar with the company, Earth Inspired Products had gotten big contracts. A car wash chain with 150 locations, a huge custom job for the Paul Mitchell hair salon brand, and even a project in Saudi Arabia. In late 2009, the McStay family moved from their small beachside apartment in San Clemente to their house on that palm tree lined cul de sac. Their new town of Fallbrook is better known for its avocado orchards than its proximity to the coast. It's a 30 minute drive to the beach. A trade off for the surf loving McStays. But it was big. Five bedrooms with a backyard. Here's Summer's friend Jessie again.

[Jesse Silveria]

All the outside was completely populated with kids toys and trucks and boy stuff. And she was growing flowers and gardens again.

[Ashwin Singh]

They had plans to remodel the home. By early 2010, some of the renovations were underway. Joseph would fill his brother Michael in on the progress.

[Michael McStay]

Okay, they're remodeling the house and it's kind of crazy, you know, the furniture's still in storage.

[Ashwin Singh]

By February of 2010, Joseph was doing well professionally. The couple was working on upgrading their new house. The family seemed settled.

[Michael McStay]

Joe doesn't invest, you know, like $30,000 into a house to renovate it because. Because he's going to leave tomorrow. That just doesn't jive. He doesn't walk out on his friends and his family.

[Ashwin Singh]

And yet, at that house in Fallbrook, no one was home. And for over a week, there had only been silence from the family who lived there. It didn't add up. Michael McStay says he decided that if his brother and family were, as he'd hoped, just on an extended vacation, they should be back by February 15th. He says he told himself that if by 9am he still hadn't heard from Joseph, he'd file a missing persons report. That's exactly what Michael did.

[Unknown Male 2]

Priceline negotiator. It's me, the Priceline negotiator. We don't need the jingle twice. What about a third time? Stop it. This is about vacation inflation and how Priceline negotiates amazing deals on hotels, flights, and rental cars. Seems like you decided. Yeah, but I didn't mention that. You can save up to 60% off hotels in the Priceline app. Time to be the tagline. Fine. No one deals more deals than Priceline. Please stop Priceline. Touche. Priceline. Priceline.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Okay, real talk shopping doesn't always boost your confidence. Sometimes you just want to put something on and think, yes, this is me. That's why Stitch Fix works. You take a quick style quiz, size, budget, what you're into, and a real human stylist sends pieces picked just for you. Try everything on at home. Keep what you love, send back the rest. Shipping's free, no subscription required. Get $20 off at stitch fix.com Spotify

[Narrator/Actor]

FX presents the Shards Los Angeles, 1981

[Ashwin Singh]

we're gonna roll this school.

[Lt. Dennis Brugos]

Don't we already?

[Narrator/Actor]

It was supposed to be the best year of their lives.

[Michael McStay]

I would stab someone for a drink right now.

[Narrator/Actor]

Until their friends started going missing. There's Something Going on from executive producer Ryan Murphy and based on the best selling thriller by Brett Easton ellis. Sounds terrifying. FX's the Shards now streaming on Hulu.

[Ashwin Singh]

By the morning of February 15, 2010, Michael McStay had reached his personal deadline to sound the alarm. No one had heard from Joseph or summer in 11 days. Michael called the police.

[Lt. Dennis Brugos]

He asked for a welfare check, and the patrol deputies came out and checked the house.

[Ashwin Singh]

Lt. Dennis Brugos from the San Diego Sheriff's Department oversaw the investigation. According to police, at 10:32am Michael, along with officers from the San Diego Sheriff's Department, arrived at the McStays Fallbrook house. They knocked on the door and checked the exterior for signs of forced entry. When they got no response, they entered the residence and started a search. It began by looking for people, either people in distress or bodies. They found neither, but they did encounter. The dogs were still in the backyard alone, with some water and food left out for them.

[Lt. Dennis Brugos]

That raised red flags because by all accounts, they took very good care of their dogs.

[Ashwin Singh]

And when police heard from Michael that the McStays had left without notifying any friends or family, that raised immediate alarm bells, too.

[Lt. Dennis Brugos]

What the deputy initially learned was, this is really a nice family and they never made plans to leave. And so that raised the suspicion level to the point where he said, you know what? I should probably call Homicide and let them know what's going on out here,

[Ashwin Singh]

Lt. Brugo says. Suspicious circumstances Cases like this one are handled by the homicide unit whether there's a dead body or not. Police say that when homicide detectives joined the search at the McStay residence, they checked again for any signs of foul play, any clue as to what may have happened to the McStays. Officers looked all over the home, inside the kitchen pantry in the den, the garage in a recycling bin outside, and the truck parked in the driveway. As detectives searched, they noticed a few curious things. To start, it was the food that was left out, according to police and court documents. Downstairs in the living room there were two small bowls of popcorn half eaten, left on a futon, bananas that had started to rot, and a carton of eggs were sitting out on the kitchen counter.

[Lt. Dennis Brugos]

You don't leave perishable food out if you're going to be gone for an extended period of time.

[Ashwin Singh]

Generally, it seemed like the family may have left the house suddenly, even unexpectedly. And then there was the mess police documented. Clothes piled up on the bathroom counter, suitcases left open with clothes spilling out into piles, a tall lamp that looked like it had been Knocked over. If the McStays had gone on vacation, like Michael so hoped was the case, why would they have left suitcases full of clothing behind? And detectives also uncovered something else. Lieutenant Bruges.

[Lt. Dennis Brugos]

Again, we knew that one of the vehicles was parked here in a driveway and the other one wasn't here.

[Ashwin Singh]

The McStays 1996 White Isuzu Trooper was missing. If police could find the vehicle, maybe they could find the McStays. They ran a search on the Isuzu Trooper and immediately came up with a hit. According to police records, the check revealed that the vehicle was recently towed from a parking lot about 60 miles from the McStays home near the US Mexico border. So near, in fact, that it was walking distance to the border terminal. According to police, the car had been towed from that lot on February 8, four days after the McStays vanished. Now police had to find out what did this clue mean? Did the McStays leave for Mexico altogether? And if so, did they go voluntarily or by force? Were they hiding, kidnapped? Police couldn't yet say. The search of the McStay residents took all day, and in the end, police determined there was no sign of forced entry. No sign of a struggle or act of violence. No blood. In other words, no apparent signs of foul play, no clear crime. But that didn't mean that detectives were confident that all was well with the McStays. The abandoned dogs, the spoiled food left out, the family car found at the Mexican border. As Lt. Brugos puts it, when you

[Lt. Dennis Brugos]

put the whole picture together, it raises the level of suspicion that something's not right.

[Ashwin Singh]

Once officers wrapped up the search of the home, a couple of the detectives, Troy Dugal and Suzanne Fisk, pulled Michael aside for an interview in their police car. In the tape from this interview, Michael still hopes that his big brother's family could be perfectly fine.

[Michael McStay]

What's the percentages of these, like being in a situation like this and then it just being something totally innocent?

[Detective Troy Dugal]

I can tell you that I've never had one like this where a family is just totally missing, ever. So I can't give you. I can't give you a good statistic.

[Ashwin Singh]

Detective Dugal asks Michael for more information about the missing family. How was Joseph and Summer's relationship? Who are their closest friends? Did he have problems with anyone or money trouble?

[Detective Troy Dugal]

Do you know if there's any money involvement with your brother owing someone money? Or would somebody try to take advantage of your brother?

[Michael McStay]

I don't know enough about what's going on with this business. Why I have no idea.

[Ashwin Singh]

They dug deeper, asking about Joseph's finances.

[Michael McStay]

How much is your brother worth? Oh, I don't know. I have no idea.

[Ashwin Singh]

You know what his yearly income is?

[Michael McStay]

No.

[Ashwin Singh]

Dugal asked if Joseph might have been involved in narcotics.

[Michael McStay]

My brother doesn't even do drugs, so that's an out.

[Ashwin Singh]

Detectives also asked about the Isuzu trooper. Did Michael have any idea what Joseph and his family might be doing walking distance from Tijuana?

[Michael McStay]

I don't know. I don't know what he's doing down there. I have no idea. I. I don't think he knows anybody down there.

[Ashwin Singh]

The whole situation still didn't sit right with Michael or the detectives.

[Michael McStay]

This thing has just got me scratching my head.

[Detective Troy Dugal]

Well, we don't know any more than you know. What do you think? As a brother, where are they? What do you.

[Michael McStay]

I'm hoping they went down and they just went to Mexico and they took a two week vacation. I mean, that's a. That's a pipe dream at this point. I don't know.

[Detective Troy Dugal]

I would hope that too. But what. What did you see in the house that would indicate that that's probably not true?

[Michael McStay]

I just walked through, but I didn't get it. I mean, I didn't.

[Detective Troy Dugal]

Well, let me help you out. Inside the walk in closet, there's suitcases and there's little kids suitcases with suitcase flaps open with folded little kid laundry. Clean laundry in the suitcases.

[Michael McStay]

Yeah.

[Detective Troy Dugal]

If they went on vacation, the kids suitcases would have been with them.

[Ashwin Singh]

In his official account of the day, Detective Dugal claim concluded that there had been no apparent sign of a crime. But he also said this. It is my opinion the McStay family is the victim of foul play. The police knew this wasn't over. There was more work to be done. Now the race was on to find out what had actually happened to the family of four before it was too late. What happened to the mixtays is a production of abc audio in 2020 hosted by me, ashan singh. Produced by madeline wood, vika aronson, audrey mostek and kiara powell. With help from sabrina fang and camille peterson. Edited by gianna palmer. Our supervising producer is susie lu. Music by evan viola. Scoring by kiara powell. Mixing by evan viola and bob mallory. Special thanks to katie dendos, janice johnson, chris donovan, joseph reed, sonny antrim, alyssa stoler, xander samaras, tom berman, indra dalaisakan and blue browning. Josh cohan is our director of podcast program programming. Eamon mcnath is our executive producer. Can't wait for more. Listen to the next episode ahead of everyone else. Ad free. Subscribe now to 2020 True Crime plus on Apple Podcasts. Click the link in the description to start your free trial today. Mysteries unravel and stunning truths are revealed when 2020 investigates.

[Narrator/Actor]

Follow the clues, the evidence, the new details.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

ABC's 2020 means true murder Mystery Shocking.

[Lt. Dennis Brugos]

If you follow true crime in 2020,

[Narrator/Advertiser]

then you've got to listen to this. Subscribe now to 2020 True Crime plus ad free exclusive true crime content search 2020 True Crime plus on Apple Podcasts and start your free trial. Terms apply.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.

[Unknown Male 2]

Now.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month is pay back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] switch upfront payment

[Narrator/Advertiser]

$45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy. See terms.