Down to the Bone: A Missing Familys Murder and the Elusive Quest for Justice

For investigative journalist and bestselling author Caitlin Rother, publication of Down to the Bone was a personal victory achieved following extraordinary effort on her part to tell the story of the brutal and mystifying murders of a young family. Specifically, she spent twelve years researching and writing the book and publication was delayed three times before it finally made its way into bookstores and the hands of eager readers.Rother began following the case from the very beginning when she saw news reports about the disappearance of the McStay family. She notes that every day in the United States an average of 600,000 people – usually a single child or adult – go missing. However, it is extremely “rare for a family of four, especially with two young children” to simply vanish. But that’s what happened sometime prior to February 15, 2010, in San Diego County.Eleven days of no contact elapsed before Michael McStay alerted the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department that his brother, Joseph, and Joseph’s wife, Summer, as well as their two sons, aged three and four, were unaccounted for. The deputy who responded to the McStay’s home testified, “It appeared that whoever was there, in my mind, had just got up and left.” Although the front door was locked, the family’s truck was parked in the driveway with a newspaper dated February 5, 2010, lodged under one of the tires. In the kitchen, food, dirty dishes, and Summer’s prescription glasses were left on the counters, and mold was floating in the coffee pot. It appeared that someone had been interrupted while painting the kitchen without an opportunity to clean up because doors and drawers were laid out on newspaper on the floor, and a roller was caked with dried paint and stuck to the tray into which paint had been poured. The family’s two dogs were abandoned in the backyard of the residence with no food or water. Because the McStays were in the process of remodeling the house, it was impossible to discern whether other areas were equally unkempt because of the ongoing renovation or if the family routinely maintained the home in that manner.Investigators found no blood or any signs of a struggle in or around the home. They discovered no evidence pointing to why the McStays seemingly left their residence abruptly and unexpectedly. There were no clues left behind as to their whereabouts, whether someone else was involved in their disappearance and, if so, the identity of that person or persons.From its inception, the case was mishandled by law enforcement. Since the San Diego Sheriff’s Department had no missing persons team, the responding deputy referred the matter to homicide detectives who also immediately recognized that something was very wrong. They began conducting interviews, asking detailed questions about the McStays and their relationships with family members and business associates, and delving into the McStays’ finances. They also issued a news release concerning the McStays’ disappearance.But they failed to secure the McStay residence as a possible crime scene. McStay’s mother, Susan, proceeded to the home, gained access, and commenced cleaning the kitchen, potentially destroying evidence in the process. Four days later, investigators, who were in the process of obtaining a search warrant, returned to the scene to find it permanently and irretrievably altered. Susan insisted she had been given permission to clean up, a claim detectives denied. But at that juncture the detectives were viewing the matter as a missing persons case, not an active homicide investigation, so they didn’t feel they “could tell the McStays what to do or not to do, especially when they didn’t believe Joseph’s family had been murdered.”Joseph owned and operated a waterfall manufacturing business which lacked formal structure. Apparently, sans any written agreements outlining each party’s duties and responsibilities, Joseph had two business associates. Charles “Chase” Merritt worked on installation of the projects Joseph designed, while Dan Kavanaugh created and maintained the company website. Joseph was increasingly pursuing custom projects with Merritt which they considered separate and apart from the main business, maintaining separate financial records documenting their efforts. Joseph had become embroiled in a dispute with Kavanaugh, known as “Hacker Dan” and “Dan the Hacker,” that resulted in Kavanaugh threatening in January 2009 to disable the business website and destroy the business. Joseph felt he had no choice but to capitulate to Kavanaugh’s demands that Joseph buy him out of what he asserted was his share of the business. Kavanaugh made those threats in writing via instant messages. But mentioned none of those details when he contacted the authorities on February 10, 2010, concerning his inability to reach Joseph or posted on Facebook a day earlier that Joseph was “AWOL.” Investigators failed to deem that information relevant. As far as Michael knew, Kavanaugh...

Bob GilbergFinished it last night. Great job telling the story of this sordid mess; no one comes off covered with glory. I'd love to hear the author's feelings in digging through it all; seems like you'd want to wear gloves and a mask...

Cast of many in a complex case. Author offered little cohesion.

Another great book from Caitlin! Once I start reading her true crime books, I am not able to put them down. She writes as though you are involved in the story. She tells true stories written like a thriller. I highly recommend you read all of her books as you will not be disappointed. This is an amazing case that shocked me…

Joseph and Summer McStay and their two young sons disappeared from their home in Fallbrook, California, in February 2010. Video footage of a family resembling the McStays crossing the border led sheriff’s deputies to initially conclude they had left voluntarily and gone to live in Mexico.I admit, I have been reading true crime for decades. When I worked in public libraries in the 1980s and 90s, my favorite section was always 364.1523…and although at times these days it seems the public obsession with true crime has made it somewhat challenging to find stories that grab the reader, are well-written, and tell a good story, there are some authors that true crime fans view as reliable and whose books are gobbled up as soon as they come out. Caitlin Rother is one of my favorites (if you know the story of Rebecca Zahau who was murdered and found hanging from the balcony of a mansion on Coronado Island, CA, you HAVE to read Ms Rother’s book on the subject!) So I was happy to dive in to Down To The Bone (thanks to Kensington Publishing/Citadel and NetGalley) which tells the true story of the McStay family.In 2010, the McStays (parents and two sons) vanished from their home in Fallbrook (northern San Diego County in CA). Fallbrook isn’t all that far from the border, so when a video turned up that showed a family that supposedly looked a lot like the McStays crossing into Mexico, the sheriffs’ deputies who were investigating the disappearance concluded the family had left voluntarily (never mind the eggs and fruit they left rotting on their kitchen counter).Fast forward a few years, and the remains of the McStays were found in the desert by a motorcyclist, along with the sledgehammer that was used to kill them. In 2019, Joseph McStay’s business partner, Charles “Chase” Merritt, was convicted of the crime, and after a long trial, he is apparently still on Death Row at San Quentin Prison.There is so much in this story to pack into a book! The family disappeared from San Diego County, and the remains were found in the desert in San Bernardino County, so there were two law enforcement agencies involved, along with two crime scenes to investigate, a LONG and sometimes bizarre trial, and a ton of theories shared by journalists, witnesses, suspects, and true crime buffs. Ms Rother does a great job of capturing all these disparate pieces of this puzzle and making the story entertaining and readable along the way. Four stars, highly recommended for true crime fans in particular.