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发帖数: 8175 | 1 SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — Human remains found in the Southern
California desert are believed to be a missing San Diego-area couple and
their two young sons, and their deaths appear to be homicides, authorities
said Friday.
San Bernardino County Sheriff McMahon confirmed that 40-year-old Joseph
McStay and his 43-year-old wife, Summer, were found in shallow graves near
Victorville, about 60 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The couple and their
children disappeared more than three years ago.
Authorities believe the other remains belong to the McStay children, but
they have more work to do to confirm it, McMahon said at a news conference.
He said the manner of death appears to be homicide.
Autopsies were still being completed, and the cause of death has not been
released.
Investigators wrapped up a three-day excavation in barren scrubland near
Interstate 15 on Wednesday after an off-road motorcyclist reported finding
bones there. The coroner's investigators later confirmed they were human.
Additional skeletal remains were found near the graves. Authorities said
they had been there for an extended period.
The McStays disappeared in February 2010, launching what San Diego sheriff's
investigators called their most extensive missing-persons search ever.
There were no signs of forced entry at the family's home in Fallbrook, about
55 miles north of San Diego, or in their SUV parked near the border.
Authorities found rotten eggs on the kitchen counter of the home and two
dogs in the backyard.
Neither Joseph nor Summer had told family or friends they were leaving, and
tens of thousands of dollars left in business bank accounts were never
claimed.
Investigators pursued hundreds of tips and eventually came to believe the
family left voluntarily for Mexico. Investigators were convinced that four
people seen on a dimly lit surveillance video walking into Tijuana, Mexico
were the McStays.
Some family members doubted the video shows the couple and their 3- and 4-
year-old boys. The case was later turned over to the FBI. |
