The mystery of an entire Fallbrook family that appears to have vanished is the subject of a new book.
In February 2010, Joseph McStay, his wife Summer and their sons Gianni and Joseph, Jr. were reported missing from their home in Fallbrook, leaving virtually no clues as to what happened to them.
Now, in a book entitled "No Goodbyes: The Mysterious Disappearance of the McStay Family" author Rick Baker attempts to follow the story from the moment relatives realized the couple and their sons were missing.
With no signs of struggle found in the McStay home, homicide investigators have been baffled by the case.
So much so that at the time of his retirement, former detective Dennis Brugos said he was still puzzled by the case of the family who left eggs on the counter, family pets in the home and a white Isuzu Trooper near the U.S. Mexico border.
Investigators said the last call from Joseph's cell phone was recorded an hour after the family left their home on Feb. 4, 2010. The call was transmitted through a cell tower in the Bonsall area.
Baker talked with NBC 7 San Diego and said he became infatuated with the case while living in Fallbrook. While working as a radio talk show host in Oceanside at the time, Baker interviewed Joseph McStay's brother and was left with many unanswered questions.
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“It didn’t make any sense. The facts didn’t add up,” he said.
So Baker began tracking down neighbors, business associates, soccer buddies - anyone who could shed light into what may have happened to the family of four.
He said he also spoke with Summer's mother and sister in Big Bear and Joseph's father in Houston, Texas.
Although Baker now admits relatives of the McStay family do not support him or the book because of his conclusions.
“I think Summer did this,” Baker said without going into much detail. He claims emails show a different side of Summer the public may not know about.
"This was a woman who had a different side," he added. "A very dicey side."
Baker claims to have read hundreds of personal emails from Summer and Joseph McStay that he says he received from people he described as "volunteer investigators" who were given the documents from someone who hacked into the couple's accounts. He also says he studied their financial records through passwords provided in those emails.
Joseph's brother Mike McStay manages a website documenting the search for his relatives and the lack of confirmed sightings in the almost three years since they were last seen.
In November, he posted an update commemorating his brother's birthday. He mentioned the most recent tip lead investigators with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department to La Paz, Baja California but turned up unfounded.
In a grainy video taken on Feb. 8 at the San Ysidro border crossing, a family resembling the McStays can be seen walking across the border.
Mike McStay has told NBC 7 San Diego in past interviews that he doubts the video shows his brother and his family.
Baker agreed saying he felt the video was staged.
“Summer just wouldn’t do that. She just wouldn’t take the kids across the border,” Baker said.
Baker said he hopes people will read the book and help solve the mystery. He even offers up $25,000 to someone providing a "face-to-face encounter" with a member of the McStay family.
However, the reward offer expires the day the book is slated to be published on Feb. 4.
