EXCLUSIVE - Mystery of the McStay money: Family found dead in a shallow grave could barely afford modest rent despite having $100,000 in the bank
- The McStay family were found in a shallow grave in the Californian desert last week, almost four years after they mysteriously vanished
- They could barely afford to pay $210 a week on rent just months before they disappeared said a neighbor who now lives in their former home
- Joseph and Summer McStay were also apparently being chased by debt collection agents, the IRS and lawyers representing business clients they owed money to
- But they had $100,000 in the bank and had just bought a $230,000 family home
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Joseph and Summer McStay were also apparently being chased by debt collection agents, the IRS and lawyers representing business clients they owed money to.
Despite their apparent financial difficulties, they managed to find the cash to buy a $320,000 house around two months before they vanished on February 4 2010. They also had $100,000 in the bank when they vanished which remained untouched.
The reason for their sudden, unexplained disappearance has gripped America for almost four years, leaving law enforcement and amateur sleuths alike completely baffled.
Even the discovery of the bodies of parents Joseph and Summer and their two children Gianni and Joey Jr near a highway in Victorville, California last week has not stopped the wild speculation.
Some have suggested the family of four were killed by a Mexican cartel because of a business deal that went bad. For years it was believed they had fled to the Central American country after CCTV footage was discovered apparently showing them crossing the border on foot, four days after they went missing.
Now MailOnline has been given new information suggesting Joseph and Summer were barely able to keep up with payments for a modest rent on a small two bedroom apartment in San Clemente, California.
They lived in the property for around five years until just three or four months before their disappearance. Their landlord was apparently desperate to throw them out because they were constantly behind with the payments.
Bodies: The McStay family bodies were found in a hole, pictured, in the Mojave desert in Victorville
But despite that, when they left the apartment, they bought a $320,000 house in nearby Fallbrook and had $100,000 in the bank. Joseph's fountain making company Earth Inspired Products was their main source of income.
The man who took over the rent at their old place is former US marine Dave White. He lived on the same street before moving into their old place and knew the family.
Mr White, 54, who now drives school buses said: 'I knew the landlord on the place before I moved in as I used to be handyman and I did some odd jobs around the place for him. I lived around ten houses up the street, so I knew the McStay’s to say hello to.
'From what I understand, before they moved out they were on the verge of being evicted, because they were behind on their rent. That was three years ago.
'The rent they were paying was only about $850 a month and the landlord, a guy called Bill, who has passed away now, was one of the nicest men you could meet.
'He was extremely easy to deal with and I had no problems at all with him, but he was in the process of evicting them. It was such a small amount and he was so easy going, I don’t understand how anyone could fall out with him.
Saddened: Michael McStay, brother of Joseph
McStay, breaks down at a press conference Friday after his sibling's
remains were confirmed as being found in the Mojave desert
Problems: Mr and Mrs McStay were on the verge of being evicted from their San Clemente apartment, it has been claimed
'Apparently they had paid Mr McStay $14,000 up front to build a fountain and ship it out to them. But they obviously didn’t get anything. After the family went missing they weren’t going to get their fountain, but I think the letters started when they were still around.
'I also got letters from the IRS and debt collectors chasing them as well, but the majority of those came after they had vanished. I guess a lot of these people didn't realize they'd gone missing.
'It's hard to say how many of these debts came because they went missing and how many were owed before, but I really can’t explain how they went from not being able to pay $850 a month to buying a house and having $100,000 in the bank.'
And it seems the McStay's apparent inability to pay their rent was not the first time they had run into financial difficulty. In 1992 Joseph had a small claims judgement of just over $5,000 against him from an associate who took him court.
Then in 1999 Joseph, his older brother Michael and sister Heather had a legal dispute with a company In San Francisco.
At the time they were running a company called Dana Point Fountains and a firm called Zen Again Productions took them to the District Court.
Are they alive? When they vanished along with their parents, Gianni was four (left) and Joseph Jr was three
Joseph's business dealings have come under scrutiny in the past in relation to his disappearance.
Back in 2010 CBS News claimed detectives were looking into his association with an ex con called Chase Merritt.
The former metal worker and welder was Joseph's business partner and he was one of the first people to notice the family were missing
Department of Corrections records show Merritt served time in prison for a burglary conviction in 1978. He was then sent back to prison in 1987 for receiving stolen property, according to State records.
An acquaintance who knew Merritt in the 1980s told CBS News 8 he has a checkered past.
'I think police should look at him and anyone associated with him,' the female acquaintance said. She asked not to be identified.
Joseph's financial history certainly raises questions, but fails to provide any real answers as to why they disappeared without trace almost four years ago.
On Thursday February 4, 2010 Mr McStay – who was then 40 - had a meeting in Rancho Cucamonga about a fountain Earth Inspired Products was building.
Summer, 43, was at home with Gianni, 4; Joey Jr., 3, known as Chubba; and the two dogs, Bear and Digger.
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