McStay Family Update: Missing Family May Have Planned Mexico Disappearance, Say Police

SAN DIEGO (CBS/AP) Joseph and Summer McStay, missing since Feb. 4 along with their two children, may have planned to travel to Mexico according to the San Diego Sheriff's Department.

PICTURES: McStay Family Missing

Homicide Lt. Dennis Brugos says investigators found e-mails indicating Joseph and Summer McStay were asking about entry into Mexico, and about passport information for young children shortly before they disappeared.

Joseph and Summer McStay, along with their two boys - four-year-old Gianni and three-year-old Joey - were last seen February 4. Four days later their car was found abandoned in San Ysidro. Family members have said it was completely out of character for the family to disappear without telling anyone where they were going.

Relatives also said it was out of character for the family to leave their house the way it was found by Joseph McStay's brother, with the dogs left outside without food or water and rotting food in the kitchen.

San Diego County sheriff's investigators announced March 5 that they found surveillance video that may have captured images of the McStay family crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into Tijuana on foot Feb. 8.

Authorities say they are stumped by the disappearance of a family that had no apparent financial or marital problems and no known enemies or connections to drugs or crime.

Relatives say people would be able to identify the McStay's 4-year-old son, Joseph, because he has a raspberry-size birthmark on his forehead, he is 2'9" with brown eyes and brown hair. Joseph and Summer are described as being 5'9" and 5'5", respectively, with brown eyes and brown hair. The oldest son, Gianni, is 3' with brown eyes and brown hair.

If you have information on the case, call Sgt. Dave Martinez at 858-565-5200.

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PICTURES: McStay Family Missing

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
March 9, 2010 - McStay Family Update: Border Surveillance May Have Caught Family on Tape
March 3, 2010 - McStay Family of Four Still Missing, Cops Searching
February 24, 2010 - McStay Family of Four Vanishes Near Mexican Border