The McStay family, missing since February 2010, was found buried alive last November – changing the case from a missing persons to a homicide. Several months later, investigators still aren’t close to finding out what happened to the family of four.

McStay Family Murder Mystery

Joseph and Summer McStay and their children – Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3 – disappeared from their San Diego-area home more than four years ago. They were not reported missing until 11 days after they left their house, leaving behind neither signs of a struggle nor plans to desert their lives in Southern California.

A popular theory over the course of the investigation before the bodies were found was that the McStays had fled to Mexico for unknown reasons. Evidence that supported the theory was their white Isuzu Trooper having been towed from a parking lot near the Mexican border, and surveillance footage that showed a family of four that resembled the McStays walking into Mexico on foot.

The conclusion that the McStay’s had traveled to Mexico was squashed in November 2013, when the remains of all four family members were found in the Mojave Desert in Victorville, Calif. The homicide investigation is currently in the jurisdiction of the San Bernadino County Sheriff’s Department.

"It is certainly my hope that at some point in the future, we'll be able to solve this, and bring the suspect or suspects to justice,” John McMahon, sheriff of San Bernardino County, told CNN. "There was certainly evidence found in and around the grave sites, but at this point we're not prepared to talk about what evidence we did locate.”

Investigative journalist Steph Watts believes that the only way that the quadruple homicide will be solved is if one of the perpetrators breaks his or her silence. "There was more than one person involved in this case because not one person dragged four people out to the desert and buried them single-handedly," said Watts. "As the pieces begin to come together, it's looking to me like it was extremely orchestrated. So we have to ask ourselves, why?"

Watts added, “It's like a play. The first act has just ended. We've got three more acts to go.”