PLEASE NOTE THIS BLOG IS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER – PLEASE SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM FOR UPDATES
Matthew Coleman and his wife Abby had a beautiful life and a beautiful family. They seemed to be living the Californian dream – the couple ran Lovewater Surf School and were raising their two babies Kaleo and Roxy. According to their website, their surf school was ‘VOTED VENTURA & SANTA BARBARA’S #1 SURF LESSONS on TRIPADVISOR’. You can see the website here.
At the time of publishing this blog post, all of their social media is still available to view:
Matthew’s Instagram – I will include some screenshots as his accounts are likely to be removed:
Matthew also wrote about Roxy’s birth on Instagram:
“While waiting for her to come, I kept feeling this sense that she was going to be born at a very pivotal time in history and that she would represent a dawn, or even awakening, to years of great blessing for our family and nation. Another picture that came to me was of God reaching down into a river bed and picking up a small stone (rock), examining it intently. Just as David had done before slaying Goliath, God examined the stone and was confident that it was just the perfect one for the battle. Although it was small, smooth and somewhat harmless looking, he knew that it would become great when placed into the palm of a skilled hand. My declaration over Roxy Rain is that she has been hand picked by God to slay the giants in the land.”
In August 2021, their dream was shattered. On Sunday, August 8, Abby reported to police that Matthew and the two children were missing. She said they had been gone for more than 24 hours and that was she was concerned for their welfare.
Investigators discovered that Matthew had taken the children to Mexico, without Abby’s consent. The FBI got involved.
“On August 8, 2021, the Santa Barbara Police Department took three missing persons reports from a mother, who indicated her husband and children have been missing for approximately 24 hours. The mother was concerned for the wellbeing of her husband and their two children,” Santa Barbara Police said in a statement. “During the investigation, Santa Barbara Police obtained evidence that the father and the two children had possibly traveled to Mexico. Santa Barbara Police have been working directly with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Border Patrol regarding this investigation. Because this investigation potentially involved the jurisdiction of another country, the FBI is the lead investigating agency.”
The FBI’s Los Angeles field office also released a statement, “The FBI is working with police in Santa Barbara following a report they received about three missing persons – one adult male and his two children who are believed to have crossed the southern border into Mexico. A joint investigation is underway among the Santa Barbara Police Department, the FBI in Los Angeles and San Diego, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Mexican authorities.”
Court documents outline that the investigation started on Saturday when Abby contacted the Santa Barbara Police to report that her husband had left the couple’s residence in a Sprinter van and she did not know where they had gone. The next day, Abby filed a missing persons report. Abby was able to track Matthew’s phone and discovered that it had been used in Rosarita, Mexico.
Authorities kept tracking Matthew’s phone and saw that he was near the San Ysidro Port of Entry at the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday, August 9. The FBI sent officers to intercept Matthew as he re-entered the United States, and they discovered that the children were not with him. American FBI agents contacted law enforcement officials in Rosarito and learned that Mexican authorities that morning had recovered the bodies of two children matching the description Kaleo and Roxy.
CCTV footage of Matthew in Mexico has been released. He can be seen checking into the City Express Hotel in Rosarito with the children. He is also seen leaving with them on Monday at 2.54am. He returns to the hotel alone later on Monday.
It is believed that after he left the hotel, he took the two children to a farm nearby where he brutally murdered them. Roxy (10 months) was stabbed 12 times with a wooden stake. Kaleo (3) was stabbed 17 times with the same weapon. Hiram Sanchez, the region’s attorney general said that a “blood-stained wooden stake” was found near the bodies. When Matthew was arrested, he told police that he used a spear-fishing gun to kill the children and that he moved the spear around in their bodies.
On August 11, Matthew was charged in a federal criminal complaint with foreign murder of United States nationals. Matthew told investigators “he believed his children were going to grow into monsters so he had to kill them.” He also said he was “enlightened by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories and was receiving visions and signs revealing that his wife … possessed serpent DNA and had passed it onto his children.” He told federal investigators “he was saving the world from monsters”, and that he “knew it was wrong, but it was the only way course of action that would save the world.”
Matthew gave his version of events to police. He said he drove to Mexico with his children in the family’s Mercedes Sprinter van on August 7. He said because he didn’t have a car seat, he put his youngest child in a box. On the morning he killed his children he drove to Rancho Del Cielo and pulled off to the side of the road. He used a spear fishing gun, piercing his daughter in the heart, according to the complaint. He said when his son didn’t die right away, he “had to move the spear around, thereby cutting his hand in the process.” The FBI agent said injuries consistent with his statement were seen on his hand. After the murders, Matthew moved their bodies about 30 yards away and put them in brush. He then drove a “couple of miles” and “discarded the spear fishing gun and blood clothes near a creek,” the FBI said. “He threw bloody clothes into a blue trash bin somewhere off the side of a road in Tijuana, Mexico.”
A jailer later asked him why he had a Band-Aid on his hand and he responded it was from “hurting his children.” According to the FBI, the murder weapon, bloody clothes and a baby’s blanket were recovered by Mexican police.
The FBI said photos from the crime scene showed the children with “large puncture wounds in their chest cavities,”. According to court documents, the children were found dead in a ditch. Matthew also allegedly took photos of the children after their deaths and his images matched the ones from investigators.
On October 4, 2021, Matthew pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. His plea was officially entered in a San Diego Federal courtroom. During the process, he will be defended by Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California and will be housed in the San Diego district.
The government moved for Matthew to remain in detention, arguing that he was both a flight risk and a danger to others or himself. His defense said they were not seeking bail at this time.
His next hearing will be scheduled for Nov. 5 at the U.S. District Court Southern District of California in San Diego.
You can read more about his plea at Santa Barbara man pleads not guilty for the murder of his two children in Mexico.
This is a developing story and this blog will be updated as information arises. You can join our discussion group to have your say – click here to join TrueCrimeSociety.com . All sources are linked in our group.
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