Santa Barbara Man Suspected of Killing His Two Children

UPDATE 8/11/21: Santa Barbara resident Matthew Taylor Coleman, 40, was charged Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles for the crimes of murdering his two young children on foreign soil. According to an affidavit by an FBI Special Agent, he confessed to the murders of his two children, ages 10 months and 2 years old, during an interview, allegedly stating he believed they “were going to grow into monsters.” Full story here.

The original story follows.

A Santa Barbara man is being held in federal custody on suspicion of killing his two children, ages 1 and 3, in Baja California, according to media reports. The children were found, stabbed multiple times, near a ranch in the Rosarito area by a farmworker on Monday morning. Mexican authorities alerted the border, and an individual identified by his first and middle name only, “Matthew Taylor,” was detained at the San Ysidro crossing. He was subsequently given a last name: Coleman.

The Baja California Attorney General’s office stated the individual operated a surf school in Santa Barbara called Lovewater Surf Camp. Based on his Instagram account, the surf school owner is Matthew Taylor Coleman. According to prosecutors, the suspect left his hotel with the children at 3 in the morning and returned without them at 6:30 a.m. The two bodies in diapers were found at around 7:30 a.m.

The Santa Barbara Police Department had issued a missing persons notice this evening for a husband and two children who had traveled to Mexico, concerned for their well-being. As of Sunday, August 8, they had been missing for 24 hours. The FBI is the lead investigating agency, the notice said, as the case crossed borders. A joint investigation is being conducted by the FBI in Los Angeles and San Diego, SBPD, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and Mexican authorities, according to an FBI statement.

This story will be updated as information becomes available.