"[25], Stayner underwent brief counseling but never sought additional treatment. My dad said he didn't need any. 195 in 2010) in Mendocino County, Calif., and hitchhiked 40 miles to Ukiah. A woman named Barbara Mathias moved in and lived with them for eighteen months. Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren. [17][18], By daybreak on March 2, 1980, Parnell had been arrested on suspicion of abducting both boys. Parnell bounced from one job to another, some requiring him to travel and leave Steven home alone. Steven was declared a national hero, and within days made an appearance on Good Morning America. There, he told the host, David Hartman, that it felt great to be home, that his parents didnt change that much, and regarding his brother and sisters, they changed a lot. Throughout the first week, Stayner repeatedly told Parnell that he wanted to go home, to which, Parnell told him that he had been granted legal custody of him by his parents. That would havemade Cary 7 when he first had such a fantasy, when Stevenwas 3 and still several years away from being kidnapped,a trauma that couldn't help butaffect the whole familyand which certainly was invoked when it came time to mount a defense. The FBI acknowledged at the end of March that, while they were looking closely at a few men who (unlike Cary) had criminal records, no arrests or charges were "imminent.". The abductor abused Steven and planned to use the boy to abduct more victims. "They said, 'If we can bring one child home, it will be worth it. True Crime Documentaries Worth Watching This Spring, Elizabeth Smart Marks Anniversary of Her "Biggest Miracle" 19 Years After Kidnapping Nightmare Ended, Sherri Papini Formally Pleads Guilty After Admitting Kidnapping Was a Hoax, Why the Unsolved Disappearance of the Beaumont Children Remains One of Australia's Most Haunting Crimes, TV's Most Killer True Crime Transformations, Man Sentenced to 190 Years in Prison for Murder of Jacqueline Avant, convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap, first linked him to Armstrong's July 21 murder. Ramirez, Jessica. Stayner later claimed that Murphy asked him if his mother would be willing to donate any items to the church. In the world they try to build, Steven found happiness after his return at age 14 from seven years as the sex slave of a pedophile, and there is no connection between that made-for-TV drama and. News. No longer able to deal with his peers, feeling academically stunted and more prone to drinking and goofing off, Steven dropped outof school and started doing odd jobs. Let's Look at Gaga's Style Evolution, Shall We? Kenneth told Steven that his parents had given him away and that his new name was Dennis. Mathias was never arrested. In 1975, Parnell felt he needed another boy. Mercy Brown: The Last New England Vampire, Cary Stayner: The Yosemite Killer | The Scare Chamber, Gabrielly Magalhes: Buried Alive | The Scare Chamber, The Torture and Murder of Kelly Anne Bates, David Parker Ray and his Toy Box of Torture, Alexandra Wiwcharuk: The Girl in Saskatoon, Cheri Brooks and the Destruction of Vera Jo Reigle, Alexandra Wiwcharuk: The Girl in Saskatoon | The Scare Chamber, Rodney Alcala and the Dating Game | The Scare Chamber, Deadly Plants: Deadly Nightshade | The Scare Chamber, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Stayner was the third of five children born in Merced, California to Delbert and Kay Stayner. Del Stayner passed away in 2013, but Kay and her grandchildren Steven Jr. and Ashley, who were only 2 and 3 when their father died and grew up knowinghim primarily from Nemec's TV performance, sat down to talk for Captive Audience. The docuseries focused heavily on the miniseries and featured appearances by both Corin Nemec and Todd Eric Andrews. Mathias also helped Parnell in the abduction of another boy who was in the Santa Rosa Boys' Club with Stayner, but the attempt was unsuccessful. [43] Residents of Ukiah, White's hometown, carved a statue showing a teenage Stayner with young White in hand while escaping their captivity. Sister Cynthia Sartelltestified that their dad was "on a mission" after Steven disappeared, and looking for their brother consumed his time and energy, to the detriment of his other kids. ", Though the ready assumptionwas that Steven's sadly short lifehad been defined by his troubles, Jody said he'd been "a very happy man" of late, and they'd been living "a normal life with two beautiful kids.". She reported him topolice and he got the maximum sentence due to California's three-strikes law. '", While promoting the movie, Steven said of his own kids,"They don't go out unless I go with them or there's someone outside watching. So, today, at the age of 59, Cary Stayner is incarcerated at the San Quentin State Prison. Born on April 18, 1965, Steven Stayner was the third of five children born to Delbert and Kay Stayner. But by then he was too afraid of being physically harmed by Parnell to run away. Parnell died in 2008 in prisonat the age of 76 while serving a25-years-to-life sentence for solicitation to commit a crime, trying to buy a human being and attempted child-stealing. Before starting his freshman year in high school, however, Steven was given a new name Dennis Parnell. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. When 14-year-oldSteven Staynerturned upat a police station, more than seven years after he was kidnapped while walking home from school, it felt like a miracle. ", He added, "Everything has changed. However, police officers spotted both of them, and that's when Steven's real identity was revealed. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. ), Barely four months after the series premiered, Steven, 24, was on his motorcycle heading home from work at a pizza shop on Sept. 16, 1989, when a car turned in front of him. You could see that he wanted to play and be with kids and be normal.". [7] Unbeknownst to Stayner, Parnell's cabin was located only several hundred feet from his maternal grandfather's residence. I guess seven years changed him, too. Kay also talked about the effect Stevens return had on the family, He came back different, very different. Sartell testified about the toll that the 1972 kidnapping of younger brother Steven took on the family. On September 17, 1989, he succumbed to head injuries after being involved in a car accident while returning home from work in his motorcycle. After he failed to find Timmy's parents, he decided to lead the young boy into the police station to get help, as he was not attempting an escape for himself. Cary, his older brother, was one of three sisters he had. He had three sisters and one older brother, Cary Stayner, who in 2002 was convicted of . Jurors in August found him guilty of the murders. In the epilogue to his book, Echols describes how he infiltrated NAMBLA. Cary pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison for killing Armstrong. Steven Stayner's parents were left with many questions when their 7-year-old son vanished into thin air in 1972. Furthermore, Steven had saved a then 5-year-old Timothy White from the same fate, escaping from the cabin where they were kept. He [Steven] got on with his life but he was pretty messed up,Stevens sister said in 2007. Sometimes I blame myself. I know my first name is Steven, he said, ditching the name Parnell had given him. Entertainment Television, LLC A Division of NBCUniversal. He died four years later, on January 21, 2008. A cabin that sat several hundred feet away from his grandfathers house. And with the family's input,and based on source material fromMike Echolls' book of the same name, NBC's two-partI Know My First Name Is Stevenstill made quite the splashwhen it premiered on May 22, 1989. Steven Stayner got married to Jody Edmondson in 1985. His mysterious death. At odds with his father, Steven was eventually kicked out of the house. After Timothy White, who had become a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Deputy, died from pulmonary embolism in 2010, a statue of Stayner and White was built in Applegate Park in Merced, California. She added, "He [Steven] got on with his life but he was pretty messed up." But this time hes the one who is staying strong for Kay., Delbert mourned the tragedy but expressed relief in the certainty of death. which involved killing them all and raping Lenna and her sister. Although Stayner was dead, his testimony at Parnell's earlier trial was read to jurors as evidence in Parnell's 2004 trial. Ervin Murphy, who aided in Steven'sabduction but, according to Echolls' book,insisted that he really thought Parnell was a minister and never thought he'd hurt a little boy, was also convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap, and served two years of a five-year sentence. I know where Stevies at now., Read Next: Bonny Lee Bakleys death The accusations behind her unsolved murder, Is Bob Barker still alive? FBI agent Jeff Rinek, one of the agents who arrested Cary and then spent 90 minutes in the car withhim driving to bureau headquarters in Sacramento, remembered to the San Francisco Chroniclein 2002 howthe suspect willingly talked about what happened to his brother. In the early '80s, the story of Steven Stayner's childhood abduction and rescue riveted the nation. Hulus Captive Audience takes a look at this case through the eyes of the family, including interviews with Stevens children, sister, and mother. Steven, wearing no helmet and riding with an invalid license, suffered severe head injuries. Growing up, brothers Cary and Steven Stayner shared a home with their parents and three sisters in Merced, California a small farming town near Yosemite National Park according to the. [25] He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just before his death. Stayner revealed later that he had intentionally sabotaged these failed kidnappings. Stevens parents, Kay and Delbert, were on a camping trip when they learned of the passing. "He got on with his life," his sister Cory Staynertold the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. [25][28], On September 16, 1989, Stayner sustained fatal head injuries while on his way home from work when his motorcycle collided with a car[28][29] in a hit-and-run accident. A child abductee's journey back. Parnell was convicted first of kidnapping Timmy in June 1981, Steven tellingThe Evening Newshe was "glad" about the verdict and hadn't been worrying too much about the next trial, at which he'd be called to testify. He also refused to disclose all the details of sexual abuse he endured from Parnell. Thirteen days in, Steven was being raped. [44] Fundraisers for the statue have stated that it is meant to honor Steven Stayner and give families of missing and kidnapped children hope that they are still alive.[44]. Parnell had used Stayner to attempt to kidnap children on prior occasions, but all the kidnapping attempts were unsuccessful. This dog had been given to Parnell by his mother, who was not aware of Stayner's existence during the period when he was being held by Parnell. Altogether, Parnell was sentenced to seven years and was paroled after serving five. I got put on the back burner, you might say," Cary told J.P. Miller, a filmmaker who wrote a screenplay about Steven's abduction. When Steven Stayner Jr and Where is Steven. This story contains details from both cases Steven was 7years old whenErvin Edward Murphy approached the second-grader on his way home from Charles Wright Elementary School on Dec. 4, 1972. "How does that change the way we think about responsibilityand does it bring us into an uncomfortable place?". The family sent out fliers, Sartell said, and headed off on distant road trips to talk to people who might have any information about the missing child. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV shows! He didnt whine about lousy breaks. Aged seven, Stayner, a California native, was abducted by child molester Kenneth Parnell. The attempt was unsuccessful. Steven passed away an hour after the accident at Merced Community Medical Center. Parnell passed himself off as Stayner's father, and the two moved frequently around California, living in locations including Santa Rosa and Comptche. As long as I can see them and hear their voices, I'm OK.", I Know My First Name Is Stevenwas nominated fora Golden Globe and four Emmys, including Outstanding Miniseries and Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special for then 17-year-oldCorin Nemec,thanks to his heart-wrenching turn asSteven. ", Kay told the jury of her surviving son,"Very seldom did he get into trouble. . Jody emotionally described how she and Stayner planned to visit their favorite restaurant after he got home. Parnell, who was working as a night clerk at the Palace Hotel in Ukiah, was arrested within hours. They approached a police station shortly after midnight. He took a job at a local Pizza Hut, and on Saturday, September 16, 1989 a heavy rain fell. Where is he now spends much his! According to Stayner, Mathias, along with Parnell, raped him on nine occasions at the age of nine. [16], As Stayner entered puberty, Parnell began to look for a younger child to kidnap. If you enjoyed this story, read about another kidnap victim who returned home safely Jayme Closs. "And then they're the family of the perpetrator of the worst possible thing. The connection, once people realized it was indeed the same family, feltlike a punch to the gut. His health struggles detailed, Martina McClures story: Her injury and recovery, How did Simon Dunn die? But the family has since dealt with several tragedies along the way, including Steven's death and his older brother's incarceration for murder. If they're just out on the porch, the door is always open. But after he and a fellow victim escaped in . According to a TIMEmagazinereport from March 17, 1980, Steven hadn't yet fully divulged what really happened to him. Murphy had a stack ofreligious pamphletsand, explaining that he was collecting money for his church, offered the boy a lift home. In 1981, Parnell was tried and convicted of kidnapping White and Stayner in two trials. Cary was 11 years old at time, and deeply upset about his brother's disappearance. Kenneth told Steven that his parents had given him away and that his new name was Dennis. He was released after five. He had sustained a fracture at the back of his skull. "The Abductions That Changed America", Article by Tim Bragg (staff writer) printed in the, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, List of child abuse cases featuring long-term detention, "Crash ends life scarred by childhood abduction", "Kidnapper arrested, accused of trying to buy a child", "Kidnap victim reunites with 'mystery woman', "Alleged attempt to buy child leads to arrest of kidnapper", "Stayner, serial killer Cary Stayner's brother, was abducted for 7 years - Crime Library on truTV.com", "17 Years Later, a Tv Miniseries Forces Steven Stayner to Relive the Horror of His Childhood", "Mormon News for WE 01Aug99: Stayner family's woeful history", "A Hit-and-Run Crash Ends the Life of Kidnap Victim Steven Stayner", "A Kidnapping Victim Rates The Film About His Ordeal", "OAKLAND / Child predator sentenced to 25 years to life / Steven Stayner's kidnapper tried to buy 4-year-old in Berkeley", "Sex offender Kenneth Parnell dies in Vacaville", "Ukiah Daily Journal: Timothy White, boy saved by Steven Stayner, dead at 35", "Timothy White, victim of 1980 kidnapping, dies", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steven_Stayner&oldid=1141810053, Articles with dead external links from February 2019, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 22:53. Kay was elated to have her son back. Spouse. Hewassentenced to three months in jailfor felony hit-and-run. The alleged driver of the car was later identified by witnesses. I have covered them both in the same article. Parnell made Steven go by "Dennis Parnell," and as they moved from town to town in California he posed as the boy's father and enrolled him in school. We expected him to come back. According to reports, Cary Stayner and Cory Stayner are Steven Stayner's two siblings. "[35], Steven's story was also included in the book Against Their Will by Nigel Cawthorne, a compilation of stories of kidnappings.[36]. "He had a great personality," said Lori Duke, Steven's high school girlfriend, to ABC News. But executing him is not going to bring them back. During the testimony, Kay also said that her father molested her when she was younger. Talking remotely toGood Morning Americaon March 14, 1980, Steven,his mom and dad on either side of him, said it was "great" to be back, but his siblings had "changed a lot. "[23], After returning to his family, Stayner had trouble adjusting to a more structured household as he had been allowed to smoke, drink and do as he pleased when he lived with Parnell. Sadness engulfed the community as people mourned a life blighted with tragedy. Juli's body was discoveredMarch 25 next to a reservoirabout 30 miles away from the car with help from an anonymous letter to the FBI that Cary said he sent himselfbut had someone else lick the stamp, so his DNA couldn't be traced. Five hundred people attended his funeral, one being Timothy White who, at the age of 14, served as a pallbearer. Murphy, for helping kidnap Stayner, and Poorman, for helping kidnap White, were convicted of lesser charges. The parents of five, who had kept all the presents their son never got to open after going missing a few weeks before Christmas in 1972, ultimatelygot their wish thanks to Steven's bravery. Cary saw the attention that his brother received after returning home and their relationship was never the same, according to TIME. [2] In 2002, Cary was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of four women. Parnell then drove a confused Stayner to his cabin in nearby Catheys Valley instead. When 800,000 children disappear every year worldwide 460,000 of these from the United States alone, you tend to keep your children close. Timothy, back home with his family, adjusted well, and things returned to normal. Steven refused to reveal the details of his sexual abuse and endured bullying in school for being molested. "Police say that Stayner seemed fond of Parnell, who he said 'spoiled' himStayner was defensive about Parnell in his talks with police and reluctant at first to reveal his name. [31] The two-part miniseries was first broadcast by NBC on May 2122, 1989. At the time, the concept of therapy was frowned upon, and his father insisted that he didnt need any counseling. And if I didnt take care of it now, it would just get worse, said Lori Duke, Stevens girlfriend, who only knew him as Dennis. [27] At the time of his death, Stayner was living in Merced and working at a pizza shop. Hearing about Cary's traumatic past or childhood issues didn't sway the jury, who recommended the death penalty, and a judge agreed. In addition to participating in the abuse of Stayner, she attempted to help Parnell kidnap a boy who was a member of the Santa Rosa Boys' Club . On December 4, 1972, at the age of seven, Steven was approached after school by Edward Ervin Murphy, who claimed he was collecting money for church. [] Everything has changed. He was mocked at school, which caused him to drop out, and after he began drinking more often, he was kicked out of his parental house. 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