His life with Parnell lacked discipline he'd even been allowed to drink and smoke. He was convicted in 2004 for attempting to purchase a child for sex and died in prison. When he was 24, he died in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident. In January 2003, Parnell was arrested again after trying to coerce his caregiver's sister, Diane Stevens, into buying him a four-year-old boy for $500. Emotionally, Cary Stayner had a tough time during his childhood.". To me thats guilt plain and simple. And he wanted the same treatment. [16] [17] According to prison officials, Parnell died of natural causes. And there was just nothing there," said Pat Lunney, an investigator assigned to Steven Stayners case. Steven Stayners fame was short-lived. Privacy Policy. The fact that Stayners brother was kidnapped by a pedophile and abused for seven years adds an almost unfathomable dimension to the tragedy that enveloped this family. Their new captive, Timmy White, was just 5 years old, and Stayner was heartbroken that White was always sad and crying. Barbara Mathias, Parnell's girlfriend who lived with him and Stayner for some time, was never charged with any violation and cooperated with authorities in Parnell's trials. In addition to his fraught life at home and at school, Steven, still just a teenager by this point, also had to face Parnell in court. He died at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville in 2008 at the age of 76. Within days, he's on 'Good Morning America,'" Flynn said. He literally said, I was not going to let that child go through what I had already been through. He was convicted of the murders of four women between February and July 1999: Carole Sund, her teenage daughter Juli Sund and their teenage traveling companion Silvina Pelosso; and Yosemite Institute naturalist Joie Ruth Armstrong. Cary Stayner is led into a van by a U.S. After several weeks, the bodies of all three women were discovered. Stayner told another psychiatrist, Park Dietz, who was hired by the prosecution to evaluate whether he was sane at the time he committed the Yosemite murders, that as a child he worried that the obsessive thoughts he had about holding the neighbor girl against her will somehow caused Steven to be kidnapped. Im not sure there is any direct cause and effect," Flynn said. The brothers, four years apart in age, shared a room, but didnt get along, according to Rowlands. ", Steven also struggled in high school where he was bullied for the tragic abuse he had endured. Steven died in 1989, aged 24. Steven Stayner was kidnapped when Cary Stayner was 11, Rinek wrote. Leave a Comment / Death-Obituary / By Elon. Parnell was arrested that day,[14] subsequently telling authorities "I wanted a family". "It was outrageous. ", "The first year was kinda hectic," Steven said on GMA in 1983. Per the Spokesman-Review, Parnell told Stayner that his parents didn't want him anymore; he was beaten so viciously that he was afraid to run away. Stayner and White were not Parnell's only victims. At the time, Stayner had been missing for more than seven years. He was not wearing a helmet, and. Parnell was registered as a sex offender when he lured 7-year-old Stayners into his car as the boy walked home from his elementary school in Merced, California. You could see that he wanted to play and be with kids and be normal.". According to SFGate, his friends and coworkers described him as being impulsive and prone to seemingly abrupt and violent fits of rage. According to The Press Democrat, Kay Stayner said she "never did lose [her] hope" of finding her missing son. In fact, the wrong men were custody. Three weeks before Christmas 1972, the course of Steven Stayner's life would change forever. He also joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a danger to children his entire life, prosecutor Tim Wellman said in 2004. Currently, Cary, 60, is being held in San Quentin State Prison on death row. Jan. 23, 2008. He had attempted another kidnapping with his mistress Barbara Mathias, but that failed to go to plan. On July 21, 1999, when Stayner saw Joie Armstrong, a 26-year-old naturalist at Yosemite who taught children about nature in the park, "something instantly" changed with him, Rowlands said. Director Jessica Dimmock also brought in Corin Nemec and Todd Andrews, who portrayed Stayner and his brother Cary respectively in TV mini-series I Know My First Name Is Steven, to read interview transcripts. ABC 20/20 is digging into the case on a new episode, which airs at 9 p.m. Eastern time Friday, July 2, 2021. While Steven was a freshman at Mendocino High School, some 300 miles to the south, his older brother Cary was an upperclassman at Merced High School. Kenneth Eugene Parnell was born in Amarillo, Texas[1][2] to Cecil Frederick and Mary Olive (ne Pollard) Parnell, during the region's dust bowl era during the Great Depression. He loved his brother, his former calssmate, Jack Bungart, told the news outlet. I Know My First Name Is Steven: With Cindy Pickett, John Ashton, Corin Nemec, Luke Edwards. In addition to her fathers unwanted advances, one of Stayners sisters said that Cary started peeping on her and inappropriately touching her when she was ten. . Steven Stayner Death - Obituary: On April 23th,2022 celebrityexit learned about the death of Steven Stayner through a Social Media post. Delbert Stayner Cause Of Death Delbert Stayner died on 9 April 2013. Thankfully, they were unable to follow through with the kidnapping attempt. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Winter storms ease drought conditions in California, report shows, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids, Best coffee city in the world? "Cary, as the older brother, had a very strange relationship now with his younger brother, Steven, who was getting all of this attention and who was a different person," Rowlands said. Steven disappeared while returning from school, Cary, Stevens older brother, confessed to murdering four women. Later that year he married again and had another daughter. He was remembered at a service at his church, the Merced Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, where his pastor and family members gathered to pay their respects. Cary was convicted in 1999 of the murders of four women and sentenced to death in 2002. However, none of them panned out. According to the Los Angeles Times, the 14-year-old and 5-year-old boys hitchhiked their way to a police station 40 miles away and told officers what had happened. Unfortunately, the entire incident was part of an elaborate plan to kidnap the boy. Stayners father, Delbert Stayner, was accused of sexually abusing his daughters, and Rinek wrote sexual abuse went back at least five generations in the family. Although Parnell was a convicted child predator, Murphy was described as "simple-minded," and somewhat naive. Shulze, of Oak Park, California, earned Academic All-Big Ten honors for the 2020 and 2021 cross country seasons, as well as 2021 for track. When Stayner failed to return home from school, his parents contacted authorities immediately. On July 24, 1999, Cary confessed to killing four women, who had all been guests at the lodge where he was employed. Unfortunately, Parnell eventually convinced another teenage boy, named Randall Sean Poorman, to help him kidnap 5-year-old Timothy White. Their return launched Stayner into the spotlight, and he later became the focus of a 1989 television movie titled, I Know My First Name Is Steven. I always looked very closely in hopes of spotting Steven. On the show, Kay mentioned that Del would often drive around looking for freshly dug ground because he thought Steven was dead. However, Timothy could not remember his address, so Stayner took him to a police station instead. Stayner went on to marry his wife, Jodi Stayner, and have two children. Cary is 60 and remains in prison. The Stayner family has been shrouded in . Cary Stayner, shown in this March 2, 1980 photo, is hugged by his mother Kay Stayner outside the Stayner home in Merced County, Calif., on the day Stayner's brother Steven was reunited with his family after being kidnapped for 7 years. Stayner waited until Parnell had gone to his night shift job as a clerk at a local motel on March 1, 1980 and, carrying White on his back, hitchhiked 40 miles to Ukiah. On September 16, 1989, Steven Stayner was driving home from work on a California highway after work one rainy evening and got into a deadly collision with a car that turned in front of him. In February 1980, Parnell kidnapped his next victim, five-year-old Timothy White. Flynn said his sexuality was "constantly under attack.". However, he only served five years of his sentence. When he was 24, he died in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident. Steven was never able to open up about the sexual abuse he suffered and get help. "I think Cary after high school seemed a little lost, like he didnt know where he was going," Bungart said. "You have one brother who's been subjected to just unspeakable horror for years, but by all appearances he's a happy-go-lucky, jovial kid with a girlfriend. "They call [Merced] the gateway to Yosemite," said Ted Rowlands, a former reporter who covered Cary Stayners story at KNTV for the San Francisco Bay area. On the afternoon of December 4, 1972, 7-year-old Steven Stayner was walking home from school in Merced, California, when he was approached by a man passing out religious pamphlets. He was abducted as a child and later died young. And he was 38 when he brutally tortured and murdered 4 females in Yosemite National Parka dream he wanted to fulfill since the age of 7. Prosecutor Tim Wellman had largely argued his case before the jury by showing a slideshow of Stayner marked "1", then of White marked "2", and a blank screen marked "3" to show the nonexistent child that would have been abducted had police not been notified. The Stayners suggested that one park could be called Stayner Park, in memory of Steven. From 2010 to 2014, the number of accident-related . "Steven was a national hero. Nobody can hurt him now. He had been under hospice care for some time.[10]. He wanted the world to take note. Did Delbert Stayner Molest His Daughters? "The only time Steve would kill anything like a fish is because we were gonna eat it. Steven Stayner (Steven Gregory Stayner) was born on 18 April, 1965 in Merced, CA, is an American child kidnapping victim. He later said, I never stopped looking, every time I saw a crowd on TV or a picture of a lot of people in a magazine. However, that happiness was short-lived because he had difficulty adjusting back to life with his family. The now 14-year-old Steven decided to escape with White on 2 March 1980 after witnessing the childs suffering. Witnesses later recognized the alleged driver of the automobile. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students, according to research conducted by the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention and ranked in the top nine leading causes of death for people between the ages of 10 and 64, as well as . Parnell posed as Stayner's legal guardian and moved him around the state of California for the next eight years. This is the story of a seven-year-old boy named Steven Stayner. Later, the family also mentioned that the couple would go after any new tip that came by, with their children in tow. On the afternoon of December 4, 1972, Steven was walking home from school in Merced, a city in California, when a man handing out religious pamphlets approached him. At the time, Parnell was convicted for kidnapping and false imprisonment. FBI agents caught up with Stayner at a nudist colony, where he had fled to after Armstrongs murder. Steven Stayner was just 7 years old when he was kidnapped in California in 1972 (via theLos Angeles Times). Edward Murphy, Parnell's accomplice from the Stayner kidnapping, was sentenced to five years imprisonment and paroled after two years. He had reportedly suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts but the cause of his death remains unclear. Stevens was aware of Parnell's past and cooperated with police in setting up a sting operation that would lead to his arrest. Cos Ive not until about an hour ago and its definitely one for the books. While working at the Yosemite Lodge, Kenneth Parnell befriended his coworker Ervin Murphy. . And so Steven made it home, Timmy was returned to his parents, and two families could breathe again. I guess seven years changed him, too. He married Kay about three years later, and the couple went on to have three daughters and two sons. Soon after, he confessed to murdering Carole Sund, Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso. After White had been with Stayner and his captors for 16 days, Stayner realized he needed to save White from the same abuse he had endured (via the Los Angeles Times). Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. He was convicted of both kidnappings and served five years of his seven-year prison sentence. At the time of Stayner's kidnapping, Parnell was employed at the Yosemite Lodge, which according to ABC News, was approximately two hours away from Merced. View Entire Post In the time after Stevens disappearance, Del dealt with depression and suicidal thoughts. One relative described child sexual abuse as like a family sickness because it had been going on for so many generations. He found someone else to help him find another boy, only this time he was caught and he was sent to prison again -- where he died in 2008.". Steven Stayner's grave./Steven Stayner. In 1985, at the age of 20, Stayner married 17-year-old Jody Edmondson. Ive been watching the documentary on Hulu and first Steven is kidnapped and molested and by some miracle, returns to his family, only for some guy to do a hit and run on him? He should have at least gotten involuntary manslaughter. Parnell remained incarcerated until his death in 2008 at the California Medical Facility, where he died of natural causes. Date of Death: September 16, 1989. Am I wrong? The incident was declared a hit-and-run after the car sped away, leaving Stayner on the highway with severe injuries (via The Spokesman-Review). In the years after Steven vanished, Del spent considerable time looking for anything that would lead him to his son. . He also felt more directly responsible. But Stayner had issues with readjusting to family life, with a tumultuous teenagehood. He was kidnapped. "He had a great personality," said Lori Duke, who dated Steven in high school but knew him as Dennis. In 2003, he was once again arrested in connection with a kidnapping, when an elderly and sickly Parnell tried to get his caretaker to buy a 4-year-old boy for him in Berkeley, California, the Associated Press reported in 2004. He was 79 years old, and from what we can tell, the cause of death has not been made public. Steven was 24 years old at the time of death. 0 references. Steven Gregory Stayner was an American kidnapping victim. Stayner would not reemerge until 1980, when he fled from Parnell to save another kidnapped boy, Timothy White. Steven Stayner was born on April 18, 1965 and died on September 16, 1989. He later moved with his mother, his two half-sisters, and a half-brother to Bakersfield, California, where his mother operated a boarding lodge. Its a story of a happy ending turned rathertwisted. On March 1, 1980, Steven waited until Parnell was at work and then fled with Timothy. "When Steven came home, Cary was kind of put on the back shelf. For more information, please see our American sex offender, child rapist and kidnapper (19312008), Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Youth Abducted Seven Years Ago Goes Home Again", "Alleged attempt to buy child leads to arrest of kidnapper", "Sex Offender Kenneth Parnell Dies in Vacaville", "Steven and Cary Stayner: The tale of two brothers' horror and heroism", "Kenneth Parnell, kidnapper of Steven Stayner, dies at 76", "Kenneth Eugene Parnell, A Notorious Child Molester Dies In Prison", abducted man posing pastor launched-daring-escape, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kenneth_Parnell&oldid=1133639900, American people convicted of child sexual abuse, American people who died in prison custody, Prisoners who died in California detention, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from May 2022, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 14 January 2023, at 20:40. One last Steven Stayner, one last Timmy White. In March 1951, Parnell was arrested for raping a young boy and impersonating a police officer; he was sentenced to four years in prison. He was 79 years old, and from what we can tell, the cause of death has not been made public. Hulus Captive Audience tells the tragic story of two Stayner brothers: Steven, who was kidnapped by a pedophile as a child, and Cary, who later became a serial killer. Parnell remained incarcerated until his death in 2008 at theCalifornia Medical Facility, where he died of natural causes. When Steven didnt make it home from school, his parents sounded the alarm. However, his sexual abuse of the boy never stopped. And if I didnt take care of it now, it would just get worse, Lori Duke, Stayners high school girlfriend, told ABC News. English Wikipedia. However, he was convicted in Utah and was not known as a criminal in California. READ NEXT: Cary Stayner Today: Where Is He Now in 2021? By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story, {{#media.media_details}} {{#media.focal_point}}. After that time he was in and out of juvenile custody for car theft and arson.[4][5]. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content.