Returning home, Steven Stayner felt that his parents were still treating him as their seven-year-old child, and had trouble adjusting as he no more had the freedom to smoke, drink, or do whatever he wanted. Although he never disclosed the details of his sexual abuse, kids at school were heartless. Stayner, 41, faces the death penalty for the killings of Carole Sund, 42, her daughter, Juli, 15, and their Argentine friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, while they were staying at the motel where he worked as a handyman outside Yosemite National Park in February 1999. Sadness engulfed the community as people mourned a life blighted with tragedy. He was a good student, a good artist, and he was very lovingIf his dying would bring these people back, I'd say do it. That year Parnell recently kidnapped another young boy to replace the aging Stayner, 5-year-old Timothy White. The morning of March 2, 1980 Parnell was arrested. They passed the street Stevens house was on, and when he told them, the men just said that theyd call his parents, see if he could stay the night. The Abduction Of Steven Stayner. We expected him to come back. Third of five children, he had an older brother and three sisters. But she said it wasnt the brother she remembers. "He got on with his life," his sister Cory Staynertold the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Ive never been this angry. While at school, Steven never revealed to anyone that he had been kidnapped. Seven-year-old, Steven Stayner lived with his parents, Kay and Delbert and his three sisters and an older brother in the small Californian city of Merced. During the years Steven was missing, Cary's life continued, but it was never the same. Despite his refusals, since he was just a few blocks from home, Steven finally gave in and accepted the ride. 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. Initially wanted as an eyewitness, Cary was confronted by police in July of 1999, and ended up confessing to all four murders. | But in 1980, the Stayners' prayers were answered when Steven returned home after a seven-year disappearance. Investigator Pat Lunney said, Merced was the lead police department, and so they really mounted a large effort to search. Source: Vimbuzz.com Related Posts Jody emotionally described how she and Stayner planned to visit their favorite restaurant after he got home. I don't know sometimes if I should have come home. As he got a little older, though, he realizedthat "things weren't rightmy parents wouldn't have hired a guy to pick me off the street," Steven reflected. [16], As Stayner entered puberty, Parnell began to look for a younger child to kidnap. 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 .css-1me6ynq{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:#125C68;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#125C68;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-1me6ynq:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:#595959;}SFGate. AP Parnell was convicted on kidnapping and false imprisonment charges. Steven Stayner testifies about his abduction in 1972 by Kenneth Parnell and his seven years in captivity in this 1981 photo. Its final this time,he said. Now I had to compete with a brother and three sisters. Luck was not on his side, however, and at 4:55pm, three miles away and driving under the speed limit, he rammed a car that had pulled into the street just ahead of him. 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. But executing him is not going to bring them back.". But this time hes the one who is staying strong for Kay., Delbert mourned the tragedy but expressed relief in the certainty of death. Claiming full legal custody of Steven, Parnell changed his name, calling him Dennis Gregory Parnell, allowing him to keep his real middle name. Steven was persuaded to get intothe car, whereKenneth Parnellwas waiting. Motivated in part by the young boy's distress, Stayner decided to return the boy to his parents. [39] Parnell died of natural causes on January 21, 2008, at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California, while serving a sentence of 25 years to life. Prueba a ver si Netflix, iTunes, Amazon o cualquier otro servicio te deja reproducirlo en streaming, alquilarlo o comprarlo! [9] Parnell began raping Stayner thirteen days later, on December 17, 1972. Parnell was not charged with the numerous sexual assaults on Stayner and other boys because most of them occurred outside the jurisdiction of the Merced County prosecutor or were by then outside the statute of limitations. 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. They were last seen alive Feb. 15 eating dinner at the hotel restaurant. [40], White later became a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Deputy. Steven Gregory Stayner (April 18, 1965 - September 16, 1989) was an American kidnapping victim. I am fourteen years of age. In late 1989, Steven was riding his new Kawasaki motorcycle home from his job as a pizza delivery man when a car pulled out of the driveway just ahead of him. They found recordings of executives discussing proposed audience-friendly tweaks, and the Hulu series examines "both what really happened and also the way what really happened was digested and made into something with a Hollywood narrative.". Together they had two children, and he moved to work with child abduction groups, making appearances for various groups who search for missing children. He died four years later, on January 21, 2008. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. My dad said he didn't need any. Police first linked him to Armstrong's July 21 murder when his vehicle was reported to be near her cabin an hour after she was known to already be dead. 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. Dimmock credited Ashley"and her really trusting inthe weird process of going back over a story that ultimately has been told a lot of times, but digging some new things up and starting again," for helping the series come together with fresh insight from the family. 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. All rights reserved. An ex-con who had already spent three years in San Quentin formolestingan 8-year-old boy plus another six years in a Utah prison on armed robbery and grand larceny charges, Parnell told Steven that he wasgoing to adopt him because his parents didn't want him anymore. Sadly, Stayners triumphant return didnt last long, as he died several years after the daring escape. But why doesn't my dad hug me anymore? The title of the film and book are taken from the first paragraph of Steven's written police statement, given during the early hours of March 2, 1980 in Ukiah. "The worst thing that could possibly happen, happens to them," Dimmock said. Adjusting to post-abduction life was no easy task for Steven. Stayner considered doing it on three different occasions. Born on April 18, 1965, in Merced, California, Steven Gregory Stayner had an older brother named Cary and three sisters. The connection, once people realized it was indeed the same family, feltlike a punch to the gut. Here are 10 you cant miss, I-5 closed through Grapevine as last wave of winter storm hits Southern California, Dictators and criminals fear this USC instructor whos making the case for an Oscar, Photos: Mountain communities buried in snow | More on the way, Prosecutor in controversial Hannah Tubbs case suspended for misgendering defendant, Environmentalists sue to overturn San Diego County climate plan. He told Steven he was a minister, and asked if his mother would like to make a donation to the church. "You'vegot this crazy story that happens, and then you've got kind of the 1980s version of that story that's presented to the world," Dimmock told E!. He turned to alcohol to suppress his feelings, and eventually dropped out of school. "[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. He had askedhis home health care worker if she could help him procure a 4-year-old boy, offering to pay $500 to have him delivered to his house in Berkeley. Cary at 6, watching television from the couch. The attempt was a failure. "I wish I could have controlled myself and not done what I did. A woman named Barbara Mathias moved in and lived with them for eighteen months. The retired TV host rarely leaves his home due to illness, Everything We Know About Vanessa Hudgens Parents, Who is Charlie Kirks wife? So, today, at the age of 59, Cary Stayner is incarcerated at the San Quentin State Prison. He also refused to disclose all the details of sexual abuse he endured from Parnell. Your IP: She said back then, This is really so phenomenal, for a child to be gone seven years and to be found alive. He now belonged to Parnell. After they stopped trying to teach me the fundamentals all over again, it got better. Steven Stayner's incredible story features in the captivating Hulu crime drama Captive Audience . But, in 1974, things were much different as the family of Steven Stayner would discover. But he was pretty messed up and never got any counseling. He was third of five children of his parents and had an elder brother Cary and three sisters. Within a week, Steven was calling him dad. In high school, Cary was known for being creative, but he couldn't escape Steven's story. [32] Screening rights were sold to a number of international television companies including the BBC, which screened the miniseries in mid-July of the following year; later still, it was released as a feature-length movie. Article continues below advertisement As Steven Stayner got older, Kenneth Parnell began planning to kidnap another, younger, boy. In early 1989, he helped in the production of a miniseries on his life, 'I Know My First Name is Steven', which was initially broadcast on NBC in May that year. He was at times eerily nonchalant about what happened to him and even took to making jokes about it himself. Performance & security by Cloudflare. If its the last thing I do, Ill nail him if I possibly can. In 2002, Kay testified during the penalty phase of her son Carys trial for a triple murder. In an interview with Good Morning America in 1983, Steven recalled, The first year was kinda hectic. Cary with his little brother, Steven . Thirteen days in, Steven was being raped. Nobody can hurt him now. In the epilogue to his book, Echols describes how he infiltrated NAMBLA. Parnell approached with the car, and they left. The next day, Steven was told that his parents had given him up, that they couldnt afford so many children (Steven was one of five children), and they didnt want him anymore. Parnell then drove a confused Stayner to his cabin in nearby Catheys Valley instead. This idea was eventually rejected and the honor was instead given to another Merced resident, because Stayner's brother Cary confessed to, and was convicted of, killing four women in Yosemite in 1999; Merced city officials feared that the name "Stayner Park" would be associated with Cary rather than Steven. Soon after, Parnell reached there, driving a white Buick, which Stayner got into willingly, along with Murphy, but instead of his home, he was taken to a cabin in nearby Catheys Valley. Still, the family signed off on it, and Steven even had a nonspeaking cameo asone of the police officers who escort his TV self back home. She reported him topolice and he got the maximum sentence due to California's three-strikes law. [1] He had three sisters and an older brother, Cary. What happened Cary Stayner? On December 4, 1972, seven-year-old Stayner was abducted in Merced, California, by child molester Kenneth Parnell. Both claimed they knew nothing of the sexual assaults on Stayner. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a1393983e62ce48 Steven was able to explain what had happened to him and to Timothy. This content is imported from youTube. ), 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. I never recognized either one of them. He died on April 1, 2010 from a pulmonary embolism. Parents Del and Kay, brother Cary and his three sisterswelcomed him back into the fold, but readjusting wasn't easyfor any of them. He was held by his abductor until he was 14,. He also had a small, speechless role in the TV series as one of two policemen who escort his 14-year-old self to his onscreen parents. Now I had to compete with a brother and three sisters., Steven had to learn the rules, he was used to coming and going as he pleased, drinking and smoking, and suddenly that wasnt allowed. Great article, as always! While adjusting to his new life at home, and being bullied in school for the abuse he experienced, Steven also had to deal with Parnell during his 1981 trial, a year after his return home. He waited until Parnell went to work, then took Timothys hand and ran. I have covered them both in the same article. 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. I never did tell anybody about it, but I remember wishing on a star that my little brother would come back home.". Realizing how the young boy would suffer at the hands of his captor, Stayner decided to return Timmy to his parents. He remains on death row at San Quentin State Prison, though California hasn't executed a prisoner since 2006 and Gov. His wife, Jody Edmondson, lashed out at Antonio for leaving the scene. He also seemed angry at the driver who fatally crashed into him and ticked off by the light sentence given to Parnell, a free man at the time. Hearing about Cary's traumatic past or childhood issues didn't sway the jury, who recommended the death penalty, and a judge agreed. 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 was 79 years old. Let's Look at Gaga's Style Evolution, Shall We? I always looked very closely in hopes of spotting Steven.". 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. Steven was held captive and sexually abused by his abductor 200 miles away in Mendocino County, California until he was 14. Parnell created a new identity for Stayner, giving him the new name, Dennis Gregory Parnell, but retained his original middle name and his original date of birth. Steven's death, along with the death of his uncle soon afterward, reportedly had a serious impact on Cary Stayner's mental health and well-being. You could see that he wanted to play and be with kids and be normal.". '", 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. He didnt whine about lousy breaks. I know where Stevies at now., Read Next: Bonny Lee Bakleys death The accusations behind her unsolved murder, Is Bob Barker still alive? We were kind of on our own, Sartell said. At odds with his father, Steven was eventually kicked out of the house. kidnapped by Kenneth Parnell, who sexually abused him. We had hope, faith, and kept busy. But Stevens life back in the safety of his home was difficult. But the family has since dealt with several tragedies along the way, including Steven's death and his older brother's incarceration for murder. [] Everything has changed. In 1981, Parnell was tried and convicted of kidnapping both White and Stayner in two separate trials and was sentenced to seven years in jail, even though he was released on parole after five years. Then all of a sudden it's gone. And there was just nothing there. Little did they know, Steven was being held at a cabin in nearby Catheys Valley. More than 450 peopleturned out for Steven's funeral and Timothy White, the boy he saved, wasa pallbearer. Steven Stayner was the third of five children born to Delbert and Kay Stayner in Merced, California. Cory . They approached a police station shortly after midnight. Cary, his older brother, was one of three sisters he had. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. She is a graduate of CUNY Hunter College with a B.A. According to reports, Cary Stayner and Cory Stayner are Steven Stayner's two siblings. He agreed to let them search his truck but balked when they wanted to look in his backpack, wondering if Armstrong's head was inside. While they were lovingly raised among almond groves and peach orchards by Delbert and Kay Stayner, their lives in the farming town of Merced were unfortunately in dangerous proximity of a monster. Steven Stayners miraculous story of escape from his kidnapper in 1980 garnered national headlines at the time. He was described as a quiet kid, he enjoyed hanging out with his friends, going to the park, riding his skateboard, or even his bike. Cary was convicted with four counts of first-degree murder. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV shows! seen in Montana, according to our information three sisters. Stayner dropped out of school and started a drinking habit that strained his relationship with his dad. "They said, 'If we can bring one child home, it will be worth it. Timothy James White (November 1, 1974 - April 1, 2010) was an American man who was abducted in 1980 by pedophile Kenneth Parnell, and held a few weeks before he was rescued by fellow child captive, 14-year-old Steven Stayner, who escaped and guided the 5-year-old to safety. Although pleased with the dramatization, Stayner did complain that it depicted him as a somewhat "obnoxious, rude" person, especially toward his parents, something he refuted while publicizing the miniseries in the spring of 1989. Steven Stayners kidnapping prompted California lawmakers to change the state laws, allowing consecutive prison terms in similar abduction cases., But the story doesnt end there. Parnell had also moved from one menial job to another, some of his work requiring travel and leaving Stayner unguarded, causing an adult Stayner to remark he could have easily used these absences as opportunities to flee, but was unaware how to summon help. Despite his efforts, Parnell had another young boy. I think my last name isStayner.". If they're just out on the porch, the door is always open. But as Kay also said that night, "We expected him to come back. He died in jail in 2008 at the age of 76. 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