He had three sisters and one older brother, Cary Stayner, who in 2002 was convicted of . 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. I dont believe that it was my brother who committed such things, Sartell said as the defense presented his three sisters in an effort to spare his life. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. "I didn't socialize with him," Del said. At 14 years old, Steven was reunited with this parents, and became a national hero overnight. He told TheSan Jose Mercury Newsthat watching his children play was like having another childhood the childhood I didnt have., Steven was bravely going about reconstructing his life,JK Miller said. Stayner began to drink frequently, and was eventually kicked out of the family home. [17], On March 1, 1980, while Parnell was away at his night security job, Stayner left with White and hitchhiked into Ukiah. Steven, hoping to spare another child his fate, had sabotaged so many kidnappings. At the time, Parnell was convicted for kidnapping and false imprisonment. In 1981, Parnell was tried in two separate trials, one for each boy. Originally published January 20, 2007 at 12:00 am. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Boy that was one looooong article! But for the Stayners, this seemingly closed hellish chapter of their lives turned out to beonly the first of the worst-nightmare scenarios that they faced. While he still blamed himself for his abduction, starting a family helped him cope with his past, and he began interacting with child abduction groups and provided advice to children on the topic. '", 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. Stevens drivers license had been suspended, and didnt want to risk an accident in the company truck, so he declined the offer. Five hundred people attended his funeral, at which 14-year-old Timmy White was a pallbearer. We expected him to come back. I dont know sometimes if I should have come back home. When he didnt return home from school that day his parents went to the police. [4] Murphy, described by those who knew him as a trusting, nave, and simple-minded man,[4] had been enlisted by Parnell (who had passed himself off to Murphy as an aspiring minister)[5][6] into helping him abduct a young boy so that Parnell could "raise him in a religious-type deal," as Murphy later stated. During this time, he was working at Pizza Hut and later joined 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'. "[35], Steven's story was also included in the book Against Their Will by Nigel Cawthorne, a compilation of stories of kidnappings.[36]. But after he and a fellow victim escaped in . For two weeks Steven watched Timothy suffer. So, on December 4, 1972, Kay was supposed to pick him up from school but had stopped to pick something up from Delbert. A school friend recalled to20/20years laterthat the boy she knew as Dennis had "a great personality. He then violently murdered all three, according to History.com. At odds with his father, Steven was eventually kicked out of the house. Nobody can hurt him now. Jurors in August found him guilty of the murders. Hewasn't wearing a helmet and he was pronounced dead of a skull fracture at a nearby hospital. However, Stayner skillfully sabotaged Kenneths plans. Timothy, back home with his family, adjusted well, and things returned to normal. What a case! "[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. As he was walking home from school on December 4th 1972, he was approached by a man named Ervin Murphy claiming to be a representative of the church who was looking for donations. I always looked very closely in hopes of spotting Steven.". in journalism and creative writing. Ukiah, California, U.S. Great article, as always! We had hope, faith and kept busy. While there's not much information about what Steven was like as a child, there is some insight to Cary's early life. Steven was transported to Merced Community Medical Center, and at 5:35pm, was declared dead. Together they had two children, and he moved to work with child abduction groups, making appearances for various groups who search for missing children. What happened Cary Stayner? He was not kept in captivity, and in the following years, was enrolled into a number of schools where Parnell identified himself as his father. We were kind of on our own, Sartell said. Unfortunately, he was never charged with the sexual assaults on Steven, or any other boys, as they had occurred outside the jurisdiction of the Merced County prosecutor, some even outside the statute of limitations. For seven years I have been supposedly an only child. News. [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. Although Stayner was dead, his testimony at Parnell's earlier trial was read to jurors as evidence in Parnell's 2004 trial. ", Kay told the jury of her surviving son,"Very seldom did he get into trouble. [25], In 1985, Stayner married 17-year-old Jody Edmondson,[2] with whom he had two children: a daughter Ashley and a son Steven Jr.[26] He also worked with child abduction groups, spoke to children about personal safety, and gave interviews about his kidnapping. ), 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. If they're just out on the porch, the door is always open. If its the last thing I do, Ill nail him if I possibly can. Steven passed away an hour after the accident at Merced Community Medical Center. [24] In an interview with Newsweek shortly after his escape, Stayner said, "I returned almost a grown man and yet my parents saw me at first as their 7-year-old. Mourners holding banner which reads VIGIL OF HOPE for Carole Sund, her daughter Juli, and Julis friend Silvina Pelosso. ), "I'm very, very, very angry,"his wife Jody, then 21, told a reporter for Knight Ridder that night. Sartell testified about the toll that the 1972 kidnapping of younger brother Steven took on the family. 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. [22] Stayner's kidnapping and its aftermath prompted California lawmakers to change state laws "to allow consecutive prison terms in similar abduction cases. "It was outrageous. 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. Around the time Steven disappeared, they lived in an area with lots of children. Steven Stayners incredible story features in the captivating Hulu crime dramaCaptive Audience. He told Steven he was a minister, and asked if his mother would like to make a donation to the church. Insisting to police that he "wasn't mistreated the boy clearly has conflicting thoughts about his captor," the article notes. A police investigation didnt trace the deaths back to Cary, although he was interviewed. Its final this time,he said. Steven Stayner (R) with his kidnapper Kenneth Parnell. April 20, 2022 Steven Stayner became a household name in 1980 when he returned home after being kidnapped about seven years earlier. But, in 1974, things were much different as the family of Steven Stayner would discover. Stayner had a relaxed upbringing as his captor not only allowed him to roam freely wherever he wished to go, but also allowed him to start drinking at a very early age. Click to reveal "It was my do-or-die chanceand I also would be coming home for doing something positive.". Let's Look at Gaga's Style Evolution, Shall We? Ill cover Cary Stayner soon. Born In: Merced, California, United States, Spouse/Ex-: Jody Edmondson (m. 19851989). I guess I was jealous. Cary Stayner, Steven's older brother, was behind the Yosemite murders that rocked the small farming town of Merced, California in 1999. 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. [29][18], In early 1989, a television miniseries based on his experience, I Know My First Name Is Steven (also known as The Missing Years), was produced. In the epilogue to his book, Echols describes how he infiltrated NAMBLA. In high school, Cary was known for being creative, but he couldn't escape Steven's story. Steven eventually married and had two children. His relationship with his father remained strained. Parnell had been with a woman named Barbara Mathias for a period of one and half years, during which they reportedly forced Stayner into sexual activities at least nine times. 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. Steven Gregory Stayner was an American kidnapping victim popularly known for being abducted in Merced, California by child molester Kenneth Parnell on December 4, 1972, at the age of 7 years. 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. Hawkins said: She was the one who stayed so strong and calm and collected through that seven-year-ordeal. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 162.211.29.130 He died on April 1, 2010, at age 35 from pulmonary embolism. [30] Third of five children, he had an older brother and three sisters. Parnell had also told this little boy that he wasgoing to be his new dad because his parents didn't want him anymore. Cary with his little brother, Steven . 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. "My older brother . The title of the TV series and the book on Steven Stayner, 'I Know My First Name is Steven', was inspired by a line in his official police statement given after being rescued. Gavin Newsom imposed a moratoriumon carrying out the death penalty while he's in office. They approached a police station shortly after midnight. Cary saw the attention that his brother received after returning home and their relationship was never the same, according to TIME. Cary had been interviewedearly on in the investigationa massive undertaking involving local and federal authoritiesand ruled out as a suspect. [37], In 2004, Parnell, then 72 years old, was convicted of trying the previous year to persuade his caretaker's sister to procure for him a young boy for five hundred dollars. My dad said he didn't need any. 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. 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. 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. "He got on with his life," his sister Cory Staynertold the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He [Steven] got on with his life but he was pretty messed up,Stevens sister said in 2007. However, he was not charged for sexual assault as the prosecutors believed they were 'protecting' Stayner from the social stigma of male sexual abuse. On February 14, 1980, in Ukiah, California, they were successful when Poorman found 5-year old Timothy White walking home from school. After Steven said his mother would be interested in donating, Murphy offered to take the boy home. He was sentenced to seven years, but was paroled after serving five.[19][20]. Theres so much hate right now.. Awesome, cant wait to read! But her strength is waning now. ", He added, "Everything has changed. "We tried to keep quiet and not upset our parents.". Parnell used Steven in his next attempts to take a boy, but none were successful. 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. Needless to say, nothing is so black and white, especially when there isn't a handy scenario to explain away any of it at all. I am fourteen years of age. She said back then, This is really so phenomenal, for a child to be gone seven years and to be found alive. Unable to avoid the collision, Steven hit the drivers side of the vehicle. It wasn't until Parnell was charged with attempting to purchase a child and attempted child molestation in 2004, that he was sentenced to 25 to life. However, the young boy could not take advantage of those opportunities as he was reportedly unaware how to summon help. The Most Iconic Celebrity Best Friendships, The Most Iconic Old Hollywood Engagement Rings, The Top Dog Breeds the Year You Were Born, The Most Iconic Oscar Dresses of All Time, Christie Brinkley Honors 69th Birthday in New IG. He died four years later, on January 21, 2008. But this time hes the one who is staying strong for Kay., Delbert mourned the tragedy but expressed relief in the certainty of death. Now I had to compete with a brother and three sisters. When 800,000 children disappear every year worldwide 460,000 of these from the United States alone, you tend to keep your children close. Altogether, Parnell was sentenced to seven years and was paroled after serving five. White eventually became a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Deputy. He said, Whats dying? like so much had already happened to him, what was dying compared to that?. 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. According to Stayner, Mathias, along with Parnell, raped him on nine occasions at the age of nine. 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. Shockingly, Parnell allowed Steven to go to school. In 2002, Kay testified during the penalty phase of her son Carys trial for a triple murder. For seven years I have been supposedly an only child. Both Del and Kay Stayner testified during the penalty phase of the trial that October that they neglected Cary to a degree when Steven went missing. [13], For a period of eighteen months, a woman named Barbara Mathias lived with Parnell and Stayner. That first night, Parnell molested young Steven. [9] Parnell began raping Stayner thirteen days later, on December 17, 1972. All rights reserved. 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. Both actors reflecton the stranger-than-fiction chain of events inCaptive Audience, as well asread Steven and Cary's own words from interview transcripts. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/steven-stayner-34446.php. Parnell, along with Murphy, took Steven to a cabin in Catheys Valley, where he was brainwashed to believe his parents no longer wanted him. And there was just nothing there. Little did they know, Steven was being held at a cabin in nearby Catheys Valley. [38] Timmy White, then a grown man, was subpoenaed to testify in Parnell's criminal trial. 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