His father also refused to send him to therapy, because he scorned psychiatry in general and saw therapy as a tool for weak people. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). The film explores the trauma and psychological impact of Stevens abduction and the difficulties he faced trying to adjust to life after his escape. It feels like it was so long ago that you forget that it even happened and feels like, almost like a dream or a movie that you watched. At the time of the murders I was down in San Diego so I was never a suspect or interviewed by the FBI, but people wanted to rent the room that the murders took place in, they eventually turned it into a storage room. It was always with him, like a woman carries a purse," Lenna said. Eventually, he found work doing odd jobs at the Cedar Lodge outside of Yosemite. According to The Famous People, the couple eventually had two children, named Ashley and Steven, Jr. "A lot of attention went to Steven we all got a little jealous," says one of the Stayner sisters in Hulu's upcoming docuseries Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story. The yearbook is owned by Jack Bungart, managing editor of the Vallejo Times-Herald, who was sports editor of The Statesman when Stayner was the cartoonist. His death dealt another blow to the family - but not its last. At night while Parnell was at work, the two boys ran out into the rainy night, eventually hitching a ride to Ukiah, where they found the police department. Following Steven's death, the Stayners began to fade out of the news but then, "terrible things start all up again," Cory says. Before the Stayners became one of the most recognizable names in the true crime genre, they were a modest family based out of Merced, Calif. At the helm were Delbert and Kay Stayner, with three daughters and two sons in tow. But when a police search of Parnells home turned up sexualized photographs of Steven, he acknowledged what hed endured. He had been a young patrol officer in 1972 when Cary Stayner's younger brother, Steven Stayner, was snatched off a Merced street in the county's most infamous kidnapping. They found out who did it.' Authorities described it as his "murder kit. Friends and co-workers would say later that he struggled with impulses he didn't understand and was susceptible to fits of rage. Sleet was falling when an old Buick pulled up next to him as he walked home from school. ), The film took some dramatic liberties, and Steven told The New York Times that he resented his portrayal as kind of obnoxious, rude towards his parents when returning to the family fold. Delbert, she says, would drive through the hills looking for makeshift graves and follow suspicious vehicles with hopes of locating Steven. And uh, such a happy part that turned into such a dark part of our life," she said. When she was murdered, her family and the park created the Yosemite Armstrong Scholars to keep Joies dreams and actions alive. Uncle Jerry's murdered. Nearly 40 million viewers tuned in, making it NBCs highest rated miniseries in five years. All Rights Reserved. "It affects every aspect of your life," Kay recalls in the show. In the same episode, she asks: "How much more could happen in our lives in one lifetime?". Linda Shertz, stepmother of Lynnea, said Cary Stayner was traumatized by his brother's abduction. [1] He had three sisters and an older brother, Cary. At that age shes a girl/child. Cary Stayner will forever be known for marring Yosemite's reputation as a peaceful retreat with the brutal murders of four innocent women. But in 1972, the family would begin a traumatizing and highly publicized journey that spanned 30 years. Lenna said she could remember one occasion in which Cary Stayner had made her feel uncomfortable. In July 1999, Cary Stayner happened upon Joie Ruth Armstrong outside this cabin in Yosemite National Park. A longtime next-door neighbor told the San Francisco Chronicle that the kidnapping scarred Cary, who was often described as a loner and introvert. Hi! He actually was not working at the time he had been laid off for the winter off-season but the guests, Carole Sund, her teen daughter, Juli, and their friend Silvina Pelosso, didn't know that. At the time when I was up there I had just graduated from high school, I had no idea at that time that something had happened to his brother prior. "How could we have missed someone we felt was part of our family?" Steven Stayner was eventually reunited with his family and hailed as a hero. Now, a new segment of ABC's news magazine "20/20" recounts the crimes and tragedies surrounding the Merced, Calif., siblings on the 20-year anniversary of the 1999 Yosemite serial killings. The laws at the time established that because the sex crimes had occurred in a different jurisdiction than the kidnapping, doing so would require a second trial: I wanted to charge Parnell with the sex crimes. Anyone who owned a television in the '80s will recognize the name Steven Stayner. And I go, "Well, OK,' and so I got in the car. Her mother was a waitress at the California lodge in 1998 and Stayner lived in an apartment above the restaurant. This response from a judge to Kenneth Parnells motion (1981) that charges against him her either unsupported by probable cause or barred by the statute of limitations is really choice. In court, a psychiatrist called by the defense testified that the Stayner family had a long history of sexual abuse and mental illness, including a history of dysfunction dating back three generations. A doctor testified that Cary was mentally impaired. He was found sane and convicted on three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances and one count of kidnapping. Steven Stayner (front right) pictured with his older brother, Cary (center). Television crews followed him through the school hallways, watched him at home and looked for any update on his current state as he assimilated back into his life as Steven Stayner. Cary was arrested after a woman at the nudist resort hed escaped to called a number she saw on television asking for information about him. Cary spent the '90s bouncing from one handyman job to another. On the trip, alumni hike out in the night with foot baths, salts, salves, and nail polish to care for each other halfway through the trek. Parnell returned to prison in April 2004, for offering his caretaker $500 to kidnap a 4-year-old boy for him to abuse. Kenneth Parnell is shown in a June, 1981 file photo testifying at his trial for the kidnapping of a 5-year boy. "I'm just shocked that he would be involved in something like this.". A closeup of child kidnap victim Steven Stayner. "Then you have Steven Stayner get kidnapped, and then he comes back and gets killed in a motorcycle accident. [4] But at the same time, I still have a hard time looking at him as a monster. In 1985, at the age of 20, Stayner married 17-year-old Jody Edmondson. For two years in Santa Rosa, Barbara Mathias, a girlfriend of Parnells, moved in with them, and she participated in Stevens abuse. That was his therapy that helped him through everything.". Classmates remember him as shy but a good kid who had holes in his shoes. Because last week Ash and new co-host Ali talked about the story of Steven Stayner, who was just 7 years old when he was kidnapped by 2 men while he was walking home from school. "I said, "Well, yeah. Vickie Flores, who grew up with the Stayner children, said Cary Stayner had a strange side. ", Thus began a seven-year ordeal in which Parnell held and sexually molested Stayner, forcing the boy to call him. Murphy was actually nabbing Steven for Parnell, his co-worker at the Yosemite Lodge, whod told Murphy he wanted to raise an underprivileged child. His sexual abuse of Steven began shortly thereafter and continued throughout Stevens time living with Parnell. Silvina was strangled next. "It always seems like when something happens in our family, the media is there.". They reported him missing to the police, and his face was all over the news. For seven years, Steven was held captive and sexually molested by Parnell, who forced Steven to call him "Dad" and told him his parents had abandoned him. Cary Stayner's high school 1979 yearbook photo. He would later tell the FBI he started imagining killing women and girls when he was just 6 or 7 years old. His first arrest for child molestation occurred shortly thereafter (he was 19, the child was 9) and he was sent to a psychiatric hospital, from which he escaped twice. I still don't think it's sunk in that it happened to us," Cory says. For the first two or three years of his absence, she refused to leave the house unattended in case Steven called. "Cary was unwell since he was a toddler, as far as I know," Cory says. In March of 1973, the local paper called the search for Steven one of the longest and widest missing persons investigations ever made by the local police department. They had no leads, but his family never stopped holding out hope. Her job was leading children in nature hikes. The 14-year-old was an instant hero, and later the subject of the NBC miniseries "I Know My First Name Is Steven.". "He knew everyone and talked to everyone, but I can't say anyone was his best friend or not.". He didnt want to talk about it, he was ashamed and he feared itd be framed as his fault. "Kind of hard to do that when you got the cameras everywhere though.". Her decapitated body was found Thursday, July 22, 1999 near Crane Creek which runs behind the house. Cary Stayner, now 57, was convicted of the murders of Armstrong, the Sunds and Pelosso, and sentenced to death for all except Armstrong's. In December 1972, his 7-year-old brother, Steven Stayner, was abducted in Merced, California, by pedophile Kenneth Parnell and accomplice Ervin Murphy. "We had news people up on our roof, shooting pictures through the windows, and it was mayhem. He told doctors at a hospital where he was treated that he began to participate in homosexual activities at the reform school where he was sent for stealing a car. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Steven Stayner, 14, is flanked by his father, Delbert (left) during a press conference after Steven and a young boy escaped from a sexual predator on Valentine's Day 1980 in Ukiah, Calif. Steven's brave act thrusted him into the national spotlight. Steven, knowing Timmy would soon suffer the same abuse hed suffered, decided it was time to plot his escape. Steven's daughter Ashley Stayner, now 36, is also a prominent participant, and the one member of the Stayner family who has spoken to the media following the documentary's release. In March of 1980, her hopes came true. The Stayner family Delbert and Kay and their two sons and three daughters lived in a small farming town of Merced, California, known as the gateway to Yosemite Park. Stayner slashed her throat and left her to die. Cary then spent the next few hours sexually assaulting Juli. Shock was a familiar reaction in Merced, a San Joaquin Valley city about 100 miles southeast of San Francisco, where residents considered Steven Stayner a hero for escaping from a child molester in 1980, only to die in a motorcycle accident nine years later. Stayner was the third of five children born in Merced, California to Delbert and Kay Stayner. I see two little girls, very innocent and very pure and very much so loving towards this man that wanted to do some horrible things to us," Lenna said. By 1997, hed moved to the Yosemite valley and was working as a maintenance guy at a 206-room motel, Cedar Lodge. But, at the age of 24, Steven Stayner, by then a husband and father of two, was killed in a motorcycle crash. Mike Echols's book about the kidnapping of Steven Stayner, "I Know My First Name is Steven," was considered by the Parnell family to be "pornographic," dwelling in lurid details. Despite Stayner being outed as a victim of sexual abuse, Parnell wasnt, ultimately, charged with any sex crimes, as under the laws of the time, they apparently wouldnt have added any significant jail time. The groups are adamantly trans inclusive, and prioritize QTPOC and white gays and theys, BIPOC, as well as low-income youth for selection. Cary eventually developed acute paranoia after years of consistent marijuana use, but kept on smoking regardless. Kay reveals that she thought her son needed therapy so he would have a place to privately process his traumatic experiences, but the idea was shut down by her husband. She was not a woman; she was a child. its so fascinating to hear about the reverberations stories like this have on our personal lives, like the fear that you developed around visiting national parks as a woman. Parnells appeals lawyer explains it like this: There was at the time a strong sense of what they called protecting the victim, he said, though he pointed out that, to his mind, protecting the victim was really a smokescreen for blaming the victim. And while "Captive Audience" focuses mostly on the Stayner family and how Steven's brother Cary grew up to be a serial killer, White's life and story was changed forever by his ordeal. And now this. "He was just our friend," she said. He was also convinced that he'd seen Bigfoot while out in the woods. This is a carousel. Cary Stayner caught up with her and slit her throat. I always look forward to a movie or series in this genre! She said meeting with Rinek, the former FBI agent and author, had helped her discuss her feelings of survivor's guilt. "It was the biggest deal in Hollywood," says Corin Nemec, who portrayed Steven as a teenager. "I think it must have really affected Cary," said Michael Kollman. I remember watching I Know My First Name Is Stephen when it aired (I was 8) and it stuck with me for so long. In 1959, he was arrested for robbery in Salt Lake City and spent six years in prison this would turn out to be the longest sentence hed serve for all the crimes he committed in his life. The Stayner family's devastating narrative, particularly the difficult lives of their two boys, Steven and Cary Stayner, is explored in the new three-part Hulu documentary series Captive Audience.' Kenneth Parnell, a guy who operated at the Yosemite Lodge in Steven's birthplace of Merced, California, abducted Steven when he was seven years old . Lenna said that at the time, Cary Stayner, in his 30s and handsome, appeared "safe" to her, her mother and younger sister. Steven Stayner was the middle child of a family from Merced, California. He was constantly hounded by reporters and classmates were irked by the attention he was receiving. Kidnapped in 1972 at the age of 7, the California boy became a national hero when seven years later he not. 3. After gaining access to their room -- lying to Carole Sund about a leak in an upstairs room -- Cary Stayner strangled the mother and sexually assaulted and then killed Juli Sund and Pelosso. One brother was lauded as a hero, the other branded a monster. Abducted at the age of 7, a teenage Steven Stayner was finally returning to his family in Merced, California. But a few quotes Cary had previously told media in the midst of his brother's fame led some to wonder if he was a disgruntled, jealous brother. Read Mike Moffitt's latest stories and send him news tips at mmoffitt@sfchronicle.com. Police tracked down Barbara Mathais, whod been listed as Stevens mother while they lived together, but she was never charged for her participation in Stevens abuse (although neither was Parnell, so!). I believe he was supposed to have been with his brother. Fascinating story! Lynnea Shertz, who grew up two doors down from the Stayners, remembered Cary Stayner as a scrawny teenager who liked to draw figures. Steven Stayner testifies about his abduction in 1972 by Kenneth Parnell and his seven years in captivity in this 1981 AP file photo. He joined the publication in 2021 on the crime beat. In the early '80s, the story of Steven Stayner's childhood abduction and rescue riveted the nation. He was sentenced to death in December 2002 and remains on death row. Along Bette Street, neighbors searched for clues from Cary Stayner's childhood that he was capable of the gruesome crime. Parnell died in prison in 2008. "That's what was making people start talking about it with Steven, all his interviews and this movie. Soon after, two of the women's bodies were discovered in a charred vehicle, and later, the third victim was found dead. After Cary Stayner's arrest, Lenna said FBI agents contacted her mother. Steven Stayner's miraculous story of escape from his kidnapper in 1980 garnered national headlines at the time. Kyler Alvord leads PEOPLE's politics coverage as a news editor for the brand. He's never caused any problems," Houtz, 32, said. Steven, the younger brother, vanished on Dec. 4, 1972, when he was just 7 years old. My platonic queer soulmate friend of the last decade, who taught me how to backpack in my early twenties, was lucky enough to go on this trip when she was fifteen. "I knew he was kinda weird, but I never knew he would get to that level of actually murdering anyone.". Bafflingly, she was given a reunion with Steven, apparently became friends with Stevens Mom, testified against Parnell and claimed she had no idea he wasnt Stevens own kid. He later said he was unable to resist killing her when he realized she was alone. An exclusive trailer for the three-part docuseries is below. "This family captured the imagination of the public for decades," newscaster Ted Rowlands, who covered the Stayners throughout his career, recalls in Captive Audience. Overshadowed All His Life, by Stacy Finz and Meredith May for San Francisco Gate (1999) About Carys life and history prior to the murders. "One time Cindy (Stayner) and I were outside at night and he exposed himself to us. Their childhood, until his disappearance, was typical of the era. "He was right under everyone's nose. He asked if Stevens mother had anything she could donate to the church. Parnell, whose kidnapping of Steven Stayner was turned into a television movie, was convicted in the 1972 kidnapping of Stayner, who was then 7, and the 1980 kidnapping of a 5-year-old boy. SF tourists go in droves to In-N-Out. AP File Photo/Ted Benson, The Modesto Bee. That dream ended for Lenna in 1999, when she learned from authorities that Cary Stayner was not only responsible for the brutal slayings of four women in and near Yosemite that terrified residents and tourists, but that he'd also tried three separate times to kill her and her family. "I think every actor that was worth their salt wanted to be that character.". (Remarking on people calling his brother a hero, Cary once said, "The way I see it, just about anyone would have done the same thing in his shoes."). On Valentine's Day 1980, Steven walked out of a Mendocino County cabin with Timmy, carrying the boy when he got tired. Parnell has both claimed he was abused as a child and explicitly denied he was abused as a child. "He was scared spitless. But Steven and his mother didnt want to go through a second trial.

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