The Abduction Of Steven Stayner

Steven Stayner’s life would take an irreversible turn three weeks before Christmas 1972. The seven-year-old, who was raised in the quiet Merced, California, suburbs, was walking home from school one Monday when he was abducted and held hostage for seven years by Kenneth Parnell.

In the 1950s, Parnell had already served time for sexually assaulting a child and posing as a police officer. After securing employment at a lodge in Yosemite National Park, he told a colleague, Ervin Edward Murphy, that he had dreams of becoming a pastor. He was able to gain his assistance in the kidnapping of a young child in 1972.

They pretended to be taking Stayner home on December 4 when they lured him into Parnell’s vehicle. Instead of running away, Stayner attended nearby schools under a false name after being taken captive and sexually assaulted at a secluded cabin in Catheys Valley. But when he became too old for Parnell, he was instructed to assist in the abduction of a new victim.

The fifteen-year-old prevented five-year-old Timothy White from suffering the same fate, as told in the miniseries I Know My First Name Is Steven. After breaking out of Parnell’s cabin and hitchhiking to safety in 1980, Stayner became a hero after their unexpected reappearance, but he suffered from trauma for the remainder of his life.

Steven Stayner’s Kidnapping

Steven Gregory Stayner was born in Merced, California, on April 18, 1965. He had three sisters and an older brother named Cary. Despite being nurtured in a loving environment by Delbert and Kay Stayner amidst peach and almond orchards, they sadly lived in the small town of Merced in close proximity to a monster.

Two hours away, at Yosemite Lodge, was where Kenneth Eugene Parnell was employed. By 1972, he was on his way to organizing an abduction, and he had persuaded Ervin Murphy to assist him in his search for a boy to “raise him in a religious-type deal.” They drove Parnell’s white Buick to Merced on December 4, where Murphy gave religious flyers to children.

Murphy went up to Stayner and asked if his family had anything they would want to offer, acting as though they worked for the church. The boy confirmed that they did and accepted a lift home. Parnell pretended to contact Stayner’s parents on a pay phone while driving down Highway 140, but instead he told the young boy that they didn’t want him back.

When he didn’t come home from school, his parents had already alerted the Merced Police Department. Despite their search, they were unable to locate Stayner. After being driven to Parnell’s cabin, Stayner would suffer the first of many sexual assaults.

The Crimes Committed By Kenneth Parnell

Parnell informed Steven Stayner that his parents could no longer support five children in addition to escalating the abuse of the kid. He declared that Stayner would now be recognized as Dennis Gregory Parnell and be permitted to retain his middle name as they had given him legal custody.

Despite the fact that Catheys Valley in Mariposa County was just a few dozen miles away from Merced, investigators were lacking any leads. Within weeks of Stayner’s abduction, Parnell had enrolled him at Steele Lane Elementary, posing as the boy’s father.

Stayner had more and more freedom to go around, but he was still much too young to be thinking about getting away. Parnell would relocate them to a number of towns, such as Comptche in Mendocino County and Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, where Stayner would continue to be held hostage and mistreated, and not only by Parnell.

After drinking alcohol and painfully adjusting to his new life, Stayner received a Manchester Terrier as a present, which he called Queenie. However, Kenneth Parnell had not had a sudden change of heart and would still welcome Barbara Mathias to live with them, giving her the freedom to mistreat Stayner, age 11, as she liked.

A few years later, as Stayner hit puberty, Parnell began searching for a younger victim. He even asked Stayner to help him find one, but the child made no effort at all. Parnell did, however, succeed on February 14, 1980, using Stayner and his classmate Randall Sean Poorman as pawns. The age of his victim was only five.

Seven Years Later, Steven Stayner Escapes

Stayner was moved by Timothy White’s heartfelt pleadings and took action two weeks after the child was kidnapped from the streets of Ukiah in Mendocino County. After allowing him to come and go without restriction for years, with Stayner never managing to run away, Parnell had no clue that Stayner would ever defy him.

However, the abductor’s worst fears became reality on March 1, 1980. Parnell’s two victims escaped the cabin while he was doing security duty overnight for his job. Stayner hitchhiked the entire forty miles, and brought White back to Ukiah. He intended to tell the cops everything, but he struggled at first: “I know my first name is Steven,” he stated.

Although Stayner’s claims were accepted to be true, jurisdictional problems and statutes of limitation prevented Parnell from ever being accused of sexually assaulting him. He was charged and sentenced in 1981 for the two kidnappings following his arrest on March 2. He was given a seven-year sentence but was released after five.

Unluckily, Stayner’s reunion with his family didn’t go as planned. In the eyes of the public, he had turned into a national hero, but he eventually stopped attending school and started abusing alcohol to cope with his pain. Even though he was able to have two children and married Jody Edmonson in 1985, his joy was short-lived.

Steven Stayner, who lived in Merced and worked at a pizza restaurant, used some of the $30,000 he received for the movie rights to his story to purchase a 1989 Kawasaki EX-500. On September 16, 1989, while he was riding home, a 1976 Plymouth Volare struck him and drove off, killing Stayner due to brain injuries.

He was buried between his grandparents at Merced District Cemetery during a 450-person funeral, with 14-year-old Timothy White serving as one of the pallbearers.

Kenneth Parnell attempted to kidnap another child in 2004 and was sentenced to 25 years to life. He passed away in jail in 2008.

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