Steven Gregory Stayner, born on April 18, 1965, in the USA, was kidnapped.
It happened on December 4, 1972, in Merced, California.
Kenneth Parnell, a child molester, took seven-year-old Steven.
Parnell held him in Mariposa County, California, then in Mendocino County, California.
Steven stayed with Parnell for seven years until he was 14.
Then, he escaped with another boy, Timothy White, who was five years old.
Steven Stayner Birth And Family
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Steven Stayner was one of five kids born to Delbert and Kay Stayner in Merced, California.
He had three sisters and a brother named Cary.
In 2002, authorities found Cary guilty of killing four women and gave him a death sentence.
Steven Stayner Kidnapping
On December 4, 1972, a man named Ervin Edward Murphy approached a boy named Stayner as he walked home from school.
Murphy was working with another man, Kenneth Parnell, who wanted to kidnap a young boy.
Murphy tricked Stayner into getting into a car with him.
Parnell was driving the car.
Parnell took Stayner to a cabin and molested him.
Later, he started calling Stayner by a different name and claimed to be his father.
They moved around California, and Parnell let Stayner do whatever he wanted, including drinking alcohol.
Stayner lived with Parnell for a long time, and during that time, a woman named Barbara Mathias also lived with them.
Both Mathias and Parnell abused Stayner.
Mathias even tried to kidnap another boy for Parnell.
Mathias later said she didn’t know Stayner was kidnapped.
Escape Of Steven Stayner
As Stayner grew up, Parnell started looking for another young child to snatch.
Parnell had tried before with Stayner, but those tries didn’t work.
Parnell thought Stayner wasn’t capable of helping.
Later, Stayner admitted he had messed up those tries on purpose.
On February 14, 1980, Parnell and Stayner’s friend, Randall Sean Poorman, grabbed five-year-old Timmy White in Ukiah.
Feeling bad for Timmy, Stayner decided to take him back home.
On March 1, 1980, while Parnell was at work, Stayner took Timmy and hitchhiked to Ukiah.
They couldn’t find Timmy’s house, so they went to the police.
By morning on March 2, 1980, Parnell got arrested for snatching both boys.
Police found out he had been convicted of a similar crime in 1951.
Both kids went back to their families. In 1981, Parnell was tried and found guilty of kidnapping.
He got seven years but got out after five.
Parnell didn’t get charged with sexually abusing Stayner and other boys because of legal issues.
The Mendocino County prosecutors decided not to press charges.
Murphy got in trouble for helping to snatch Stayner, and Poorman for snatching Timmy.
They said they didn’t know about the abuse.
Mathias didn’t get arrested.
Stayner remembered Murphy being nice to him at first but later realized Murphy was also a victim of Parnell’s manipulation.
Stayner’s kidnapping led to changes in California laws about similar abduction cases.
Later Life And Death
After returning to his family, Stayner struggled to adjust to their stricter rules compared to the freedom he had with Parnell.
He underwent brief counseling but never sought additional treatment.
He also refused to disclose all the details of the sexual abuse he endured from Parnell.
Stayner’s relationship with his father remained strained.
In 1985, he married Jody Edmondson and they had two children.
Stayner worked with child abduction groups and spoke about personal safety.
He joined a church shortly before his death.
On September 16, 1989, Stayner died in a motorcycle crash on his way home from work.
The driver of the car, Antonio Loera, fled the scene but was later identified.
Loera received three months in prison for hit-and-run but was found not guilty of manslaughter.
Five hundred people attended Stayner’s funeral.
Adaptations for the Media
In early 1989, a TV miniseries called “I Know My First Name Is Steven” was made, based on Steven’s experience.
Steven played a small role as a policeman.
The miniseries aired on NBC in May 1989 and later was shown in other countries and turned into a movie.
The miniseries got four Emmy nominations.
It was based on a book by Mike Echols, who spoke with Steven and others involved.
The title “I Know My First Name Is Steven” comes from Steven’s statement to the police when he was found.
In April 2022, Hulu released a true-crime series about Steven and his family, focusing on how the kidnapping affected them, especially Cary.
Consequences
Ten years after Stayner’s death, Merced City asked residents to suggest names for parks honoring notable locals.
Stayner’s parents proposed “Stayner Park,” but officials chose another citizen because Stayner’s brother, Cary, was convicted of killing four women.
In 2004, Parnell, then 72, was found guilty of trying to pay for a young boy.
Timmy White, who testified in Parnell’s trial, later became a deputy in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department but passed away in 2010 from a lung condition.
A statue honoring Stayner and White was unveiled in 2010 in Merced’s Applegate Park.
Steven’s father, Delbert Stayner, passed away in 2013.
Wrap – Up
Steven Gregory Stayner was kidnapped at the age of seven by a child molester named Kenneth Parnell.
He spent seven years in captivity until escaping with another boy, Timothy White, at age 14.
After returning to his family, Stayner faced difficulties adjusting and tragically died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 24.
His story was adapted into a TV miniseries and a true-crime series, sparking changes in abduction laws.
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