2 – Steven Stayner (1972)
On December 4, 1972, in Merced, California, 7-year-old Steven Stayner was approached by a man who claimed to be collecting money for his church. The man, Ervin Edward Murphy, was an associate of pedophile Kenneth Parnell. Murphy asked Stayner if his mother would contribute and the young boy said she would. Murphy offered to take the boy to his house, and unfortunately, Stayner agreed. Parnell was waiting in the car, and so began a seven-year nightmare for young Steven Stayner.
Stayner was taken to a cabin in Catheys Valley, which was just a few hundred feet from his grandmother’s home. Parnell molested him on the very first night, and the vicious pedophile started raping the boy within two weeks of his capture. The sexual abuse continued, and Parnell slowly brainwashed the child and tried to convince him that his parents didn’t want him anymore. Parnell then told Stayner that he was now his legal guardian so the boy must call him ‘Dad.’ He even started calling the child ‘Dennis Gregory Parnell’ and enrolled him in different schools in California. Parnell plied his new son with alcohol and allowed him to move freely. However, a deeply confused Stayner did not use these opportunities to flee.
As he grew older, Stayner started to wonder if Parnell was telling the truth about his parents. He used to look through newspapers and TV reports to see if they were looking for him. Tragically, his parents sent flyers to schools he had attended, but no one ever recognized him. Eventually, Parnell decided that Stayner was getting too old and kidnapped another boy named Timothy White in February 1980.
The 5-year-old cried and begged to be taken home. Stayner knew that if he didn’t act, White would suffer the same fate as him. 16 days later, Stayner escaped with White and hitchhiked to a police station in Ukiah, California. Police arrested the two kidnappers, but Murphy only served two years in prison while, incredibly, Parnell only served five years. In 2004, Parnell received a 25-year sentence for trying to purchase a 4-year-old boy for $500.
I wish I could tell you that Stayner’s story had a happy ending, but in reality, the poor man met a tragic end. He did not receive counseling for his ordeal and left school early after cruel kids teased him about being molested. He struggled with alcohol as he used it to cover the trauma he felt. However, he battled on and was married by the age of 20 with two children. His wife, Jody, said he was finally found peace when on September 16, 1989, he was killed when a car collided with the motorcycle.