Steven Gregory Stayner (April 18, 1965 – September 16, 1989) was an American kidnapping victim. On December 4, 1972, seven-year-old Stayner was abducted in Merced, California, by child molester Kenneth Parnell. He was held by his abductor 38 miles (61 km) away in Mariposa County, California, and later in Mendocino County, California, until he was aged 14, when he managed to escape with another of Parnell’s victims, Timothy White.
Steven Stayner was the third of five children born to Delbert and Kay Stayner in Merced, California. He had three sisters and an older brother, Cary.bIn 2002, Cary was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of four women.
On the afternoon of December 4, 1972, Stayner was approached on his way home from school by a man named Ervin Edward Murphy, who had become acquainted with convicted child rapist Kenneth Parnell as they both worked at a resort in Yosemite National Park. Murphy, described by those who knew him as a trusting, naïve, and simple-minded man, had been enlisted by Parnell (who had passed himself off to Murphy as an aspiring minister) into helping him abduct a young boy so that Parnell could “raise him in a religious-type deal,” as Murphy later stated.
What is the story about Steven Stayner?
Nearly 50 years ago, Steven Stayner was abducted and lived for seven years with his captor before he escaped with a second young kidnapping victim. Decades later, Steven’s older brother, Cary Stayner, made headlines when he was arrested and convicted of the serial slayings of four females.
Source: Ghanafuo.com
