EP. 136 CALIFORNIA - The Kidnappings of Steven Stayner & Timothy White
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Warning. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

The story we have for you today is about a young boy named Stephen Stainer. In 1972, seven-year-old Stephen was walking home from school in the town of Merced, California, when a man named Kenneth Parnell pulled up beside him and abducted him.

After weeks with no sightings of the young boy, many people assumed that Stephen had been murdered. After all, that's usually what happens after a kid is kidnapped. But this story is far from typical. You see, after Kenneth abducted Stephen, he told him that his parents didn't want him anymore and that he would be his new father. And from that moment on, Stephen Stainer's new name was Dennis Parnell.

For nearly a decade, Stephen lived with this captor, moving around to different cities in California so people wouldn't suspect them. And the entire time, Stephen was being sexually abused by the man that was supposed to be his new dad. It seemed, after seven years, that Stephen would never be reunited with his family. But then in 1980, Kenneth Parnell decided to abduct another little boy named Timmy White.

And soon enough, Kenneth's reign of terror would come to an end. So, this is the story of Kenneth Parnell and the kidnapping of Stephen Stainer and Temi White. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America. Murder in America

In the center valley of California, there's a town called Merced. According to the city's website, it's a beautiful agricultural town that has a small-town feel, but it's also a hub for business, culture, and education. Merced is a great city to live in because it's cheaper than a lot of other cities in California, and it's near some of the most beautiful sights that our country has to offer. It's near a bunch of big cities, the Central California coast, and Yosemite National Park.

So that's why many people come here to raise a family. That was the case for the Stainer family in the 1960s. The patriarch, Del Stainer, worked at a peach cannery in town. And he and his wife, Kay, would go on to have five children. There was the oldest son, Carrie, their daughter, Cindy. Then came Stephen in 1965, then their daughters, Jody and Corey. So they were one big happy family.

Now, Del Stainer was a very hard worker who dedicated a lot of his time to providing for his family at the peach farm where he worked. It was known that Del spent a lot of time there, but he also valued the importance of family time. When he wasn't at work, Del was known to take his family sightseeing to all the beautiful nature spots California had to offer.

And every month, they would take a family camping trip together. Now, Kay Stainer, the matriarch, was a stay-at-home mom, and raising five children was not easy. So Kay took on the role of disciplinarian. She did her best to make sure her children learned the importance of structure, cleanliness, and independence. Both Kay and Del had different strengths, but they worked well together.

The second born son, Steven Stainer, had a very special relationship with his dad. In his eyes, Del was the coolest person in the world. His family said that Steven would always be seen following his dad around everywhere he went. He was his role model and every morning when Del left for work, Steven would follow him out of the house begging him to stay. They were very close.

Now, when the Stainer children were still pretty young, Dell decided to move their family to an almond farm outside of town. It was a business opportunity that presented itself, so they decided to take it. And the Stainer children absolutely loved it there. They were now living on 20 acres of land, so they spent all of their time running around outside, getting their hands dirty, and caring for the animals that they owned.

Their family had cows and pigs. And Stephen Stainer was also given a puppy that he absolutely loved. Stephen and his dog would spend hours running around outside on the farm. And it was his own personal slice of heaven.

Now eventually, Dell would have an accident on the farm where he slipped and fell in the bathroom and he was pretty badly injured. After going to the hospital, he discovered that he had a slipped disc.

And because of this injury, he wasn't able to work the almond farm anymore. So they ended up selling it. And from here, the family had to move back to Merced. The move back was devastating for the children. Especially because Steven Stainer had to give his dog away. The dog was used to running around on this big farm and now he was trapped in a small backyard.

So they had to make the difficult decision to rehome him. And Stephen was devastated. The move was also difficult on the children because they had to move schools again. And soon afterwards, Stephen started to rebel. Now his family said that he was always super respectful to his teachers, but he did have a problem paying attention in class. And he was known to break the family's rules from time to time.

For instance, it was a rule in their home that all of the children had to walk to and from school together. And Stephen would always walk with his brothers and sisters to class, but sometimes after class no one could find him. As it turns out, Stephen would just go to his friends' houses after school without telling anyone where he was going. And for hours, no one knew where he was.

Which is very concerning considering he's only 7 years old. There were times where his parents would be running around for hours trying to find him. And when they finally did find him, he was just casually playing at his friend's house like it was no big deal.

Now, Steven got in big trouble for this. And this was actually the first time he got a spanking. His parents also used this opportunity to teach him about the dangers in the world. But as a seven-year-old, you never really think anything bad will happen to you. Steven Stainer could have never known that on December 4th, 1972, a predator was watching him walk home from school.

And there, with no witnesses around, Stephen would get into this man's vehicle, having no idea that he wouldn't see his family for another seven years, all because of a man named Kenneth Parnell.

Kenneth Eugene Parnell was born on September 26, 1931 in Amarillo, Texas. His parents were Cecil and Mary Parnell, and from a young age Kenneth really idolized his father. So he was devastated when at five years old, his mom decided to leave his dad for another man.

And not only were his parents separating, but his mom also made him and his siblings pack up all of their things and move to California. Kenneth was angry. He loved his dad more than anything. And now they were barely ever going to see him.

So in an act of rebellion, five-year-old Kenneth grabs a pair of pliers and starts pulling his teeth out. For hours, he sat there with blood running down his mouth, pulling five of his teeth out.

before his mom finally stopped him, which is very concerning for a five-year-old. As you can see, he was really acting out, and this wouldn't be the only time young Kenneth would harm himself. When he was eight years old, he would stare into this really bright flashlight because he wanted to go blind.

Then a year later, when he was nine years old, he climbed up onto this roof and jumped off onto a big pile of lumber on the ground. The wood actually had nails sticking out of it, and one of the nails even went through his foot. And he wasn't just being a kid playing around. He did this because he wanted to get hurt. Now, after leaving Texas, his mom moved them to Bakersfield, California.

And for work, she started a boarding house out there. But unfortunately, there were a lot of seedy characters around. And some of the men at this boarding house grew really close to Kenneth, who at the time didn't have a male figure in his life. And before he knew it, Ken was being sexually assaulted by them.

Now, it's pretty typical for children that are being sexually assaulted to act out in different ways. And Kenneth definitely did. In fact, shortly after the sexual abuse started, at around 13 years old, he set a field on fire, which is horrible, especially in California. And afterwards, Kenneth gets arrested for it.

But he's only 13 years old, so they aren't locking him away or anything. They basically just educate him on the dangers of setting fires, and then they let him go. But it doesn't really seem like he learned his lesson. On his 14th birthday, Kenneth would steal a car, and shortly afterwards, he got caught and arrested again. And while he was in jail, according to his own account, he started participating in passive and aggressive homosexual behavior. That's a direct quote.

Now, from then on, Kenneth would be in and out of jail for years. He just couldn't seem to stay out of trouble. He also kind of reverted back to his childlike ways. When he was younger, he would pull out his teeth and jump off buildings, wanting to hurt himself. And then when he was in prison, there was one instance where he tried to kill himself by drinking disinfectant.

So Kenneth had a very long history of self-harm. Now, it should be noted that in 1949, once Kenneth was released from prison, he got married for the first time. He actually married a 15-year-old named Patsy Jo, but it's clear he was not happy with his marriage.

In fact, shortly after he found out that his wife was pregnant, Kenneth started spiraling. And soon enough, he would commit his first sexual assault. In the year 2000, a woman named Katie St. Clair would do an interview with him called Inside the Monster. And he told her that the reason behind the sexual assault was, quote, End quote.

So desperate to find someone else to have sex with, Kenneth starts plotting a way for him to rape a young boy. And in 1951, when he was 19 years old, he found one.

Earlier that morning, Kenneth walked inside of an Army-Navy surplus store and purchased a fake sheriff's badge. And he bought it specifically so he could use it in a kidnapping. Hours later, Kenneth was walking around town when he spotted a 9-year-old boy named Bobby. So he approached him, flashing his sheriff's badge, and he told Bobby that he was in trouble and that he needed to come with him.

Being nine years old, Bobby was terrified. He didn't know any better.

So he gets into the car and from there, Kenneth drives him to a remote area where he then assaults Bobby. Kenneth would later say that after the sexual assault, he thought about strangling Bobby to death so that he wouldn't get in trouble, but for whatever reason, he decided not to. Instead, he just dropped Bobby off at a hospital and told him not to tell anyone.

But Bobby immediately told his parents and the police everything that happened. And soon enough, Kenneth would be arrested once again. During his interrogation, Kenneth was very honest with the police and psychiatrists about his deviant urges. He even told them that he wanted to kill Bobby after he assaulted him. And the psychiatrists evaluating him were very concerned.

They realize that this 19 year old is incredibly dangerous. They even write in their report that Kenneth is intelligent, but he has some deep rooted emotional instability. And they even go as far as to say that he is a sexual psychopath. Their recommendation for him is to be committed into an institution. And they were right.

Kenneth Parnell was incredibly dangerous. Following this, he was put into an institution in Norwalk, California. But believe it or not, he would end up escaping.

He somehow was able to get out of his room by sawing off his lock and from there, he just walked out of the institution. Afterwards, he would hitchhike for months, evading the police. Now, his wife Patsy Jo would end up divorcing him and Kenneth never even met his daughter. But while he was evading the police, he ended up in Salt Lake City where he met another woman named Emma.

They too would end up getting married and he had another daughter with her. But their relationship wouldn't last either. You see, while Kenneth was in Salt Lake City, he would rob a gas station at gunpoint.

And finally, after being on the run, he was brought back to prison. And after this, Emma would divorce him. But during this incarceration, Kenneth decides that he's going to make something of himself. He even gets his GED and he takes some college-level courses in accounting. And by the time he gets out, he wants to find a career in accounting. As it turned out, he was pretty good at it and it seemed like he was ready to turn his life around.

So after he's released from prison, Kenneth sees that the Yosemite Lodge had a bookkeeping position open. So he applies and he gets the job.

Now, his employers had no idea that Kenneth had spent time in a mental institution or that he had been in and out of prison his whole life. He completely lied on his resume, so they gave him the job. But honestly, he probably didn't even have to lie. Interestingly enough, at the time, many of the employees at the Yosemite Lodge were convicted felons. And it would be here where Kenneth would meet his accomplice.

Edward Murphy, who everyone called Murph, was the kitchen cleaner at the Yosemite Lodge. And he typically worked after hours late at night, the same hours that Kenneth worked. So over time, the two got pretty close. Now, according to their co-workers, Kenneth was an oddball who kind of weirded people out.

But Murph was pretty likable. He had a rough upbringing and was described as a simple man with a pretty low IQ, but he was reportedly very nice and respectful. And Kenneth would take advantage of this. One day after work, Murph needed a ride home. So Kenneth offered to take him. But there was a catch.

Kenneth said that if he was going to drive him home, then Murph had to help him pass out these gospel pamphlets. Kenneth claimed he wanted to spread the word of God. But interestingly enough, Kenneth didn't want to pass these out to adults. He wanted to give them to elementary school children who were walking home from school. So they drive into Merced, park their car, and are watching as all of these children walk by.

Kenneth turns to Murph and goes on and on about how much he loved children and how he wanted to raise a child one day. But he doesn't want to raise a child of his own. He said he wanted to raise a kid that didn't have a good home life. He then points to the children walking by and says, you know, maybe I could help one of these kids. Do you think you could help me with that?

Now Murph, who was described as simple-minded, is listening to all of this and he agrees to help. Kenneth then instructs him to get out of the car and start handing out these gospel pamphlets. And Murph does what he's told. Now he goes to approach these two boys that are walking by, but when he looks back at Kenneth, who is still in the car, Kenneth starts shaking his head no, as if he didn't approve of the boys.

So Murph moves on to the next kid, who is walking all by himself. And this little boy happened to be 7-year-old Steven Stainer. Now, Steven is supposed to be walking home with his siblings that day, but he wasn't. He was walking by himself. And along his walk home, he runs into Murph, who hands him a gospel pamphlet.

The next thing Stephen knows, a man pulls up in a car and asks him if he wants to make a donation to the church. But Stephen's only 7 years old. He doesn't have any cash. So Kenneth tells him, "That's okay, why don't you hop in the car? I'll drive you home and we'll see if your mom would like to make a donation." Now, Stephen had been warned about predators, but in his mind, this is a pastor.

And pastors are supposed to be good people, right? So ultimately, Stephen gets into the car and he starts giving Kenneth instructions on how to get to his house. But as they get closer and closer to Stephen's home, Kenneth isn't slowing down. And soon enough, they speed right past it. Stephen quickly asks what is going on, but Kenneth reassures him that everything is fine.

He says, "Don't worry, I'll take you home later, but first I need to run by my house." Kenneth then gets on the highway, but as he's looking in the rearview mirror, he can see that Steven is unsettled in the backseat. So to ease his mind, he exits off the highway and pulls up to a payphone.

Before getting out, he turns to Stephen and says, I'm going to call your mom really quick and let her know that you're with me. Stephen then watches as Kenneth dials a number and it appears as if he's talking to someone for several minutes. Once the phone call is over, Kenneth hops back into the car with a smile on his face and he tells Stephen, good news, your mom said you could spend the night with me.

Now even though Steven is young and naive, he knows something isn't right. Especially because they end up driving for about an hour to a town called Kathy's Valley.

Once they finally arrive at Kenneth's house, Stephen gets out of the car and they start making their way towards a cabin. Kenneth had been renting this cabin and it's pretty secluded, in the middle of nowhere. He had a couple of neighbors and then across the street there was a trailer park. But other than that, it was very isolated. The three of them quickly make their way inside, and as soon as Stephen walks through the door, some of his anxiety is lifted. There, in the living room, are dozens of children's toys.

So, for Steven, he is excited, but this is very concerning. Kenneth didn't have any children living with him, so it's pretty clear he specifically bought these toys in preparation for when he kidnapped the child. Now, Steven is so little, he doesn't understand that he's been kidnapped. He even tells Kenneth.

that he can't wait to show his siblings all these cool toys. Now, while Steven is playing with the toys, it seems as though Murph started to feel guilty about everything. I don't think he truly realized what was happening until this very moment. So he voices these concerns to Kenneth, but is quickly shut down. Kenneth tells him that if he says a word to anyone about this, he'll get in just as much trouble since he helped him that day. He even says, "I'll blame this all on you, so you better not say anything to anyone." And Murph agrees.

Now, back in Merced, all of the Stainer children had come home from school, except for Stephen. Like we mentioned earlier, Stephen had gone to friends' houses after school in the past without telling anyone where he was. So at first, that's what his parents were thinking.

that Stephen is at a friend's house. And they were pissed. I mean, Del and Kay had had this conversation with Stephen about how he can't do that anymore. So they start driving around to all of his friend's houses, but they can't find him anywhere. And soon enough, their anger turns into fear. The next thing Del and Kay do is drive to Stephen's school, thinking that maybe he was still there.

but again, he's nowhere to be found. Now, they would eventually talk to one of his friends who said that they saw Stephen walking by a service station near Yosemite Parkway, which is exactly where Stephen encountered Murph and Kenneth. But the friend said that he didn't see anything suspicious. He just saw Stephen walking near there and he was all by himself. But this is the route that Stephen took every single day.

and it's pretty close to their home. So Stephen should have made it back by now. It soon became clear that Del and Kay Stainer were in the midst of every parent's worst nightmare. It appeared as if their seven-year-old son had been kidnapped. So it's here where they finally call the police.

Soon enough, a police officer arrives at their home and gets a description of Stephen from his parents. They described him as 4'8" tall, 60 pounds, shaggy light brown hair, and brown eyes. They said he was wearing a tan coat, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. But during the first few hours of his disappearance, the police figured that Stephen would surely walk through the doors at any moment.

He was likely just at a friend's house, and it was all a big misunderstanding. But Dell and Kay Stainer were adamant that something horrible had happened to their son. And they were right. Once night fell upon Merced, everyone was beginning to realize that Stephen should have come home by now. So over the next few hours, the entire town got out and looked for him. They had the police, volunteers, the local Boy Scouts, everyone out looking. And the main place they were checking was along Yosemite Parkway, which was the last road Stephen was seen on.

But after hours of searching, Stephen was still nowhere to be found.

Now, like with any investigation, the police looked at the people closest to the victim, which in this case would be Stephen's parents, Dell and Kay. The investigating officer didn't waste any time asking them if they murdered their own son, but they were adamant that they had nothing to do with his disappearance, and polygraph exams would eventually clear them as suspects. But as the hours passed, it was becoming clear to everyone that Stephen must have been kidnapped on his way home from school.

Little did anyone know, Stephen was about an hour away in the town of Cathy's Valley. Now, this is a crazy part of this story, but remember earlier when we said there was a trailer park across the street from Kenneth's cabin? Well, as it turns out, Stephen's grandpa lived in that trailer park.

and it was only about 200 feet away from where he was being held captive. Even more crazy was that on that first night where everyone was running around looking for him, Stephen's dad drove to the trailer park to let his grandpa know that Stephen was missing. So Del was literally 200 feet away from his son. But sadly, Stephen wouldn't see his family for another seven years.

Stephen Stainer's first night in captivity was confusing. In his mind, he was just having a sleepover with this random man, and he would see his family the next day. Now, after Stephen played with the toys for a couple of hours, Kenneth took the opportunity to get to know the boy he'd just kidnapped. He asked him all about his family, his house, his school, the different things he liked to do. And then afterwards, he made him dinner. The

The meal for that night was ground beef, green beans, and bread. But Stephen hated green beans, so he refused to eat them. And in response to this, Kenneth starts yelling at him to eat the green beans, or he was going to be spanked. So Stephen does.

Following dinner, Kenneth makes Stephen take a shower, and then afterwards he doesn't give him any pajamas to wear. Instead, he points to his bed and orders Stephen to get in it, naked. And from here, Kenneth assaults him for the first time, by performing oral sex on the seven-year-old. Then by the next morning, Kenneth forced Stephen to do it to him.

Now, one thing that Kenneth had to consider was how is he going to go to work every day when he has a child in captivity? He couldn't just leave him at home. So Kenneth decided to bring Stephen to work, which is incredibly risky, but Kenneth's job kind of allowed him to do all this with ease.

Like we mentioned, he worked at the Yosemite Lodge about an hour away, and all of the employees there had a private room of their own. So that week, Kenneth would drive into work and sneak Stephen into his private room. He would tell him, whatever you do, don't leave here. And to make sure he wouldn't leave, Kenneth would take all of Stephen's clothes, leaving him naked in the room. He would also give him sleeping pills so Stephen would sleep the majority of his shift. And from here, Kenneth would just work his job at the lodge like nothing was wrong.

Back in Merced, police still had no leads in Stephen's disappearance. There were no eyewitnesses, none of Stephen's belongings were left behind, nothing.

Now, they did look through local sex offenders in the area, but the problem there was that Kenneth never registered as a sex offender, which is the law in California, but for whatever reason, he slipped through the cracks. If he would have been on that list, they likely would have looked into him, but nonetheless, that didn't happen.

Now, interestingly enough, the investigators in charge of Stephen's case even went to the Yosemite Lodge where Stephen worked and where Stephen was being held most days. And the reason they specifically came here was because about 40% of the people that worked there were felons.

And because this was near the town of Merced, investigators were doing their due diligence in looking into the employees. But unfortunately, they weren't given the names of everyone who worked there. The park ranger in charge at the time wasn't very happy that police officers were snooping around asking about a missing boy. That wasn't good for business.

So when the police asked for a list of names of all of the employees that worked there, the park ranger was not very cooperative and he only gave them a list of half of their employees. And of course, Kenneth's name wasn't on there.

So again, the police never knew to look into him, which is so frustrating because if they would have, they would have seen that Kenneth Parnell raped a little boy back in 1951, and they likely would have found Stephen a lot sooner. By December 11th, it had been one week since Stephen Stainer disappeared. Sadly, this is also the day that the searches called off, which was devastating for his family. They were all worried sick.

Del Stainer spoke with reporters, admitting that this was the worst thing he had ever gone through. He said that his wife, Kay, was holding it together more than he was. She would even tell their other four children that Stephen would eventually come home. But Del admitted that although his wife was trying to stay strong, quote, "Late at night, after we have said our prayers, I can hear her crying," end quote. That Christmas, the Stainer family spent their first holiday without their son.

And although he wouldn't be there to open presents on Christmas morning, they still bought him gifts. By then, everyone, including the police, were sure that Stephen was likely dead. We all know that kidnapped children are usually murdered within days of being abducted, so there wasn't a lot of hope. But unbeknownst to everyone, Stephen Stainer was alive.

And the entire time he was either at the Yosemite Lodge or at Kenneth's cabin in Cathy's Valley. By this point in his captivity, he had a lot of questions as to where his family was. But Kenneth knew that Stephen would never see them again.

So to help soften the blow, Kenneth comes home with a puppy named Queenie. Stephen was obsessed with dogs and was so excited. But then Kenneth delivers the bad news. He tells him, "I was at the courthouse today and your parents were there. You know, they couldn't afford to keep you at their house, so a judge ordered that I have custody of you now, which means you get to stay here with me."

Stephen was confused. He's sobbing and starts asking all of these questions. And Kenneth seems to have an answer for every one. He even tells Stephen that because he is his family now, he's going to change his name. His new name would be Dennis Gregory Parnell. And from that moment on, he is to call him dad.

And this is an interesting name change because Kenneth actually read Stephen's missing persons flyers around town and he saw that his middle name was Gregory. So he decided to keep his middle name but change his first and last. And from that point on, Stephen Stainer was now Dennis Parnell. Kenneth also read on the missing persons flyers that Stephen's description said he had shaggy, light brown hair.

So that very night, Kenneth gave him a haircut and dyed it dark brown. And now that Stephen looks nothing like he did when he was missing, Kenneth even allows him to play with his new dog in the front yard, which is really risky considering his grandpa was right down the road. But Stephen didn't know that at the time. It's also on this very night where the sexual assault against Stephen intensifies.

By that point, there had only been oral copulation. But now that he had a new name and new hair, Kenneth would escalate to sodomizing him. Now, Stephen was still so young, he didn't even really know what was going on during these sexual assaults. But Kenneth would pull out this big jar of Vaseline, and Stephen always knew what was about to happen.

And although he didn't really understand, he knew that it was a very painful experience. And he also knew that it was wrong. That he and Kenneth shouldn't be doing that. Especially now that he was his new father. I mean, Stephen's old father, Del, never did this to him. But sadly, this would be his new norm.

Now, soon after this, Kenneth is outside of his cabin and his neighbor strikes up a conversation with him about how a man in the trailer park next door has a missing grandson, named Stephen Stainer. And Kenneth is immediately frozen with fear. As soon as he learns Stephen's grandpa is living nearby, he immediately packs up all of their things, he quits his job at the Yosemite Lodge, gets a new car, and they move. Both he and Stephen end up in a city called Santa Rosa, which is far enough away that Kenneth was confident they wouldn't get caught.

But now, he had to find a new job. And he doesn't want to apply to places when a child is with him. So believe it or not, he actually hires local babysitters to watch Stephen while he applies for jobs. Now, you might be thinking, well, why didn't Stephen tell these babysitters that he had been kidnapped? Well, in his mind, he hadn't been kidnapped. He thought his parents didn't want him anymore, that they couldn't afford him, so they just gave him over to this man. Stephen thought that a judge gave Kenneth custody of him.

And Kenneth would even tell him, "If you tell anyone about this, they might take you away from me and put you in an orphanage where no one will care for you." So Stephen did what he was told and kept his mouth shut. And by this point, Kenneth is getting very risky.

I mean, he's hiring babysitters. He introduces Steven to people as his son. And after a while in this new city, he even enrolls him at Steel Lane Elementary, which is pretty wild.

Now, of course, he enrolls him under the name Dennis Parnell, but he still uses Stephen's actual birthday. He even lists a previous elementary school, but this new school never reached out to get Stephen's records.

And they never even asked for his birth certificate either, so no red flags were raised. And despite his circumstances, Stephen actually does really well in school. His teacher said he was well-adjusted and a good student. He also quickly got a lot of friends. One of his classmates named Lori Duke would later tell ABC, "...he had a great personality. He was spunky."

You could see that he wanted to play and be with kids and be normal." Stephen wasn't the type of kid who acted out or was withdrawn, which are usually signs that there are problems at home. He was perfectly normal. In fact, Kenneth raised more flags than Stephen did. A secretary there at his school said that Kenneth would call the front desk every single day,

Usually, he was just calling to confirm how Dennis would be getting home that day. But in hindsight, it's clear that he was just calling to make sure no one had caught on. At any moment, Stephen could tell one of his teachers what was going on and in a heartbeat, he would be taken away. So it seemed like Kenneth was paranoid. Now, the secretary even asked him why he was calling every single day.

And his response was quote, "Dennis might be picked up by some weirdo off the street. You can never be too careful."

During the spring of 1973, Stephen ended up getting the mumps, and he had to miss nearly a month of school because he was so sick. And obviously, when you miss that much school, the administration will get involved, which is the last thing Kenneth wanted. So, he was forced to take Stephen to the doctor. Before going in, Kenneth rehearses everything with him. His name, his birthday, his symptoms, everything. It was clear that Kenneth was a little paranoid.

What if Steven tells the doctor the wrong name? What if he tells him about the sodomy? Or what if the doctors recognize him as missing Steven Stainer? But unfortunately, none of that would happen. Steven answered all of their questions with ease and confidence.

He hasn't given a full body exam so they don't see evidence of sexual assault and they were able to get in and out of there without issue. So from here, Kenneth is even more confident that they will never get caught. If even a doctor can't notice, then no one will. In fact, after this, Kenneth starts taking Stephen out in public more. But even though Stephen wasn't showing any major signs that there were problems at home, he was struggling.

Stephen was well behaved. He did what he was told, he did well in school, and he didn't give Kenneth any problems. But in return, Kenneth was still sodomizing him almost every night. One night in particular, about a year into his captivity, when Stephen was 8 years old, Kenneth sodomized him and then fell asleep.

And Stephen was just sitting there thinking about how much he hated this new life. It wasn't fair that his father raped him almost every night and he was sick of it. So after Kenneth falls asleep, Stephen creeps over to the front door and once the coast is clear, he takes off running.

But have you ever seen those videos of those kids who are pissed off at their parents and they pack a bag, run out the front door, but by the time they make it halfway down the street, they turn around and come back? I remember my brother doing that when he was little and there comes a time as they're walking away with their little suitcases when they realize they don't have anywhere to go. They realize they can't survive out there on their own.

And soon enough, they turned back around. And that's exactly what Stephen did. As horrible as his life was with Kenneth, he was only eight years old. He didn't have his old family. He didn't have many friends. He was far away in this unfamiliar city. So he did what many kids do, and he turned back around. By the time he got back home, he was able to sneak back inside without Kenneth ever waking up.

Over the next year, Stephen did what he could to adjust to this new life. He even started making more friends. His best friend was a little boy named Kenny that he met at school. And soon enough, Stephen became very, very close with Kenny's family. He had a bunch of siblings and a mom and dad who were really cool. And Stephen loved them. And by this point, Kenneth was so confident that they would never get caught that he even grew close to the family as well. So much so that Kenneth started several businesses with Kenny's father, whose name was Bob Matias.

Now, none of these businesses ever became successful at all, but throughout them, their families grew even closer. So close, in fact, that Kenneth eventually started an affair with Bob's wife, Barbara. Now, Bob and Barbara had a very tumultuous relationship. There were many instances where Bob would beat his wife, and while they were fighting, she would send all of the kids to Kenneth's house so they wouldn't have to be around it. And the fights eventually got so bad that Barbara eventually decided to leave Bob.

and she immediately started seeing her son's best friend's father, Kenneth Parnell. Now, at the time, Kenneth was working at this motel, so he got Barbara a room so that she could get away from her abusive husband. And one night, Kenneth and Stephen go to visit her in the motel room. As the adults chat, Stephen starts playing with some toys on the ground, but then suddenly he hears some strange noises.

And when he turns around, Kenneth and Barbara are having sex right there with him in the room. Then, in a disgusting turn of events, Barbara and Kenneth stop and Kenneth tells his son to take off his clothes and join them. Disturbingly, Kenneth then places his son on top of her

and teaches him how to have sex with a woman. Which is just so sad for Stephen because not only is he being forced to have sex with his dad almost every night, but now he's being forced to have sex with his best friend's mom. And again, he's only 9 years old. But for Kenneth, he loves this new twisted relationship he has with Barbara.

So much so, he even buys a one bedroom trailer for them to all live in, so they could be one big happy family. And adding a woman into the picture looks even better for Kenneth, who is wanting to stay under the radar. Now they just look like a normal family.

But the dynamic here was everything but normal. In fact, Stephen would later say that he was forced to have sex with Barbara and Kenneth at least eight different times. And that's not even counting the thousands of times that Kenneth sexually assaulted him all on his own.

So as you can see, things were incredibly traumatic for young Steven. Now, Barbara would end up living with them for about 18 months. And Steven said that although he was being sexually assaulted by the couple, Kenneth actually liked Barbara. So while she was living with them, he wasn't assaulted as much because Kenneth had her as a distraction.

Now, Stephen would later say that after about a year of Barbara living with them, it seemed like Kenneth was rubbing off on her. Not only was she having sex with a minor, but according to Stephen, she also tried to help Kenneth lure little boys into their car. She and Kenneth would park outside the Santa Rosa Boys Club, and on several occasions, Barbara tried to kidnap them, but the boys would always run off so they never got the chance.

and soon after this the three of them would pack up their things and move to another city which stephen was not happy about he had finally made a bunch of friends and now he had to start all over

Now, interestingly enough, even though this new school was over an hour away, everyone in these surrounding communities had heard of Stephen's kidnapping years earlier. Many of the schools had even been sent his missing persons picture, but no one ever noticed that the new boy being enrolled was the missing Stephen Stanner. To them, he was Dennis Parnall. And Stephen said it was at this school where he really started learning about sexuality. And through that was the first time he heard about homosexuality.

And he said it made him extremely uncomfortable. Stephen hated any talk that had to do with sex because, sadly, he learned all about that a long time ago when Kenneth forced him to have sex as a little boy. Stephen was forced into that world against his will. So anytime they talked about it in school or boys in class mentioned it, Stephen shut down.

He was ashamed at what he had gone through throughout his life, especially when people talked about homosexuality. You know, back then it wasn't as accepted as it is today. And when Steven would hear his classmates make fun of gay people or he would hear the F slur, he would become filled with shame knowing that that was something he had participated in against his will.

And Stephen didn't even like friends coming over to his house. He was terrified that one of his friends would mention something about sex and Kenneth would overhear them and get aroused. Now keep in mind, Barbara is still living with them at this time, but up until this point, her children were living with their father, Bob.

But it's around this time when Bob would lose custody of them, and soon enough her five kids were all moving into Kenneth's one bedroom trailer. It was extremely crowded.

They now had 8 people all crammed into a one bedroom space. So eventually, Kenneth ended up buying this old school bus that had all of the seats taken out. And from there, they threw a bunch of beds inside, put it next to the trailer, and that's where the kids would sleep. And apparently, it was really unsanitary and gross and it just wasn't a good situation for them.

But the one thing Stephen really liked about having Barbara's kids around was 1. He got to live with his best friend Kenny and 2. Kenneth didn't have many opportunities to sexually assault him anymore. But soon enough, Kenneth would turn his attention to Barbara's children.

11-year-old Kenny and his 9-year-old little brother were alone at the trailer one day when Kenneth walked in and started rubbing Kenny's shoulders. But after a while, Kenneth moved his hands down and started molesting him. Kenny started screaming. He pushed Kenneth off and ran out of the house to get away from him. But sadly, Kenneth wouldn't stop there. Kenny's 9-year-old little brother was still in the trailer. So from here, against his will, he brings the 9-year-old into the bedroom and forces him to take off his clothes.

He then tells the boy to lie face down on the bed, and from there, he's sodomized. Later that evening, Barbara returns home to the trailer, and her nine-year-old runs over, sobbing, telling her about what Kenneth did to him. And it's in that moment where Barbara finally decides to leave Kenneth for good. Which, it's great that she took her children out of harm's way, but she also had no issues with the sexual assault when it was happening to Stephen. In fact, she participated in it.

But now that it was her children, she had had enough. And it also should be noted that Barbara was actually dating another man behind Kenneth's back at the time, so I'm sure that that was another reason she wanted to leave. But it's sad that she even brought her children there in the first place, knowing the kind of person Kenneth Parnell was. But that night, she and her children would leave, never to return again.

And just to be noted, Barbara would never face any charges for her part in the sexual assaults. She did, however, go to the police after this to report that Kenneth was a predator who assaulted children. But sadly, the police did nothing about it. Once Barbara and her children are gone, it is now just Stephen and Kenneth again. But by this point, Stephen is getting older. And disturbingly, the older he gets...

the less Kenneth is attracted to him. So it's around this time where Kenneth starts talking to Stephen about kidnapping another little boy. Kenneth would even take Stephen out to the mall or the park and he would just scan the area, seeing if there were any boys that sparked his interest. And if he saw one, he would get Stephen to go over and talk to the boy. He would even encourage him to ask if the little boy could come home with them.

But Stephen knew it wasn't right. So oftentimes, he would walk over and just have a normal conversation with the kid, and then walk away. He would then go back to Kenneth and say, yeah, sorry, he couldn't come over, even though he never even asked. Because if the boys were to come home with them, Stephen knew exactly the fate they would face, and he didn't want that for them.

Now, it's around this time when Kenneth and Stephen would move yet again, which is something they did a lot. After spending some time in the city, they would just randomly pack up and leave, possibly because Kenneth wanted to make sure no one was on to them. But by now, it had been years since Stephen had been abducted, so this was his new normal.

On this move, Stephen and Kenneth would relocate to a rural town called Compchi, and Stephen really liked it. He finally got his own room, and he even started participating in normal teenage things like getting a girlfriend and playing football at his middle school. It's also around this time when he started drinking and smoking weed, something Kenneth let him do.

And naturally, as you get older, you find friendships and intimate relationships. You talk to your friends about your childhood. And there were multiple instances where Stephen opened up about his life. One night when he was drunk, he told a girlfriend about his birth mom and dad. He even told his teachers little bits about his childhood. He told one teacher that his birth parents didn't want him anymore, so he was adopted by Kenneth.

And to anyone that heard this, they probably thought, wow, what a great guy Kenneth is taking in a child that isn't his. But some people could sense that something was off about their family dynamic. And Stephen was well aware that he didn't have a normal life. He had a very strange relationship with his dad. But there were also times when he liked Kenneth. He was the cool dad who let him and his friends drink and smoke.

He would also spoil Stephen from time to time. For instance, on the holidays or his birthday, Kenneth would buy him whatever he wanted. But then there were times where he hated Kenneth with everything in him, especially when he was being assaulted. Stephen said that he would come home, Kenneth would rape him, and then they would just go about their evening as if they were a normal father and son.

They would eat dinner together, watch TV, and act like nothing happened. Steven knew it was wrong, but he also didn't know what to do about it. Sometimes Steven would invite friends over, and his dad would even make moves on them. Now, most of these boys would reject him and get the hell out of there, but that put Steven in a very uncomfortable situation.

His friends would come to him and ask, "Why is your dad being so creepy? Why is he trying to have sex with me?" And again, Stephen would be humiliated. With one of these friends, he actually opened up for the first time about the sexual abuse he experienced over the years. The friend in question told Stephen about how Kenneth tried to make a move on him.

And Stephen responded, "Yeah, Kenneth's been doing that to me for years." The friend then says, "Stephen, that is messed up. You gotta tell someone about this." But even then, Stephen couldn't. Kenneth was his father. He was the only family he had.

And for years, he had been brainwashed. And then, to make matters worse, they were constantly moving around. So Stephen would make all these friends and then Kenneth would pack everything up and force them to move again. So truly, he was all Stephen had. In July of 1979, Kenneth and Stephen moved to a very desolate town called Manchester, California. And somehow, they found this family that allowed them to live on their ranch for free.

Now, the ranch was being used to grow cannabis, and apparently they had this shack on the property that wasn't being used. So they let Kenneth and Stephen move there to kind of watch over the property. But Stephen hated it there. He went from having his own bedroom to having to share a one-bedroom with Kenneth again. It was far from a good living situation.

It was extremely small, there was no electricity, all of the plumbing was on the outside of the home, and Stephen's high school was about an hour away. So, naturally, he missed a lot of school. Now, why they decided to live here, we don't know. It's assumed that Kenneth wanted to live out there, in the middle of nowhere, because he was ready to kidnap another child. He even buys a bunch of toys to put in the shack, just like he did when he kidnapped Stephen.

Now, interestingly enough, Kenneth also bought a bunch of children's clothes, including girls' clothing. In his mind, if they kidnapped a little boy and dressed him up like a girl, no one would catch them. And unbeknownst to everyone, that day was just around the corner. On February 14th, 1980, Kenneth Parnell would kidnap another little boy in the city of Ukiah, California. It was Valentine's Day.

And five-year-old Timmy White had spent the day eating candy and making Valentine's Day cards with his kindergarten class. And now that the school day was over, Timmy was walking the three blocks back to his babysitter's house, like he did every week. But this day was different.

Across the street, Kenneth Parnell was sitting in his car with one of Stephen's friends. Apparently, he had paid the minor to help him lure a little boy into the car. Which is interesting because Kenneth never did the kidnapping by himself. He always took advantage of other people.

and made them do the dirty work for him. But on this day, Kenneth is sitting in the car with Stephen's friend named Sean. And there, they spot little Timmy White walking all by himself. So Kenneth instructs Sean to bring him over. Sean and Timmy talk for several minutes. But when Sean tries to put Timmy in the car, he tries to run away.

From there, they had to force him inside. It definitely wasn't as easy as Stephen's kidnapping, but once he's finally in the car, they take off down the street and Timmy is in the backseat crying. Not long after, Timmy's babysitter goes outside, expecting him to walk around the corner at any moment.

But he doesn't. And after about an hour, she calls his mom, Angela, to let her know that her son never made it home from school. And soon enough, the police are called and everyone is out looking for five-year-old Timmy White. He was last seen wearing brown pants, a checkered shirt, and cowboy boots.

He was described as having platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, three feet six inches tall with freckles and a scar on his chin. But after searching for hours, no one could find him. Soon after his abduction, Kenneth drives back to Manchester

And with Timmy in the back seat, he pulls up to Steven's high school to pick him up from school. When Steven approaches the car, he sees a little boy crying in the back seat, and immediately Steven felt horrible for him. He finally did it, he thought. When they got back home, Steven did his best to try and comfort Timmy. He even took him around the ranch to feed the animals and distract him from the fact that he had just been kidnapped.

That night, Kenneth made 5-year-old Timmy sleep with him in his bed, although he claimed he was not sexually assaulted. Interestingly enough, Timmy claimed that Kenneth never assaulted him in that way. Maybe he was taking it slow, trying to get Timmy to warm up to everything before he did anything to him. But Stephen wasn't going to let anything happen.

He had this overwhelming urge to protect Timmy. During the day, he would even read him comic books. And when Timmy would cry about missing his family, Stephen would look him in the eye and say, I'm going to get you out of here. I promise.

Now back in Timmy's hometown of Ukiah, his face was everywhere. Search teams gathered every single day looking for him, and they even searched nearby bodies of water, thinking that he drowned on his way home from school. A $15,000 reward was offered for information in his disappearance, but just like with Stephen's case, there were no leads.

No one saw anything and no one knew what happened to him. And for two weeks, he was gone. By then, just like with Steven, everyone figured that Timmy White was likely dead. For the two weeks that Timmy was in captivity, Steven had been planning on how he was going to get him back home. But they didn't have a car and Manchester was quite literally in the middle of nowhere.

So one day after Kenneth went to work, Stephen put Timmy on his back and they started walking. His goal was to find someone that could drive them out of the city. But along the way, it started raining really hard. And there were barely any cars out on the road either, so they decided to turn back around. They would have to try again when it was better weather.

The next shift Kenneth had was on March 1st, 1980. It was a night shift at the hotel where he worked. So after Kenneth walked out of the door, Stephen told Timmy that they were going to try again. First, they would eat dinner, put on warm clothing, and then they got ready to leave.

Stephen even put a knife in his boot, just in case Kenneth found them and tried to stop them. Before leaving this time around, Stephen hugged his dog Queenie, who had been right there by his side throughout the past seven years, and he promised her that he would come back for her. And with that, he and Timmy take off on foot once again.

Luckily, a couple of miles into their walk, they see a car drive by and wave it down. The driver didn't speak much English, but Stephen was able to tell him that they were heading towards the town of Ukiah, and the driver happened to be going in that direction. It was a two-hour drive. Timmy sat in Stephen's lap the entire way. By the time they were dropped off in Ukiah, it was about 9 p.m.,

They'd have to go the rest of the way on foot. The only problem was, Timmy couldn't remember where he lived. So Stephen decided that the next best option is to walk to the police station. But they were both terrified. As it turns out, the hotel where Kenneth worked was along the route. Stephen and Timmy would have to walk right past it to get to the police station. But they had to do it.

And Stephen kept reminding himself that if Kenneth came out, at least he had his knife with him. Now luckily, they were able to make it past without Kenneth noticing, and soon enough the police station was in sight. Once they were close enough, Stephen kneels down and tells Timmy, "There it is. There's the police station. Go inside, tell them your name, and they will bring you back home to your family."

Now keep in mind it's about 11pm and Timmy cautiously walks over to the window of the police station and peers through, but he's nervous. So nervous he runs back over to Steven. Inside the station, Officer Bob Warner was working the night shift when he looked outside and saw this little boy looking at him through a window. And from what he could tell, the boy appeared to be crying. But instead of coming inside, the boy just walked away.

and given that it's late at night officer warner goes outside to check it out upon doing so he sees a little boy walking towards another teenage boy in the distance officer warner calls for backup and soon enough a patrol car pulls up beside the two boys and asks them what their names are the youngest one replies timothy white for a second the officer couldn't believe what he was hearing you're timothy white he asks the timothy white that's been missing for two weeks

Timmy nods his head and the officer directs both of them over to the police station. And at first, they're thinking that Steven might be his captor. So they quickly separate them into different rooms and start asking questions. When they ask what Steven's name is, he responds, I think my name is Steven. And I've been missing from Merced for seven years. Upon hearing this, the officers are completely beside themselves.

It's not every day where two missing children just show up to the police station, but they still have to verify some things. Timmy's mom, Angela White, was called and told that a little boy was there claiming to be her son. So she immediately drives up, but at first glance, this doesn't look like her son. He was filthy, and his hair was dark brown, not platinum blonde.

But once Angela got closer, she realized that it was indeed her boy. She was so overwhelmed with emotion, she fainted right there. Finally, after two weeks, she and her son were reunited. While Timmy was hugging his mother, officers in another room were calling the Merced Police Department. Once they answered, the officer informed them that a boy walked in claiming to be Steven Stainer.

And there was a brief silence over the phone. After seven years, everyone thought that Stephen Stainer had died. So this news was shocking. Merced police officers immediately called Dell and Kay Stainer, telling them that they had some very important information regarding their son. And I'm sure for a moment, they thought that maybe they found his body.

But that wouldn't be the case. At around 3:00 a.m. on March 1st, 1980, the Stainers were informed that their son, Steven, was found alive. Del Stainer said that he wept as soon as he heard the news. And just for a second, can you imagine the feeling they felt in that moment? That after seven years, their son was coming back home. Now, before that could happen, the police had a lot to do.

For one, they needed information on their kidnapper. But interestingly enough, Stephen wasn't giving up a lot of information. He confirmed that he and Timmy were kidnapped by the same man, but he wouldn't give up his name. He even referred to the man as "Dad." But eventually he came clean. He told them that the kidnapper's name was Kenneth Parnell, and that he was located at the Palace Hotel

just minutes away from where they were standing.

From here, officers made their way over to Kenneth's place of work and quickly placed him under arrest. And he was surprisingly calm throughout the entire ordeal. Stephen, on the other hand, was nervous. After they brought Kenneth into the station, they even traumatized Stephen by bringing him back into the room with Kenneth. They wanted to make sure he was the right guy, but instead of doing it through a glass window, they just brought him into the room. And Stephen couldn't even look him in the eyes. But he confirmed that he was indeed the man who kidnapped him seven years ago.

Now, at this point, Timmy and Stephen had to walk investigators through everything that happened. Timmy told the police that Kenneth had been telling him that he was friends with his parents, and he believed him because he didn't know that adults told lies. Timmy also said that he was never sexually assaulted by Kenneth, which was a huge relief to everyone. And shortly after this, Timmy was allowed to go home. But before leaving, his mom Angela ran up to Stephen, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and thanked him for saving her child's life.

It was a very emotional day for everyone, and it was now time for Stephen to write out his confession. His would take a lot longer considering he was kidnapped seven years ago, but on the first lines he wrote, quote, "'My name is Stephen Stainer. I'm 14 years of age. I don't know my true birthday, but I use April 18th, 1965. I know my first name is Stephen.'"

I'm pretty sure my last name is Stainer, and if I have a middle name, I don't know it." As the police asked even questions about his time in captivity, he was understandably secretive about everything at first. He actually wouldn't admit to any of the sexual assault, and he told them that Kenneth treated him very well. He said he called him "Dad."

And Stephen would stick to this story for weeks until he finally told them the truth, that he was repeatedly sexually assaulted for years. Now, I found this part of the story to be very interesting, but once Stephen finished writing his statement, he went with the officers to conduct a press conference.

By then, the police had retrieved his dog Queenie and in front of a huge crowd of reporters, Stephen sat in front of them answering their questions with his dog right there in his lap. And many of the reporters wanted to know, "What made you bring Timmy home?" To which Stephen answered, "I knew what Parnell was doing was wrong. I just gave Timmy a whole life ahead of him with his parents."

Stephen also admitted that he thought about going back to Kenneth's house after dropping Timmy off because that's really the only life he ever knew. A reporter then asked what he felt towards Parnell now that he was arrested and Stephen said, Now at this point in the press conference, Timmy White was brought out and he walked right over to Stephen and sat in his lap.

Timmy told the crowd that Stephen took good care of him while he was away and that he even read him comic books. As the nation watched this press conference, everyone fell in love with Stephen Stainer. Not only was he a survivor of this story, but he was also a hero.

That night, Stephen would finally be reunited with his family in Merced. However, the police warned them that the Stephen you're about to see is not the same Stephen you knew from seven years ago. He's older and he's faced a lot of trauma. Upon reuniting, Stephen was very emotional. The Stainers had this huge welcome home party for him with over 200 people in attendance. It was kind of overwhelming for him. When he met his siblings again, he had to be reminded of their names.

That night, Del and Kay gave him all of the Christmas presents they had bought him over the years, and they were overjoyed to finally have him home. Stephen's older brother, Kerry, slept beside him that night in the family's living room. It felt surreal that he was home, and he wanted to be right there with him. Kerry said, I had a hard time trying to get to sleep that night. I stayed up a long time just looking at Steve while he slept and listening to him breathe. I just couldn't believe that my brother was home again. I

I went outside that night and I walked several blocks away, then looked up at the stars and started to wish on one again. But then I remembered that Steven was back home, so I thanked the star instead. Over the next few months, Steven's story was all over the news. He ended up going on Good Morning America to share his story with the world, and soon enough he was a common household name. It was also around this time when Timmy White's family honored Steven by giving him a $15,000 check.

During Timmy's disappearance, his family offered that reward money to help bring him back home, and since Stephen was the one who did that, they were happy to give it to him. Reporters lined up that morning, and tears filled everyone's eyes as five-year-old Timmy stood up on a stool and handed Stephen the reward money. But as happy as Stephen was to finally be home, there was a long road ahead of him, including Kenneth's trial. Now, Kenneth would end up having two trials, one for Timmy White's kidnapping and another for Stephen's,

And of course, he would plead not guilty to the charges against him. Kenneth would later claim that the boys were there with him because they wanted to be there. And sadly, the DA wouldn't even charge Kenneth with any sexual assaults. Now, it did take Stephen a few weeks to even admit to any of the sexual assaults, so that would end up being a factor. And also, the statute of limitations in California was only three years.

Meaning that if you don't report it within three years, there's nothing they could do about it. And Stephen admitted that the sexual assaults had died down since he reached puberty. And because of that, the DA decided to drop all sexual assault charges against Kenneth, which is just horrible.

Now, Timmy White's trial would come first, and at the end of it, Kenneth would be convicted of second-degree kidnapping. But surprisingly, the maximum sentence you can get from that is just seven years, which is exactly what he would get. Kenneth's accomplice in Timmy's kidnapping would also get arrested for his part in the crime. Like we mentioned earlier, his name was Sean, and he was a minor at the time, so he was sent off to a juvenile camp for two years.

Next would come the trial for Stephen's kidnapping. It was super disappointing for everyone that Kenneth, again, was only facing kidnapping charges. Stephen faced years of sexual abuse, but the DA decided not to charge him.

And interestingly enough, the Merced court decided to try both Kenneth and his accomplice Murph at the same time. So their trial started on December 10th, 1981. And again, the defense tried to claim that Stephen stayed with Kenneth for all that time because he wanted to. They said that Stephen could have left at any time, but the reason he didn't

was because his life with Kenneth was better than his life back at home with his family.

But the prosecution brought forward Dr. Hamm, who helped explain why Steven didn't leave for all those years, saying, When first abducted, Stainer was confused, shocked, and afraid. He began feeling enraged. Emotional blocking occurs. A sense of hopelessness, despair, giving up, and turning himself over to his abductor follows. Unable to understand his feelings and finding it less painful to avoid them, he began to act and respond as though he were Dennis Parnell. The identity Parnell assigned him.

As Stanner became increasingly dependent on Parnell, he became incapable of forming another choice. From an adult point of view, we can ask, why didn't he leave? But from a child's perspective, the question is, if my parents want me, why don't they come get me? The fact that Stephen's actions were being questioned at all is mind-boggling. It was clear to anyone throughout this trial that Stephen was not to blame for what happened to him at seven years old.

And luckily, the jury would agree. On January 7th, 1982, the jury found both Kenneth and his accomplice Murph guilty of second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap. Following the verdict, Stephen's mother Kay told reporters, "...I'm very happy the jury came in with a guilty verdict, but I'm anxious about the sentence Parnell will get."

It could be a very long sentence or it could be very short. It will be up to the judge but we want to keep this fellow off the streets." And sadly, Kay had every right to be anxious because when Kenneth's sentencing came around, justice was far from served. The judge who sentenced him said, "A seven-year-old boy was taken from his home and lied to, told that his parents didn't want him anymore.

presumably didn't love him anymore. The resulting psychological impact that this obviously had on this young boy, now 16 years of age, is something that he is struggling with now and will be struggling with for the rest of his life. All of this conduct was callous, deceitful, and sensitive, and as far as the court is concerned, fully justifies the maximum sentence that is available.

So, the judge would sentence him to the maximum sentence, which again, is only 7 years. But, tragically, at the time, the laws in place had it to where Kenneth could only be sentenced to 7 years in total sentence.

for kidnapping. So it couldn't be seven years for Timmy and then another seven years for Steven. It was a total of seven years for all of it. He did get an additional 20 months for the conspiracy charge, but that was it. Kenneth Parnell would only serve seven years in prison for kidnapping two little boys, which is absolutely unbelievable.

the judge even admitted that these circumstances were totally unfair stating this is not in keeping with what the court feels is an appropriate term now murph was then sentenced to five years in prison just two years less than what kenneth got which don't get me wrong murph absolutely should have paid for what he did but his part in the entire story is so small compared to what kenneth did so the entire outcome was incredibly disappointing for everyone

A member of the jury even said that the trial was a huge waste of time considering Kenneth wouldn't get any additional jail time despite the outcome. Now luckily, this trial would start a lot of conversations about how screwed up the justice system was. And just six months later, a law was put into place to increase the sentencing for these types of situations. After the trials ended, Stephen was happy to finally move on. But things were not easy for him.

He had to learn to adjust to this new life. Now, professionals suggested that Stephen be put in counseling to work through all of the trauma he faced over the years, but sadly, that was never done. In fact, his family never really talked about what happened. It was so painful for everyone. I guess they felt it was better to just ignore it.

In one instance, Stephen even mentioned something about wanting to visit Kenneth in prison, likely to get some closure. But his parents just completely ignored him and changed the topic. So as you can see, Stephen would face a lot of inner turmoil that he wasn't even able to work through. It was also difficult for him because now that he was living with his real family, he was forced into a very structured life.

with rules he had to follow, which he wasn't used to. When he lived with Kenneth, he kind of got to do whatever he wanted. He could drink and smoke and stay up late, but he wasn't allowed to do any of that once he came back home. When Stephen returned to school in Merced, he also had a hard time there. Everyone knew him as the boy who was kidnapped by a pedophile, and sadly, he would be bullied because of it.

When Steven turned 18 years old, he was finally given the $15,000 reward money that he got from Timmy's family. And he got another $25,000 when a production company bought his story. But it was reported that he spent all of it within a couple of months. We also mentioned that he struggled in high school and because he failed a couple of classes, he wasn't able to graduate. Steven Stainer was obviously going through a really tough time.

After moving out of his parents' house, he moved into a trailer outside of town, and it's here where he struggled with alcohol. But in 1984, after being hospitalized for drinking, he decided to turn his life in a positive direction. He worked to get his GED. He also started helping families who had gone through similar situations.

Stephen would later tell author Mike Eccles, "I think that my survival has a lot to do with the way I was raised for the first seven years of my life, and I can't let what happened to me with Parnell get to me. I fought too hard for those seven years to make it, to give up now." And Stephen's life would improve. In 1985, he would even get married, and that same year the couple would have a daughter named Ashley. Then a couple years later, they had a son named Stephen Gregory Stainer after his dad.

It was also around this time when a TV series was made about his life story, called "I Know My First Name Is Steven". Steven even made an appearance in the series, where he played a cop, and it ended up doing pretty well. Everyone was very moved by Steven's story, and the series was even nominated for an Emmy. But even with these big life accomplishments, Steven was constantly reminded of his past. Throughout the time Kenneth Parnell was incarcerated, he was on his best behavior.

And as if his seven year sentence wasn't enough of a slap in the face, he would end up getting released on April 5th, 1985. Just five years into his seven year sentence. Following his release, he would get sent to a boarding house where he had to follow the rules of his parole. And as you can imagine, everyone was so angry that he was a free man. I mean, this is one of the most dangerous types of people.

someone who preys on children. And everyone that lived around him was terrified that he would one day hurt someone else. But what could they do? He was now a free man. In 1987, Kenneth was finished with his parole and could basically do whatever he wanted. He even started working as a security guard for a boys home in Oakland. But after the TV series was released about Stephen's life,

His employers eventually found out who Kenneth was and what he did, and from there he was immediately fired. But the fact that he was even able to work there in the first place is incredibly concerning, and it just solidified everyone's fears that Kenneth was not a rehabilitated man. He was a monster.

But back in Merced, Stephen Stainer was taking on a new role as a father. In 1989, he was working as the assistant manager at a pizza hut, doing what he could to provide for his family. On September 16th, 1989, it was a normal day. Stephen went to work, and at 5pm, once his shift was over, he hopped on his motorcycle to head back home to his wife and kids.

But he would never make it there. A couple of days prior to this, Stephen's motorcycle helmet had been stolen, so he wasn't wearing one. And before he knew it, a car pulled out in front of him and stalled. Stephen tried to avoid the accident, but there was nothing he could do.

His motorcycle would slam into the vehicle and from there he was launched 45 feet down the road. The car that caused the accident fled the scene and although Steven was taken to the hospital shortly after, he would not survive. 24-year-old Steven Stainer had died.

The driver of the other car was named Antonio Loera. He was 28 years old, and it was suspected that he had been drinking before the crash. But after fleeing the scene, Antonio ditched his car and left the country. Days later, on September 19th, Antonio's wife called him and convinced him to turn himself in, which he did.

And from there, he was charged with a felony hit and run and was sentenced to three months in jail. A test was run on his vehicle that hit Stephen and they found that Antonio's car had actually stalled out. So it was truly an accident, but because he fled the scene, he did spend some time in jail. Stephen's funeral was held on September 20th and over 500 people showed up.

Throughout the years, everyone knew who Steven Stainer was. His story had touched thousands of people across the U.S., and everyone was heartbroken over his untimely death, especially his wife and two young children, who sobbed throughout the service. It all just seemed so unfair.

Stephen wasn't dealt the best hand in life. He had suffered a lot of trauma. But the silver lining of his story was that he was given a second chance at life, only to be killed in a tragic accident. It was even more heartbreaking that his kidnapper, Kenneth Parnell, outlived him. Kenneth did not go on to live a quiet life in the shadows either. In fact, he did just the opposite.

In 2002, he was 71 years old, in very poor health, and he was still trying to abduct young boys. He was living in Berkeley at the time, and he had this friend named Diane. And like he did many times before, he was still trying to abduct young boys.

He approached Diane one day and offered her $500 to abduct a little boy for him. He said he wanted the boy to be a "English-speaking black boy between 4-6 years old." He also mentioned how he wanted them to have a clean rectum. Now, Diane would agree to do it, but she immediately went to the police.

On December 20th, 2002, she walked into a police department and told them about Kenneth's offer. And from there, they were determined to get this man back in prison. Diane even offered to help them. So they actually wired her cell phone and conducted a sting operation. Diane called Kenneth one day and they got him on recording talking about how he wanted her to abduct the little boy.

He even said that one day he wouldn't mind abducting a little girl as well, but quote, "I can only handle one at a time."

Now, the recording of him saying this was damning, but it wasn't enough. So, the police then put a wire on Diane and sent her over to his apartment. Once inside, Diane told Kenneth that she would abduct the little boy later that day. But first, she needed the cash that he had promised her. And with that,

Kenneth handed over $500. Immediately after she walked out of the apartment, the police swarmed in and placed Kenneth under arrest. Even at 71 years old, he was still the disgusting monster he had always been. The five years in prison taught him nothing. And disturbingly, when they searched his apartment, they found a ton of children's toys and clothing.

Just like he had done in the past, Kenneth was fully preparing to ruin another kid's life. Luckily, however, this was his third offense dealing with kidnapping, and California had a three strikes rule, so Kenneth would not get off the hook this time around.

His trial started on February 2, 2004, and he pleaded not guilty. Now, obviously, Stephen Stainer couldn't testify him because he had passed, but Timmy White, who was 29 years old, would take the stand, telling the jury all about his kidnapping in 1980.

At the end of it all, Kenneth Parnell was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years to life. Afterwards, the prosecutor, Tim Wellman, told the media, I think he's a poster child for the three strikes law. He has been committing felonies since he was 19 years old. The defendant is a danger at any age. The defendant was looking for one last hurrah, one last Stephen Stainer, one last Timmy White. Everyone in America that had been following this story for decades was shocked that Kenneth even had the opportunity to harm another child.

He should have been locked away a long time ago. But there was a sense of relief that justice had finally been served. However, this feeling wouldn't last very long. Because just four years into his sentence, 76-year-old Kenneth Parnell would pass away in prison from natural causes. This story was incredibly tragic all around. Stephen Stainard's childhood was selfishly taken from him.

by a pedophile who never seemed to learn his lesson. Then years later, Timmy White's life was forever changed when he was kidnapped by the same monster.

And although these boys weren't killed by their kidnapper, they would face a lifetime of trauma because of what they went through. And that trauma was intensified by the fact that they never really got the justice they deserved. Kenneth spent five years in prison for kidnapping two little boys. That's two years less than the time Stephen spent in captivity.

The injustice of this story is heartbreaking, especially when you consider the fact that Steven Stainer died at 24 years old and Timmy White would also face an untimely death. He eventually became a husband and father of two children and he started working for the LAPD as a sheriff's deputy. Timmy dedicated his life to his job.

He also spent time teaching families and children about safety and the dangers of kidnapping. His story touched thousands of people across the nation. So everyone was heartbroken to find that on April 1st, 2010, Timmy White died of a pulmonary embolism. He was only 35 years old. He and Stephen's story had a lasting effect on the town of Merced.

So after his death, a statue was erected in Applegate Park. It was an 8-foot bronze statue of 14-year-old Steven and 5-year-old Timmy holding hands, just like they did back in 1980 when they walked up to that police station. Under the statue, it reads, quote, "...may this memorial to Steven Stainer's heroism and to all child victims stand as a beacon of hope to families of children still missing."

And that's where this tragic story ends. But you might be thinking, this podcast is called Murder in America and no one was murdered in this story. And although that may be true, the story we have for you next week is about a serial killer that has an eerie connection

to this story. So everyone make sure to tune in next week to hear about the Yosemite serial killer. On a sightseeing trip to Yosemite, Carol's son, her daughter Julie, and their friend Silvina Peloso vanished in February of 1999. Weeks later, Carol and Silvina's bodies were found in their charred rental car down a cliff. We have recovered two bodies.

from the trunk of the vehicle. But where was Julie? The killer sent the FBI this hand-drawn map with a chilling message, "We had fun with this one." Months later, the killer struck again, beheading naturalist Julie Armstrong in Yosemite.

As a lot of you probably know, Courtney and I's time is already really stretched thin. We have multiple projects that we're working on. I'm working on a documentary. We're posting a video every week on YouTube, a podcast, a second podcast. So we don't have a lot of extra time in our lives, especially when it comes to cooking. I know that for myself at the end of a long workday, the last thing that I want to do is get in the kitchen and cook myself something. And meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking can be a huge hassle.

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Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you so much for tuning in to this week's episode of Murder in America. Courtney and I are so blessed to have every single one of you people listening. It is crazy how big the Murder in America family has grown, but we want to shout out some of our new patrons this week.

Oh my God, guys, we have so many patrons. We are still catching up.

from all the people that have signed up for our Patreon. We cannot thank you enough for the support on there. If you want to become a Patreon member, you can get access to bonus episodes of the show. You can get access to show episodes early and ad-free. All you have to do is head to patreon.com and search Murder in America. For $5 a month, you get the episodes early and ad-free. For $10 a month, you get that

Plus two bonus episodes. And for $20 a month, you get four full length bonus episodes of the show and the actual feed episodes early and ad free. We also want to remind y'all follow us on Instagram at murder in America to see the photos of the cases that we cover. And yeah, we just have so many exciting updates to share with y'all so much coming into the holiday season and looking forward towards 2024. Absolutely crazy.

that it's almost 2024. It seems like 2023 was here and it was gone. But anyways, next week's episode is wild with a pretty crazy twist. And we'll catch you guys then. Well, well, well, a visitor. Make yourself at home and feel free to explore my establishment. Each visit to my shop will unleash a sordid tale about the many relics curated within. Every one darker than the next, I'm afraid.

Welcome to the antiquarium of sinister happenings and odd goings on. I can smell your intestines. I'm scaring her, aren't I? If you are uncomfortable with the supernatural, the occult, or exploring other realms, I encourage you to stop listening to this immediately. It's the last in Advanam. I'm in my world. I want to go home. Terrible things happen when we talk about him too much. Six. Six. Six.

and assume zero liability as per store policy. No exception. Thank you, and have a great day. Find the Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings online at bloody.fm and wherever you do come home to.

Welcome to Bloody FM's The Hotel, a horror podcast with new episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month. Each night a guest dies a horrifying and fantastic death in a hotel, that's me, who assumes the shape of anything from a five-star resort down to a roadside roach motel. Listen on the 1st and 15th of every month on Bloody Disgusting's Bloody FM network, wherever you listen to podcasts.

Get in, losers. This is the Lady Killers of Feminine Rage podcast. I'm Jen. I'm Sammy. I'm Rocco. And I'm Mae. Our podcast is a tribute to the female-identifying killers in horror and more. Each episode will feature us, your Supreme Court of female murderers, discussing our favorite lady killers from your Julia's and Jennifer's to your Carrie's and Christine's.

We'll tell her story, decide if it's good for her horror, and answer the most important question of all. Would we die for her? Join us on Thursdays as we pull on our sweaters, snatch our ice picks, sharpen our scissors, and honor the lady killers who live on the silver screen. No boys were harmed in the making of this podcast. Yet.