Steven Stayner & Timothy White

Before Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, there were Steven Stayner and Timothy White both of whom were kidnapped by the same man except the story takes in California in the 1970s where year-old met. Seven years later, five-year-old Timothy White until Stayner as a teen helped White escape making him the hero despite being the kidnapping victim.

This is the story of Steven Stayner & Timothy White

Steven Gregory Stayner was born on April 18, 1965, in Merced, California to his parents Delbert and Kay Stayner. Steven was the third child in the family. Stayner has three sisters and an older brother in the family.

Timothy James White was born on November 1, 1974, in Merced, California, U.S.

Their Abductions

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 Kenneth Parnell. Stayner later claimed that Murphy asked him if his mother would be willing to donate any items to the church. When the boy replied that she would, Murphy then asked Stayner where he lived and if he would be willing to take Murphy to his home. After Stayner agreed, a white Buick driven by Parnell pulled up, and Stayner willingly climbed into the car with Murphy. Parnell then drove a confused Stayner to his cabin in nearby Catheys Valley instead. His home was 700 feet away from the Stayner's household. Throughout Parnell's household, Stayner was physically assaulted and sexually abused by Parnell. Parnell threatened Stayner not to leave the household. After Stayner told Parnell many times during that first week that he wanted to go home, Parnell told Stayner that he had been granted legal custody of the boy because his parents could not afford so many children and that they did not want him anymore.

Throughout Parnell's household, Stayner was physically assaulted and sexually abused by Parnell. Parnell threatened Stayner not to leave the household. After Stayner told Parnell many times during that first week that he wanted to go home, Parnell told Stayner that he had been granted legal custody of the boy because his parents could not afford so many children and that they did not want him anymore.

Throughout Parnell's household, Stayner was physically assaulted and sexually abused by Parnell. Parnell threatened Stayner not to leave the household. After Stayner told Parnell many times during that first week that he wanted to go home, Parnell told Stayner that he had been granted legal custody of the boy because his parents could not afford so many children and that they did not want him anymore. Kenneth changed his name to "Dennis Parnell" and has to be portrayed as his son.

Seven years later...

As grew older, Parnell lost interest in him and was motivated to kidnap another younger boy. Parnell enlisted Stayner as an accomplice in a few earlier kidnappings which failed due to Stayner failing to follow directions. Instead, Parnell cajoled one of Stayner's teenage friends, a local boy named Sean Poorman, into being an accomplice, promising him drugs and money. On February 13, 1980, Poorman noticed White playing outside of his parents' house. Poorman lures White to Parnell's car. White attempts to run back into the house, Poorman grabs White into the vehicle and drives away to Parnell's house. Parnell paid off Poorman with the promised cash and marijuana, then ordered him to leave and never speak of the incident.

The Great Escape

Parnell was away at his night security job, Stayner left the house with White and hitchhiked into Ukiah. After they were unable to locate White's residence, they went to a police station. Stayner finally tells the police by saying in a statement:

"My name is Dennis Gregory Parnell.... but I know my first name is Steven. I'm pretty sure my last is Stayner, and if I have a middle name, I don't know it."

High Fame & I Know My First Name Is Steven

After Stayner and White escaped, Stayner and White's families were informed that their boys were found alive and together. The media were buzzing about Stayner and White being found. The boys were reunited with their families. Parnell was arrested and charged for Stayner's and White's kidnapping.

Though the media painted Stayner's escape as a heartwarming reunion, when in reality he struggled to adjust to normal life. While he was in high school, news film crew and cameras followed him around causing his classmates to be jealous of his high fame. Stayner was bullied throughout high school until he dropped out. According to his sister, Stayner faded to obscurity by smoking marijuana and doing other drugs. Luckily, he was able to go to rehab. In the early 1980s, Lorimar-Telepictures wanted to make a miniseries documenting Steven's kidnapping. Stayner was the consultant and made a cameo appearance. The miniseries premiered on May 22 and 23 1989. The show starred Luke Edwards as young Steven Stayner, Corin Nemec as Steven Stayner, and Arliss Howard as Kenneth Parnell. The miniseries was first broadcast by NBC on May 21–22, 1989 drawing 40 million watchers.

It was nominated as Best Miniseries or Television Film at the 47th Golden Globe Awards and received four Emmy Award nominations. However, Stayner wasn't too fond of the miniseries even though he was the consultant. He didn't like the portrayal of his character as an "obnoxious, rude" person, especially toward his parents.

After

After their high fame since their kidnapping, Stayner and White went on to live their normal lives. Stayner met his future wife Jody at a butcher shop where worked at. The two instantly fell in love and got married in 1985.

Stayner and Jody had two children: Ashley and Steven Jr. Stayner worked with child abduction groups, spoke to children about personal safety and gave interviews about his kidnapping. Stayner joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Just when Steven and Jody were living their happy married lives things took a tragic end in 1989.

On September 16, 1989, Stayner was riding his motorcycle on his way home from his job, when he collided with a driver coming out of a nearby migrant labor camp. He was not wearing a helmet and would die less than an hour later from his head injuries. He was 24.

Stayner's funeral was held on September 20, 1989. Timothy White, who was 14 at the time was a pallbearer at the service.

The driver who killed Stayner was charged for a hit-and-run and sentenced to three months in prison for hit-and-run but was found not guilty of manslaughter.

Parnell was sentenced to 7 years in prison for their kidnapping. Parnell was not charged with the numerous sexual assaults on Stayner and other boys because most of them occurred outside the jurisdiction of the Merced County prosecutor or were by then outside the statute of limitations. That was until he went back to prison after he attempted to kidnap he died in prison in 2008.

As for White, White lived his life privately in Pine Wood, California working as a deputy sheriff. White served on the Department from September 14, 2005 to April 1, 2010. He was assigned to the Pitchess Detention Center East Facility.He married his wife Dena and had two children. White has forgiven Sean, the young teen who lured him in Parnell's vehicle was sentenced for years in prison. The two spoke briefly and hugged it out to let go of the past.

Sadly, White died of pulmonary embolism on April 1, 2010. He was 35. On August 28, 2010, five months after White's death, a statue of White and Stayner was dedicated in Applegate Park in Merced.

Steven's father, Delbert Stayner, died on April 9, 2013, at his home in Winton, California. He was 79 years old.

Ten years after Stayner's death, the city of Merced asked its residents to propose names for city parks honoring Merced's notable citizens. Stayner's parents proposed that one be named "Stayner Park". This idea was eventually rejected and the honor was instead given to another Merced resident because Stayner's brother Cary confessed to, and was convicted of, killing four women in 1999; Merced city officials feared that the name "Stayner Park" would be associated with Cary rather than Steven.

In 2023, Hulu documented their kidnapping in a limited docuseries Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story featuring Steven's families, White families, and the cast of I Know My Name is Steven.

The first two episodes documented the kidnapping of Steven Stayner and Timothy White and the third episode documented Cary Stayner (Steve's brother) who was convicted for murder of four women near Yosemite National Park.

If you want to read about the Missouri Miracle (Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby):

Source

YouTube

Wikipedia

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/pico-rivera-ca/timothy-white-4205235

https://www.newsweek.com/captive-audience-hulu-what-happened-steven-stayner/

https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/serial-killer/heroism-and-horror-one-brother-was-kidnapped-the-other-became-a-serial-killer

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50876132/timothy_james-white