WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.640 Hey Shannon, Hey Tanya? How are you doing pretty good? 2 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.039 How are you today? 3 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:18.480 I am loving my hair growth that I've had with 4 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:21.199 my hair vitamins, as you can tell. 5 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:22.920 Oh, it looks. 6 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:27.280 Long, thank you. It is so sick. It is really 7 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:30.839 sick in my occipital bone. That's right, it's my occipital 8 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:35.399 bone because I know a little cranial anatomy from beauty school. 9 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:39.880 You got any plans this weekend? Oh? 10 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:42.039 Just visiting family? I'm easy. 11 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:48.200 Yes? Is today Holy Week? Passover week? 12 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:49.520 How about you? 13 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:57.280 Same? Same? Going over to Mispass and having a nice brunch. 14 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:03.000 Nice maybe have a mimosa Ooh I like that, celebrating 15 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:04.319 the Risen Lord. 16 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.359 Yes, exactly. Well, I have a story this week. It 17 00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:12.280 is part one of two. They're not like I'm gonna 18 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:16.719 tell you half the story though, but it's about brothers. Okay, 19 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:19.599 one brother's story, and then part two will be the 20 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:20.680 other brother's story. 21 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:21.480 Okay. 22 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:24.000 And before I get into it, I just would like 23 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:26.640 to remind everyone to hit the subscribe or follow button 24 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:30.640 on whatever app you're listening to. And Shannon, have you 25 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:33.640 ever heard of the Stainer Brothers? 26 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:34.599 I have not. 27 00:01:35.079 --> 00:01:38.439 Okay, Well, you are in for a wild ride. Today, 28 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:40.079 I'm a popcorn. 29 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:40.560 Yes. 30 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:46.079 So on December fourth, nineteen seventy two, Kay Stainer stopped 31 00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:49.000 at the pharmacy to get a prescription on the way 32 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:52.879 to picking up her seven year old son, Stephen from school. 33 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:55.439 The step took longer than she expected, and by the 34 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:58.400 time she made it to the school, Stephen wasn't there 35 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:01.680 waiting for her. She followed the route she thought that 36 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:04.159 he would take to walk home, but she didn't see him. 37 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:08.680 Stephen had been known to just dilly dally like on 38 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:11.560 his way home, so it was a couple hours after 39 00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:15.360 he was expected to arrive that Kay and Stephen's father, 40 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:18.800 Delbert began to worry. You know, it's nineteen seventy two. 41 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:25.000 At the time, the Stainer family lived in merced, California. 42 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:27.879 I think I'm saying that right, And in nineteen seventy two, 43 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:32.280 Mercid was a secluded farming town. The fields of almonds 44 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:36.439 and peaches the farmers tended grew only seventy miles from 45 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:41.080 Yosemite National Park. Stainers had five children. There were three 46 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:45.120 girls and two boys. Stephen was the third, right in 47 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:48.400 the middle. He was a quiet boy who enjoyed riding 48 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:52.560 on his Dan's tractor on their almond ranch. How about 49 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:53.639 that an almond ranch. 50 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:57.039 No, that's so quaint. Sounds fun right. 51 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:00.879 He'd once helped heal an owl, so they haven't all 52 00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:01.680 on their property. 53 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:03.759 Oh my gosh. 54 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:07.360 Stephen and Dell, his father, had a very close relationship. 55 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:10.400 He was known for being quite sensitive and somewhat of 56 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:13.719 a loner, but he had started getting into trouble at home. 57 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:16.319 Dell was going to be the one to have to 58 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:20.400 punish Stephen for writing his name on the garage door 59 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:24.319 when Stephen came home. But Stephen never came through their 60 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:27.719 front door, and his parents never painted over that spot 61 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:31.879 on their garage. The flyers that would paper Mercid and 62 00:03:32.039 --> 00:03:36.919 the surrounding areas said quote. Missing juvenile Stephen Gregory Stainer 63 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:43.840 mail Caucasian, age seven, date of birth four, eighteen sixty five. 64 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:49.319 He was four foot eight sixty pounds, light brown hair. 65 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:54.840 The hair is shaggy and collar length brown eyes missing 66 00:03:54.960 --> 00:04:00.719 since twelve, four seventy two from this city. Poster said, 67 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.520 And today, crazy enough, is the eighteenth of dying. Yeah, 68 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:09.719 I was just thinking it's the last day of aries. Yeah, crazy. 69 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:12.000 So Stephen was on his way home, like I said, 70 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:14.840 from school, when he was last seen. He was last 71 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:19.519 seen wearing a tan coat, blue jeans, multicolored flower shirt 72 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:21.959 with a zipper in the front. Stephen had never ran 73 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:24.279 away in the past. This may be a case of 74 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:28.600 foul player kidnapping. Any information on the above juvenile please 75 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:33.319 contact Sergeant Moore Murci the police department quote. The family 76 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:36.879 heard nothing from these posters, so on the afternoon of 77 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:40.720 December fourth, Stephen was walking home along Highway one pin forty. 78 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:43.240 He was just a few blocks from his house when 79 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:47.279 he was approached by a man named Edward Irving Murphy, 80 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:51.079 who said he was a church minister. Murphy was passing 81 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:55.040 out religious flyers and asking for donations. The boy agreed 82 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.399 that his mom would probably want to give something to 83 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:01.079 their church, so the minister asked Stephen if he would 84 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:03.000 take him to his house to speak to his mother. 85 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:07.000 Stephen agreed, and a white buick with another man inside 86 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:11.519 named Kenneth Parnell pulled up. In a televised ABC interview, 87 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:14.920 Stephen said that he had declined the ride several times, 88 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:17.639 but after being pressured by the two men, he gave 89 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:21.079 in and climbed in the car. Kenneth Eugene Parnell was 90 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:24.800 born in nineteen thirty one in Amarillo, Texas. Growing up 91 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:27.639 in the dustball era of the Great Depression and having 92 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.680 been abandoned by his father at a young age, his 93 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:34.639 mother moved him and his three half siblings to Bakersfield, California, 94 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:38.759 where she began running a boarding house. Known to the police. 95 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:41.519 As a juvenile delinquent, he would be in and out 96 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:44.839 of their custody for different crimes, from arson to car theft. 97 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:47.920 At eighteen years old, he married fifteen year old Patsy 98 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:51.920 Joe Dorton in nineteen forty nine. Not two years later, 99 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:55.040 she had given birth to a daughter. Within that same year, 100 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:59.439 Parnell acquired a sheriff's deputy's badge. At a military surplus store, 101 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.680 he approached an eight year old boy who he took 102 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:06.279 to a remote area where sexually assaulted and raped the child. 103 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.199 So he's a child moluster, obviously. The following year, he 104 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:13.600 was arrested and sentenced to four years at San Quentin Prison. 105 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.399 In a later interview, which took place in the year 106 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:19.879 two thousand, during another run in with the law, Parnell 107 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:23.480 attempted to excuse the nineteen fifty one crime, saying he 108 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:26.879 needed to quote find another outlet end quote because his 109 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:28.839 wife had been pregnant at the time. 110 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:33.199 I can't fucking believe that he you know, yes, y 111 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:36.160 know what. Thank you, yeah, thank you for showing your cards. 112 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:37.879 You don't fuck you. 113 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:42.279 Yeah, pig, just an absolute pig right. In nineteen fifty seven, 114 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:45.959 his divorce from Patsy Joe being finalized, he married again, 115 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:50.439 so these Lucky Ladies. Shortly after, however, he found himself 116 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:53.399 in prison again, serving six years for armed robbery and 117 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:56.639 grand larceny in Utah. While he was serving time for 118 00:06:56.680 --> 00:07:00.360 these crimes, his second wife filed for divorce. When Parnell 119 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:03.160 was hired at Yusemite National Park in the early seventies, 120 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:07.879 he met janitor Edward Irvin Murphy. So Edward Murphy was 121 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:12.360 described as naive and quote unquote simple minded, possibly having 122 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:16.399 a learning disability or a low IQ. Murphy said that 123 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:19.879 Parnell told him he was an aspiring minister and thought 124 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:23.839 that he was simply helping Parnell find and save a 125 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:27.040 little boy. He said, Parnell told him he wanted to 126 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:29.399 raise the child in a religious home, So when Parnell 127 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:33.439 asked him to go hand out gospel pamphlets. It was 128 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:37.160 not out of the question in his mind. According to Stephen, 129 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:41.120 Murphy had been kind to him. Stephen believed Murphy was 130 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:45.199 also being manipulated by Parnell. It appears that Parnell and 131 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:49.720 Murphy didn't have much contact after the nineteen seventy two kidnap, 132 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:52.959 so after hopping in the car, Stephen thought that they 133 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:56.560 were taking him home, but they continued driving past the turns, 134 00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:59.079 eventually stopping where Parnell got out of the car and 135 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.720 went to a pay phone. When he returned to the car, 136 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:04.199 he told Stephen he'd spoken to his parents and they 137 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:06.879 had given permission for Stephen to stay the night with 138 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:07.279 the men. 139 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:09.480 And I hate him, you know, I'm just thinking of 140 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:13.199 the naivete of just the decade of nineteen and seventy two. 141 00:08:13.399 --> 00:08:17.000 And if an adult told you that this happened, you 142 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.480 are well inclined to believe, like, oh, why would anyone 143 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:20.959 lie to you? 144 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:21.759 Right? 145 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:23.199 Why would anyone harm you? 146 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:25.439 And you wouldn't think like, well, how'd they get my 147 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:26.040 phone number? 148 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:27.920 Adults just know things. 149 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:33.000 Yeah, adults are to be trusted, right, terrible, Yes. Parnell 150 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:37.120 took Stephen back to his small cabin in mcathy's valley. 151 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:39.960 I'm sorry, just twenty five miles away from his home 152 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:44.480 and only several hundred feet away from his maternal grandfather's house. 153 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:48.320 That first night, Stephen was molested. In that first week, 154 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:50.879 Stephen asked many times to go back to his family, 155 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:54.000 but Parnell told Stephen that he'd contacted his mom and 156 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:57.080 dad and they couldn't afford so many kids. They didn't 157 00:08:57.120 --> 00:08:58.360 want him anymore. 158 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:00.399 Okay, yeah, I know. 159 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:03.679 Days later, he told Stephen he'd been granted legal custody 160 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:06.600 of him by the courts. Parnell told the boy he 161 00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:10.240 was no longer Stephen Stainer. His name was Dennis Gregory Parnell. 162 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:14.200 He was to call Parnell dad. Two weeks into his abduction, 163 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.519 Parnell began raping the seven year old boy. 164 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:18.399 Wow. 165 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:22.120 The Merced Police Department took the lead on the investigation. 166 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:26.000 There was a large search effort that took place, but 167 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:29.440 there was no evidence to speak of, no witness sightings, 168 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:33.279 no tracks to follow. A street by street canvas was conducted, 169 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:37.480 roadblocks were set up, people were interviewed, all to no avail. 170 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:41.000 It was as though Stephen had just disappeared into thin air. 171 00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:47.639 Over the following seven and a half years, even when 172 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:53.080 he enrolled in several schools in Mendocino County and Santa 173 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:57.120 Rosa as Dennis using his real date of birth. The 174 00:09:57.159 --> 00:10:01.120 first school he enrolled in, Kawana Elementar in Santa Rosa, 175 00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:04.720 failed to request his records, missing a chance to identify 176 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:07.399 Dennis as the boy that, at the time all of 177 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:12.399 California was looking for. Stephen was publicly raised as Parnell's 178 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:17.039 son while perpetrating horrific sexual abuse on the boy within 179 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:20.919 whatever shack, cabin, cheat motel, or trailer they were living 180 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:24.440 in at the time. Stephen never spoke a word about 181 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:29.320 the regular abuse he was suffering. Around nineteen seventy five, 182 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:33.120 Kenneth Parnell began a relationship with a woman named Barbara Mathis. 183 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.679 The relationship lasted eighteen months, and she eventually moved in 184 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:40.879 with Parnell and Stephen at age nine. Stephen was raped 185 00:10:40.919 --> 00:10:46.799 on nine occasions by Parnell and Mathis together. Oh, people 186 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:50.440 are so fucking sick they are. Mathis claimed to have 187 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:53.159 not known that Stephen had been kidnapped, but during their 188 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:56.600 time together, claiming it was on Parnell's direction, she attempted 189 00:10:56.600 --> 00:11:00.480 to lure another young boy into a vehicle. This attempt 190 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:03.720 wasn't a success. By the time he reached the sixth grade, 191 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:08.840 Stephen had been beaten, regularly smoked marijuana, gotten drunk on whiskey, 192 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:11.679 came and went from home as he pleased, and had 193 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:15.399 been thoroughly swayed into believing his family in Merced didn't 194 00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:18.960 want him. His attendance at school were sporadic, but he 195 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:21.559 enjoyed being part of the football team. It was said 196 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:24.639 that Stephen had a great personality and desired to make friends. 197 00:11:25.159 --> 00:11:28.480 He was described as spunky by Lorie Duke, a high 198 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:32.559 school girlfriend. Friends of Stephen said he wouldn't invite them 199 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:34.639 into his home, but they would come by some time, 200 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:38.120 staying outside. At one point, he got drunk and complained 201 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:40.600 that he wanted to go back to his family. When 202 00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:42.840 friend suggested he go home to his dad, he said, no, 203 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:46.759 my real family and they just didn't understand what he meant. 204 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:50.399 Parnel would often have jobs that required him to leave 205 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:53.720 Stephen at home alone for long periods of time. As 206 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:56.360 an adult, Stephen stated he knew he could have used 207 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:58.960 the long absences to run, but he didn't know how 208 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:02.320 to go about reach help. Later, it would be learned 209 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:06.039 that Stephen's family had sent missing Persons flyers to some 210 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:09.840 of the schools Stephen attended, but no one recognized him. 211 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:12.720 Parnell had dyed his hair when he first took the boy, 212 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:15.879 but over time, as Stephen got older, he simply didn't 213 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:20.159 look the same. Stephen had sporadically questioned what he'd been 214 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:22.720 told about his parents not wanting him during the years 215 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:26.080 he spent is Dennis Parnell. He would sometimes look through 216 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:29.279 newspaper articles and TV reports to see if his family 217 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:32.080 was looking for him, but when he didn't find anything, 218 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:34.679 he felt it reinforced the lie he'd been told by 219 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.799 Parnell that he wasn't wanted. For all the horrors Parnell 220 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:43.519 inflicted upon Stephen during his relative captivity, the one grace 221 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:46.879 he provided the boy was a little Manchester Terrier puppy 222 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.320 Stephen named Queenie. The dog was a gift from Parnell's 223 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.600 mother to Parnell. According to all accounts, she had no 224 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:57.360 idea Stephen existed during the time he was being held 225 00:12:57.480 --> 00:12:58.320 all those years. 226 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:02.080 I can't believe that I know. I can't I know. 227 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:05.840 In nineteen seventy nine, fourteen year old Stephen was a 228 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:10.559 freshman at Mendocino High School. His older brother, Carrie was 229 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:14.440 an upperclassman three hundred miles away at Merced High School. 230 00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:17.679 And we will talk about Carrie in our next episode. 231 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.399 So Stephen was growing up, he was becoming more difficult 232 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:24.440 for Parnell to control, and he was going through puberty. 233 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:27.919 His shoulders were broadening, his voice was getting deeper, and 234 00:13:27.960 --> 00:13:31.919 Parnell decided he wanted another kid he could have control over, 235 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:36.679 and attraction to Stephen kind of waned like Stephen was 236 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:38.480 just no longer as tight, probably because he wasn't a 237 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:43.000 little boy right right. Parnell had tried to use Stephen 238 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:45.799 in attempts to kidnap other children on multiple occasions, but 239 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:49.879 all those attempts were unsuccessful. While Parnell believed that Stephen 240 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:52.919 lacked what he needed in an accomplice, Stephen later said 241 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:58.480 he purposefully sabotaged the attempts. On February thirteenth, nineteen eighty, 242 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:02.399 Parnell enlisted the hell of fourteen year old Sean Porman, 243 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:06.639 an acquaintance of Stevens from high school. Porman was promised 244 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:09.879 marijuana in cash in exchange for being a willing accomplice 245 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:14.399 in scouting a male child for Parnell to kidnap. During testimony, 246 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:19.600 Porman said on that day, Parnell had driven into Yukaia, California, 247 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:22.919 about an hour away. The teenager noticed a small boy 248 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.879 playing outside his home. Porman approached the boy and grabbed him. 249 00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:29.919 Although the boy struggled and fought, the teen drug him 250 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:32.919 to a waiting car with Parnell inside. The boy was 251 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:37.159 five year old Timmy White. Returning home. Parnell died Timmy's 252 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:39.559 blonde hair a dark brown and told him his new 253 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:44.480 name was Tommy. The following day, Valentine's Day, Stephen walked 254 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:47.679 into his home and found Parnell waiting there for him 255 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:51.559 to introduce him to his new younger brother. Timmy was 256 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.879 crying and asking to go home. Parnell had began grooming 257 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:57.360 the boy the way he did to Stephen, telling him 258 00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:00.679 his parents didn't want him anymore, reminding the teenager of 259 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:03.000 his own experience of feeling alone with no one to 260 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:07.080 protect him. Stephen later said quote, I couldn't see Timmy suffer. 261 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:09.480 I just didn't think it was right for him to 262 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:11.480 have to go through the same thing that I did. 263 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:14.480 He really didn't have to there was someone there who 264 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.480 could stop it. End quote. I think he was talking 265 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:18.159 about himself. 266 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:19.159 Yeah. 267 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:23.120 Wow. Confiding in his girlfriend, Lorie Duke, he told her 268 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:26.600 everything that had happened. In a later interview, she stated 269 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.480 quote he literally said quote I was not going to 270 00:15:29.559 --> 00:15:31.919 let that child go through what I had already been through, 271 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:33.879 and if I didn't take care of it now, it 272 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:34.879 would just get worse. 273 00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:36.480 Wow. 274 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:39.240 In March nineteen eighty, Parnell was working as a night 275 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:43.679 clerk at the Palace Hotel in Yukaya, planning to begin 276 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:46.720 training and working security for the hotel. He had also 277 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:49.440 taken on a second job working as a caretaker on 278 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:53.360 a ranch, and he was provided free housing living in 279 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:56.399 a one shack in a remote and isolated area of 280 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.879 Port Arena. Timmy had been with them for sixteen days 281 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:03.440 when on March first, fourteen year old Stephen finally saw 282 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:06.559 the opportunity to escape while Parnell was away at work. 283 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:10.559 In a nineteen eighty four interview with Newsweek, Stephen said, quote, 284 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:13.159 it was my do or die chance, and I also 285 00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:16.639 would be coming home for doing something positive. End quote. 286 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.720 Parnell left for work the evening of March first, after 287 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:22.320 he had gone, Stephen and Timmy walked hand in hand 288 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:25.639 out of the shack and hitchhiked forty miles into Yakaiah. 289 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:29.159 Stephen had wanted to return Timmy home, but it was 290 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:32.159 dark and the young boy couldn't remember where he lived. 291 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:35.240 When he realized they weren't going to find Timmy's house, 292 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:39.720 Stephen took the boy into the Yukaia police station. Initially, 293 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:42.799 Stephen had no intention of walking into the station with Timmy. 294 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:45.360 He wanted to send the boy in and just run away, 295 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.480 still partially convinced that he wasn't wanted by his family 296 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:52.200 back in Mercid, The scared little boy convinced the teenager 297 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:55.559 to walk up to the authorities with him. Sitting down 298 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:58.200 to write a statement. Stephen would explain the kidnapping of 299 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:00.879 both him and Timmy, telling the police quote, I know 300 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:05.160 my first name is Stephen end quote. This moment became 301 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:08.039 what was considered one of the most remarkable moments of 302 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:11.160 the story, becoming the title for an eventual book and 303 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:14.799 made for TV movie. He stated quote, I think my 304 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:18.720 last name is Stainer end quote. At this point, Stephen 305 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:21.519 did not detail the sexual abuse he suffered at the 306 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:25.599 hand of his captor By sunrise on March second, Parnell 307 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:29.559 had been arrested on suspicion of abducting both boys. At 308 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:33.119 one am, before Parnell had even been arrested, Stephen was 309 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:37.799 reunited with his parents, surrounded by hundreds of neighbors, media, 310 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:42.359 and law enforcement. Dell approached Stephen in a big hug. 311 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:46.559 Kay was close behind. Media coverage of that moment included 312 00:17:46.599 --> 00:17:52.039 Stephen holding his Manchester Terrier Queeney, and his parents embraced him. Yeah. 313 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:54.240 I know, I don't even remember this story. 314 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:56.680 But when you said it was probably a made for 315 00:17:56.759 --> 00:17:58.559 TV movie, I'm sure I saw it. 316 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:01.640 Yeah. In the title I think my name is Stephen, 317 00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:03.240 I think I kind of remember that. 318 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:05.440 That does ring bells. Yeah. 319 00:18:05.559 --> 00:18:08.400 He became a national hero. Appearing on Good Morning America 320 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:11.319 within days of coming home. He told the host that 321 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:14.200 it felt great to be back with his family, although 322 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.920 he didn't recognize his siblings much after being gone for 323 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:19.920 the long seven and a half years. While the media 324 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.640 was painting the family reunion in a heartwarming glow, the 325 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:27.079 reality was far different. While Stephen kept the sexual abuse 326 00:18:27.160 --> 00:18:30.720 private while writing his statement, the police had run a 327 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.920 background check on Parnell and came across his nineteen fifty 328 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:38.319 one sodomy conviction. Stephen continued to deny anything had happened 329 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:41.799 to him until a search of Parnell's things uncovered Lewde 330 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:45.920 pictures of a young Stephen in his possession. Upon being questioned, 331 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:48.319 and the truth came out, and shortly after the media 332 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:51.839 became informed. Stephen parents had enrolled him in high school 333 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:54.240 within days of his return, and as news of the 334 00:18:54.279 --> 00:18:57.400 abuse began to circulate, the teenagers of the school began 335 00:18:57.480 --> 00:19:01.720 to bully the victim, asking questions about why he wouldn't 336 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:03.519 run away earlier, did he enjoy it? 337 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:04.160 Was he gay? 338 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:08.200 Being teased about the molestation and rape led him to 339 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:11.200 eventually drop out of school and set him into an 340 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:15.759 ever deepening depression. The transition home was also very difficult. 341 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:18.400 Far from being the seven year old who went missing, 342 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:21.519 the five foot ten teenager barely resembled the boy who 343 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.680 was taken. He had gone from having no rules and 344 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:27.680 no siblings to living with four siblings, sharing a room 345 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:29.960 with his older brother who he didn't recognize and who 346 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:33.680 didn't recognize him. Being expected to respect the authority of 347 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:37.200 people who cared was difficult, as was no longer being 348 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:40.640 allowed to smoke, drink, do drugs, stay out late, et cetera. 349 00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:44.160 Regarding the changes, he said, quote, I returned almost a 350 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.079 grown man, and yet my parents saw me first as 351 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:49.960 their seven year old boy. After they stopped trying to 352 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:52.640 teach me the fundamentals all over again. It got better. 353 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:55.839 But why doesn't my dad hug me anymore? I guess 354 00:19:55.880 --> 00:20:01.039 seven years changed him too. Everything has changed. I blame myself. 355 00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:03.960 I don't know. Sometimes if I should have come home, 356 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.079 would I have been better off if I didn't? End 357 00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:08.839 quote it's so sad. 358 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:13.039 This is heartbreaking, and you know, in the eighties and 359 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:16.759 like there's no therapy to even set him up to 360 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:21.160 go back to school after being gone for seven fucking years. 361 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:24.240 I hope we're doing better as a people. 362 00:20:24.759 --> 00:20:25.559 Yeah right. 363 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:30.160 I don't know how mental health is not your first 364 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:33.359 and foremost, because that's the filter that I'm going to 365 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:37.400 live my life through. Right, Healthier My filter is my 366 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:41.920 mental health. That's your first priority, not fucking math. 367 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:42.880 I know. 368 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:45.480 I'm just yeah, I know. I'm surprised we're not all 369 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:48.400 fucking serial killers. Okay, honestly, I'm just surprised any of 370 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:50.920 us came out. I don't know it's just you know. 371 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:57.359 Through to my fifties. Yeah, maybe I'm hoping well, you know, 372 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.039 till the end whenever. That might be never that much. 373 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:06.759 But I have no prison term. I know, dificult. I've 374 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:09.880 never been arrested, I never served. 375 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:12.880 Time, right, I want to keep it that way. Yes, 376 00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:16.839 Now I have to prove myself in the yard ship 377 00:21:17.079 --> 00:21:17.440 like that. 378 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:21.960 You know. Oh this poor guy, Oh. 379 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:26.079 My gosh, that is just crazy for everybody involved, his parents, 380 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:28.039 his siblings, him. 381 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:33.200 Yeah, what a horrible all those years seven years, yes, 382 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:34.720 years like those. 383 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:38.480 Are nightmare years for him. That he's in survival mode. 384 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:41.880 And it's absolutely it's going to be different for whatever 385 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:42.839 you're surviving. 386 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:47.920 Yes, yes, so his sister Corey said, quote he got 387 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:50.279 on with his life, but he was pretty messed up 388 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:53.920 and he never got any counseling. My dad said he 389 00:21:53.960 --> 00:22:00.000 didn't need any end quote. So yeah, that's the those eighties, right, Yeah. 390 00:22:00.039 --> 00:22:01.480 Yeah, I love nineteen eighty four. 391 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:04.440 Yeah, my mom, just be happy. What's the problem. Just 392 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:06.960 be happy? Why are you depressed? Aren't you happy? 393 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:07.880 Just be happy? 394 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:11.039 Just be Oh okay, oh there it is, thank you mom. 395 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:12.920 Thanks. I had no idea. It was so simple. 396 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:16.119 Yeah, oh yeah, the epiphany, Wo if. 397 00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:17.839 I am a drama queen? Apparently all right? 398 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:24.759 Uh so? Stephen refused to disclose all the details of 399 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:28.200 the sexual abuse he endured from Parnell. Eventually, he was 400 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:31.279 kicked out of the family home and his relationship with 401 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:34.240