Did you know that Stayners (and Timmy White) abducter, Kenneth Parnell, is now free and living in Berkley? I think he was in prison less than 10 years in spite of having previous child kidnapping convictions.
He tried to buy a boy in 2003, and is back in jail.
In Merced that afternoon, seven-year-old Steven Stayner was walking home from school. Often he would walk with his friends or siblings, but on this winter afternoon he was walking alone when he was approached by a man who asked young Steven some general questions about religion. Unlike other children Murphy had approached, Steven stopped and talked with him for a minute, and listened patiently while Murphy told the boy that he was soliciting donations for his church.
When Murphy asked if Steven's parents might want to make a contribution, Steven told him that his mother might be interested. Murphy told Steven that he would give him a ride home in his friend's car, which was waiting nearby. Initially, Steven told Murphy "it's just a little ways, I can walk," but eventually was persuaded to get into the car, where Parnell was waiting behind the wheel.
snip
Back at Parnell's remote cabin, as the days away from his family grew into weeks, Steven wanted to return home. He told Parnell that he was afraid that his parents would be angry about how long he'd been gone. He asked Parnell several times to take him home, but Parnell refused each time.
In the short time Steven had stayed with him, Parnell had learned about the boy's family life, including the fact that Steven had been punished by his parents the day before his abduction for some minor misbehavior. Using that information, and wanting the boy to stop asking to go back to Merced, Parnell finally told Steven that he had contacted his parents, and Del and Kay had said that they didn't want him back.
Steven became upset and confused. Parnell soon cemented this lie by telling Steven that he had gone to a judge and received full legal custody of the boy. Parnell proudly told young Steven that he was to call Parnell "Dad" and that from that day forward Steven would be known as "Dennis Parnell."
http://tinyurl.com/yzc8ol