5-year-old Timothy White walking home from school and they quickly snatched him. On Saturday, July 24, FBI agents announced at a press conference that a man was in custody on strong suspicion of murder and that a "significant announcement" would be made shortly. But it took less than six months for another murder in the area to show them that the killer was still at large this time, the victim was 26-year-old naturalist Joie Armstrong. Although most of the stains were likely to include Armstrong's blood, Stayner was observed to have a laceration on his hand during his interrogation, and therefore may have been cut and bled during the attack. He was charged with attempting to purchase a child and attempted child molestation in 2004, that he was sentenced to 25 years to life. Cary Stayner went from being the brother of child abductee Steven Stayer to a full-blown serial killer. Angelia Dale, who testified before the federal grand jury. Or certainly, nothing noticed by his colleagues at the motel. "'Deep in my heart I know something my mind does not want to learn,' said Gina,13. After they stopped trying to teach me the fundamentals all over again, it got better. Darrell Gray Stephens, 55, Strange's roommate. He is currently in his 60s and still on death row while incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. He told Hartman that his parents "didnt change that much," but his brother and sisters, "they changed a lot. In a jailhouse interview with a television reporter, he said he did not rape any of the women. Maria Ledbetter, 24, of Modesto, an admitted methamphetamine addict and former girlfriend of Dykes, about whom she was questioned extensively. He remains on Then on March 25, Juli Sunds body was discovered near Lake Pedro in Tuolumme County. In order to prevent Steven from escaping, Parnell was constantly moving the two of them from town to town in California. Carole and her husband, Jens, 43, owned a realtors business in the Stockton area. They were looking for the missing red 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix as well as the women. Then Carole's wallet turned up in Modesto, which included money and credit cards. Check-out had apparently been done in advance and the keys were left on the room desk. Vacuum sweepings were taken from inside Joies house, where Stayner claims to have bound her with duct tape, yielded hair evidence. Parnell and Murphy were driving towards town when Stephen was lured into their vehicle and abducted. Her body was next to a stream and head within the water that she and her friends used for drinking water. On days off he would escape to Laguna Del Sol, a nudist colony in Sacramento County. Cedar Lodge, 9966 CA-140, El Portal, CA 95318. Management found him a hard worker and honest. In 1999, Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli Sund, 15, and Juli's friend, Silvina Pelosso, 16, went missing while visiting Yosemite Park. The Sund family's worst fears were confirmed when a hiker wandered onto the site of a burned-out red 1999 Pontiac, hidden off Highway 108, in the Stanislaus Forest region on March 18. Timothy White, the kidnap victim, was only 35 when he died. After the fourth murder, the FBI went looking for Cary Stayner to interview him, but initially as a witness. Tragically, Steven Stayner was killed in a 1989 motorcycle accident at the age of 24. Agents arrived at the scene early on the 19th and upon opening the trunk, investigators found two charred bodies. "He had a great personality," said Lori Duke, who dated Steven in high school but knew him as Dennis. Specifically, the media scrutiny seemed to affect his older brother Cary, who clashed with his brother after his return. In a 2003 jailhouse interview with The Chronicle, Parnell admitted that he had tried to buy the boy to experience the "love and respect" that a son has for a father. | Arrested on an unrelated drug charge, he has been questioned about the Yosemite case. The car was hidden off a spur road where locals dump old refrigerators, cars, and washing machines. | Among other things, the FBI Laboratory has found hairs in vacuum sweepings taken from Room 509 and possibly body fluid stains on a blanket (and) a latent palm print from the window sill. I want a movie-of-the-week made about my story,'" There was a movie made about his brother, Steven Stayner, and he wanted the same and for the world to take notice. Unofficially, Jens Sund offered a $250,000 reward for information that would lead to the return of the missing women. Concluding the interview, he addressed the victims' families: "I am sorry their loved ones were where they were when they were. In 1997, Stayner got a job as a handyman at the Cedar Lodge, seven miles from the gate of the national park, where he worked for 2 years before the murders.. But why doesnt my dad hug me anymore? The new three-part Hulu docuseries Captive Audience explores the tragic story of the Stayner family specifically the fraught lives of their two sons, Steven Stayner and Cary Stayner. Woman recalls moment family learned they were target of 1999 Knives were used in the slayings and the weapon suspected in Ms. Armstrong's death was recovered.". Unfortunately, less than a decade after his incredible escape, Steven Stayner died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 24, leaving behind a wife and two children. Timothy Lee White, 5, gets a piggyback ride from 14-year-old Steven Stayner at a news conference in Ukiah, California, in 1980, Kenneth Parnell stops the car and goes to a payphone, he comes back and tells Steven, Your parents, I just spoke to them. By mid-April, those who had been arrested were ordered to testify in front of a grand jury in Fresno, California. You know what I mean? ", FBI sources claimed that he had already confessed his guilt during the Saturday evening interrogation. In (the) interview, Stayner said he had fantasized about killing women for the last 30 years and described in detail how he murdered all the women, He had strangled Pelosso and Carole Sund in their rented cabin in the Cedar Lodge motel, then took Juli Sund to a lake, where he killed her early the next morning. Jeffrey Wayne Keeney, 32, of Modesto. Steven Stayner had a new father figure, and it was Kenneth Parnell, who by day, was his father, and by night, was his rapist. The suspect, Cary Stayner, 37, had been one of the people questioned after the triple killings in February, but, at that time no evidence linked him directly to the crime and he had been released. Soon after, he confessed to murdering Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso once in custody. He had talked his way into the room under the guise of fixing a leak, and then sexually assaulted both girls and brutally murdered Carole Lund and Silvina Pelosso in the room. | FBI agent Nick Rossi said on February 26, "At this point, we have not yet uncovered evidence to allow us to determine conclusively whether this was a tragic accident or a criminal act. Two weeks later, FBI agent James Maddock, now placed in charge of the investigation, told the press, "We feel almost certain that the women were victims of a violent crime.". Jens couldn't accompany them on this trip because he needed to prepare for an upcoming business trip. Steven Stayners fame was short-lived. Police found her car in front of her cabin, packed for the trip. On Dec. 4, 1972, Steven, 7, was walking alone to his familys home in Merced, California, when he was coaxed into the car of convicted child rapist Kenneth Parnell, who was posing as a minister. He was also angry about how his truck had been searched. On February 12, 1999, Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli 15, and Silvina Pelosso 16, left their home in Eureka, California to go on vacation in the area near Yosemite National Park in the same state in the United States. 'I try to stay strong because I know that's what you'd want your baby to be, but, Mommy, I don't want you to leave me.'". Cary Stayner, now 57, was convicted of the murders of Armstrong, the Sunds and Pelosso, and sentenced to death for all except Armstrong's. He remains on death row at San Quentin Penitentiary. Hastings rejected new defense claims that juror misconduct prevented a fair trial. After a couple of weeks, he upped the sum to $300,000. There, they got a room with a plan to stay for a few days. Something was clearly very, very wrong. He also struggled in high school where he was bullied for the abuse he had endured. He received the death penalty for killing four women, three of whom had been staying at the Cedar Lodge, where Stayner was employed as a handyman. Stayner said he thought he had gotten away with the earlier crimes, but could not resist the urge to kill Armstrong after he struck up a chance conversation with her. But, to no avail. Investigators searched his truck and confiscated his backpack for examination. Then he took action. Previously, the defense had maintained that the FBI had coerced the confession. I never did tell anybody about it, but I remember wishing on a star that my little brother would come back home. In the Bureau's mind, this time it had the right man. In 1972, Stayners ", Steven Stayner with his kidnapper Kenneth Parnell. In February 1980, Parnell decided to kidnap a new victim. It was dark when they arrived and Timmy could remember where he lived so they went to the police station. Cary, as the older brother, had a very strange relationship now with his younger brother, Steven, who was getting all of this attention and who was a different person, former KNTV reporter Ted Rowlands told ABC News. Cary was the ideal son, Kay Stayner revealed to the jury during her elder sons trial for murder. He paid a local kid to ride with him to the town of Ukiah, California and he told to go and find him a boy. "Privately, some members of the Sund-Pelosso task force were saying the same things to the media. The two brothers of the Stayner family are both famous - one experienced horror in the hands of a child molester, Steven, and the other, Cary, the serial killer in Yosemite. Im just horrified when I think of what happened in that room, what my daughter felt when she realized she was in serious trouble, said Carole Carrington as she asked the judge to sentence Stayner to death. In mid-July of 2002, the trial began in Judge Thomas C. Hastings courtroom. I want a movie-of-the-week made about my story. There was a movie made about Steven Stayner. It was badly decomposed and her throat had been cut. See the latest list of Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, See more StrangeOutdoors True Crime Stories, The horrific rape and murder of Sophie Louise Hook whilst camping in her Uncle's garden, The miracle rescue of Alan Lee Phillips at Colorados Guanella Pass - the man who turned out to be a serial killer, The chilling story of Thomas Lee Dillon - the Ohio Outdoorsmen killer, https://casefilepodcast.com/case-161-the-yosemite-sightseer-murders-part-1/, https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/stayner-cary.htm, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cary_Stayner, https://abcnews.go.com/US/steven-cary-stayner-tale-brothers-horror-heroism/story?id=60529944, https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/me-timothy-white10-2010apr10-story.html, https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a26040174/cary-stayner-steven-yosemite-murders/, https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/july-25-1999-cary-stayner-arrested-murder-yosemite-60263995, https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-recalls-moment-family-learned-target-1999-yosemite/story?id=60364987, https://www.theunion.com/news/local-news/stayner-sentenced-to-death/, Tagged: The Yosemite National Park Sightseer Murders, Carole Sund yosemite murders, Juli Sund yosemite murders, Silvina Pelosso yosemite murders, Cary Stayner yosemite murders, Yosemite park murders, Joie Ruth Armstrong, Sign up now for a one-time fee for access to over 55 exclusive member articles, The Yosemite National Park Sightseer Murders and the two faces of evil, Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, The Yosemite National Park Sightseer Murders, The miraculous escape of the Brazilian and German backpackers at Salt Creek in South Australia, Robert Hansen Butcher Baker - the Alaska Serial killer who hunted his victims in the wilderness, The shocking unsolved Keddie Cabin murders, The disturbing death of Fiona Torbet in the Scottish highlands, The unsolved Williams and Winans camping murders in Shenandoah National Park, The real Wolf Creek - The Backpacker Murders in the Australian Outback, The disturbing story of David Shearing and the Wells Gray Park camping murders, The mysterious death of Carol Laughlin in Yosemite National Park, The frightening case of the Trailside Killer David Carpenter, The mysterious Koh Tao - Death Island in Paradise, The disturbing disappearance of the Beaumont children on Glenelg Beach, The Kamloops Triangle - The British Columbia murders and disappearances, The Delphi hiking murders - Abigail Williams and Liberty German, The Peter Falconio disappearance in the Australian Outback, The unsolved murder of Scott Lilly on the Appalachian trail, The disturbing case of James Jordan - The Appalachian Trail Murderer. "Its difficult for me to picture what Cary has done and knowing Steve because their personalities are completely opposite," Duke, Stevens former girlfriend, said. Convicted in 1978 for rape and robbery, he was jailed on March 14 for failing to register as a sex offender. | The judge said there was overwhelming evidence against Stayner and that the devastating emotional toll justified execution. The boys were still in elementary school when on December 4, 1972, a man named Kenneth Parnell took seven-year-old Stephen, whilst walking home from school on Highway 140. Agents had interviewed Stayner, a handyman at the Cedar Lodge where the tourists had stayed, and later dismissed him as a suspect. Stayner's father, Delbert, admitted that he thinks son Cary may have suffered a trauma at age 11, when younger brother Steven, then seven, was abducted in 1972, disappearing for eight years. For four weeks, police, family, and volunteers searched the area in and near Yosemite National Park by helicopter, foot, and skis. Alternate Versions By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. And in 1999, the Stayner family was back in the news but this time, for a less than positive reason. How can one family, contain two completely contrasting children? Those sources say it is difficult for some investigators to believe Stayner could have gotten the jump on all three women without any help, let alone dispose of their bodies.". While he attended his meeting, the women were to tour the Grand Canyon. "Her mother, sisters, and a family friend had been missing for a month by the time Gina Sund read her poem in front of a thousand or so people who gathered in Modesto," writes Time.