What Happened To The Kidnapped Child Steven Stayner Saved?

In the time that Stayner spent living with Parnell at several Northern California locations, he was presented as Parnell’s son, and he went by Dennis Parnell. Kenneth Parnell did allow Steven to go to school, however, where the abducted young boy made some friends (via Good Housekeeping). When Stayner was 14 years old in 1980, Parnell perversely decided he would abduct another child. He turned to one of Stayner’s seventh-grade friends to assist him. Parnell offered Stayner’s young friend marijuana, money, and alcohol to grab Timothy White on his way home from school and throw him in Parnell’s car, as The Press Democrat notes.

Once Parnell brought White into the home where Stayner was also kept captive, the teenage boy knew it was time to take action. Parnell also changed White’s name from Timmy to Tommy and even dyed his hair from blonde to brown, as Nigel Cawthorne writes in his 2012 book “Against Their Will: Sadistic Kidnappers and the Courageous Stories of Their Innocent Victims.” Stayner’s first plan was to walk Timmy White back to his home in Ukiah and then return to Parnell’s home by himself. When White could not remember his address, Stayner chose instead to take him to a nearby police station, after hitchhiking 40 miles into town. It was there, under police questioning, that Stayner revealed his true identity and explained what Parnell had done.