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Episode Guide
- 3. Chapter 3: Cary's Story Apr 21, 2022
- Two decades after Steven went missing near Yosemite, three tourists vanish from the same area.
- 2. Chapter 2: Steven's Story, Part 2 Apr 21, 2022
- When a hit TV movie rewrites the Stayner story, reality gets stranger than fiction.
- 1. Chapter 1: Steven's Story Apr 21, 2022
- When Steven heroically returns seven years later, the media can't get enough of the story.
Captive Audience: With Todd Eric Andrews, Kay Stayner, Ashley Stayner, Corin Nemec. Follows the life of Steven Stayner and his family, diving into the family's 50-year journey to unravel the tale of two brothers, one deemed a villain and the other a hero.
- (2.6K)
- 2022-04-21
- Documentary, Biography, Crime
- 46
Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story is a 2022 three-part true crime docuseries directed by Jessica Dimmock and executive produced by The Russo brothers, which premiered on Hulu April 21, about the 1972 kidnapping and eventual 1980 return of Steven Stayner and the impact it had on the Stayner family (especially older brother Cary who would later commit murder in 1999).
- Steven Stayner's Abduction
- A Hero Is Born
- Steven's Final Years
- Cary Stayner Taints The Family's Legacy
On Dec. 4, 1972, the Stayner family's low profile permanently changed when 7-year-old Steven Stayner, the middle child, was abducted walking home from school. He was given a new identity — Dennis Parnell — and for seven years endured sexual abuse at the hands of his captor. During that time, Delbert and Kay struggled to move on without answers abou...
An investigation into Steven's reappearance uncovered that he was motivated to plan an escape after his captor abducted Timmy. He was reportedly troubled by Timmy's distress and unwilling to watch an innocent young boy undergo the same abuse he suffered. One night, he and Timmy snuck out while their abductor was working and they hitchhiked to Ukiah...
Amid the mayhem, Steven learned to live with the publicity, for better or worse. By 19, he had wed Jody Edmondson — a girl whom he met at the butcher shop where he worked — and started a family. Soon, the couple had two children: Ashley and Steven Jr., both of whom weigh in throughout the docuseries. "He was a good dad, he was a good family man," J...
Following Steven's death, the Stayners began to fade out of the news — but then, "terrible things start all up again," Cory says. In 1999, three tourists vanished in Yosemite National Park. Much like Steven's, their disappearance shocked the nation and dominated headlines as investigators frantically searched for them. Soon after, two of the women'...
- 2 min
- Kyler Alvord
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Apr 21, 2022 · Captive Audience makes the argument that Cary Stayner’s murder spree was a cry for attention to differentiate him from his kidnapped brother.
- Kayla Cobb
This is the story of how a story gets told, and how the media’s magnifying glass impacts the characters caught in the narrative. Siblings Ashley and Steven Stayner Jr. never knew their famous father Steven, the child victim of a shocking California kidnapping, who tragically died in an accident when they were young. In 1972, […]
Watch Captive Audience — Season 1 with a subscription on Hulu. The evolution of true-crime storytelling is told through lens of the 1972 kidnapping of Steven Stayner, 7, which sparked "stranger ...
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