Episode
The Stayner Brothers : a Miracle Escape and a Murderous Secret
- Podcast
- Mysteries and Histories
- Published
- Jun 8, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4248
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
The Stayner brothers’ story is a nightmare split in two: in 1972, seven‑year‑old Steven Stayner was abducted on his way home from school in California and held captive for seven years by a pedophile who tried to remake him as his “son.” Steven finally escaped as a teenager, rescuing another kidnapped child in the process and becoming a national symbol of survival, only for the family to be dragged back into horror decades later, when Steven’s older brother Cary was unmasked as a sadistic serial killer who murdered four women near Yosemite, turning one family’s tale of victimhood and heroism into something far darker and more tragic.