A look back at The Press Democrat’s coverage of Steven and Cary Stayner

“Captive Audience,” a much-anticipated true crime docuseries about the Stayner brothers, debuted Thursday night on Hulu.

One of the brothers, Steven Stayner, was kidnapped by Kenneth Parnell off the streets of Merced, on Dec. 4, 1972, when he was 7 years old. Steven lived with Parnell for a time in Santa Rosa and along the Mendocino Coast. In 1980, Stayner and another boy who Parnell had kidnapped, 5-year-old Timmy White, escaped to the Ukiah police station.

The case made national headlines and inspired a made-for-TV miniseries, “I Know My First Name is Steven.” The Stayner family’s happy ending was short-lived, however. In 1989, Steven was killed in a motorcycle crash at age 24. A decade later, in 1999, Steven’s older brother, Cary Stayner, was arrested in the murders of four women in the Yosemite National Park area. Cary Stayner was sentenced to death in 2002. He is currently on death row at San Quentin.

As "Captive Audience" introduces the Stayner’s story to a new generation of true crime aficionados, revisit The Press Democrat’s coverage of the events:

A look back at Steven Stayner, kidnapped child who escaped to the Ukiah police station

Stayner hearing in Yosemite killings set: Carrington, Sund, Pelosso families to attend weeklong proceedings in Mariposa County courthouse

Sund details frantic hunt for wife, daughter: Father-husband testifies during Stayner’s preliminary hearing into slayings of 3 Yosemite visitors

Stayner cries at murder hearing: Victims’ families scoff at defendant’s ‘crocodile tears’

Judge orders trial for Stayner: Defendant’s tape-recordings graphically tell of the slayings of Silvina Pelosso and the Sunds

Lawyer: Stayner killed trio, but was insane at time

Grisly details of bodies at center of Stayner trial: Most Sund, Pelosso relatives stay in courtroom as lawyers show gruesome pictures of victims

Teen tells of Stayner meeting: 16-year-old later learned she, family were targeted

Initial Yosemite suspect takes fifth in court: Man who told FBI he and two others killed three women refuses to answer Stayner defense attorney’s questions

Stayner’s stress described: Defense psychiatrist says killer had no control over his actions

Appeal from Stayner’s parents: Mother, father take stand for first time to ask jury to spare son, describe killer as quiet, unobtrusive child

Juror says jury reluctantly supported execution

Stayner sentenced to death: Judge chokes up describing ‘unbearable mental torture’ for families

24 years after Ukiah abduction, White again faces Parnell

Steven Stayner's abductor tried to buy 4-year-old for $500, gets life in prison

Kenneth Parnell dies in prison

Kenneth Parnell, who took Steven Stayner from Merced street and Ukiah boy 8 years later, dies at 76

Timmy White, 1980 Ukiah kidnap victim, dead at 35

Statue of Steven Stayner dedicated to missing kids