According to the Los Angeles Times, the 14-year-old and 5-year-old boys hitchhiked their way to a police station 40 miles away and told officers what had happened. Police first arrested convicted pedophile, Kenneth E. Parnel immediately and went to work tracking down Ervin Murphy according to Lodi News-Sentinel, who had only been involved in the kidnapping before going his own way. Both men were convicted. Stayner was considered a hero for saving White from years of sexual and physical abuse.
When Steven Stayner returned home, all he really knew about himself was his first name — he wasn’t even sure how his last name was spelled. He briefly attended counseling but instead considered talking to reporters as his form of therapy. He reunited with his family and later attended college. But Stayner had issues with readjusting to family life, with a tumultuous teenagehood. His life with Parnell lacked discipline — he’d even been allowed to drink and smoke. His parents had different expectations. They kicked him out of their house twice.
According to the Los Angeles Times, by 1989 Stayner was married with two small children and was working at Pizza Hut. He’d bought a brand new white and blue Kawasaki EX-500 motorcycle with money from a miniseries based on his childhood kidnapping, called “I Know My First Name Is Steven.” But tragedy would strike Stayner one last time.
