A local law enforcement source has indicated that Kenneth Parnell is a likely suspect. Parnell lived near the location where the bodies were discovered at the time.
On December 4, 1972, Kenneth Eugene Parnell kidnapped seven-year-old Steven Stayner in Merced, California. On February 14, 1980, Parnell abducted five-year-old Timmy White in Ukiah, California. Stayner was not willing to have the young boy go through the years of torment he endured, and on March 1, 1980, he took White, hitchhiked to Ukiah, and went to a police station. This led to Parnell’s arrest.
Parnell was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison on February 10, 1982 after being convicted on a count of kidnapping. This was in addition to being sentenced to one year and eight months on another count of kidnapping. He was released on parole on April 5, 1985.
On April 22, 2004, Parnell was sentenced to 25 years to life under California’s Three Strikes Law for solicitation to commit a felony. This conviction stemmed from a January 2003 arrest. Parnell had tried to coerce a caregiver into buying a four-year-old boy.
Parnell, 76, died of natural causes at 9:10 p.m. on Monday, January 21, 2008 in the G-1 Hospital Unit at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville. Parnell was on hospice status. He had been incarcerated at the Centinela State Prison.
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