But Stayner kept pleading with her through the locked door. The girls were staying at Cedar Lodge motel in El Portal, CA, near Yosemite National Park. What's that? he asked. But in December 1972, the Stayner family's own sense of security was disrupted forever, with results that many believe helped shape the person Stayner became. Cary Stayner later admitted that he'd told the women there was a leak to gain . Ten years after his Stevens death, Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli, 15, and 16-year-old Silvina Pelosso, a family friend from Argentina, went missing while touring Yosemite. After learning about the crimes of Cary Stayner, read about Gary Hilton, the National Forest Killer who murdered hikers along the Appalachian Trail. Her boyfriend and her other roommate were away. He showed me his cartoons, Miller says. He rented a room above the Cedar Lodge Restaurant & Lounge, a 1950s-themed diner with red Naugahyde banquettes and a vintage jukebox, and did odd jobs around the motel. His cartoons are scatter-ed throughout the 1979 high school yearbook: humorous caricatures of his fellow students playing tennis, done with a deft style and a cheerfulness that offers no insight into the mind of a future serial killer. Details appear to match the death in Summit Meadow, and they find evidence Lucas described. While the number of murders in Yosemite has decreased in recent years, the park still has a higher rate of crime than other national parks. The Yosemite Valley, home to many of the famous cliffs and waterfalls in the park, was expected to re-open for day-use only on Sunday morning before a full opening Monday morning, when a flood . Special Agents with the National Park Service's Investigative. A law-enforcement source says that Stayner's account may reflect his own distorted hold on reality: It fit in with his fantasy that there was some relationship between him and Juli. Upon reaching the overlook, Stayner said, he grabbed his victim from behind and drove his knife blade across her throat. Cary later told reporters that he almost drove his car into the Merced River in excitement. Then, one day in 1996, a coworker went out into the yard of Merced Glass and Mirror to find Stayner slamming his fist against a piece of wood and bleeding from cuts on his hand. Suddenly one of the rangers noticed something metallic. Steven Stayner died in 1989 in a motorcycle accident. It is also critical to note that the number of open cases remains surprisingly low. It's believed that these men are abducted, murdered and then disposed of in bodies of water to give the impression of accidental drowning. Episodes. In the early morning hours of September 13, 1999, three women were brutally murdered in Yosemite National Park. The alleged serial killer was confessing to things like necrophilia and cutting up victims into "little tiny pieces" and during four months in police custody he admitted to committing 156 murders, mostly female victims. Steven Stayner tragically died in a motorcycle accident in 1989. On my trip to Yosemite in August, just days after Joie Armstrong's murder and Stayner's arrest, I found the campgrounds, hotels, and gift shops in and around the park filled to capacity. Where will Californias record melting snow go, and when will it happen? He was a cool guy who mixed easily with the rest of the staff, according to a waitress at the diner. He had only come to rob them, he said. ABC News Studio produces and commissions narrative nonfiction series and specials on topics such as true crime, other investigations, pop culture and news-adjacent stories. Murphy offered to take the boy home, but Kenneth Parnell instead brought him to him. Stayner used a knife to decapitate Armstrong, later discarding her headless corpse in a stream. Jack Bungart, the paper's sports editor, once tried to engage him in a conversation about his brother. Saint Vincent And The Grenadines - 36.54 per 100k people. Lollie Winans & Julie Williams - Shenandoah National Park In May of 1996, 26-year-old Lollie Winans and 24-year-old Julianne Williams set out for a trip to Shenandoah National Park with their golden retriever. Just before dawn Stayner turned off the two-lane road near the town of Moccasin and parked in a deserted parking lot. Back in Yosemite, the investigators made crucial breakthroughs with leads from the alleged killer's confession. The case remained unsolved for years, until DNA evidence led authorities to arrest a man named Cary Stayner in 2002. Despite his brothers traumatic ordeal, Cary Stayner turned to kidnapping and murder himself 27 years later. The officers faced obstacles from the outset: the crime scene was in the complete wilderness, there was no widespread DNA testing at the time and there were no clues in the surrounding area. Stayner confessed to the murders and was sentenced to death. Her throat had been cut. The 58 cases that were reported in 1958 are, in contrast to the current situation, not open. But aside from those flights of fancy, Stayner is remembered as shy and self-effacing. Stayner then set his sights on the two teen girls, both of whom he forced to takeoff their clothesand sexually assaulted. Henry Lee Lucas (August 23, 1936 - March 12, 2001) was an American convicted serial killer.Lucas was convicted of murdering his mother in 1960 and two others in 1983. Stayner was a guest at Tuolumnes Cedar Lodge for two years in 1991 before killing Carole and Juli Sund and Silvino Pelosso. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Motel handyman Cary Stayner is shown in a July 29, 1999, mugshot, was charged Oct. 20, 1999, with capital murder in the killings of three Yosemite sightseers. With much of Yosemite Valley closed from Friday night to Wednesday amid flood risk from Sierra snowmelt, the national park is gearing up for an unusual few days with quiet in the valley and . He was eventually apprehended at a nudist colony two hours north of Yosemite. They soon tracked him to a nudist camp in Wilton, California. Violent crimes in Yosemite Lakes are 18% higher than the national average. Case Info: The partial remains of a homicide victim were found in Yosemite National Park's Summit Meadow along Glacier Point Road in 1983. Indefinite flood warnings were also in effect for areas near rushing rivers in parts of Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties, where some 60,000 acres of farmland are under about 3 feet of water brought by last months powerful atmospheric river storms. In a narrow ditch filled with three feet of still water, Kidd spotted a key ring glinting in the sun. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? He said he felt like he was having a breakdown and said he was all nervous and didn't know why, the colleague later told the San Francisco Chronicle. Around four o'clock in the morning, Stayner carried Juli Sund outside and put her in the front seat of the Pontiac. Former motel handyman Cary Stayner was convicted Monday, Aug. 26, 2002, of the 1999 slayings of the three Yosemite park tourists in a crime that shattered the serene image of one of America's most . It was built in 1977 to provide lodging to visitors heading to the entrance to Yosemite National Park, just across Highway 140. The National Park Service has made significant progress in solving these cases and bringing closure to the families of those who have gone missing. Based on what Cary Stayner told the authorities in his confession, this is what happened next. He says he killed four women -- a park naturalist and three sightseers. New evidence reveals the confessed killer's tortured pastand his bizarre obsession with Bigfoot. After traveling all over the world, I finally understand where my heart belongs - Burma. "I wish I could have controlled myself and not done what I did," he said in a 1999 jailhouse interview, according to SFGate. Joie Armstrong, who grew up in Orlando, was one of the most popular members of the staff: a bright, energetic young woman who led kids on hikes through Yosemite's backcountry, sharing her knowledge about the park's history and indigenous plants, animals, and insects. This can make it difficult for authorities to quickly locate and retrieve bodies, which can lead to decomposition and other issues. The ranger later recalled that Stayner had been easygoing, affable, and calm. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Loophole You couldn't have told him anything different. The affectless way that Stayner talked about the creature made it difficult to know whether he feared it or identified with it. The distraught parents became consumed by the quest to find him. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The Yosemite InstituteJoie Armstrong was just 26 years old when she was murdered by Cary Stayner in July 1999. In Canada, homicides represent a fraction of the total number of police-reported violent Criminal Code offences each year. AP (file) In a news story that transfixed the country in the winter of 1999, three Yosemite park tourists were murdered in a crime that . Between February and July 1999, Cary Stayner killed four women near the majestic. Joie Ruth Armstrong, 26, an ebullient, strawberry-blond naturalist at the nearby Yosemite Institute and a casual acquaintance of Kidd's, had been planning to spend the weekend visiting friends in Sausalito. He lifted Juli from her seat and carried her up a steep hill toward the Don Pedro Reservoir overlook. The river wasnt forecast to reach much beyond its flood stage of 10 feet, but if it hits 12 feet at the Pohono Bridge, it could flood the main roads in and out of Yosemite Valley. At some point he removed the tape from her mouth. Forecast map: California rivers bulge with snowmelt, but no major floods expected. Stayler stashed the bodies in the trunk of Carol Sund's Pontiac. Conditions at The Green House were primitivethey chopped their own firewood for heat and hauled water up from Crane Creekbut Armstrong was content. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Yosemite Valley to close due to flood risk from melting Sierra snowpack I took her to the bathroom, put her in the bathtub and strangled her, Stayner said of one of his victims in an audio confession. But after months with no progress on the investigation, Kim is reassigned, and with no new leads, the case grows cold . Michael Larwick and his half-brother Eugene Dykes were both being held in the Modesto County jailLarwick on charges of shooting a Modesto police officer, Dykes for drug possession and parole violations. Stayner would later tell both the FBI and a San Jose TV reporter that he had his first violent fantasy about women when he was seven years old: On a shopping trip with his mother, he envisioned opening fire on the supermarket cashiers, slaughtering them en masse. Park rangers received a flood of phone calls from parents and youth group leaders asking if certain areas of the park should be avoided; requests for guided hikesespecially from womenrose sharply. His funeral was held on Thursday in Newhall, where he had worked as a deputy. Or perhaps Stayner's Bigfoot was just one more ruse in a cruel game, another way to distract the world from the simple, twisted heart of a murderer. On El Portal Road, a few miles short of the Cedar Lodge, his vehicle broke down, and he flagged down a ride from a passing Yosemite park ranger. April 27, 2023 / 5:56 PM / CBS San Francisco. He stayed in his room and smoked grass, and he went out camping in the mountains with his pals. The decapitated body of Joie Ruth Armstrong, 26, was discovered in Yosemite National Park on July 22, 1999. . At night we'd all hang out, watch a video in somebody's room. In total, there have been over 60 murders and disappearances in Yosemite National Park since 1851. For weeks hundreds of FBI agents, California Highway Patrol officers, and National Park Service rangers combed Yosemite's rugged backcountry with dogs and helicopters. When Armstrong's decapitated body was found, witnesses said they spotted a vehicle that authorities later traced back to Stayner. Although it's a mystery as to why Stayner decided to take the lives of four people, he did claim that voices instructed him to do so. Strange denied any involvement in the triple murders, but the FBI pressed for his arrest. The National Park Service manages 155,000 miles (25,000 km) of wildlife refuges in addition to 152,000 miles ( (248,000 km) of National Park Service land, 860 miles (1,380 km) of highway corridors, and 860 miles (1,380 km) of. The murders were particularly unsettling, of course, because of where and how they had occurred. Finally she let him in. The Crimes Of Cary Stayner, The Handyman Who Murdered Four Women Near Yosemite National Park, The True Story Of Efraim Diveroli, The 21-Year-Old Arms Dealer Who Inspired 'War Dogs', Couple Dyes Waterfall Blue For Gender Reveal Party And Contaminates A Drought-Stricken Town's Water Supply, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Tony Garcia was arrested Feb. 9 and charged with first-degree murder for the . Cary Stayner was born and raised inMerced, CA, and his family life was rife with tragedy, which he eventually added to himself. Yosemite Lakes is safer than 23% of the cities in the United States. Published by Statista Research Department , Oct 14, 2022. By his midtwenties, Stayner had settled into a job repairing windows for Merced Glass and Mirror, sharing a house with Jerry Stayner, his father's brother, a truck dispatcher for a hay company. But with so much water coursing through rivers that flow out toward the Pacific Ocean and feed Tulare Lake, officials have warned that a breach in a levee could cause flooding, regardless of temperatures. A few nights after the killings, the handyman returned to the logging road and set fire to the Pontiac; the same week, he dropped Carole Sund's wallet on a street in Modesto in a bid to throw off the authorities. Public DomainCary Stayner killed four women near Yosemite National Park in 1999. According to his confession, Stayner stepped out of his vehicle, approached Armstrong's pickup truck, and said hello. "We didn't have any known missing people from the immediate area," said Tucker, "so it was very difficult to think, well, what is the next thing we should do?". The Kings River is off limits due to swift-moving water as more water has been released upstream from the Pine Flat Reservoir to make way for melting snow, Verboon said. He was convicted for the deaths of Armstrong, the Sunds and Pelosso and sentenced to death. "I don't know that what we found was proof," said Tucker, "but I felt like we had found the scene that he described.". The 1999 murders of four women near Yosemite National Park were already a big story before Cary Stayner confessed in an FBI interview. Their son, grim-faced, avoided any eye contact with his parents. The "Yosemite Serial Killer" was convicted of all four murders and is currently on death row. Investigators then received an anonymous letter from Stayner detailing where they could find Julis body. I love the big meadow with all its daisies and incredible history.. October 7, 2021 by Juliane Cunha. The Stayner family consisted of Kay and Delbert Stayner, two brothers, three sisters, and two parents. Two dozen FBI agents commandeered part of the headquarters of the Stanislaus Hot Shots, a forest firefighting squad based in the old gold-rush town of Sonora, to sift through the little evidence they had been able to collect. The Yosemite Murders. Several miles away, in El Portal, Cary Stayner was apparently enjoying the fear and confusion he had created. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Environment | Almost immediately, authorities received a lucky break: A park employee had noticed a blue and white 1979 International Scout parked near Armstrong's house the night of her death, and police had issued a be-on-the-lookout alert for the vehicle. His cousin Ronnie Jones, a camping companion and perhaps his closest friend, recalled how Stayner would often doodle pictures of naked girls in a notepad. Police questioned Stayner at the time, but he was clean-cut and had no real criminal history, so they didnt believe he had anything to do with it. Harriette Cole: My friend's mom didn't recognize me at my job, and she was very rude. Stayner is still a person of interest in the case, despite the fact that he has never been charged with any crime. Delbert and Kay Stayner sat motionless, hand in hand, eyes fixed on their son as he stood before the federal magistrate, clad in a yellow prison jumpsuit, his wrists and ankles shackled, and entered a plea of not guiltya strategy that left the door open for an insanity defense. Steven was subjected to abuse and manipulation for seven years before he reached the age of 14. The task force arrested several people with histories of sexual abuse, drug use, or past convictions. Nearly three decades before Cary Stayner was arrested for abducting and viciously killing four women near Yosemite National Park, his seven-year-old brother Steven was kidnapped and held captive for seven years by Kenneth Parnell, a convicted child molester in California. Bettmann/Getty ImagesKenneth Parnell and 14-year-old Steven Stayner shortly before the boys escape. Francis Carrington was so proud of how Carole and Juli lived, and so ashamed of Stayner. Yosemite National Park is closing most of the Yosemite Valley as the Merced River was expected to exceed 10 feet . Flickr/wbauerCedar Lodge in El Portal, California. The National Park Service is a part of the US government that is in charge of preserving federal lands and protected areas for the sake of a healthy, scenic, and enjoyable environment. He was previously a housing and homelessness reporter at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat in Sonoma County. On March 25, detectives uncovered Juli Sunds remains. Motel handyman Cary Stayner is shown in a July 29, 1999, mugshot, was charged Oct. 20, 1999, with capital murder in the killings of three Yosemite sightseers. After admitting to the killings down to the most gruesome details, Cary Stayner was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Sullivan has seen no shortage of memorable caseslike his run-in with serial killer Cary Stayner, who committed multiple murders in and around Yosemite, including the beheading of park . He admitted to having a sexual appetite for killing women for the last 30 years. Carole Sund answered, and he told her he was there to repair a leak. In Kings County, residents in low-lying areas near the rising rivers have been placing sandbags on their properties and moving items to higher ground to prepare. Authorities said he strangledCarole and Pelosso and sexually assaulted and killed Juli. He was already serving a life sentence for Joie Ruth Armstrongs murder when he was sentenced to death. LiveCopter 3 has a view from above of waterfalls leading into Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite on April 28, 2023. Then, view 23 chilling photos taken by the most depraved serial killers. New victim details released. A hand is found in Yosemite; a serial killer confesses, but he's lied about committing many murders. In June the chief of the FBI's Sacramento office, James M. Maddock, confidently announced that we have all of the main players in jail, but we are in no rush to charge them.. He was also linked to a fourth slaying. He blames his own brother for becoming a serial killer. Ethan Varian is a Bay Area News Group reporter covering housing for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. Heading out the door? Last February, Stayner was still living in his room above the lounge when he saw Carole and Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso arriving in their bright-red Pontiac Grand Prix rental. It was around this time that Stayner surprised friends and family members by claiming to have seen Bigfootthe legendary half-man, half-ape of the Pacific Northwest that the Indians of British Columbia had called Sasquatch. Some were stuffed into the trunks of rental cars, their bodies burnt. Stevens abduction and subsequent captivity for years after have never been fully resolved. Dear Abby: Am I overreacting to my European daughter-in-law's behavior? Stacey Ann Arras was just 14 when she disappeared at Yosemite National Park on July 17, 1981. His stories about housing, business and culture have been published in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and the Guardian US, among others. 4. Market data provided by Factset. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. On February 12, 1999, Carole Sund, her daughter Juli 15, and Silvino Pelosso 16, left their Eureka, California home for a vacation. Joie Armstrong was just 26 years old when she was murdered by Cary Stayner in July 1999. But for six months in 1999, brutality at Yosemite had a human face. Here are the 10 countries with the highest homicide rates: El Salvador - 52.02 per 100k people. The investigation into their gruesome deaths eventually led authorities directly to Stayner, who became known as the Yosemite Park Killer. Where will Californias record melting snow go, and when will it happen? The disturbing note, later determined to have been identified as written by Stayner, read, "We had fun with this one." We need to help bring justice to these people, to the families.". The Yosemite Murders. TV14 Crime Documentaries TV Series 2021. On March 19, 1999, police found the bodies of Carole and Silvina in the trunk of the burnt vehicle. He refused to let it end in Game 7, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Later, he wrote an anonymous letter to the FBI, directing them to the place where he had dumped Juli Sund's corpse. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Lucas told investigators at the time that the victim was a hitchhiker he picked up on Highway 41 between Fresno and Yosemite. In Yosemite, the Merced River was expected to crest its banks early Sunday morning and potentially again on Monday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Stayner then separated the girls, killed Pelosso the same way, and placed her body in the trunk alongside Carole Sund's. The judge denied the new defense claim that juror misconduct was preventing a fair trial. Located in Californias Sierra Nevada mountains, it attracts millions of travelers from around the world each year with its towering sequoia trees, cascading waterfalls, and granite cliffs. Just beyond it lay something else: a woman's body, clad in a white T-shirt and blue jeans. According to the FBI, the Sund incident is now a missing persons case, not a homicide. He is 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds, with a gray hair and beard and blue eyes.