Sergeant Moore had requested and received from Sacramento a list of all known sex offenders in Merced and the surrounding counties; however, since Parnell had never been registered as a convicted child molester as required by California law, his name was not on the list. Next, Moore asked F.B.I. Agent Walsh to contact Lee Shackleton, Chief Park Ranger in charge of law enforcement in Yosemite National Park, to obtain a list of all Curry Company employees, but this was not done until the following March, and when received, the list contained the names of only half of the employees, that half paid the week of December 4, 1972; the Curry Company then paying half of its employees on alternating weeks with Parnell's pay period ending on the alternating week. Therefore Parnell's name was not available for checking against the F.B.I.'s list of convicted sex offenders and child molesters, where his name did appear. Also, copies of the Missing Juvenile flyers were given to Shackleton, but for whatever reason, neither he nor his men developed any leads, and no one then in Yosemite National Park recalls ever having seen one of the flyers.
Outspoken F.B.I. Agent Walsh has his own feelings about these failures. "The boy was in the park for quiteawhile, living with a park employee. Shackleton and his men couldn't find him . . . a seven-year-old boy. That boy should have been found by them.
"The problem was we were dealing with the rangers.
They
were supposed to get that list for us, and they didn't get us a good list. At that time we were virtually persona non grata [with the park rangers]. Shackleton was uncooperative with the Merced office of the F.B.I. At the time the Yosemite Park Company [then known as the Curry Company] had more than forty percent of their employees that had a record of felony arrests and/or convictions. *
"We and the United States Attorney were sure grim to see the number of people with sex violations working in the park. I do know that they [the Curry Company] have a propensity for hiring perverts. But the best opportunity to solve the case was in Yosemite National Park. Didn't somebody see a little seven-year-old boy nude around a dormitory?"
Chief Kulbeth agreed, though his reply was muted in comparison with his friend Walsh's. "One of the first theories concerning Steven's disappearance centered around the park. We knew from past experience that there were a lot of criminals and sex offenders up there working not for the Park Service, but in other jobs up there . . . [but] due to the mere fact thatSteven was last seen on the road leading up to Yosemite National Park, we asked [for] assistance from the Park Service in getting some of the flyers with his photograph on them distributed up there. We weren't up there. The F.B.I. didn't have an office up there either. Lee Shackleton was the one in charge, but somehow Parnell just slipped through their fingers."
After Steven's disappearance Kay reinstructed her four remaining children not to accept candy or rides from strangers and always to come straight home from school. But she kept a stiff upper lip as she continued to cook, clean, and care for her family. She was truly a rock for the family during this time, when Del was so deeply affected by the loss of his beloved Stevie. Said he, "I had a lot to do with my kids before Stevie's disappearance. But afterward, I was a hard guy to get along with. I just couldn't stand to see my family broken up with Stevie's bein' missing."
Chapter Three
Parnell and Murphy
"My track record is that I don't tell the truth."
Kenneth Eugene Parnell was born the son of Mary O. and Cecil Frederick Parnell in Amarillo, Texas, September 26, 1931, just at the beginning of the Texas panhandle's infamous dust-bowl days. It was his mother's second marriage, and one that proved unhappy. Kenneth was the only child of this union, but Mary had custody of her children from her first marriage to "a Mr. Costner," as she referred to him when
Outspoken F.B.I. Agent Walsh has his own feelings about these failures. "The boy was in the park for quiteawhile, living with a park employee. Shackleton and his men couldn't find him . . . a seven-year-old boy. That boy should have been found by them.
"The problem was we were dealing with the rangers.
They
were supposed to get that list for us, and they didn't get us a good list. At that time we were virtually persona non grata [with the park rangers]. Shackleton was uncooperative with the Merced office of the F.B.I. At the time the Yosemite Park Company [then known as the Curry Company] had more than forty percent of their employees that had a record of felony arrests and/or convictions. *
"We and the United States Attorney were sure grim to see the number of people with sex violations working in the park. I do know that they [the Curry Company] have a propensity for hiring perverts. But the best opportunity to solve the case was in Yosemite National Park. Didn't somebody see a little seven-year-old boy nude around a dormitory?"
Chief Kulbeth agreed, though his reply was muted in comparison with his friend Walsh's. "One of the first theories concerning Steven's disappearance centered around the park. We knew from past experience that there were a lot of criminals and sex offenders up there working not for the Park Service, but in other jobs up there . . . [but] due to the mere fact thatSteven was last seen on the road leading up to Yosemite National Park, we asked [for] assistance from the Park Service in getting some of the flyers with his photograph on them distributed up there. We weren't up there. The F.B.I. didn't have an office up there either. Lee Shackleton was the one in charge, but somehow Parnell just slipped through their fingers."
After Steven's disappearance Kay reinstructed her four remaining children not to accept candy or rides from strangers and always to come straight home from school. But she kept a stiff upper lip as she continued to cook, clean, and care for her family. She was truly a rock for the family during this time, when Del was so deeply affected by the loss of his beloved Stevie. Said he, "I had a lot to do with my kids before Stevie's disappearance. But afterward, I was a hard guy to get along with. I just couldn't stand to see my family broken up with Stevie's bein' missing."
Chapter Three
Parnell and Murphy
"My track record is that I don't tell the truth."
Kenneth Eugene Parnell was born the son of Mary O. and Cecil Frederick Parnell in Amarillo, Texas, September 26, 1931, just at the beginning of the Texas panhandle's infamous dust-bowl days. It was his mother's second marriage, and one that proved unhappy. Kenneth was the only child of this union, but Mary had custody of her children from her first marriage to "a Mr. Costner," as she referred to him when
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