7. Steven Stayner
In 1972, seven-year-old Steven Stayner was abducted by Kenneth Eugene Parnell in Merced, California. Parnell convinced Stayner that his parents could no longer afford to keep him. For seven years, the two lived in a small trailer far from the city. Stayner was reportedly beaten and physically abused by Parnell. It was only when Parnell kidnapped another young boy that Stayner took action, running away and approaching police officers to ask for help. Though Parnell was convicted of his crimes and Stayner returned to his family, he never fully adapted to a normal life; he died in a motorcycle accident in 1989.
