Mugshots: Cary Stayner - The Cedar Lodge Killings | Forensic Files

three women were killed in the shadow of one of America's most beautiful national
parks it aroused more than the ordinary public indignation it had everything to do with the fact that this outrage could
happen in as pristine an atmosphere as yosee for 5 months a hotel handyman eluded capture hiding in plain sight it
took a fourth death for investigators to zero in on Carrie stainer was almost like in your face I'm part of this thing
and you guys aren't paying any attention to me now as Carrie stainer faces the death penalty many sift through his
small town past for missed Clues to what he became next on Mugshots mystery at yosee
Carrie stainer [Music] [Music] it started with just the missing person's case uh a strange missing
person's Case C California's yosan National Park is one of the greatest natural Wilderness areas still in
existence in February 1999 Carol Sun her 15-year-old daughter Julie and a 16-year-old family friend
sylvina peloso set out to visit the splendors of this National Park Y is second only to Disneyland in terms of
tourist draw in California and like Disneyland it's a place where you can depend on your own
personal safety and that of your loved ones it's where family [Music] goes Ted rolands was then a reporter for
knnv in San Jose who covered the story extensively it was a woman with her daughter and this family friend and they
were out on this sightseing SLC col recruitment type of vacation after flying from Eureka to San
Franc Isco the women rented a red 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix to drive the rest of the
way they stopped first at the University of the Pacific in Stockton so Julie could compete in a regional cheerleading
competition and look over the college then they moved on across the state on February 14th Valentine's Day they
pulled into the town of El Portal about 10 Mi outside the entrance to yose National Park and checked into room 509
at the Cedar Lodge a place so beautiful and so pristine and and so nonviolent at 42 Carol was busy managing
several of her family shopping centers as well as working for numerous Charities there were three people
vacationing in a national park a safe national park on the evening of February 15th the
teenagers ate cheeseburgers in the restaurant at the Cedar Lodge they rented a video of the movie Jerry
Maguire to watch in their room Carol spoke with her husband Yen sun on the phone confirming that she and
the girls would meet him the next night at the San Francisco airport on the evening of the 16th Yen
Sun arrived at the San Francisco Airport several hours late but Carol and the girls were not at the
airport she's a very meticulous Record Keeper uh she never does anything that's spur of the moment she has too many
things going on yens didn't suspect anything could have gone wrong at yede why would anything happen here it's
beautiful the next day yens was unable to reach Carol at home the Cedar Lodge said that their room was empty and
tidied but that they had obviously checked out without leaving the room key at the front
desk yens now knew something was wrong and called the park rangers and local police when they were supposed to be
driving we did have rain and and there were some pretty poor driving conditions at this point there's probably a
situation this probably a problem late on Wednesday the 17th 2 days after the last phone call the
massive search began covering thousands of Acres of Parkland the objective is to locate the
vehicle and or the occupants the search for the women was the main topic of conversation among Cedar Lodge
employees Carrie stainer a handyman at the lodge who had been temporarily laid off still lived above the restaurant he
often joined these discussions about the search then on Friday the entire case took an ominous turn when Carol's wallet
was found 150 M away after the wallet showed up in Modesto then it you know it became very strange and um you know it
really became a mystery within days more than 60 FBI agents moved in to take over
the investigation under the leadership of Veteran special agent James Maddock we believe that this was lost or stolen
sometime on or after February 14th we're examining the possibility that it could have been lost
in yuse or some other place and and eventually discarded in Modesto that week Yen sun and Carol's parents Francis
and Carol Carrington moved into a motel in Modesto and set up their own search headquarters once Yen Sun showed up on
the scene and started conducting his own search I think the interest was peaked this guy was a uh Civic leader in the
town of Eureka in Northern California and well healed well educated I just hope that somebody out there seeing this
information on their television uh calls the number we're offering $250,000 for the safe return of my wife
my daughter uh Raquel's daughter the carringtons were a prominent California family with large investments in real
estate and shopping centers the family was so proactive and you had uh the family working with the media constantly
the Carrington um you know very emotional I mean obviously very concerned about their daughter and their
granddaughter over a month the hundreds of Searchers had covered more than 50,000 Acres of Parkland and rural areas
at least a dozen nearby towns and numerous highways and Roads the local and National media covered the search
daily frustration set in as the we weeks wore on with no new leads we don't have
a point last seen and the search area is so large and there's very little Clues we
don't have Footprints to follow and we just have the red car with little hope of finding the victims the FBI then
shifted gears to looking for likely suspects they turned their attention to a group of excon with criminal records
of violence and drug use we feel almost certain that the women were the victims of a violent crime we are now focusing
on one theory that we believe to be the most likely scenario the scenario includes a violent
crime occurring at or near the Cedar Lodge the FBI had thoroughly questioned all employees of the Cedar Lodge
including a handyman named Carrie stainer a quiet unassuming conscientious worker with no no record of violence
stainer was quickly eliminated as a suspect a mistake they would later regret stainer looks like any normal
person like talking to a neighbor somebody you know you just meet for the very first time very well spoken looks
completely normal next on Mugshots the mysterious disappearance of the three women is
solved by late March the whereabouts of 15-year-old Julie son her mother Carol and 16-year-old family friend sylina
peloso were still a mystery their disappearance was a growing topic of discussion among
workers at the Cedar Lodge and handyman Carrie stainer continued to join those conversations

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Brief Summary

The episode details the disappearance and murder of three women near Yosemite, focusing on Carrie Stainer's role in the investigation.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance. Three women vanish in Yosemite National Park, sparking a massive search effort.
The Search Intensifies. As days pass without leads, the search for the women becomes a media frenzy.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It had everything to do with the fact that this outrage could happen here.

Discussing the shocking nature of the crime in a beautiful national park.

0:11WatchJul 28, 2014

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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