Transcript for Cary Stayner reveals to FBI agents he never killed his original targets: Part 10
My name is Lenna, and I grew up in a small town right outside yosemite national park. My sister and I met Cary in 1998. My mom was a waitress at the cedar lodge, where Cary was a maintenance man and lived above the restaurant. They were in a relationship. I must have been 10, 11 years old. He was in his 30s. He was handsome. He was warm. Like a big teddy bear. A safe person to be around. We were excited when Cary would come over. He would buy us a new beanie baby almost every time we saw him. Because that was pretty big in the ’90s. My sister and I would be walking up the driveway, and we’d see Cary Stayner coming up in his scout and jump in the truck. And he’d give us a ride up to our house. I loved him a lot. I don’t know if he knew how much I did. He was a happy part of our life such a happy part that turned into such a dark part of our life. One of the most disturbing things Stayner told Jeff was that Carole, silvina, and Juli were not his first choice. Cary actually planned to kill a whole another set of people. And this was a complete surprise to them. I’d been gone most of the day off the property. I was at a girlfriend’s house, and I guess it’s this girlfriend and her two daughters that were my original intended victims. I could not believe what I’d just heard. I was literally trying to get my mouth going to hear that again to make sure I had heard what he said. I’m sorry, say that again? I — I misunderstood you. The girl I was seeing and her daughters were my original intended victims. Had we not gotten Stayner, they could’ve been next. The day after Valentine’s day, he had intended that that would be the day that he carries out his fantasy. And the object was his then-girlfriend and her two daughters. While he was there, there was another person on the grounds that stopped in and deflected what he could do. So Cary abandoned his initial plan to kill his girlfriend and her daughters. He said when he got back to the cedar lodge that night, he was really ramped up. I got back to the hotel and went to go soak in the hot tub to try to calm down. And the hot tub was dirty, so I was a little annoyed. So I took a walk around the property. He’s actually stalking. He’s looking. He’s predatory. As he’s walking past the 500 building, he sees who we now know to be Carole, Juli, and silvina. The FBI has been summoned to help find three missing women. He was right under everyone’s nose the entire time. He was right there. He was right there. I do remember him always carrying his backpack. I remember seeing it in the truck. It was always with him, like a woman carries a purse. I later learned that he had a murder kit. A murder and rape kit in his backpack that he wanted to use against my mom, my sister, and I. It is frightening just to think that — the things that were inside of it. And what he was thinking the whole time. Late last night, federal authorities arrested this man, 37-year-old Cary Stayner. The FBI went in and spoke with my mom privately to let her know that Cary Stayner had confessed to initially wanting to kill my mom and rape and kill my sister and I. I kept it quiet for 20 years. I didn’t address it. My whole family fell apart. My mom was extremely shocked. As a mother myself, I don’t know if I would have been able to handle that. My daughter is the same age right now that I was when I met Cary. I think at such a young age I learned that you couldn’t trust adults. I still have issues trusting people, and I don’t know if I’ll ever feel completely safe. We’re survivors, but it took a really big part of our life away. It destroyed part of my childhood. I had not been back to the cedar lodge until last year, and it sent chills up and down my spine. I just remember he would show us how to dive perfectly and my sister and I both wanted to be the best at it. It feels like it was so long ago that you forget that it even happened. Like a dream where you — a movie that you watched. And almost doesn’t feel like it was you. There’s a big part of me that still wonders if he still thinks of those two little girls that adored him so much. Because we think about him all the time. Does he even remember? Does he care? Everybody wondered what was going on in his mind. Everybody wondered why. I went to ask if Cary wanted to talk, and within minutes I’m face to face with him and he just opened up. I now had answers to all of our questions.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
