Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story

46min

Documentary

Crime

1972: 7-year-old Steven Stayner vanishes from Merced, California. For years, his family searches for him, only to find they’ve been looking for the wrong boy. 50 years on, Steven’s children unearth clues to their father’s mysterious past.

Production Companies

Wonderburst

High Five Content

Episodes

Cast

Chapter 1: Steven’s Story Part 1

1. Chapter 1: Steven’s Story Part 1

49min

21st Apr 2022

1972: 7-year-old Steven Stayner vanishes from Merced, California. His family struggles to keep his case in the public eye - until his heroic return seven years later sparks a media sensation.

Chapter 2: Steven’s Story Part 2

2. Chapter 2: Steven’s Story Part 2

44min

21st Apr 2022

A heroic escape. A televised family reunion. But the Stayner ordeal is far from over as painful secrets surface. When a hit TV movie rewrites the Stayner story, reality gets stranger than fiction.

Chapter 3: Cary’s Story

3. Chapter 3: Cary’s Story

48min

21st Apr 2022

Two decades after Steven went missing near Yosemite, three tourists vanish from the same area. When the FBI finds the killer, the Stayner family is linked to the new, horrifying crimes and the family is thrust back into the headlines.

First air date

21st Apr 2022

Last air date

21st Apr 2022

Status

Ended

Type

Documentary

Original language

en

Networks