Starting the
string with // will find first find a PARENT tag anywhere below the current context node (that is the node from which searches are made). Starting with a single / will only find a PARENT node if it is an immediate child of the current context node.
In any case, any PARENT node that does not have an immediate child of CHILD will be ignored as will any PARENT with an immediate child of CHILD that does not have an immediate child of VALUE.
If you are really looking for
you need to specify /PARENT/CHILD[VALUE] or //PARENT/CHILD[VALUE]
Dave Patterson