Chowchilla bus kidnapping: Rare images from one of many largest abductions in U.S. historical past
A glance contained in the truck trailer the place 26 kidnapped faculty kids and their bus driver had been buried alive — and managed to flee.
On July 15, 1976, 26 faculty kids and their bus driver from Chowchilla, California, had been kidnapped and buried alive on this tractor trailer.
The kidnapped kids
The scary ordeal started when the kids, ages 5-14, had been on a faculty bus on their method house from summer season faculty.
Bus driver Ed Ray
At round 4 p.m., on July 16, 1976, three masked males with weapons hijacked the Dairyland Elementary School bus pushed by Ed Ray.
The deserted faculty bus
The kidnappers then drove the bus right into a dry riverbed and hid it in tree brush.
One of the kidnapper’s vans
The surprised kids had been herded from the bus into two vans. They had been compelled to leap from the bus to the vans in order that they’d not depart behind any footprints.
Scared college students
Jennifer Brown Hyde, who was 9 on the time of the kidnapping, remembers what it felt like contained in the van. “And I felt like I was an animal going to the slaughterhouse.”
Inside one of many vans
Inside the vans, the abductors had constructed makeshift jail cells by putting in wooden paneling and portray the home windows. No one may see in or out. There was no air air flow, meals, water or bathrooms.
Jodi’s flip
Jodi Heffington, who was 10 on the time, remembered the moments earlier than she bought into the second van.
“He held a shot gun to my stomach. … And I had to stand there with this gun in my gut until that one van drove away and they backed the second van up. It felt like forever. I thought he was going to shoot me … I actually did,” Jodi advised “48 Hours.”
The rock quarry
The kidnappers drove round for almost 12 hours as the kids suffered contained in the sweltering, pitch-black vans. Finally, the vans stopped. The kidnappers had taken them to a rock quarry, 100 miles away from Chowchilla in Livermore, California.
The underground gap
Bus driver Ed Ray and the kids had been taken out of the van, one after the other, and despatched down right into a gap. They quickly realized they had been inside an previous truck trailer they usually had been buried 12 toes underground.
The underground gap
The kidnappers had made bathrooms within the wheel wells of the tractor trailer.
The underground gap
Inside the outlet, the kids discovered containers crammed with water for them to drink. They additionally discovered bins of cereal, peanut butter and loaves of bread.
Ventilation pipes
Two air flow pipes supplied air to the kids who had been trapped 12 toes underground.
The trailer’s caving roof
The kids tried to remain calm because the minutes and hours ticked by. After being within the gap for nearly 12 hours, situations began to deteriorate. The roof began to collapse, they usually had been working out of meals.
Shoes left behind
Survivor Jennifer Brown Hyde mentioned, “It was just a desperate situation … We thought … if we’re going to die, were going to die trying to get out of here.” Ed Ray and the children determined they needed to attempt to to flee earlier than it was too late.
A hero
Bus driver Ed Ray and Michael Marshall, 14, took turns pushing up on the heavy manhole cowl that was blocking the opening to the outlet. Once they had been capable of transfer that, Michael began the arduous job of digging to the highest.
The survivors
After many grueling hours, Michael Marshall dug himself to the highest. It had been 28 hours of terror. Ed Ray and the kids walked towards the rock quarry and had been greeted by surprised employees. Soon police arrived and images, like these, had been taken of every youngster as proof.
The lengthy wait
Police took faculty bus driver Ed Ray and the kids to the closest place that might maintain all of them — the Santa Rita Rehabilitation Center, a neighborhood jail. Pictured at heart is Jennifer Brown.
The lengthy wait
At the Santa Rita Rehabilitation Center, the kids got apples and soda, and examined by docs.
Ed Ray
Ed Ray and the kids had been interviewed by police.
The lengthy wait
The kids waited patiently, however all of them simply wished to get house to their households.
Survivors headed house
Finally, roughly 4 hours after escaping, the kids boarded one more bus …
Survivors headed house
… this time the bus was heading again house to Chowchilla.
Survivors headed house
The kids couldn’t wait to be reunited with their households.
Anxious mother and father wait
Parents and households of the returning faculty kids waited anxiously for the arrival of their kids contained in the Chowchilla police station on July 17, 1976.
Reunited
When 6-year-old survivor Larry Park arrived house to his mother and father he mentioned, “I finally felt safe again.” Park is pictured within the arms of his father.
Digging for clues
Immediately, police began to dig for clues on the scene of the crime.
Unearthing the trailer
Investigators unearthed the truck trailer that had been the kids’s underground tomb hoping they’d discover clues that may make them the abductors.
The media arrives
Media from everywhere in the world coated the story.
Kidnappers arrested
It would take virtually two weeks to trace the abductors, however investigators lastly arrested 24-year-old Frederick Newhall Woods, the son of the proprietor of the rock quarry the place the children had been held. They additionally arrested his companion in a used automobile enterprise, 24-year-old James Schoenfeld, heart, and James’ youthful brother Richard. All got here from rich households who lived in San Francisco’s nicest suburbs. Security guards had seen the three males digging within the quarry months earlier than the kidnapping.
The “plan”
When investigators executed a warrant to go looking the property of Fred Woods’ father, they discovered a treasure trove of proof. One necessary piece was this doc that claims, “plan.” It units out how the abductors had been going to commit the crime and what they’d do if one thing went unsuitable.
Draft of ransom notice
Another necessary piece of proof was this draft of a ransom notice. The draft of the notice says the abductors wished $2.5 million, however their closing plan was to ask for $5 million. They had been by no means capable of ship their demand as a result of after they tried to name, the cellphone traces had been jammed.
List of scholar’s names
Another piece of necessary proof was this checklist of the kidnapped kids’s names written on the again of a Jack within the Box wrapper. The kidnappers wrote them down as they pulled every youngster from the van. When later examined by investigators, they discovered fingerprints from two of the three kidnappers.
Parole hearings
The kidnappers had been all ultimately sentenced to life with the opportunity of parole.
There had been greater than 60 parole hearings complete for the three kidnappers. Thirty-six years after the kidnapping, Richard Schoenfeld was granted parole in June 2012. Three years later, his brother James was paroled.
Jodi Heffington, who went to virtually the entire parole hearings, is pictured at Fred Woods fifteenth parole listening to in 2018.
Kidnapper Fred Woods
Fred Woods, the final kidnapper in jail, was granted parole on August 17, 2022 after 17 earlier denials.
Survivor Jennifer Brown Hyde
Jennifer Brown Hyde is a spouse, mom and government assistant. Until only recently, she couldn’t sleep with out a night-light.
Survivor Michael Marshall
Michael Marshall is a father and long-distance trucker. He has a remedy canine, Blue. He says, “I rescued him before he was a year old. And now he rescues me every day.”
Survivor Larry Park
Larry Park owns a handyman enterprise and volunteers as a pastor at a neighborhood church. He says he has forgiven the abductors.
Survivor Jodi Heffington
Jodi Heffington stayed in Chowchilla the place she opened a hair salon and raised a son. She mentioned the kidnapping affected her all through her life.
“I think it made me not a good daughter, not a good sister, not a good aunt and especially not a good mother. And probably not a good friend. … I try to be those things, but it seems like it, it just took something from me that I can’t ever get back, she told “48 Hours.” Heffington handed away in January 2021.
