At the present time we know that
there's twenty-seven people
missing since about, uh,
Still no break in that
Chowchilla, California
school-bus kidnapping.
Twenty-six school children
and their bus driver, have vanished.
Vanished. Yesterday afternoon
near Chowchilla, California.
President Ford directed
the Attorney General
to use all available
government resources.
The California National Guard
joins state local police and the FBI
in a giant search for the
children and the driver.
It was like somebody
come down from Mars
and just took 'em off the planet.
Was it an outright kidnapping?
A psychopath or sex maniac on the loose?
Whoever did it, put a great
deal of planning
and effort and you might even say money.
There may never have been
as anguishing a mystery.
It's the worst kind of story
you could tell.
Being buried alive
is our worst fear.
The Chowchilla kids
showed the world what childhood trauma
really does to a person.
My childhood ended
July 15, 1976.
I will never get back the kid...
...that I was. That-that kid
stayed underground.
That happened for
each and every one of us.
Chowchilla is in central California.
It was very small-town USA.
Chowchilla is a place
where time can seem to stand still.
But there's always something
that need to be planted or harvested
as the cycle of life continues.
By the time I was there
in 1970
it was mainly cattle and farming.
They had a fair and a rodeo.
'12:46.'
Each year, they had a cattle drive.
Right through the center of town.
My dad was a world champion
steer wrestler.
I was raised right.
Really to believe in God
and cowboy.
At an early age, I knew I
wanted to be a rodeo cowboy
like my dad and his friends.
Chowchilla was a wonderful
place to grow up.
We'd catch frogs.
We'd go roller skating down the hills.
Go play in the mud.
In the irrigation ditches.
The town had no crime.
No crime at all.
You didn't have murders.
You didn't have a lot of big cases.
It wasn't uncommon to go
all night long on a graveyard shift
and the phone not ring one time.
In Chowchilla, the children could develop
a sense of basic trust.
And that is an important
foundation in early life.
That sense, that you can just
sort of trust the world.
It's one of the few towns in America
that had fewer bars than it had churches.
As a child, God was very real to me.
By the power of our living God...
We had angels, demons.
I could imagine Satan's army.
My dad said that we all have
a guardian angel
that keeps those demons at bay.
You imprint that on
a three year old's brain
and there is just no doubt.
At the time
we were in summer school.
We did arts and crafts, ceramics.
We got to go swimming.
I remember we had
actually started a petition
so that we could have an extra
two weeks of summer school.
'Cause we were having so much fun
we did not want it to end.
I have a large family.
I'm third youngest
in a family of eleven.
That day, I had three siblings on the bus
and two cousins.
We were little innocent children.
Okay, load 'em.
- Want to load em'? Come on.
- Yup.
Where we going?
Where are we going?
We're going home.
Take you home.
Ed Ray was the driver that day.
He was a local farmer.
You could tell, this man was
bucking his own hay.
Yet, he was so kind.
He knew all the kids by first name.
Knew most of their parents.
There's not a one of them
that didn't want to hug his back
when they got on the bus.
I remember mom would come get me
every day at noon all summer.
And the day before...
...the kidnapping,
I got into my mom's beer
and... tried to make some popcorn
almost burnt the house.
She walked in and said
"Okay, Mike, well,
your punishment is, you know
you're gonna have to ride
the bus home tomorrow."
That day, I was out in the orchard
with the teacher's daughter
messing around and stuff and, heh
the bus is starting
to leave at 3:30.
And, she's like,
"You better go get on the bus.
Buses are leaving."
So I took off running
and flagged down the last bus leaving
which was Edward's.
♪ Bending over
miles of cotton ♪
♪ Finally ruined
my daddy's back ♪
♪ As he overcompensated
for me ♪
When we loaded up on the bus
I went to the very back
so that I could be rowdy
and talk with my friends.
I was a very outgoing, outspoken child.
And I was constantly getting in
trouble on the bus for talking.
♪ As he pulled me through
that hot Chowchilla dust ♪
My brother Jeff was also on the bus.
He was one year ahead of me in school.
An honorable student.
Basically an all American kid.
Jeff was right in front of me,
by the way.
He was a sweetheart.
He was my ten-year-old boyfriend.
♪ As I'm falling through
the hot Chowchilla dust ♪♪
As a child, I was hyperactive.
I was such a problem on the bus
you couldn't keep me in a seat.
And me being me, I forgot to take my...
...meds that day.
I was moving seats.
Bugging this person
and hitting this person
and pulling this person's hair.
My sister Andrea
was sitting by me on the bus.
She was getting me to relax.
Basically, she was my best friend.
I remember, a lot of the
girls had a crush
on the 14-year-old cowboy, Mike Marshall.
He was definitely a
handsome, 14-year-old boy.
Never heard of him.
Never really seen him before.
Here is this kid
who comes out of complete obscurity
for the sole purpose...
...that God knew
what was about to happen.
We were driving home.
As usual, we were dropping kids off
along the way.
We're in the middle of the
orchards and fields.
We turn this corner...
...and Ed Ray stopped.
I'd like you to tell me,
in your own words first
uh, when you're riding the bus
just tell me what you remember.
There was this white van
parked on the road.
And then...
Two guys jumped out with g*ns...
...and one told Ed
to open his door.
So Ed opened the door.
And then the guy got in.
He had a pantyhose over his head.
He told Edward to go
to the back of the bus.
When Edward opened the door
one of the kids, Jeff Brown
he got up and said
"We didn't do it."
And everybody kinda laughed.
He thought it was a joke.
I was scared, so I ducked
under my seat.
Ed Ray got up and he moved to the back.
I went back over to my sister Andrea.
I held her hand.
The guy with a shotgun
he's scaring me with his g*n.
They told everybody
in the first two seats
to go to the back of the bus.
And I was in the fourth seat.
Everybody was scared.
They kept their g*n
pointed in the direction
of all of us children.
So it was the whole time
pointed at the children.
Even more scary was the pantyhose
that they had pulled over their face.
They were tight.
Smashing their nose down.
Their eyes were hollow.
They reminded me of demons.
And then all of a
sudden, we were driving.
I'm trying to figure out what's going on.
If I can figure out the why...
...to maybe I can
figure out a way to...
...interrupt what's
going to come next.
And we drive a little further
and the guy runs the bus
into a big slew.
It was a deep incline.
We were jostled all over the place.
When we finally stopped,
we saw another van.
Now there was a white van
and a green van.
The van drove right back
to the door of the bus.
And then they had all the kids
on the right hand side...
...go into the white van.
In that first group of
children was my brother.
He turned and looked at me down my aisle.
He gave me that look of
"You just need to be quiet."
And so I did.
I had seen enough TV shows
that I knew that
this was serious.
I was the first one
getting into the van.
Going through the door,
there's another guy
standing there like a statue
pointing his g*n straight through.
So you had to go by him.
They had plywood all inside the vans
so that you couldn't see out or anything.
And then they backed
the second van up to the bus.
The other kids, we got in that van.
I was scared.
Because there was
absolutely no communication
from them on where we're going
or what they were gonna do with us.
And then they shut the doors.
I had fixed Michael, bacon and
tomato sandwiches for dinner.
At about 4:30...
...I started looking
for the bus.
It didn't come.
About 4:30, I got a phone call
from a parent that the children
hadn't arrived home after school.
I thought they've had a flat tire
or the bus has broken down
or something like that.
Then we received several more calls.
In 1976, the sheriff's office
had one patrol officer in Chowchilla.
There was only one little bitty office.
And one phone.
When the call came in
that the bus was missing
I said "what do you
mean missing?"
How does a school bus all painted yellow
in a small county, show up missing?
I put out all points full.
It was a summer session.
So the bus driver didn't
take the normal route
that he would take to drop children off.
So, we had to check everywhere.
I went all the way to the school
backtracked, looked down every street...
...every which way...
...didn't see anything.
I knew something was wrong.
The parents were congregating
at the police station.
'Cause, it-we were
getting really anxious.
We're trying to locate 26 lost children
along with their driver.
Never, in my wildest dreams...
...did I think something
major like this could
happen in Chowchilla.
It seemed like we were driven around
for like hours upon hours.
It was hot in that van.
It was just stifling.
Kids got sick
from the motion of the vehicle
and no food, no water.
I just felt like an animal
being taken to slaughter.
If you as a child
can be thrown into the back of a van
without any comforts,
they didn't care about us.
I told a few of my, um, little friends.
And I told them, be brave
'cause everything's
gonna be alright.
We thought that they might
be back there k*lling the guys on the bus
'cause we didn't know
what they were doing to 'em.
I was separated from my three sisters.
Were they alive?
Did they get left behind?
Andrea and I were together.
I took her hand.
There was some security there.
We prayed.
We sang "If you're happy and
you know it, clap your hands."
Nobody clapped their hands.
All of us have a wall
against getting totally overwhelmed.
And that wall is our defenses
our coping mechanisms, humor.
And when the wall
gets broken, that's trauma.
They wouldn't let us use the restroom.
I held myself all day.
I was in tears.
Because I was in physical pain.
Jeff didn't want me to be embarrassed
'cause he knew I was embarrassed.
And so Jeff wet his own pants
and took my hand and placed
my hand on his lap.
He said, "Look, I went,
you can go ahead and go."
Edward was very quiet.
I think he comprehended
that this was serious situation.
The kids were...
...asking me, you know
questions about when they were
gonna see their mommies and daddies
and... I think that they
believed that I would
tell them the truth.
I told them, "Yes, you will."
And I didn't lie.
I didn't tell them what...
...lifetime it might be.
We were looking for them everywhere.
Then I recalled one of my sergeants
he didn't have an airplane, but
he had another buddy that did.
So I asked him to get up in a plane.
My dad, Robert Gudgel, was well known
as a local aviator.
And he approached dad right here
to augment the search.
I remember going out
flying the airplane out over the ash slew
looking for the bus.
Dad took Brenda, slough
down here to the south
and dad is the one that spotted it.
It was difficult to see from the ground
because the sloughs
had quite a bit of trees.
They knew something
was terribly wrong at that point
when they found the empty bus.
I couldn't understand it.
I actually looked up in the sky.
"UFO's. What?"
"Where are the kids?
Where's Michael?"
This was a major case.
I called governor Jerry Brown's office.
I said I want every state agency
that has cars and radios in my office.
They said, "You got it."
In the meantime, nearby county's said
"What do you need? We'll
help you any way we can."
We set up roadblocks.
We were driving around for
seemed like hours and hours and hours.
Until they finally stopped.
And started hearing
sawing and hammering.
And now all of a sudden
the... door flies open.
They took Ed Ray out first.
And then they grabbed one of the kids.
Door flies shut again.
Few minutes would go by
they'd reach in, grab another kid.
And I scooted myself
way to the front of the van again.
I was trying to survive at that point.
I felt helpless.
That to me was-was scariest
because now we were
gonna find out what's going on.
When they opened the doors,
what did you see?
I saw...
...it was kind of like a tent
but it had three sides
and it had a roof on.
They had built this...
...stretcher and covered it
with some kind of a tarp.
And they had backed the van
underneath the stretcher.
And so it was enclosed.
I remember that my knees
gave a little bit just from
not having stood up
in for so long.
They asked me my name.
I couldn't pronounce my 'Rs.
So I was "Lawwy Pot."
And that's how they
wrote it down.
They asked me my name
and my age and they took my shirt.
So at that point it was just
me and my pink fuzzy swimsuit.
They took my purse, white leather purse
which had a little address book.
And I thought are you giving these guys
who are pointing g*ns at you...
...your address and phone number
where they can get the
rest of your family?
Finally it came down to
me and this little Monica
and... she was four years old.
Hardest parts that
sticks out of my head was
I had to either hand her over to them
or leave her there.
And I couldn't hand her over.
They escorted me...
...to a-there was a
hole in the ground
with a ladder coming out.
I looked down the ladder
and I could see Ed Ray.
The kidnappers gave him one flashlight.
I did not want to go down there.
I knew if I went down that hole
I was never coming back out.
Time froze.
And then Ed Ray...
...grabs my ankle
he says "Come on son,
it'll be okay."
Then I climbed down into there.
Inside this hole that we were in
we were in the dark again.
You couldn't really comprehend
at that point where you were.
I found my brother.
So I knew that he was alive.
My sisters were there.
When they let Monica come down
I was relieved.
Some of the younger children
were whimpering and crying.
I remember Jodi Heffington
was one of the older girls
who tried to keep the younger kids
calm, somewhat...
...and composed.
Some people just had that personality
of an older sister figure
that was there to help.
I looked around.
There were some mattresses
and some blankets.
There was a table in the back
and it has water around it.
I remember thinking I wanted
that water so bad.
And there was some food.
They had cereal, peanut butter, bread.
For us to use the restroom
they had cut out holes.
Like, we're okay, at least for now.
We're okay.
We're all alive.
We're all back together.
Suddenly they drop
like a manhole cover
over... the hole.
That's when we started
hearing that dirt.
You know, phhshhh!
We were being...
...covered up, buried
alive, you know.
I was a young news director at KQD
the public television station.
So, the news of the kidnapping came to me
on a wire machine.
I realized that this was a big story.
It was probably the story of the decade.
Possibly the story of the century.
News media just flooded the place.
The phone lines were jammed.
Both with reporters and anxious parents.
It was a great story for reporters.
A terrible event for parents.
Good evening.
There may never have been
as anguishing a mystery.
It was covered everywhere.
The bus has been found.
There are no signs of v*olence.
And there are only horrified
guesses as to what may have happened.
It led the newscasts.
Still no break in that
Chowchilla, California
school bus kidnapping.
It was internationally covered.
But in those early hours, of
course, nobody knew anything.
There are a lot of theories as to why.
You tell me what the theories
are, I will select one.
We have no theories at all.
What would you say about
the possible motive, then?
- Do you have a theory as to...
- No, I really don't. I don't really have
one.
Every half hour, ABC, CBS, NBC
all of 'em come in.
"Okay, what you can tell us?"
Given all that we've got,
frankly it's a very
baffling case because
we don't know any motive.
This morning authorities
organized more search parties
but we're still at a loss
without explanation.
It was a crime beyond imagination.
With reporters trying to get information
in any way possible.
Debbie Zilstra was the last child
to be let off the bus
before it disappeared.
'Had you ever seen any cars
following the bus before?'
No.
'You have any idea
who might've done it?'
No.
'Did you see anything
after the bus let you off?'
Nope.
The sheriff says the
only thing he's ruled out
at this point is the
possibility of a flying saucer.
And there are those in this area
who don't rule out
that possibility either.
There were people calling in
with conspiracy theories.
I remember talking to one person
going on and on about the son of Sam.
Must've received at least a 1000 calls
thinking it was
the "Zodiac k*ller."
Or Moon, up in Oregon.
I mean, in the last few years
we've become used to
t*rror1st activity in this
country, unfortunately so.
'Is it a political act?'
That's speculation, sir.
Your guess is as good
as mine at this point.
You could hear these, like, exhaust fans
and if you went to the sides
you could feel air coming in.
Not air-conditioned air
but warm air circulating.
To me there was just very little air.
Very hard to breath.
After so many hours
it just becomes desperate.
Edward yells that
"Would you please
"open the door, I beg of you?
"Pretty please, pretty please let us out.
"I've got blank checks
if that'll help any.
Then he says "Everybody here
say, pretty please."
So we all start saying it.
And the guy wouldn't answer us.
Ed Ray and Mike Marshall...
...took the flashlight and
really started looking around.
Every cr*ck and every crevice,
looking at the walls
they're looking at the
cracks on the ceiling.
We knew if we could get out
was to go through the top.
All the little kids, they started saying
"Try and move it."
Edward didn't want because
he thought we'd get hurt
if they caught us trying to get out.
We begged Edward "Please, try."
"You've gotta try,
we're gonna die in here."
"You've gotta get us out."
Ed Ray put his hands up and he
pushed on it a little bit.
Ed Ray is a stout man but man!
It was not moving.
The water was running out.
Nobody's come to find us.
And then the batteries on whatever fans
they had going, they just stopped.
I remember Andrea was
sitting by herself, praying.
Ed Ray got us all to calm down.
He had all 26 of us take a nap.
I don't know if it was the heat...
...but I kept going
back to camping trips...
...that I had
had with my family.
I could see the water.
Waiting for that monster fish.
I could...
...see us gathering around
the campfire, I could smell the smoke.
In the past hallucinations
were attributed to viruses
head injuries.
But what hadn't been
known before Chowchilla
is that pure fright
getting scared to death
could make you hallucinate.
One little child
saw right through
the ceiling of the hall.
Right through all the rocks and the dirt
that had been piled on.
And saw the scene of kidnappers
sleeping above them.
That was a complete mirage...
...and that came from
being traumatized.
When I woke up
something was wrong.
Dirt was coming in.
And dust.
It made like a plough...
Like that.
What's going on?
The only thing holding the roof in place
were four by fours
one on the ceiling
and then a post
holding it up.
You could hear the
screeching of the metal...
...and the roof...
...just gave.
It was terrifying.
There was dust and dirt
that was flying everywhere.
Thought we were gonna die right there.
That's when we thought
we would smother to death.
And then it finally stopped.
But, anyone that touched that beam
...the sand would trickle in.
So we couldn't move.
We-we had to stay put
wherever we were at.
We knew we wouldn't
last much longer in there.
Good evening. The California
National Guard today
joined state and local police
and the FBI in a giant search
for 26 Californian children.
There are no real clues
only an eerie silence
in a frightening and bizarre case.
Throughout much of this day
parents and other family
of the missing children
came to the command post set up
in Downtown, Chowchilla.
At that time, there was a 100 people
waiting for word and it was scary.
I want to express to you
the governor's concern, and my concern.
The California Highway Patrol Police
and if necessary, the National Guard
are available to assist in the search.
When somebody disappears for that long
and you have no word whatsoever
on where they might be,
you're scared to death.
'Do you have any children?'
I do and I would have had two children
on that bus but she woke up
sick yesterday morning
and I didn't send her.
And she was so...
My husband, Bob, he was in Canada
at the Calgary Stampede.
He was practically
in tears trying to get home.
I was able to sleep for a while
but as soon as I opened my eyes
it was like a ton of bricks hit me.
Guess now all that we can do is
to join with the families
and loved ones of those involved
and pray, pray hard for
their safe recovery.
We begged Edward, "Please try.
"You've got to try.
We're gonna die in here.
You've got to get us out."
I remember Edward
saying that
it looked like we were gonna have to
stay down there and kick the bucket.
Edward was fearful
that his actions...
...could cause harm
not only to him but to us.
But Mike didn't have that
sense of hopelessness.
You know, a little fear kind of hits you
but at the same time
it generates more...
...power.
I was trying to process it all
and I thought to myself
"If we're gonna die, we're gonna die
"getting the hell out of here, you know
we're gonna die trying."
They started stacking up mattresses
to get to the top.
Even a lot of the younger kids
took turns doing whatever it is
that their young little bodies can do.
We're not gonna die. This
is not how we're gonna end.
Jodie's job was to shine the flashlight
while Michael went up
and with all his might
gave his cowboy push.
All the kids are calling
"Mike, you can do it, Mike."
And I don't feel it move
or see it move
but all the kids
I just heard them say,
"it moved, it moved."
For the first time, I felt hope.
Kinda wondered if he was my angel.
My guardian angel that dad talked about.
At that point, we said,
"Edward you have to help him.
"You, we-we've got to get out of here.
We're going to die. We're
gonna suffocate in here."
Edward was fearful that
somebody was up there, just waiting.
But he finally went over and helped.
Ed Ray started pushing
with everything he had.
They knew something was on it
but we didn't know what it was.
And so he pushed up...
...and he got that
man-hole cover up
maybe about yay high.
And Mike Marshall
stuck his arm through there...
and started feeling
around to see what was
on top of the man-hole cover.
Mike got his hand in there
and just started doing this.
And together, they move
that man-hole cover back
just far enough that
a corner of a battery...
...could be seen.
That's not the battery in your car.
These bus batteries
weigh about 125, 150 pounds.
Had Ed Ray...
...slipped...
...had Ed Ray lost his grip...
...Mike Marshall would
have lost his arm.
I remember them
saying "watch out" and two
these two huge batteries
were dropped down
on the stack of mattresses.
And then Ed Ray had a good look.
Around this hole they made a square box.
Three feet high, something like that.
And that was so they-as they
were covering the van with dirt
that they wouldn't cover up the hole.
Edward squeezes me through this
half foot hole.
I get on top of it.
I start pounding on this box.
There was a box up there.
And he tried to bang his way out...
...but he couldn't do it.
And then they got me up there with them.
We both tried with our backs
to push up, push up.
We couldn't do it so
Mike tried with his feet
and I tried with my back...
...and still we couldn't do it.
All the seams were pretty well connected.
Mike said we need
something to pry it with...
And keep the part of box spring mattress
and was using the wood.
So, Robert got up there
with me for a while
and we started hitting and pounding
hitting and pounding.
Mike would slam
that corner
over and over and over.
It just seemed impossible.
I start digging underneath the plywood...
...and I realized
after I do that for a while
the material, rock and stuff
is f-falling down
outside of the plywood
into the hole I'm digging.
I thought maybe I could get weight...
...off the top.
And then I can pull it
out and I can scoop it
down inside the hole.
He was kicking dirt, throwing dirt.
- He kept digging.
- -I don't know how Mike maneuvered
up in that wooden box.
I don't know how long he was up there.
It was hours.
Our sense of time under scary conditions
is one of the most vulnerable senses
that we have.
The child who held the light
knew it was a long, long time.
I was, you know, drained, tired.
I had no energy.
I was exhausted.
My equilibrium was totally off
and I didn't know
what was up or down.
That's when Edward started
"Pretty please,
don't hurt him."
"Pretty please,
don't hurt him."
I could hear that in my ears,
ringing over and over.
"Pretty please don't hurt him.
He doesn't know
what he's doing."
And I'm starting to believe
that they are up there.
That to me was scary.
I tried to see if I could get
any weight off the top.
It moved like just a cr*ck
and I looked through it
and plain as day...
...I was going up...
...in a door opening...
...and beyond that
was just pure darkness.
And you could tell there was somebody
in that darkness.
But I remember it vividly.
This was a hallucination
that he had dug into no place
that they were still
in horrible trouble...
...that they were
going to die anyway.
So he went back down
and he sat down and he thought
"But what am I digging for?
This is terrible,
I can't do this."
And then he decided "I'm gonna
go up there anyway."
I took a, you know, a little break
there, but, then I...
...something clicked in me.
I said to myself, "You're a cowboy.
"You're gonna get on that crazy ass horse
you're gonna do whatever it
is you gotta do."
I didn't care if they were up there.
I wasn't gonna give up.
From that point on, it didn't matter.
I started hitting stuff.
Hitting and pounding
and hitting and pounding.
And I pulled the chip out.
And then there was big cr*ck.
I cracked the ceiling.
And then I almost got it open.
Stole some more and...
...and cracked it again.
It was... the most beautiful
ray of sunlight...
...that I had ever seen.
I just remember the light
and the air.
So much air, cool air.
Not knowing if they're up there
I kept thinking
we're getting creamed
or we're getting out.
And I think that's why
I didn't hesitate
to stick my head out.
As soon as I had it broke off.
Going up above the hole
I had no real chance
where it was.
It's these trees.
And it felt like we
were in the mountains.
There was nobody there.
I remember getting up
and looking around...
...off in the distance
was a big...
...big building.
And I was worried about that building
'cause maybe the kidnappers
were over there.
Edward got all the kids together
said we need to be quiet.
And, so, like a bunch of little ducks
we're just walking through the sand.
There were 27 of us.
And if they are around
here, we're pretty easy
target to see.
But then we saw someone coming...
...toward us, and I did not know
who it was or what they wanted.
And the guy's face was just like
"Oh my God!
"I saw you on the news.
Where in the hell
did you come from?"
We turned out to be in a rock quarry.
And in no time the
klaxon started sounding.
They had set off their-their alarm.
The children have been found.
They are in good shape.
The bus driver has been found.
He is in good shape.
There's no indication of any harm.
Detective Bernie Serving
and I were the first
to as I recall, to
arrive and make contact
with the bus driver and the kids.
Kids were actually
for the most part, calm.
They were a little bit
dirty looking, obviously
because they were buried in the ground.
We were in this big warehouse.
I remember they had a water cooler.
I would take my little cup
and I would pour it on my head.
And then I'd fill it up
and I'd pour it on my head
trying to get the dirt off me.
That evening we had the television on
and I thought, I heard him say
kids from Chowchilla, had been found.
I ran in there...
...jumped over the coffee table
turned the TV up
and sure enough...
...and I was so thankful.
My son Michael is fourteen
and he's alive and well
and he's coming home
and I can't wait to see him.
'What's the last 24
hours been like?'
Not very nice.
I wouldn't want to have
to go through it again.
Ever.
We had to decide how we're gonna
proceed with the interviews and things
and we decided it was best
to get them to a secure location.
So, we rode just a very short distance
to... the prison.
They sat us down
at all these little desks
and they had apples
and cartons of milk.
We were given inmate jumpsuits.
Their white jumpsuits to wear.
All those little kids got into 'em
and we had to roll the pants about
ten feet.
We sitting there flapping our arms.
We said, "Hey, we can fly"
and we pretend like we were gonna fly.
And then the police came in
and talked to us.
-'What is the situation?'
-'Go ahead.'
'I would generally describe
them in very high spirits.'
- Yeah. Has...
- They talk...
We asked who wants to
be talked to next and they all
put up their hand
and they're very jovial.
After that, they got us loaded up
in a Greyhound bus
to go home to Chowchilla.
When we got through Chowchilla
there were lights everywhere,
people everywhere.
Just a sea of people.
It was just a mob.
A very nice gentleman
carried me off the bus...
...and put me in my mom's arms.
And I put my head on her shoulder.
It's wonderful. You can't say
there's enough words to-to
you know, describe
how it feels, you know, I'm...
Uh, I'm just so happy, I could cry.
'Come here, Mike.'
Reporters are all over
asking me what happened.
And I started
to talk to him and then
just out of nowhere
Principal Tatum stepped in
and said, "Why don't we just
give him a break, boys?
You know, let him go
home and get some sleep."
And so we got in the car and left.
There was my chance to tell the world
what happened
to getting out and everything.
I didn't do it. I let
the grown-ups do it.
I handed the kids up
to the other boys and we got out.
We all got home safe.
As miraculously as they had disappeared
the children of Chowchilla
returned to their parents
due to the heroic efforts
of their bus driver, Ed Ray.
We were calm, but the kidnappers
were still out there.
You knew they were someplace,
but you didn't know where.
You know, it was still a mystery.
You had no answers to this mystery.
I had a lot of agents out there
following leads
on who might have done this.
I had all the state.
I had all the FBI.
And my own people, of course, too.
The following morning
I was directed to go out
to the site where they were buried.
I had a whole crew of people
looking for any evidence we could get.
'This is a place where
they've cut a hole in the roof'
and made an exit and, uh,
ingress and egress.
The only people into the hole
have been a couple of
sheriff's criminalists.
The sheriff's office is
working very carefully
'cause they hope to find clues
which will lead them to the kidnappers.
The crime scene
was a mysterious hole in the ground.
There was some notion that
it might be a cave.
An underground room.
It took us a while to understand
that it was in fact a moving van.
By today's standards
uh, it wasn't a 40 foot van.
It was a fairly short 27 foot moving van.
When you think about it, to have 26 kids
confined in that kind of a chamber
I was flabbergasted.
The search for these
suspects is now, of course
what is preoccupying authorities
being sought are three men and two vans.
We don't know what color they are now.
They were purchased
in November in Alameda.
'Information on
the registration is all phony.'
'So we don't know who
we're looking for yet.'
At that time, we were looking for
any information we could get.
'We have no hard evidence.'
We had multiple conversations
with law enforcement.
My brother and I helped with
composite drawings
to help identify the kidnappers.
This is the latest composite.
We have no names
whatsoever at this point.
'Is this from the memory
of the children?'
'Uh, yes.'
And then information had been developed
on the investigative side about the vans.
The kidnap vans were found
in a one story commercial building
in southeast San Jose.
Reports say a rental agent told police
a young man rented the place
about six months ago.
The bus driver, Ed Ray
was brought to the warehouse
by authorities.
It is assumed
Mr. Ray will attempt
to identify those vans.
When they recovered the vehicles
they also recovered
other key pieces of evidence.
They found a 12 gauge shotgun
which is probably the one that was used
when they made the
stop of the, uh, school bus.
We found lumber material.
The same lumber as
two by fours that were
picked up at the quarry.
Number of mattresses
the same mattresses that had
been put into the trailer.
They also located a Cadillac...
...that had been
completely spray painted
flat, black.
Even the hubcaps.
It was very strange.
'Did you see them
working on these things?'
'Were they painting? What
were they doing inside there?'
- I don't know.
- 'Did they talk?'
I can't see because of the wall.
They've recovered what looked like
some kind of a journal, diary.
They had encrypted it into
some kind of unusual writing.
Never seen anything like that in my life.
I was scared, I was actually
still scared of those kidnappers.
"Where they're at, what they're doing
are they following us?"
They know where we live,
they know our addresses
they know our phone numbers.
It was really overwhelming for me.
A lot of them are scared to let
their kids out of the house.
I know my wife's got
a girlfriend across town
that says she won't let
her kids out of the house.
We were in a panic.
We did not like
sleeping in the windows
and every sound...
...sent us running.
The first real breaks in the case came
when the former employee from the quarry
called up and said that he
had made notes in a ledger
that they maintained
during their patrols...
...that he had seen men working
with a CAT bulldozer
and he also noted that
there were two moving vans
parked on the site.
One time, he said he found a young man
working in one of the scrap yard areas
and when he confronted that individual
he found his identification
said that he was Frederick Woods
and he was the son of the owner.
One of the things we learned
was that the Woods family
they weren't from the Central Valley
they were from the Bay Area.
From the very nicest suburbs
of the Bay Area.
In fact, Woods has an
illustrious double name.
Frederick Newhall Woods.
When the Gold rush was
happening in California
Henry Newhall ended up amassing
a great fortune.
up and down the state of California.
Railroad towns were named after him.
They owned Magic Mountain.
Why would these people be involved?
Was it a thrill crime?
Next day and I was asked
to serve a search warrant
on the Woods estate.
When we opened these doors up
and went in to the actual mansion
everything in there was expensive.
Very fancy cut crystal statues.
The place was littered
literally, with old vehicles.
It had antique Rolls Royces
and Bentleys.
All kinds of m*llitary
w*r surplus type jeeps.
It was really something to see.
There is a-a separate building
opposite the mansion.
It was a series of garages.
We had been told that Fred
slept above the garages.
We went upstairs.
The place was full of junk.
You could barely walk across the room.
Old movie cameras.
There was a bunch of
them all over the place.
And there was a desk
and that's where he
had a kind of an envelope
like a manila type envelope.
It had the plan.
The actual plan of how
the sequence of the kidnapping
was supposed to go down.
And inside that, there
was a jack-in-the-box bag
that on their backside of it
had been written the names
and the ages of all of the children.
But probably the most telling
evidence was the ransom note
that was found
in that envelope.
And at that point, it started to gel
as to who was responsible for this.
Fred Woods, the suspect's father
was very cooperative.
Told me, he tried
to get his son interested
in the family business.
His son got interested
in these old cars.
He developed a business
of refurbishing old cars
and selling them.
He had gone into partnership
with a friend from high school
named James Schoenfeld.
His brother, Rick Schoenfeld was involved
but he was more of a
hanger-on to the other two.
The brothers, their father was a, uh
a foot specialist.
They were upper middle class.
They're always very polite and outgoing
and if we saw them outside
they always chatted with us.
Very friendly boys.
We were really shocked
that these were three young men
that came from very affluent families.
I was dumbstruck.
'Why do you suppose that they
would do something like that?'
I don't know. They
didn't have enough to live.
Fred Woods is...
What was he after money for?
He had more money than the town had.
Now we know who these people are.
So we just followed our noses.
Acting on evidence
discovered at the house
law enforcement authorities
have just issued all points bulletins.
Suspects are considered
armed and dangerous
arrest on probable cause.
The investigators worked 24 hours a day
and found out that
Fred and James Schoenfeld took off.
Fred went to Vancouver.
He used a fake ID to get in
checked into a hotel.
While Woods is up in Canada,
he's writing letters
from a post office
asking friends for money.
Jim Schoenfeld drove his car
up to the border...
...and tried
to enter the border.
He had weapons in the car
but they didn't arrest him.
They bought him a soda.
They were nice to him.
Gave him the g*ns back
and turned him around.
Good evening, the FBI is
looking all over the country
tonight for Frederick Woods
and James Schoenfeld.
Two of the three men
suspected of kidnapping
The third man,
Schoenfeld's younger brother
turned himself in.
In Oakland, California, last night
Richard Allen Schoenfeld surrendered.
He walked into the Alameda County
district attorney's office along with
his father and a lawyer.
The attorney said Richard surrendered
for his own protection.
James tried to get into
Canada one more time.
He had gotten rid of most of the weapons
but he had one more w*apon
that he didn't know about
that Fred had hidden in the vehicle.
So they turned him around
finally gave up on that
and started heading back home.
James Schoenfeld was
captured at dawn today.
His lawyer said he'd gotten
tired of running, had called
and said he'd turned himself in
at 8:00 this morning.
The police closed in an hour before that.
The third suspect, Fred Woods
was arrested at the main Vancouver
post office after Royal
Canadian Mounted Police
had been tipped by the FBI.
They say the 24-year-old suspect
was unarmed and did not put up a fight.
He appeared nervous, a little cocky
but mostly disinterested
in talking to reporters.
No comment.
What do you think about the
charges against you in court?
I'm telling you, no comment.
'Any concerns about
going to California at all?'
With you?
The kidnappers had hit this town
right in its heart
by taking those children.
The community took it quite personal.
Saying we're upset is very, very mild.
It was voiced... around
town that quote
"All we need is a good old
fashioned street hanging."
End quote.
Literally that was said.
These were three men
who were so hated
stationed on top of
the police station, a sn*per.
On top of City Hall, a sn*per.
All in the means of protecting them.
Inside, both woods and James Schoenfeld
spoke with a firm voice, showing no fear.
They were ordered held on one
million dollars bond each.
The biggest question in this bizarre case
is still unanswered.
Were there political motives
psychological motives
motives of revenge?
No one seems to know.
When I interviewed Fred
he said that he and his dad
weren't very close.
He wasn't doing what
his dad expected him to do.
They were always bickering about
him dropping out of college
and he wanted his own money
so he didn't have to rely on his father.
'Turn to your left.'
James told me that
they were gonna make
a movie to make money.
And that's how the whole thing started.
They turned out a movie script
called Chain Reaction
and it was an amalgam of the
Patty Hearst kidnapping case.
"The French Connection"
and "Dirty Harry."
You've got to ask yourself one question.
' "Do I feel lucky?"'
Well, do you, punk?
And it didn't happen.
During this time, they also learned
that the state had a surplus of funds.
So they were trying to think of
how can we get ransom from the state?
So then that led them
to kidnapping a school bus
because the state runs the school system.
Again, they were obviously influenced
by the original, "Dirty Harry" movie.
♪ Row row row your boat ♪♪
What's the matter with you?
Don't you sing?
In the final scenes
of the movie, you had
an individual who hijacks
a bus full of children
and they end up in a rock-quarry.
Fred was the leader who started it.
But Fred didn't have the ability
to plan something like this by himself.
And he thought that Jim Schoenfeld
probably was the more efficient planner
and had, in fact, he's the one
who wrote the journal
that was found at the storage unit.
When they decoded these writings
James Schoenfeld was asking himself
"What would happen as
a result of this crime?"
James had to make a decision.
He decided to make money with Fred Woods.
For 18 months
they were researching
different targets.
They had maps
where they circled all the schools
they were considering.
They were able to get identification
in different names
to purchase the things they needed.
They went out to the quarry
in the cover of darkness
to bury an entire transport van.
They obtained weapons.
Many, many weapons.
To collect the ransom money,
they wanted the government
to fly the ransom money
and drop it at a location.
They had intended to have an airdrop
over the Santa Cruz Mountains.
In fact, the Cadillac
was intended to be used
to pick up the ransom money
and they wanted it not to be seen.
They wanted it to blend in
for a night time operation.
All the way through, they thought that
they had thought of everything.
But the night of the kidnapping
they weren't able to call in
their ransom demand
because the phone lines were so jammed.
They decided to go home.
Fred Woods had a late night dinner
with his parents like any other night.
Then the news came out
that the children had freed themselves.
The children are home.
Rick and James Schoenfeld
came over to the property
and planned their escape from there.
When the children escaped
that kind of destroyed
their whole plan right there.
With all three suspects behind bars
the grateful towns people today
honored their hometown hero.
The local politicians decided
that we needed to celebrate the heroes
that came from this horrendous event.
And so the town had
what they called,
"Ed Ray Day."
Me and the 25 kids have
something to give to Edward.
Thank you.
Edward was a very humble man.
He didn't ask for the publicity
and he didn't ask for all the attention
that came his way.
The press assumed that Edward saved us.
And he, from that point on, was the hero.
And that is true.
Edward kept us all together
and Edward helped us get out.
But Edward was not the only hero.
I was telling people,
Mike Marshall dug us out.
It was Mike that dug us out.
But nobody was listening.
That day, I could see that Michael
was really depressed.
I remember thinking to myself
"Why am I feeling like this?
"What's wrong with me?
"Hey, you know what, who cares?
We all got out, we're all out.
That's what matters."
I felt...
...guilty for feeling bad.
Mike was not gonna boast
about what he did.
That just wasn't Mike.
All the children know.
We all know the story.
We were there for it.
So we do know what
everybody did and everybody's role.
But I don't think any of us
really went out and spoke.
We were just children.
We were still just trying to
process what happened.
That day was supposed to be
the day of honoring us.
They put a plaque in there
with all of our names.
But a lot of us were still in that hole.
When we got home, I thought
life would be... okay.
Even though the kidnappers
were actually arrested...
...it didn't stop my mind
from going over
what happened, what could have happened.
I can remember
having nightmares immediately.
My mom tells me
that I started sleepwalking.
And I would come into their room just
in shock and tell them,
they're k*lling me.
We're driving down the road
and there happens to be a van.
Whether its telephone company or PG&E
or just a-a vehicle beside the road.
"Go on past, mama, don't stop.
Don't slow down."
My self esteem at that point
just really started...
...to go down.
I hated sleeping.
I hated going to sleep
because every night
I was having nightmares.
I could hear Andrea screaming.
She could hear me screaming.
"Mom! Mom! Mom!"
Those demons were gonna keep us forever.
I knew Michael was having trouble.
He was also screaming
and hollering in his sleep.
I put myself back in there
thinking about how I was gonna die.
Our family was just turned inside out.
Didn't know how to fix it.
Didn't know who to talk to about it.
We left, went on the road.
Tried to forget it, get past it.
And the school did not offer
any help to those kids.
Like counseling, whatever.
I can't visibly see any problem now.
Whether or not, you know,
there's some psychological scars
I-I certainly wouldn't know.
But, you know, it's just kind of
on the surface.
I can't pull anything out.
Not once.
The kids were totally forgotten.
You know, there was no
ground laid for anything like this.
Yet back then it was, uh...
"Go to Disneyland."
"Go to Disneyland."
Alliance Club Group in Los Angeles
paid for a trip to Disneyland
as a way to somewhat overcome
the trauma that we had faced.
And so it was, for a moment
a chance to get away from Chowchilla
and go see Mickey and Minnie.
They held a parade for us.
I believe the way
our parents were convinced
was that they were giving us therapy
some kind of therapy.
The trip to Disneyland
was an intrusion into the nightmare.
That's all it was.
In 1976
there was a word,
childhood trauma out there
but nobody knew exactly what it was.
'When one is traumatized'
the sense of gut basic trust goes.
While I was in training
as a child psychiatrist
and I wanted to find out
what happens to children
who get frightened to death...
...and don't die.
And that started the Chowchilla study.
No one other than
Dr. Terre was
even trying to be helpful.
She told us right up front
she was writing a paper
for the American Medical Journal.
She was interviewing the kids.
She also listened to them.
I remember seeing various kinds
of statements that were made.
The kids were not okay.
Somebody got a psychiatrist
to come to town
and he made a prediction.
He said, "One kid in this twenty-six
is going to have a problem."
But what happened was
that no parent wanted to admit
that his kid was the one in twenty-six.
By the time I got out there
a hundred percent of those kids
were having problems.
Mom and dad were told not to come in
when we have nightmares.
They said that if they are going in
when we have nightmares, that we...
They are rewarding our behavior
of having the nightmares.
And if they stop rewarding the behaviors
we'll stop having nightmares.
Andrea became very introverted.
Where she had been outgoing before...
...she preferred
to hide in her room.
Some of them became afraid to really get
intimate with anybody.
She would not hug me.
I would tell her that I loved her
and she would just ignore it
like it was never said.
The Chowchilla children
had the worst idea about their futures.
In the unconscious,
we are undestructible.
We are, we are...
...gonna live forever.
After trauma? That's not true.
You buy it that you're gonna die.
In California, yesterday,
three young men pleaded guilty
to the kidnapping a year ago
of 26 school children
and their bus driver.
The men pled not guilty
to different charges
that carry a life sentence
without parole.
Prosecutor David Manir
is also trying to show
that there was far more bodily harm
inflicted on the kidnapped victims.
Where you have conditions
of total darkness
of not enough food or water
extremely hot conditions of
panic among the children.
That should be enough
to constitute bodily harm
even if you don't have broken bones.
Physically, the children
had a bruise or two.
There was a cut or two.
They had a little bit of urinary trouble
which cleared up.
So the defense said, "No harm."
As you gentlemen
who have seen the transcript
know there's very little
physical damage at all
and practically it's-it's non existent.
'What about the emotional damage
that they talked about?'
'Is that possible?'
There is no case in California
that I know of that holds that
emotional damage is bodily injury.
I couldn't believe it.
The mind and the brain,
that's not bodily harm?
What you do to a person's mind?
What you do to a
young child's developing mind?
Bus driver Ed Ray
was among the early arrivals
at the Alameda County Courthouse
closely followed by some of the children
who were kidnapped
with him in July of last year.
So the children had to be brought in
had to testify about the injuries
that they sustained.
They had to face the kidnappers
in that courtroom.
I can remember my mom saying
that the kidnappers would be in the room.
I was so scared.
Ed Ray explained how he and the children
were placed in two airless vans
and how the children wept
and he feared suffocation.
Jodi Heffington fell to tears
on the witness stand
as she attempted to tell her story
of the kidnapping and being
entombed underground.
When they took me into the courtroom
I can remember sitting in the jury box
and I felt like I could barely see
'cause I was so little.
I remember not looking
at the kidnappers like
I'm gonna do what I got to do
and I'm gonna get out of here.
I told them the harm
that they caused to us
was because of the conditions
that they put us in.
And as I finished and I walked out
I just started bawling.
It was extremely brave of them
to take the stand.
'You think they should
ever be released?'
- No, I don't think they should.
- 'Why?'
Did you know they was gonna
come back and release us
if we didn't get out?
We were buried under the ground, man.
After 16 days of grueling testimony
Judge Deegan found all three men guilty.
Deegan, "This was an ordeal of terror
"and that, to me, causes suffering.
Suffering is in itself
physical harm."
Finding out that my kidnappers got life
without the possibility of parole
was exactly what we had hoped for.
But just when survivors felt
that they can find some
sort of peace with it
the kidnappers filed appeals.
And in 1980
the appellate court agreed
and reversed the sentence.
The kidnappers had plenty of money
and plenty of time
and a very good attorney
and said, mental harm isn't bodily harm.
They could be out after 25 years.
We thought we were safe, you know?
That was and still is
like a slap in the face.
What was the worst part of it for you?
I really didn't think we were
gonna get out. My brother did.
But I didn't think we were gonna
get out 'cause I didn't know
what was gonna happen to us
or if they'd ever let us out
or if we'd run out of food
or die or what.
I just figured that was it.
After the trial is done
I couldn't progress past the kidnapping.
My self esteem took a large blow.
I didn't want anybody knowing
everything that I had been through.
But everybody in Chowchilla
knew about the kidnapping
so I had a lot of eyes watching me
at that point in time.
And then, unfortunate for us
five years after the kidnapping
my brother was in industrial accident
with my dad and my brother was k*lled.
About 300 people attended Jeff's funeral.
Many standing outside
because the chapel was full.
I felt so betrayed by God
that he got me through the kidnapping...
...and then took away
my beloved brother.
The spotlight was on us again.
We had reporters at our house
all the time.
My small family at that point crumbled.
My parents divorced.
That small town became
so suffocating for me
that I couldn't go to school
without stares.
I couldn't go to school without
people talking behind my back.
I couldn't go to school without somebody
saying, "I am so sorry."
And my mom and I made the decision
to leave Chowchilla.
I left during
my junior year of high school.
I was a class officer.
I was a cheerleader.
I was involved in everything.
I gave it all up so that we
could move away
and I could be a nobody.
I just wanted to be nobody.
When they get to be adults
childhood trauma doesn't just go away.
In fact, some of it gets worse.
I was about 19 or twenty
going out and getting...
...hammered, blackout drunk
every single night.
I just didn't want to remember
anymore about kidnapping.
I just wanted it to go away.
Around the four or five year mark
he was in trouble
as a rodeo rioter.
It was such a shame
that he had lost this pride in himself.
And some of that pride
from having been the kid's hero
had been robbed from him
by the town's response.
He was never acknowledged.
I didn't know who I was anymore.
That cowboy part of me went away.
I'm still alive.
I still walk and talk.
But still the way I feel inside me
what they'd done to me...
...they could never feel
what-what they put us through.
Alcohol helps with that in a big way.
Over the years, everything
just overwhelmed him.
He got more and more in...
...into the hole.
I was drinking and using it
and all that to the point
where I'd been to seven rehabs.
Was living in insanity.
Before the kidnapping
I could see so much light
ahead of me, see my future.
But then after the kidnapping
I couldn't see anything.
The kidnappers have been
having parole hearings
since the early 1980s.
Many of the survivors wanted to
participate in the process.
Jodi Huffington attended
almost every hearing
having to face each of the kidnappers
every five years.
They did a number of emotional damage
to-to all of-all of us
including our families, our parents.
Um... our lives were never
the same after that, ever.
During the kidnapping
Jodi Heffington
was one of the older girls
who was like a older sister figure
to a lot of the kids.
She was the one kid
who held the flashlight
the whole time
and stood steady as anything.
She became one of our
strongest advocates.
Her and Melinda Correjo
have gotten in the car
and driven hours to the Bay Area
to be there in person numerous times.
What they did, they should stay there.
It was on the victims to fight
for them to be in jail.
If they had not been
going to the parole hearings
they'd have been out
in probably 1980 something.
At one hearing,
they actually shut me down
because I was so angry.
One of the guards led me away.
It was one thing that they hurt me
but they completely shattered my family.
Andrea had dissociated from the family
and left Chowchilla.
My mom lost faith
in my dad as a protector.
I was surviving day to day.
Hated my life, hated myself
and hated everyone around me.
Park has had trouble with the law
spent some time in prison.
He's doing better now, he says
but still struggling.
If they want me to believe
that they're ready...
...they're gonna have to let me
see him cry.
They're gonna have to let me
see him cry for me
and for my sister and my family.
When they would go to the parole hearings
it would be the responsibility
of the victim
to say what their story is.
My mom talked about
how she didn't feel safe
around men, her depression
her struggles with addiction issues.
What they don't tell you
is that you're not just
gonna speak your piece
for one time.
They never got rest.
The kidnappers were denied
parole for many, many years.
It wasn't until after 2010
that there was public support for them.
A rally was held today
in San Francisco by supporters
demanding parole for the kidnappers.
Several high profile
politicians and families
became involved in advocating for parole.
This includes Gavin Newsom's father
who was an appellate judge.
Nobody was physically injured.
Huge factor in the case.
And Dale Fore who was part of
the investigative team
from Madera county when
the Chowchilla kidnapping case occurred.
What's right is right.
How much time you want out of these guys?
He was one of the people
who assured us that
none of the kidnappers
would ever get out.
He started working for Fred Wood's team.
He knew many of the survivors
and at times
he approached them and offered them money
to come and support parole
to change their position.
He had offered me personally
at one point to make some money.
He wanted me to write letters in support
of parole for the kidnappers
and I let him know
I was not the kind of girl
that could be bought.
The next parole hearing
one of the kidnap victims
showed up with Dale as her support person
with letters in support of release.
Don't ask me nothing.
It was a complete,
like, betrayal to everyone.
Over the years
there was an anger building in me
that infested...
...absolutely every aspect
of my life.
I was replaying the
kidnapping constantly.
I wanted to t*rture those men.
I would fantasize...
...about the different ways
that we could get them.
I was in a prison
of my own making...
...and I decided to pray.
I said, "God forgive 'em,
because I can't.
God bless 'em,
because I can't."
And I realized
"God, forgive 'em,
because I won't."
And God, he said
"I can work with the truth.
We can move forward from here."
Larry park decided to go through
the restorative justice process
and that's a process
that assists survivors
that choose to,
to talk to their offender.
To come to closure if it helps them.
So I got to go in...
...and I said, "I was your
victim for 36 hours."
But for the last 38 years,
I've been my own victim.
I told them that I forgave them...
...but forgiving them
wasn't enough.
I had spent my lifetime...
...hating them, and so I asked...
...for their forgiveness.
A man convicted of kidnapping
a bus full of children
in Chowchilla more than
The California Department of Corrections
released Richard Schoenfeld last night
from a San Luis Obispo prison.
In 1976 he kidnapped 26 children.
A crime that held the nation
with great concern.
When the youngest kidnapper got out
that's when the panic att*cks
started happening.
And the worry, all these feelings come up
that you hadn't felt in so long.
I was kind of nauseous
and then very tearful
because first-I think first
of other children.
I prepared myself because
I knew that his brother
would be not too soon after that.
After nearly 40 years behind bars
James Schoenfeld will soon be
out of prison and on parole.
News of the latest release
did not go over well with the victims.
This led all the prisoners
who hurt someone
and hurt their families.
Just let's let them all go.
Jodi went into a huge depression.
She would say, "Lynda, it's all my fault.
It's all my fault they're
getting out. It's all my fault."
And I said, "We have
as much responsibility
as you do to keep them in."
She couldn't get out of bed no more.
And it was just, she was so weak.
Because she was just drinking so much
and she wouldn't eat
because she was so depressed.
And she basically just couldn't
process life the way she was supposed to.
And my mom just did her best
for as long as she could.
And it was their f*cking fault.
While the Schoenfelds in prison
seemed to behave according to the rules
Woods was different.
It was discovered that
he was conducting businesses
including a Christmas tree
farm, a gold mine.
And he continued to purchase
and collect cars
while he was incarcerated.
He was able to acquire
contraband cell phones
and use them to conduct the businesses.
The extent that Fred Woods
involved himself
in every small detail was staggering.
- This is a prepaid call from...
- Fred.
An inmate at the county
Correctional Facility.
Hey, Mike, it's Fred,
what's the deal about
the generator being screwed up?
Listen, I need green-dark numbered...
Also the title the truck is...
One of the more astonishing things
that Fred Woods has possession
of the two kidnap vans
that the children and the bus driver
were transported in
because he thinks the value
will increase because of their notoriety.
It's not any sentimental value.
This is Fred's continuing obsession
I would call it with money.
It's amazing, because
he didn't even need the money.
The Woods family set up a trust.
They wanted to pass on
what they could to their son...
...and it was estimated
in one filing
to be a $100 million.
Money that woods, even as
an inmate had access to.
The hearing came up pretty quick.
It was really difficult
because we have just recently lost Jodi.
But the community came together and said
"Okay, we got to
not just do it for ourselves
do it for Jodi and Jeff
and... each other."
This is the 17th subsequent life parole
consideration hearing
for Frederick Woods.
Only the inmate and his attorney
were in the prison.
Everybody else was on remote.
Here we are wondering if
rehabilitation has o-occurred.
Is rehabilitation running
businesses out of a jail cell
sneakily smuggling contrabands
such as cell phones
in and out of prison without regard
to rules, regulations, and authority?
He should not be released.
His mind is still evil.
And he is out to get what he wants
with no regret for the safety of others.
Mr. Woods has not
changed for the better
in the 45 plus years
he's been incarcerated.
He's gotten to heal.
And my mother was
never granted that chance.
From 1976 to when she d*ed two years ago.
The biggest question
the commissioners had
was from the lead commissioner, uh
who asked why Woods
was so fixated on money.
I've always said I needed the money.
Well, I didn't need the money.
I wanted the money.
I've learned that in the last few years.
That was a mistake on my part.
I was totally wrong
with this way of thinking.
I've had a thinking change.
I felt that he still wasn't...
...wholly truthful and that he
still showed some of the same
characteristics that he did
at the time he planned this.
I wonder if he
understands that the trauma
the physical and emotional
trauma, is life altering.
That was really very sad
thinking how we've worked so hard.
I feel that I did everything
I could possibly do
but I had to let go
of the thought that I had
th-that control.
If that kept me in dark place
for too much longer
it would be overwhelming.
The thing about this case
that made it unique
was the continuing impact of
the crime on the children.
In 1976, we thought
they would just get over it.
But all were deeply affected.
Dr. Tear once called
the children
little pioneers of medicine
because they so helped
in the understanding
of childhood trauma.
They paved the way for us to understand
more contemporary things.
What happens when you force children
away from their parents at a border.
What happens to children
at some of these horrible
school sh**t.
Because of the Chowchilla kidnapping
there were counselors at
Columbine after the sh**ting.
There are counselors at
nightclubs after sh**t.
Chowchilla children are heroes.
And they continue to teach us
what childhood trauma is.
Forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight
fifty years after the fact.
We are in an area that
is prone to tornadoes.
It's very common to have a storm shelter.
So we actually purchased one.
We weren't able to submerge
it in the ground
because that's just a little bit
too traumatic for me.
My family knows that
it's a struggle for me.
They work with me on that.
I'm thankful to my
parents for encouraging me
to try to grow and give back.
To show that this one
event has not defined me.
I focused on putting my energy towards
positive things in my life.
So I chose education.
And I went back to Chowchilla
and taught in Chowchilla
at Avi Dairyland.
And I take the responsibility.
My eyes are always watching the children
making sure they are safe
every second in the classroom.
I chose making a difference that way.
For 34 years
I was nothing but a survivor.
Today I am a reverend.
A Christian counselor.
And I am a friend.
I wake up in the morning
I say my rosary and I step out...
...in faith.
I never gave up.
Not completely.
Because I was taught at six years old
by a 14 year old boy, you don't give up.
You keep digging.
- How are you?
- Good.
that I saw Mike Marshall.
Do you know I'm standing with my hero?
I can't believe what he did.
I still can't believe it.
I appreciate that.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mike.
I didn't realize how much...
...it would help me to...
...understand and
to actually hear...
...one of the kids
tell me that I saved
their lives and that they were grateful.
Not very many people that,
you know, can... relate.
When I was a kid, I wanted to
be a rodeo cowboy like my dad.
I would see myself far in the future
rodeoing for a living.
But woke up at about...
...forty-eight years old
with a...
...blurry hangover.
But, then, getting sober, is amazing.
It's to have a life.
And, uh, to be grateful for every day.
It's taken a while to
c-come back and rodeo.
But once you're a cowboy,
you're always a cowboy.
'Cause it's in your heart.
So, I'm gonna cowboy up tomorrow and go
to this rope in here in Chowchilla
and... stick some steers.
'Five, Lisa Jones, Jeff Cabal.'
'Six, Adam Silvera,
Spencer Mitchell.'
'Seven, Tateville, Jimmy Joe.'
God has a way of making things
come full circle in his timing.
'Mike, you're up.'
♪ Bending over
miles of cotton ♪
♪ Finally ruined
my daddy's back ♪
♪ As he overcompensated ♪
♪ For an education lack ♪
♪ As a kid I rode behind him ♪
♪ On his canvas cotton sack ♪
♪ And every day say
♪ As he pulled me through ♪
♪ That hot Chowchilla dust ♪
♪ When I grew too big to ride ♪
♪ I got myself an old sew sack ♪
♪ Mama sewed me on a harness ♪
♪ And strapped it on my back ♪
♪ Daddy headed for the fields ♪
♪ And as I stepped
into his track ♪
♪ I ain't sure ♪
♪ But I think my mom cussed ♪
♪ As I followed him through
that hot Chowchilla dust ♪♪
Chowchilla (2023)
Moderator: Maskath3