Remembering The Chowchilla School Bus Kidnapping!
Channel: Crime Research
Date: 2023-09-27

Remembering the Chowchilla School Bus Kidnapping

On July 15, 1976, a school bus carrying 26 children and their driver, Ed Ray, was hijacked in Chowchilla, California. The kidnappers, Frederick Newhall Woods IV, James Schoenfeld, and Richard Schoenfeld, drove the bus and its occupants to a quarry in Livermore, where they buried the bus alive in a moving van.

The kidnappers planned to demand a $5 million ransom for the return of the children, but their plans were thwarted when Ray and the children managed to dig themselves out of the van after about 16 hours underground. All of the victims survived the ordeal, but they were traumatized by the experience.

The Chowchilla school bus kidnapping was one of the largest and most daring kidnappings in American history. It made headlines across the country and sparked a national debate about school bus safety. The kidnapping also had a profound impact on the victims and their families, many of whom still struggle with the trauma of the event today.



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