He kidnapped and buried alive 26 children on a school bus. now he is free

Iis something out of a nightmare or a horror movie. Armed men are ambushing the car and hiding the young victim in a dungeon.

But nearly fifty years ago he was a real-life case of 26 California schoolchildren. Three rich children have kidnapped a student and his driver in the largest ransom scheme ever recorded in the United States. Criminals demanded $5 million.

After 16 hours, the children and their driver escaped on their own and three of her kidnappers went to jail. The victims were physically okay, but PTSD and trauma still haunt them. And now, against the will of the Governor of California, parole has been granted to the last architect of a horrifying scheme.

Frederick Woods, 70, was released on parole this week by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He and his two friends, Richard and James, were only 24 years old when his Schoenfeld brothers devised a strange and daring plan.

Woods was the last of his three to be released from prison, and in July 1976, when armed kidnappers hijacked a bus on the way home, he was 5 to 14 years old. has elicited mixed reactions from victims of Summer school trip.

Every detail of the case sounds like a hell of a movie from start to finish. In fact, the case has inspired countless crime episodes, podcasts, and shows.

rice field. Chowchilla is a small rural town in central California between Fresno and Merced, still with a population of around 20,000, including inmates in two prisons.

Twenty-six children and their driver, Ed Ray, attended school with the children's grandparents and knew all the passengers on the big yellow bus. - The final day of summer school when Woods and Schoenfeld park their car on a country road.

The trio forced 27 hostages into another of his two vans and drove them for 11 hours before taking them to a quarry owned by Woods' father.

The scheme was haphazard, selfish, immature and, frankly, very disappointing when the three criminals were quickly apprehended. The Woods and Schoenfeld brothers all seemed born of great privilege and determined to maintain their status with minimal effort.

"Ronald Reagan makes headlines in the press that California has his billion-dollar surplus," said James Schoenfeld when he was released in 2015. told the California parole board. His brother had been released from prison earlier.

"I always thought the country had more than it needed. They wouldn't miss his $5 million," he said. "I never intended to commit a crime, endanger my life, endanger my reputation, so bank robbery doesn't work. Drug dealing doesn't work. Saw it on TV, enough rewards."

, said he knows it takes "multiple victims to get millions of dollars."

"I chose my precious children," he said. "The country will be willing to pay them and they won't fight back. They are vulnerable. They will care. They will do what we tell them to do. And I was a coward for not choosing another target.”

The plan, as reported by the Los Angeles Times in 2011, was ultimately “completely It started as an idea for a script about a crime: a large ransom, the victim is released unscathed.” All done in 24 hours.

"After losing $30,000 in a housing deal, they actually started planning kidnappings in hopes of making easy money."

The kidnappers Initially, he considered taking hostages in a barn on land owned by the Woods family, but decided he needed too much protection.

"So I thought, what about a transport van," James Schoenfeld told the parole board. “I wanted something that everyone could fit in and that nobody could get out of. Then I had the idea of ​​burying the van, because if it was underground you wouldn't be able to break through the walls and get out."

So young men - kids like Schoenfeld was only 22 years old. A little older than us - but decided to equip the van with mattresses, toilet paper, food water and fans. They were buried in a Woods-owned quarry in Livermore, about 100 miles northwest of Chowchilla.

They then targeted a student at Dairyland Elementary School and their driver, Ed Ray.

Explaining his thinking at the time, Schoenfeld told the parole board what he and his accomplices speculated: We store them in basement vans. The state pays the ransom. we are forever happy All our troubles have been solved. We let go of our victims. everyone is happy

"I lied to myself that I wouldn't hurt anyone. I didn't consider the emotions and trauma I was causing.

There were 19 people on the bus. A girl and seven boys were on board, and despite Mr. Ray's stoic demeanor, they panicked as soon as they were taken hostage. I was begging," the driver later told reporters. "They kept yelling. Why did they do this to us? I also want to know."

They transferred it to a trolley car, hid the bus in leaves, and drove the victim for 11 hours before depositing him in a van buried in a quarry. For almost 16 hours they waited and worried. Mr. Ray was convinced that the roof was coming down. With the help of the quarry's night guard, he had one student who managed to wriggle through the dirt piled on top of the van. Mr. Ray was hailed as a hero for leading his children to freedom.

After all was settled, he was eventually presented with the yellow school bus itself. rice field. Mr. Ray died in his 2012, ten years before Woods was released.

But when the children escaped, Woods and his co-conspirators had already proven themselves to be brainless criminals.

"After imprisoning Ray and his children, they went out to the Chowchilla Police Department to demand his $5 million ransom," said the LA Times. reported. "The phone lines were busy. They took a nap and were woken up by the news that the children had run away."

They were arrested immediately. Mr. Ray, hypnotized, remembered the number on his plate. There was a media circus and all three were sentenced to life in prison.

An appeals panel headed by Gavin Newsom's father, California, granted the possibility of parole in 1980.

Richard Schoenfeld was released in his 2012 and his brother in his 2015. Woods is the only one still imprisoned. He was denied parole at least 17 times before his release decision was announced this week.

Lynda Carrejo Labendeira was just 10 years old when she boarded the school bus she was kidnapped by.

"She recalled children struggling to escape while flashlights and candles flickered while 'coffins caved in like makeshift dungeons.'" she reported to the AP.

"Every time we see a van similar to the one we were transported to, we can't choose a random flashback." she said. board.

"I have insomnia and can't stay up all night," she said. "I don't sleep so I don't have to have nightmares."

Jennifer Brownhide was a year younger than her.

According to the AP, she said at a board meeting that "her 11 hours of being buried alive and driven in a van in over 100-degree weather, with no food, water, or toilets" impact on life,” he said.

"His heart is still wicked and he is trying to get what he wants," she said. "I want him to serve a life sentence in the same way that I served his life dealing with PTSD because of his sense of entitlement.

Following the board's decision, Ms. Hyde said her family was disappointed, the AP reported - but said, "I want to close this chapter and live the blessed life I have been given." It's time to continue," praising her fellow hostages. ``True Survivors, Not Victims''

While other survivors have supported the release of the men for years, the state of California is adamantly opposed to releasing Woods. there is

Newsom said Woods "continued to be involved in financial misconduct in prison," using contraband cell phones to operate a Christmas tree farm, a gold mining operation, and a car dealership. It offered advice on running the store, the AP reported – adding Woods was not convicted of murder, so the governor could not block his release.

Madera County District Attorney Sally Moreno opposed his parole, saying Woods' actions "continue to show he was for the money," according to the AP.

Ms Moreno said she was angry and frustrated after the verdict "because justice was mocked in Madera County" and feared the state of society. Even though he was buried alive, he committed the crime and is out of prison even after spending time in prison ignoring the law.

Woods said at a parole hearing in March that he was "selfish and immature at the time" and that "the most recent transgression was to benefit a trust fund left to him by his late parents." It was from ,” reported the AP.

"I didn't need the money. I wanted the money," Woods said of his ransom demand.