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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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[dramatic music]

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At the present time we know that
there's twenty-seven people

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missing since about, uh,
4:15 yesterday afternoon.

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Still no break in that
Chowchilla, California

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school-bus kidnapping.

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Twenty-six school children

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and their bus driver,
have vanished.

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Vanished. Yesterday afternoon
near Chowchilla, California.

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[music continues]

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(newscaster #1)
President Ford directed
the Attorney General

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to use all available
government resources.

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The California National Guard

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joins state local
police and the FBI

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in a giant search for the
children and the driver.

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(female #1)
It was like somebody

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come down from Mars

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and just took 'em
off the planet.

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(male #1)
Was it an outright kidnapping?

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A psychopath or sex
maniac on the loose?

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Whoever did it, put a great
deal of planning

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and effort and you
might even say money.

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(male #2)
There may never have been

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00:01:07,693 --> 00:01:09,320
as anguishing a mystery.

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(female #2)
It's the worst kind of story

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you could tell.

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(female #3)
Being buried alive

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is our worst fear.

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(female #4)
The Chowchilla kids

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showed the world
what childhood trauma

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really does to a person.

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(female #5)
My childhood ended

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July 15, 1976.

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I will never get back the kid...

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...that I was. That-that kid
stayed underground.

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(male #3)
That happened for
each and every one of us.

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[dramatic music]

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[instrumental music]

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(female #6)
Chowchilla is in
central California.

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It was very small-town USA.

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[train horn blaring]

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(male narrator)
Chowchilla is a place

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where time can
seem to stand still.

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But there's always something

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that need to
be planted or harvested

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as the cycle of life continues.

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By the time I was there

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in 1970

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it was mainly
cattle and farming.

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(Ed Bates)
They had a fair and a rodeo.

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(female announcer)
'12:46.'

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[horses neighing]

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(Ed Bates)
Each year, they had
a cattle drive.

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[police siren wailing]

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[cows mooing]

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Right through
the center of town.

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(Mike)
My dad was a world champion

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steer wrestler.

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[music continues]

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I was raised right.

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Really to believe in God

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and cowboy.

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At an early age, I knew I
wanted to be a rodeo cowboy

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like my dad and his friends.

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(Jennifer)
Chowchilla was a wonderful
place to grow up.

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We'd catch frogs.

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We'd go roller
skating down the hills.

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Go play in the mud.

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In the irrigation ditches.

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The town had no crime.

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No crime at all.

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(Patricia)
You didn't have murders.

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You didn't have
a lot of big cases.

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It wasn't uncommon to go

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00:03:04,393 --> 00:03:05,978
all night long on
a graveyard shift

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00:03:06,061 --> 00:03:08,147
and the phone
not ring one time.

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(Lenore)
In Chowchilla,
the children could develop

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a sense of basic trust.

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And that is an important
foundation in early life.

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That sense, that you can just
sort of trust the world.

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[church bell dinging]

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(Larry)
It's one of the
few towns in America

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that had fewer
bars than it had churches.

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[laughs]

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As a child,
God was very real to me.

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(pastor)
By the power
of our living God...

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(Larry)
We had angels, demons.

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I could imagine Satan's army.

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My dad said that we all have

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a guardian angel

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that keeps those demons at bay.

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You imprint that on
a three year old's brain

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and there is just no doubt.

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[kids chattering]

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(Lynda)
At the time

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we were in summer school.

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We did arts and
crafts, ceramics.

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We got to go swimming.

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[water splashes]

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I remember we had
actually started a petition

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so that we could have an extra
two weeks of summer school.

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'Cause we were
having so much fun

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we did not want it to end.

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I have a large family.

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I'm third youngest

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in a family of eleven.

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That day, I had
three siblings on the bus

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and two cousins.

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We were little
innocent children.

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[ominous music]

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(Ed Ray)
Okay, load 'em.

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-Want to load em'? Come on.
-Yup.

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(boy #1)
Where we going?
Where are we going?

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(Ed Ray)
We're going home.
Take you home.

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(Lynda)
Ed Ray was the driver that day.

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He was a local farmer.

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You could tell, this man was
bucking his own hay.

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(Larry)
Yet, he was so kind.

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He knew all the
kids by first name.

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Knew most of their parents.

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(Glen)
There's not a one of them

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that didn't want
to hug his back

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when they got on the bus.

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(Mike)
I remember mom would
come get me

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every day at noon all summer.

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And the day before...

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...the kidnapping,
I got into my mom's beer

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and...tried to make some popcorn

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almost burnt the house.

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She walked in and said

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"Okay, Mike, well,
your punishment is, you know

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you're gonna have to ride
the bus home tomorrow."

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[instrumental music]

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That day, I was
out in the orchard

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with the teacher's daughter

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messing around
and stuff and, heh

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the bus is starting
to leave at 3:30.

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And, she's like,
"You better go get on the bus.

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Buses are leaving."

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So I took off running

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and flagged down
the last bus leaving

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which was Edward's.

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♪ Bending over
miles of cotton ♪

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♪ Finally ruined
my daddy's back ♪

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♪ As he overcompensated
for me ♪

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(Jennifer)
When we loaded up on the bus

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I went to the very back
so that I could be rowdy

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and talk with my friends.

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00:06:13,165 --> 00:06:17,002
I was a very outgoing,
outspoken child.

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And I was constantly getting in
trouble on the bus for talking.

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♪ As he pulled me through
that hot Chowchilla dust ♪

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(Jennifer)
My brother Jeff
was also on the bus.

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He was one year
ahead of me in school.

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An honorable student.

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Basically an all American kid.

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00:06:37,481 --> 00:06:39,358
(Lynda)
Jeff was right in front of me,
by the way.

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He was a sweetheart.

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00:06:41,068 --> 00:06:42,861
He was my ten-year-old
boyfriend.

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♪ As I'm falling through
the hot Chowchilla dust ♪♪

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00:06:47,157 --> 00:06:50,202
(Larry)
As a child, I was hyperactive.

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I was such a problem on the bus

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you couldn't
keep me in a seat.

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And me being me,
I forgot to take my...

165
00:06:57,292 --> 00:06:58,710
...meds that day.

166
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I was moving seats.

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Bugging this person
and hitting this person

168
00:07:02,089 --> 00:07:04,883
and pulling this person's hair.

169
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My sister Andrea

170
00:07:06,677 --> 00:07:09,304
was sitting by me on the bus.

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She was getting me to relax.

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Basically, she was
my best friend.

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I remember, a lot of the
girls had a crush

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00:07:18,605 --> 00:07:22,734
on the 14-year-old cowboy,
Mike Marshall.

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00:07:22,818 --> 00:07:26,196
(Lynda)
He was definitely a
handsome, 14-year-old boy.

176
00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:28,365
(Larry)
Never heard of him.

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00:07:28,448 --> 00:07:31,076
Never really seen him before.

178
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Here is this kid

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who comes out of
complete obscurity

180
00:07:36,039 --> 00:07:37,791
for the sole purpose...

181
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...that God knew

182
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what was about to happen.

183
00:07:44,131 --> 00:07:47,009
[ominous music]

184
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We were driving home.

185
00:07:52,931 --> 00:07:55,976
As usual, we were
dropping kids off

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00:07:56,059 --> 00:07:58,770
along the way.

187
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We're in the middle of the
orchards and fields.

188
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We turn this corner...

189
00:08:07,321 --> 00:08:08,488
...and Ed Ray stopped.

190
00:08:08,572 --> 00:08:10,365
[brakes hiss]

191
00:08:10,449 --> 00:08:11,450
[music continues]

192
00:08:13,911 --> 00:08:16,955
(interviewer #1)
I'd like you to tell me,
in your own words first

193
00:08:17,039 --> 00:08:18,749
uh, when you're
riding the bus

194
00:08:18,832 --> 00:08:20,876
just tell me what you remember.

195
00:08:20,959 --> 00:08:23,837
(Jennifer)
There was this white van
parked on the road.

196
00:08:23,921 --> 00:08:25,589
And then...

197
00:08:25,672 --> 00:08:26,715
[loud thumping]

198
00:08:26,798 --> 00:08:29,009
[dramatic music]

199
00:08:29,092 --> 00:08:31,178
Two guys jumped out
with guns...

200
00:08:34,723 --> 00:08:36,391
...and one told Ed
to open his door.

201
00:08:36,475 --> 00:08:37,809
[banging on door]

202
00:08:37,893 --> 00:08:40,395
[dramatic music]

203
00:08:42,231 --> 00:08:43,607
So Ed opened the door.

204
00:08:46,443 --> 00:08:47,945
And then the guy got in.

205
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He had a pantyhose
over his head.

206
00:08:50,697 --> 00:08:54,368
He told Edward to go
to the back of the bus.

207
00:08:54,451 --> 00:08:56,203
(Mike)
When Edward opened the door

208
00:08:56,286 --> 00:08:59,081
one of the kids, Jeff Brown

209
00:08:59,164 --> 00:09:01,625
he got up and said
"We didn't do it."

210
00:09:01,708 --> 00:09:03,126
And everybody kinda laughed.

211
00:09:03,210 --> 00:09:04,670
He thought it was a joke.

212
00:09:06,338 --> 00:09:08,423
(Lynda)
I was scared, so I ducked

213
00:09:08,507 --> 00:09:09,925
under my seat.

214
00:09:10,008 --> 00:09:12,594
[tense music]

215
00:09:14,763 --> 00:09:18,892
(Larry)
Ed Ray got up and he
moved to the back.

216
00:09:21,812 --> 00:09:24,231
I went back over
to my sister Andrea.

217
00:09:24,314 --> 00:09:25,649
I held her hand.

218
00:09:28,610 --> 00:09:30,320
The guy with a shotgun

219
00:09:30,404 --> 00:09:32,906
he's scaring me with his gun.

220
00:09:32,990 --> 00:09:35,409
(Young Mike on tape)
They told everybody
in the first two seats

221
00:09:35,492 --> 00:09:37,286
to go to the back of the bus.

222
00:09:37,369 --> 00:09:39,371
And I was in the fourth seat.

223
00:09:39,454 --> 00:09:41,790
Everybody was scared.

224
00:09:41,873 --> 00:09:43,792
(Lynda)
They kept their gun
pointed in the direction

225
00:09:43,875 --> 00:09:45,085
of all of us children.

226
00:09:45,168 --> 00:09:47,462
So it was the whole time

227
00:09:47,546 --> 00:09:48,880
pointed at the children.

228
00:09:50,132 --> 00:09:52,092
[tense music]

229
00:09:52,175 --> 00:09:55,470
Even more scary
was the pantyhose

230
00:09:55,554 --> 00:09:57,431
that they had
pulled over their face.

231
00:09:58,890 --> 00:10:00,934
(Larry)
They were tight.

232
00:10:01,018 --> 00:10:03,437
Smashing their nose down.

233
00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:06,398
Their eyes were hollow.

234
00:10:06,481 --> 00:10:09,318
They reminded me of demons.

235
00:10:09,401 --> 00:10:12,321
[sinister music]

236
00:10:14,698 --> 00:10:17,159
And then all of a
sudden, we were driving.

237
00:10:19,995 --> 00:10:22,372
(Mike)
I'm trying to figure
out what's going on.

238
00:10:22,456 --> 00:10:25,250
If I can figure out the why...

239
00:10:25,334 --> 00:10:27,878
...to maybe I can
figure out a way to...

240
00:10:30,422 --> 00:10:32,632
...interrupt what's
going to come next.

241
00:10:34,593 --> 00:10:37,804
And we drive a little further
and the guy runs the bus

242
00:10:37,888 --> 00:10:39,264
into a big slew.

243
00:10:39,348 --> 00:10:41,725
[rumbling]

244
00:10:41,808 --> 00:10:44,603
[ominous music]

245
00:10:44,686 --> 00:10:46,605
(Lynda)
It was a deep incline.

246
00:10:48,357 --> 00:10:51,401
We were jostled
all over the place.

247
00:10:51,485 --> 00:10:54,404
When we finally stopped,
we saw another van.

248
00:10:54,488 --> 00:10:57,324
Now there was a white van
and a green van.

249
00:10:59,701 --> 00:11:01,328
(Larry)
The van drove right back

250
00:11:01,411 --> 00:11:03,455
to the door of the bus.

251
00:11:05,123 --> 00:11:07,000
And then they had all the kids

252
00:11:07,084 --> 00:11:09,169
on the right hand side...

253
00:11:09,252 --> 00:11:12,672
...go into the white van.

254
00:11:12,756 --> 00:11:15,634
(Jennifer)
In that first group of
children was my brother.

255
00:11:15,717 --> 00:11:18,011
He turned and looked
at me down my aisle.

256
00:11:18,095 --> 00:11:19,679
He gave me that look of

257
00:11:19,763 --> 00:11:22,182
"You just need to be quiet."

258
00:11:22,265 --> 00:11:23,475
And so I did.

259
00:11:23,558 --> 00:11:25,185
I had seen enough TV shows

260
00:11:25,268 --> 00:11:27,062
that I knew that

261
00:11:27,145 --> 00:11:29,981
this was serious.

262
00:11:30,065 --> 00:11:31,483
(Mike)
I was the first one

263
00:11:31,566 --> 00:11:34,152
getting into the van.

264
00:11:34,236 --> 00:11:36,154
Going through the door,
there's another guy

265
00:11:36,238 --> 00:11:38,323
standing there like a statue

266
00:11:38,407 --> 00:11:40,617
pointing his gun
straight through.

267
00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:41,993
So you had to go by him.

268
00:11:42,077 --> 00:11:44,162
[ominous music]

269
00:11:44,246 --> 00:11:47,749
They had plywood all
inside the vans

270
00:11:47,833 --> 00:11:50,627
so that you couldn't
see out or anything.

271
00:11:56,633 --> 00:12:01,138
And then they backed
the second van up to the bus.

272
00:12:01,221 --> 00:12:04,307
(Jennifer)
The other kids,
we got in that van.

273
00:12:04,391 --> 00:12:05,851
I was scared.

274
00:12:05,934 --> 00:12:08,395
Because there was
absolutely no communication

275
00:12:08,478 --> 00:12:10,355
from them on where we're going

276
00:12:10,439 --> 00:12:11,773
or what they were
gonna do with us.

277
00:12:12,983 --> 00:12:14,776
And then they shut the doors.

278
00:12:14,860 --> 00:12:16,153
[door slams]

279
00:12:19,906 --> 00:12:23,535
I had fixed Michael, bacon and
tomato sandwiches for dinner.

280
00:12:24,953 --> 00:12:27,539
At about 4:30...

281
00:12:27,622 --> 00:12:29,291
...I started looking
for the bus.

282
00:12:29,374 --> 00:12:32,210
[birds chirping]

283
00:12:32,294 --> 00:12:33,336
(Carol)
It didn't come.

284
00:12:33,420 --> 00:12:35,338
[instrumental music]

285
00:12:35,422 --> 00:12:36,923
[indistinct chattering]

286
00:12:37,007 --> 00:12:38,675
(Patricia)
About 4:30, I got a phone call

287
00:12:38,758 --> 00:12:40,635
from a parent that the children

288
00:12:40,719 --> 00:12:43,054
hadn't arrived home
after school.

289
00:12:43,138 --> 00:12:44,973
I thought they've
had a flat tire

290
00:12:45,056 --> 00:12:47,684
or the bus has broken down
or something like that.

291
00:12:47,767 --> 00:12:49,853
Then we received
several more calls.

292
00:12:49,936 --> 00:12:51,855
[phone ringing]

293
00:12:51,938 --> 00:12:54,149
(Ed Bates)
In 1976, the sheriff's office

294
00:12:54,232 --> 00:12:56,651
had one patrol
officer in Chowchilla.

295
00:12:56,735 --> 00:12:59,029
There was only
one little bitty office.

296
00:12:59,112 --> 00:13:00,697
And one phone.

297
00:13:00,780 --> 00:13:03,033
When the call came in
that the bus was missing

298
00:13:03,116 --> 00:13:05,327
I said "what do you
mean missing?"

299
00:13:05,410 --> 00:13:08,371
How does a school bus
all painted yellow

300
00:13:08,455 --> 00:13:11,041
in a small county,
show up missing?

301
00:13:11,124 --> 00:13:12,584
I put out all points full.

302
00:13:12,667 --> 00:13:14,085
[phones ringing]

303
00:13:15,921 --> 00:13:17,756
It was a summer session.

304
00:13:17,839 --> 00:13:20,717
So the bus driver didn't
take the normal route

305
00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:23,303
that he would take to
drop children off.

306
00:13:23,386 --> 00:13:25,764
So, we had to check everywhere.

307
00:13:25,847 --> 00:13:27,724
(Carol)
I went all the
way to the school

308
00:13:27,807 --> 00:13:30,810
backtracked, looked
down every street...

309
00:13:30,894 --> 00:13:33,021
...every which way...

310
00:13:33,104 --> 00:13:34,689
...didn't see anything.

311
00:13:34,773 --> 00:13:38,193
I knew something was wrong.

312
00:13:38,276 --> 00:13:41,488
The parents were congregating
at the police station.

313
00:13:41,571 --> 00:13:43,907
'Cause, it-we were
getting really anxious.

314
00:13:45,659 --> 00:13:48,995
We're trying to
locate 26 lost children

315
00:13:49,079 --> 00:13:50,372
along with their driver.

316
00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:55,210
Never, in my wildest dreams...

317
00:13:55,293 --> 00:13:56,795
...did I think something

318
00:13:56,878 --> 00:13:59,714
major like this could
happen in Chowchilla.

319
00:13:59,798 --> 00:14:01,800
[sirens blaring]

320
00:14:07,973 --> 00:14:10,517
[engine rustling]

321
00:14:14,854 --> 00:14:17,274
(Jennifer)
It seemed like
we were driven around

322
00:14:17,357 --> 00:14:20,694
for like hours upon hours.

323
00:14:20,777 --> 00:14:23,363
It was hot in that van.

324
00:14:23,446 --> 00:14:25,240
(Larry)
It was just stifling.

325
00:14:27,117 --> 00:14:30,495
Kids got sick
from the motion of the vehicle

326
00:14:30,579 --> 00:14:33,456
and no food, no water.

327
00:14:33,540 --> 00:14:36,918
(Jennifer)
I just felt like an animal
being taken to slaughter.

328
00:14:38,420 --> 00:14:39,963
If you as a child

329
00:14:40,046 --> 00:14:42,507
can be thrown into
the back of a van

330
00:14:42,591 --> 00:14:46,428
without any comforts,
they didn't care about us.

331
00:14:46,511 --> 00:14:49,222
(Young Jennifer on tape)
I told a few of my,
um, little friends.

332
00:14:49,306 --> 00:14:51,433
And I told them, be brave
'cause everything's

333
00:14:51,516 --> 00:14:52,851
gonna be alright.

334
00:14:52,934 --> 00:14:55,228
[soft music]

335
00:14:57,105 --> 00:14:58,648
(Young Mike on tape)
We thought that they might

336
00:14:58,732 --> 00:15:00,525
be back there
killing the guys on the bus

337
00:15:00,609 --> 00:15:03,737
'cause we didn't know
what they were doing to 'em.

338
00:15:03,820 --> 00:15:06,364
(Lynda)
I was separated
from my three sisters.

339
00:15:06,448 --> 00:15:08,617
Were they alive?

340
00:15:08,700 --> 00:15:11,119
Did they get left behind?

341
00:15:11,202 --> 00:15:12,829
(Larry)
Andrea and I were together.

342
00:15:14,205 --> 00:15:16,458
I took her hand.

343
00:15:16,541 --> 00:15:18,627
There was some security there.

344
00:15:18,710 --> 00:15:21,296
[soft music]

345
00:15:21,379 --> 00:15:23,673
(Lynda)
We prayed.

346
00:15:23,757 --> 00:15:27,510
We sang "If you're happy and
you know it, clap your hands."

347
00:15:27,594 --> 00:15:29,220
Nobody clapped their hands.

348
00:15:33,058 --> 00:15:35,101
(Lenore)
All of us have a wall

349
00:15:35,185 --> 00:15:38,480
against getting
totally overwhelmed.

350
00:15:38,563 --> 00:15:40,649
And that wall is our defenses

351
00:15:40,732 --> 00:15:43,652
our coping mechanisms, humor.

352
00:15:43,735 --> 00:15:45,528
And when the wall

353
00:15:45,612 --> 00:15:48,031
gets broken, that's trauma.

354
00:15:48,114 --> 00:15:50,325
[engine rustling]

355
00:15:50,408 --> 00:15:52,243
(Lynda)
They wouldn't let us
use the restroom.

356
00:15:52,327 --> 00:15:54,621
I held myself all day.

357
00:15:54,704 --> 00:15:56,122
I was in tears.

358
00:15:56,206 --> 00:15:57,791
Because I was in physical pain.

359
00:15:57,874 --> 00:15:59,584
Jeff didn't want me
to be embarrassed

360
00:15:59,668 --> 00:16:00,877
'cause he knew I
was embarrassed.

361
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:02,629
And so Jeff wet his own pants

362
00:16:02,712 --> 00:16:06,716
and took my hand and placed
my hand on his lap.

363
00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:08,927
He said, "Look, I went,
you can go ahead and go."

364
00:16:09,010 --> 00:16:10,887
[music continues]

365
00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:12,514
Edward was very quiet.

366
00:16:12,597 --> 00:16:15,308
I think he comprehended

367
00:16:15,392 --> 00:16:17,143
that this was
serious situation.

368
00:16:18,561 --> 00:16:21,147
The kids were...

369
00:16:21,231 --> 00:16:24,275
...asking me, you know
questions about when they were

370
00:16:24,359 --> 00:16:25,652
gonna see their
mommies and daddies

371
00:16:25,735 --> 00:16:28,947
and...I think that they

372
00:16:29,030 --> 00:16:32,200
believed that I would
tell them the truth.

373
00:16:32,283 --> 00:16:36,079
I told them, "Yes, you will."

374
00:16:36,162 --> 00:16:37,747
And I didn't lie.

375
00:16:37,831 --> 00:16:41,084
I didn't tell them what...

376
00:16:41,167 --> 00:16:43,044
...lifetime it might be.

377
00:16:44,754 --> 00:16:45,964
[siren blaring]

378
00:16:46,047 --> 00:16:47,465
[indistinct radio chatter]

379
00:16:49,551 --> 00:16:52,011
(Ed Bates)
We were looking
for them everywhere.

380
00:16:52,095 --> 00:16:54,264
Then I recalled
one of my sergeants

381
00:16:54,347 --> 00:16:57,475
he didn't have an airplane, but
he had another buddy that did.

382
00:16:57,559 --> 00:16:59,227
So I asked him to
get up in a plane.

383
00:17:01,229 --> 00:17:03,940
[airplane droning]

384
00:17:06,234 --> 00:17:08,737
(Dan)
My dad, Robert Gudgel,
was well known

385
00:17:08,820 --> 00:17:10,321
as a local aviator.

386
00:17:10,405 --> 00:17:11,990
And he approached
dad right here

387
00:17:12,073 --> 00:17:13,700
to augment the search.

388
00:17:13,783 --> 00:17:16,286
I remember going out

389
00:17:16,369 --> 00:17:19,038
flying the airplane out
over the ash slew

390
00:17:19,122 --> 00:17:20,290
looking for the bus.

391
00:17:20,373 --> 00:17:22,125
[suspenseful music]

392
00:17:22,208 --> 00:17:25,003
(Dan)
Dad took Brenda, slough
down here to the south

393
00:17:25,086 --> 00:17:26,713
and dad is the one
that spotted it.

394
00:17:28,590 --> 00:17:30,633
(Dan)
It was difficult
to see from the ground

395
00:17:30,717 --> 00:17:33,052
because the sloughs
had quite a bit of trees.

396
00:17:33,136 --> 00:17:34,554
[plane whirring]

397
00:17:34,637 --> 00:17:35,805
(Patricia)
They knew something

398
00:17:35,889 --> 00:17:37,348
was terribly wrong at that point

399
00:17:37,432 --> 00:17:39,851
when they found the empty bus.

400
00:17:39,934 --> 00:17:41,269
(Carol)
I couldn't understand it.

401
00:17:41,352 --> 00:17:44,230
I actually looked up in the sky.

402
00:17:44,314 --> 00:17:46,065
"UFO's. What?"

403
00:17:46,149 --> 00:17:48,985
"Where are the kids?
Where's Michael?"

404
00:17:49,068 --> 00:17:50,945
(Ed Bates)
This was a major case.

405
00:17:51,029 --> 00:17:53,072
I called governor
Jerry Brown's office.

406
00:17:53,156 --> 00:17:55,700
I said I want every state agency

407
00:17:55,784 --> 00:17:58,328
that has cars and radios
in my office.

408
00:17:58,411 --> 00:18:00,580
They said, "You got it."

409
00:18:00,663 --> 00:18:02,665
In the meantime,
nearby county's said

410
00:18:02,749 --> 00:18:05,293
"What do you need? We'll
help you any way we can."

411
00:18:05,376 --> 00:18:06,711
We set up roadblocks.

412
00:18:06,795 --> 00:18:09,380
[people chattering]

413
00:18:11,674 --> 00:18:12,759
[music crescendos]

414
00:18:18,097 --> 00:18:20,809
(Mike)
We were driving around for

415
00:18:20,892 --> 00:18:22,852
seemed like hours
and hours and hours.

416
00:18:25,814 --> 00:18:28,399
Until they finally stopped.

417
00:18:30,068 --> 00:18:31,361
[brakes creak]

418
00:18:31,444 --> 00:18:33,029
And started hearing

419
00:18:33,112 --> 00:18:34,614
sawing and hammering.

420
00:18:34,697 --> 00:18:36,407
[distant sawing]

421
00:18:36,491 --> 00:18:39,160
[distant hammering]

422
00:18:39,244 --> 00:18:41,704
[ominous music]

423
00:18:48,503 --> 00:18:51,506
And now all of a sudden
the...door flies open.

424
00:18:51,589 --> 00:18:54,509
[door opens]
[dramatic music]

425
00:18:56,261 --> 00:18:57,804
(Larry)
They took Ed Ray out first.

426
00:19:01,182 --> 00:19:02,725
(Mike)
And then they grabbed
one of the kids.

427
00:19:04,811 --> 00:19:06,187
Door flies shut again.

428
00:19:07,730 --> 00:19:09,607
Few minutes would go by

429
00:19:09,691 --> 00:19:11,234
they'd reach in,
grab another kid.

430
00:19:13,069 --> 00:19:14,445
(Jennifer)
And I scooted myself

431
00:19:14,529 --> 00:19:17,448
way to the front
of the van again.

432
00:19:17,532 --> 00:19:20,201
I was trying to
survive at that point.

433
00:19:21,870 --> 00:19:23,329
(Mike)
I felt helpless.

434
00:19:25,498 --> 00:19:28,126
That to me was-was scariest

435
00:19:28,209 --> 00:19:32,922
because now we were
gonna find out what's going on.

436
00:19:33,006 --> 00:19:34,757
(interviewer #1)
When they opened the doors,
what did you see?

437
00:19:34,841 --> 00:19:36,467
(Young Jennifer on tape)
I saw...

438
00:19:36,551 --> 00:19:37,969
...it was kind of like a tent

439
00:19:38,052 --> 00:19:39,888
but it had three sides

440
00:19:39,971 --> 00:19:41,014
and it had a roof on.

441
00:19:43,224 --> 00:19:46,060
(Larry)
They had built this...

442
00:19:46,144 --> 00:19:49,188
...stretcher and covered it

443
00:19:49,272 --> 00:19:52,275
with some kind of a tarp.

444
00:19:52,358 --> 00:19:54,819
And they had backed the van

445
00:19:54,903 --> 00:19:56,738
underneath the stretcher.

446
00:19:56,821 --> 00:19:58,531
And so it was enclosed.

447
00:19:58,615 --> 00:20:01,451
[indistinct whirring]

448
00:20:01,534 --> 00:20:04,704
I remember that my knees
gave a little bit just from

449
00:20:04,787 --> 00:20:06,748
not having stood up

450
00:20:06,831 --> 00:20:08,374
in for so long.

451
00:20:08,458 --> 00:20:11,002
[ominous music]

452
00:20:11,085 --> 00:20:12,462
They asked me my name.

453
00:20:12,545 --> 00:20:14,839
I couldn't pronounce my 'Rs.

454
00:20:14,923 --> 00:20:17,383
So I was "Lawwy Pot."

455
00:20:17,467 --> 00:20:19,177
And that's how they

456
00:20:19,260 --> 00:20:20,303
wrote it down.

457
00:20:20,386 --> 00:20:23,097
[suspenseful music]

458
00:20:23,181 --> 00:20:24,390
(Jennifer)
They asked me my name

459
00:20:24,474 --> 00:20:27,226
and my age
and they took my shirt.

460
00:20:27,310 --> 00:20:31,522
So at that point it was just
me and my pink fuzzy swimsuit.

461
00:20:31,606 --> 00:20:33,733
(Lynda)
They took my purse,
white leather purse

462
00:20:33,816 --> 00:20:34,984
which had a little
address book.

463
00:20:35,068 --> 00:20:37,028
And I thought are you
giving these guys

464
00:20:37,111 --> 00:20:39,822
who are pointing guns at you...

465
00:20:39,906 --> 00:20:41,282
...your address and phone number

466
00:20:41,366 --> 00:20:43,076
where they can get the
rest of your family?

467
00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:49,415
Finally it came down to
me and this little Monica

468
00:20:49,499 --> 00:20:52,752
and...she was four years old.

469
00:20:52,835 --> 00:20:55,421
Hardest parts that
sticks out of my head was

470
00:20:55,505 --> 00:20:58,841
I had to either
hand her over to them

471
00:20:58,925 --> 00:21:01,094
or leave her there.

472
00:21:02,762 --> 00:21:05,390
And I couldn't hand her over.

473
00:21:08,309 --> 00:21:09,852
They escorted me...

474
00:21:12,897 --> 00:21:15,942
(Larry)
...to a-there was a
hole in the ground

475
00:21:16,025 --> 00:21:17,151
with a ladder coming out.

476
00:21:17,235 --> 00:21:19,362
[ominous music]

477
00:21:19,445 --> 00:21:20,697
I looked down the ladder

478
00:21:22,365 --> 00:21:24,784
and I could see Ed Ray.

479
00:21:24,867 --> 00:21:27,870
The kidnappers
gave him one flashlight.

480
00:21:29,247 --> 00:21:31,833
I did not want
to go down there.

481
00:21:31,916 --> 00:21:34,043
I knew if I
went down that hole

482
00:21:34,127 --> 00:21:35,795
I was never coming back out.

483
00:21:37,171 --> 00:21:38,381
Time froze.

484
00:21:41,259 --> 00:21:42,260
And then Ed Ray...

485
00:21:43,886 --> 00:21:45,430
...grabs my ankle

486
00:21:45,513 --> 00:21:47,640
he says "Come on son,
it'll be okay."

487
00:21:47,724 --> 00:21:48,725
[sniffles]

488
00:21:50,977 --> 00:21:53,146
Then I climbed down into there.

489
00:21:53,229 --> 00:21:55,106
[ominous music]

490
00:21:57,984 --> 00:22:00,570
(Jennifer)
Inside this hole
that we were in

491
00:22:00,653 --> 00:22:02,947
we were in the dark again.

492
00:22:03,031 --> 00:22:04,866
You couldn't really comprehend

493
00:22:04,949 --> 00:22:06,576
at that point where you were.

494
00:22:10,163 --> 00:22:11,622
I found my brother.

495
00:22:11,706 --> 00:22:13,291
So I knew that he was alive.

496
00:22:13,374 --> 00:22:14,792
My sisters were there.

497
00:22:16,294 --> 00:22:18,629
When they let Monica come down

498
00:22:18,713 --> 00:22:21,424
I was relieved.

499
00:22:21,507 --> 00:22:22,842
(Jennifer)
Some of the younger children

500
00:22:22,925 --> 00:22:24,343
were whimpering and crying.

501
00:22:24,427 --> 00:22:25,970
I remember Jodi Heffington

502
00:22:26,054 --> 00:22:27,805
was one of the older girls

503
00:22:27,889 --> 00:22:29,932
who tried to keep
the younger kids

504
00:22:30,016 --> 00:22:32,060
calm, somewhat...

505
00:22:32,143 --> 00:22:33,352
...and composed.

506
00:22:35,855 --> 00:22:38,608
Some people just
had that personality

507
00:22:38,691 --> 00:22:40,818
of an older sister figure

508
00:22:40,902 --> 00:22:42,612
that was there to help.

509
00:22:42,695 --> 00:22:44,864
[ominous music]

510
00:22:44,947 --> 00:22:45,990
(Larry)
I looked around.

511
00:22:49,035 --> 00:22:51,329
There were some mattresses
and some blankets.

512
00:22:53,164 --> 00:22:55,249
There was a table in the back

513
00:22:55,333 --> 00:22:57,835
and it has water around it.

514
00:22:57,919 --> 00:23:02,632
I remember thinking I wanted
that water so bad.

515
00:23:02,715 --> 00:23:04,509
(Lynda)
And there was some food.

516
00:23:04,592 --> 00:23:08,387
They had cereal,
peanut butter, bread.

517
00:23:08,471 --> 00:23:10,139
(Larry)
For us to use the restroom

518
00:23:10,223 --> 00:23:12,016
they had cut out holes.

519
00:23:14,227 --> 00:23:16,646
Like, we're okay,
at least for now.

520
00:23:16,729 --> 00:23:19,190
We're okay.
We're all alive.

521
00:23:19,273 --> 00:23:21,567
(Mike)
We're all back together.

522
00:23:21,651 --> 00:23:23,903
Suddenly they drop

523
00:23:23,986 --> 00:23:25,696
like a manhole cover

524
00:23:25,780 --> 00:23:29,075
over...the hole.

525
00:23:29,158 --> 00:23:31,702
(Mike)
That's when we started

526
00:23:31,786 --> 00:23:33,079
hearing that dirt.

527
00:23:34,205 --> 00:23:36,415
[rumbling]

528
00:23:36,499 --> 00:23:38,042
You know, phhshhh!

529
00:23:38,126 --> 00:23:40,044
We were being...

530
00:23:40,128 --> 00:23:42,171
...covered up, buried
alive, you know.

531
00:23:42,255 --> 00:23:45,174
[loud rumbling]

532
00:23:49,470 --> 00:23:52,348
[ominous music]

533
00:23:53,766 --> 00:23:56,477
[distant chattering]

534
00:23:56,561 --> 00:23:58,980
(George Osterkamp)
I was a young
news director at KQD

535
00:23:59,063 --> 00:24:00,815
the public television station.

536
00:24:00,898 --> 00:24:03,317
So, the news of the
kidnapping came to me

537
00:24:03,401 --> 00:24:04,694
on a wire machine.

538
00:24:04,777 --> 00:24:06,821
[dramatic music]

539
00:24:06,904 --> 00:24:09,282
I realized that this
was a big story.

540
00:24:09,365 --> 00:24:11,409
It was probably the
story of the decade.

541
00:24:11,492 --> 00:24:13,828
Possibly the story
of the century.

542
00:24:13,911 --> 00:24:16,706
[indistinct chattering]

543
00:24:16,789 --> 00:24:19,333
News media just
flooded the place.

544
00:24:19,417 --> 00:24:21,169
[indistinct chatter]

545
00:24:21,252 --> 00:24:23,171
(George)
The phone lines were jammed.

546
00:24:23,254 --> 00:24:26,924
Both with reporters
and anxious parents.

547
00:24:27,008 --> 00:24:29,677
It was a great
story for reporters.

548
00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:31,846
A terrible event for parents.

549
00:24:31,929 --> 00:24:34,265
Good evening.
There may never have been

550
00:24:34,348 --> 00:24:36,058
as anguishing a mystery.

551
00:24:36,142 --> 00:24:37,518
(George)
It was covered everywhere.

552
00:24:37,602 --> 00:24:38,853
The bus has been found.

553
00:24:38,936 --> 00:24:40,188
There are no signs of violence.

554
00:24:40,271 --> 00:24:41,564
And there are only horrified

555
00:24:41,647 --> 00:24:43,065
guesses as to
what may have happened.

556
00:24:43,149 --> 00:24:44,609
(George)
It led the newscasts.

557
00:24:44,692 --> 00:24:46,694
Still no break in that
Chowchilla, California

558
00:24:46,777 --> 00:24:47,904
school bus kidnapping.

559
00:24:47,987 --> 00:24:49,614
It was internationally covered.

560
00:24:49,697 --> 00:24:52,158
[dramatic music]

561
00:24:52,241 --> 00:24:55,036
But in those early hours, of
course, nobody knew anything.

562
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:57,246
There are a lot of
theories as to why.

563
00:24:57,330 --> 00:24:59,415
You tell me what the theories
are, I will select one.

564
00:24:59,498 --> 00:25:00,917
We have no theories at all.

565
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:02,627
What would you say about
the possible motive, then?

566
00:25:02,710 --> 00:25:05,504
-Do you have a theory as to--
-No, I really don't. I don't really have
one.

567
00:25:05,588 --> 00:25:07,798
(Ed Bates)
Every half hour, ABC, CBS, NBC

568
00:25:07,882 --> 00:25:10,259
all of 'em come in.
"Okay, what you can tell us?"

569
00:25:10,343 --> 00:25:12,178
Given all that we've got,
frankly it's a very

570
00:25:12,261 --> 00:25:15,223
baffling case because
we don't know any motive.

571
00:25:15,306 --> 00:25:17,725
(male #4)
This morning authorities
organized more search parties

572
00:25:17,808 --> 00:25:20,686
but we're still at a loss
without explanation.

573
00:25:20,770 --> 00:25:23,147
It was a crime
beyond imagination.

574
00:25:23,231 --> 00:25:25,399
(George)
With reporters trying
to get information

575
00:25:25,483 --> 00:25:27,318
in any way possible.

576
00:25:27,401 --> 00:25:29,070
(male #5)
Debbie Zilstra
was the last child

577
00:25:29,153 --> 00:25:31,239
to be let off the bus
before it disappeared.

578
00:25:31,322 --> 00:25:34,116
(reporter #1)
'Had you ever seen any cars
following the bus before?'

579
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:35,993
No.

580
00:25:36,077 --> 00:25:38,037
(reporter #1)
'You have any idea
who might've done it?'

581
00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:39,497
No.

582
00:25:39,580 --> 00:25:41,791
(reporter #1)
'Did you see anything
after the bus let you off?'

583
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:44,460
Nope.

584
00:25:44,543 --> 00:25:46,379
The sheriff says the
only thing he's ruled out

585
00:25:46,462 --> 00:25:48,965
at this point is the
possibility of a flying saucer.

586
00:25:49,048 --> 00:25:50,549
And there are
those in this area

587
00:25:50,633 --> 00:25:54,178
who don't rule out
that possibility either.

588
00:25:54,262 --> 00:25:58,099
(Patricia)
There were people calling in
with conspiracy theories.

589
00:25:58,182 --> 00:26:00,810
I remember talking to one person

590
00:26:00,893 --> 00:26:03,437
going on and on
about the son of Sam.

591
00:26:06,107 --> 00:26:08,567
Must've received
at least a 1000 calls

592
00:26:08,651 --> 00:26:10,903
thinking it was
the "Zodiac Killer."

593
00:26:10,987 --> 00:26:12,989
Or Moon, up in Oregon.

594
00:26:13,072 --> 00:26:15,324
(Patricia)
I mean, in the last few years
we've become used to

595
00:26:15,408 --> 00:26:18,119
terrorist activity in this
country, unfortunately so.

596
00:26:20,121 --> 00:26:22,039
(reporter #2)
'Is it a political act?'

597
00:26:22,123 --> 00:26:24,083
That's speculation, sir.

598
00:26:24,166 --> 00:26:26,377
Your guess is as good
as mine at this point.

599
00:26:26,460 --> 00:26:29,380
[dramatic music]

600
00:26:39,974 --> 00:26:43,144
(Jennifer)
You could hear these,
like, exhaust fans

601
00:26:43,227 --> 00:26:45,229
and if you went to the sides

602
00:26:45,313 --> 00:26:47,732
you could feel air coming in.

603
00:26:47,815 --> 00:26:48,941
Not air-conditioned air

604
00:26:49,025 --> 00:26:52,069
but warm air circulating.

605
00:26:52,153 --> 00:26:55,156
To me there was just
very little air.

606
00:26:55,239 --> 00:26:56,532
(Mike)
Very hard to breath.

607
00:26:58,367 --> 00:27:00,703
(Jennifer)
After so many hours

608
00:27:00,786 --> 00:27:03,122
it just becomes desperate.

609
00:27:03,205 --> 00:27:04,498
(Young Mike on tape)
Edward yells that

610
00:27:04,582 --> 00:27:06,542
"Would you please

611
00:27:06,625 --> 00:27:08,252
"open the door, I beg of you?

612
00:27:08,336 --> 00:27:11,589
"Pretty please, pretty please
let us out.

613
00:27:11,672 --> 00:27:14,842
"I've got blank checks
if that'll help any.

614
00:27:14,925 --> 00:27:18,012
Then he says "Everybody here
say, pretty please."

615
00:27:18,095 --> 00:27:19,513
So we all start saying it.

616
00:27:21,515 --> 00:27:22,933
And the guy wouldn't answer us.

617
00:27:25,936 --> 00:27:28,314
Ed Ray and Mike Marshall...

618
00:27:28,397 --> 00:27:31,567
...took the flashlight and
really started looking around.

619
00:27:31,650 --> 00:27:34,862
Every crack and every crevice,
looking at the walls

620
00:27:34,945 --> 00:27:36,906
they're looking at the
cracks on the ceiling.

621
00:27:36,989 --> 00:27:38,574
[suspenseful music]

622
00:27:40,409 --> 00:27:41,952
(Young Mike on tape)
We knew if we could get out

623
00:27:42,036 --> 00:27:43,204
was to go through the top.

624
00:27:45,498 --> 00:27:47,166
All the little kids,
they started saying

625
00:27:47,249 --> 00:27:48,459
"Try and move it."

626
00:27:51,420 --> 00:27:55,758
Edward didn't want because
he thought we'd get hurt

627
00:27:55,841 --> 00:27:58,177
if they caught us
trying to get out.

628
00:27:58,260 --> 00:27:59,970
We begged Edward "Please, try."

629
00:28:00,054 --> 00:28:01,680
"You've gotta try,
we're gonna die in here."

630
00:28:01,764 --> 00:28:03,724
"You've gotta get us out."

631
00:28:03,808 --> 00:28:06,018
(Larry)
Ed Ray put his hands up and he

632
00:28:06,102 --> 00:28:07,395
pushed on it a little bit.

633
00:28:09,063 --> 00:28:12,691
Ed Ray is a stout man but man!

634
00:28:12,775 --> 00:28:14,026
It was not moving.

635
00:28:16,070 --> 00:28:18,322
(Jennifer)
The water was running out.

636
00:28:18,406 --> 00:28:20,116
Nobody's come to find us.

637
00:28:20,199 --> 00:28:22,952
And then the batteries
on whatever fans

638
00:28:23,035 --> 00:28:25,413
they had going,
they just stopped.

639
00:28:25,496 --> 00:28:27,123
[fan blades whirring to a stop]

640
00:28:28,374 --> 00:28:29,500
[music continues]

641
00:28:32,420 --> 00:28:35,131
(Mike)
I remember Andrea was
sitting by herself, praying.

642
00:28:42,847 --> 00:28:45,474
(Larry)
Ed Ray got us
all to calm down.

643
00:28:48,894 --> 00:28:51,897
He had all 26 of us take a nap.

644
00:28:55,568 --> 00:28:57,319
I don't know
if it was the heat...

645
00:28:59,321 --> 00:29:02,992
...but I kept going
back to camping trips...

646
00:29:03,075 --> 00:29:04,660
...that I had
had with my family.

647
00:29:04,743 --> 00:29:06,454
[soft music]

648
00:29:07,997 --> 00:29:09,290
I could see the water.

649
00:29:14,628 --> 00:29:16,839
Waiting for that monster fish.

650
00:29:18,591 --> 00:29:19,592
I could...

651
00:29:21,218 --> 00:29:24,388
...see us gathering around

652
00:29:24,472 --> 00:29:26,891
the campfire,
I could smell the smoke.

653
00:29:30,019 --> 00:29:32,938
[music continues]

654
00:29:37,193 --> 00:29:38,986
(Lenore)
In the past hallucinations

655
00:29:39,069 --> 00:29:41,113
were attributed to viruses

656
00:29:41,197 --> 00:29:42,615
head injuries.

657
00:29:42,698 --> 00:29:45,326
But what hadn't been
known before Chowchilla

658
00:29:45,409 --> 00:29:47,203
is that pure fright

659
00:29:47,286 --> 00:29:49,079
getting scared to death

660
00:29:49,163 --> 00:29:51,165
could make you hallucinate.

661
00:29:51,248 --> 00:29:53,959
[music continues]

662
00:29:54,043 --> 00:29:55,544
One little child

663
00:29:55,628 --> 00:29:57,713
saw right through
the ceiling of the hall.

664
00:29:59,757 --> 00:30:01,550
Right through all
the rocks and the dirt

665
00:30:01,634 --> 00:30:02,718
that had been piled on.

666
00:30:04,887 --> 00:30:07,431
And saw the scene of kidnappers

667
00:30:07,515 --> 00:30:09,016
sleeping above them.

668
00:30:13,145 --> 00:30:16,190
That was a complete mirage...

669
00:30:16,273 --> 00:30:18,484
...and that came from
being traumatized.

670
00:30:18,567 --> 00:30:20,778
[unnerving music]

671
00:30:22,613 --> 00:30:24,490
(Larry)
When I woke up

672
00:30:24,573 --> 00:30:25,658
something was wrong.

673
00:30:27,284 --> 00:30:30,204
[ceiling creaking]

674
00:30:30,287 --> 00:30:32,957
Dirt was coming in.

675
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:34,667
And dust.

676
00:30:34,750 --> 00:30:36,585
(Mike)
It made like a plough...

677
00:30:36,669 --> 00:30:39,380
[imitates creaking]
Like that.

678
00:30:39,463 --> 00:30:41,340
[Mike imitates creaking]

679
00:30:41,423 --> 00:30:43,509
What's going on?

680
00:30:43,592 --> 00:30:46,428
(Larry)
The only thing
holding the roof in place

681
00:30:46,512 --> 00:30:48,430
were four by fours

682
00:30:48,514 --> 00:30:49,932
one on the ceiling

683
00:30:50,015 --> 00:30:51,267
and then a post

684
00:30:51,350 --> 00:30:54,144
holding it up.

685
00:30:54,228 --> 00:30:56,355
You could hear the
screeching of the metal...

686
00:30:56,438 --> 00:30:58,899
[metal screeching]

687
00:30:58,983 --> 00:31:00,025
...and the roof...

688
00:31:01,986 --> 00:31:05,406
...just gave.
[roof rumbling]

689
00:31:05,489 --> 00:31:06,782
[children screaming]

690
00:31:06,865 --> 00:31:08,617
(Jennifer)
It was terrifying.

691
00:31:08,701 --> 00:31:10,327
There was dust and dirt

692
00:31:10,411 --> 00:31:13,163
that was flying everywhere.

693
00:31:13,247 --> 00:31:14,915
(Lynda)
Thought we were
gonna die right there.

694
00:31:14,999 --> 00:31:16,875
That's when we thought
we would smother to death.

695
00:31:16,959 --> 00:31:19,628
[screaming frantically]

696
00:31:22,715 --> 00:31:24,925
And then it finally stopped.

697
00:31:25,009 --> 00:31:27,386
But, anyone that
touched that beam

698
00:31:27,469 --> 00:31:28,470
[sand trickling]

699
00:31:28,554 --> 00:31:30,180
...the sand would trickle in.

700
00:31:30,264 --> 00:31:31,473
So we couldn't move.

701
00:31:31,557 --> 00:31:33,017
We-we had to stay put

702
00:31:33,100 --> 00:31:35,728
wherever we were at.

703
00:31:35,811 --> 00:31:37,521
We knew we wouldn't
last much longer in there.

704
00:31:40,482 --> 00:31:42,735
(newscaster #2)
Good evening. The California
National Guard today

705
00:31:42,818 --> 00:31:44,862
joined state and local police

706
00:31:44,945 --> 00:31:46,905
and the FBI in a giant search

707
00:31:46,989 --> 00:31:49,658
for 26 Californian children.

708
00:31:49,742 --> 00:31:51,201
There are no real clues

709
00:31:51,285 --> 00:31:52,786
only an eerie silence

710
00:31:52,870 --> 00:31:56,081
in a frightening
and bizarre case.

711
00:31:56,165 --> 00:31:57,666
(reporter #3)
Throughout much of this day

712
00:31:57,750 --> 00:31:59,752
parents and other family
of the missing children

713
00:31:59,835 --> 00:32:03,922
came to the command post set up
in Downtown, Chowchilla.

714
00:32:04,006 --> 00:32:06,050
(Glen)
At that time, there
was a 100 people

715
00:32:06,133 --> 00:32:08,886
waiting for word
and it was scary.

716
00:32:08,969 --> 00:32:10,596
I want to express to you

717
00:32:10,679 --> 00:32:13,057
the governor's concern,
and my concern.

718
00:32:13,140 --> 00:32:15,893
The California
Highway Patrol Police

719
00:32:15,976 --> 00:32:18,854
and if necessary,
the National Guard

720
00:32:18,937 --> 00:32:22,608
are available to
assist in the search.

721
00:32:22,691 --> 00:32:25,194
When somebody
disappears for that long

722
00:32:25,277 --> 00:32:27,696
and you have no word whatsoever

723
00:32:27,780 --> 00:32:30,741
on where they might be,
you're scared to death.

724
00:32:30,824 --> 00:32:32,159
(reporter #4)
'Do you have any children?'

725
00:32:32,242 --> 00:32:34,036
I do and I would
have had two children

726
00:32:34,119 --> 00:32:36,747
on that bus but she woke up
sick yesterday morning

727
00:32:36,830 --> 00:32:38,415
[voice breaking]
and I didn't send her.

728
00:32:38,499 --> 00:32:40,459
[sobbing]
And she was so...

729
00:32:40,542 --> 00:32:42,419
[sobbing]

730
00:32:46,131 --> 00:32:48,759
My husband, Bob,
he was in Canada

731
00:32:48,842 --> 00:32:50,886
at the Calgary Stampede.

732
00:32:50,969 --> 00:32:54,056
He was practically
in tears trying to get home.

733
00:32:55,641 --> 00:32:58,394
I was able to sleep for a while

734
00:32:58,477 --> 00:33:00,020
but as soon as I opened my eyes

735
00:33:00,104 --> 00:33:02,731
it was like a ton
of bricks hit me.

736
00:33:02,815 --> 00:33:05,275
(reporter #5)
Guess now all that we can do is
to join with the families

737
00:33:05,359 --> 00:33:07,945
and loved ones
of those involved

738
00:33:08,028 --> 00:33:11,198
and pray, pray hard for
their safe recovery.

739
00:33:12,616 --> 00:33:14,493
[eerie music]

740
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,038
(Lynda)
We begged Edward, "Please try.

741
00:33:18,122 --> 00:33:19,456
"You've got to try.
We're gonna die in here.

742
00:33:19,540 --> 00:33:21,417
You've got to get us out."

743
00:33:21,500 --> 00:33:23,293
I remember Edward

744
00:33:23,377 --> 00:33:25,087
saying that

745
00:33:25,170 --> 00:33:27,005
it looked like we
were gonna have to

746
00:33:27,089 --> 00:33:29,675
stay down there
and kick the bucket.

747
00:33:29,758 --> 00:33:30,968
Edward was fearful

748
00:33:31,051 --> 00:33:33,053
that his actions...

749
00:33:33,137 --> 00:33:34,763
...could cause harm

750
00:33:34,847 --> 00:33:37,891
not only to him but to us.

751
00:33:37,975 --> 00:33:40,602
(Jennifer)
But Mike didn't have that
sense of hopelessness.

752
00:33:42,688 --> 00:33:44,565
(Mike)
You know, a little
fear kind of hits you

753
00:33:44,648 --> 00:33:45,983
but at the same time

754
00:33:46,066 --> 00:33:47,443
it generates more...

755
00:33:48,986 --> 00:33:50,863
...power.

756
00:33:50,946 --> 00:33:52,865
I was trying to process it all

757
00:33:52,948 --> 00:33:54,324
and I thought to myself

758
00:33:54,408 --> 00:33:55,701
"If we're gonna die,
we're gonna die

759
00:33:55,784 --> 00:33:56,952
"getting the hell out of here,
you know

760
00:33:57,035 --> 00:33:58,495
we're gonna die trying."

761
00:33:58,579 --> 00:34:01,248
[tense music]

762
00:34:01,331 --> 00:34:03,083
(Jennifer)
They started
stacking up mattresses

763
00:34:03,167 --> 00:34:04,877
to get to the top.

764
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:06,962
Even a lot of the younger kids

765
00:34:07,045 --> 00:34:10,382
took turns doing
whatever it is

766
00:34:10,466 --> 00:34:12,134
that their young
little bodies can do.

767
00:34:12,217 --> 00:34:16,346
We're not gonna die. This
is not how we're gonna end.

768
00:34:16,430 --> 00:34:18,474
Jodie's job was to
shine the flashlight

769
00:34:18,557 --> 00:34:20,309
while Michael went up

770
00:34:20,392 --> 00:34:21,852
and with all his might

771
00:34:21,935 --> 00:34:23,937
gave his cowboy push.

772
00:34:24,021 --> 00:34:26,023
[ceiling creaking]

773
00:34:27,858 --> 00:34:29,193
(Mike)
All the kids are calling

774
00:34:29,276 --> 00:34:32,821
"Mike, you can do it, Mike."

775
00:34:32,905 --> 00:34:35,491
And I don't feel it move

776
00:34:35,574 --> 00:34:37,618
or see it move

777
00:34:37,701 --> 00:34:39,745
but all the kids

778
00:34:39,828 --> 00:34:40,954
I just heard them say,

779
00:34:41,038 --> 00:34:44,208
"it moved, it moved."

780
00:34:44,291 --> 00:34:47,085
(Larry)
For the first time,
I felt hope.

781
00:34:47,169 --> 00:34:50,756
Kinda wondered
if he was my angel.

782
00:34:50,839 --> 00:34:54,343
My guardian angel
that dad talked about.

783
00:34:54,426 --> 00:34:56,929
At that point, we said,
"Edward you have to help him.

784
00:34:57,012 --> 00:34:58,639
"You, we-we've got
to get out of here.

785
00:34:58,722 --> 00:35:01,391
We're going to die. We're
gonna suffocate in here."

786
00:35:01,475 --> 00:35:03,227
(Jennifer)
Edward was fearful that

787
00:35:03,310 --> 00:35:05,103
somebody was up
there, just waiting.

788
00:35:05,187 --> 00:35:07,356
[suspenseful music]

789
00:35:07,439 --> 00:35:09,942
But he finally went
over and helped.

790
00:35:10,025 --> 00:35:11,902
(Larry)
Ed Ray started pushing

791
00:35:11,985 --> 00:35:14,112
with everything he had.

792
00:35:14,196 --> 00:35:16,156
They knew something was on it

793
00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:19,034
but we didn't
know what it was.

794
00:35:19,117 --> 00:35:21,745
And so he pushed up...

795
00:35:21,829 --> 00:35:24,414
...and he got that
man-hole cover up

796
00:35:24,498 --> 00:35:26,959
maybe about yay high.

797
00:35:27,042 --> 00:35:30,796
And Mike Marshall
stuck his arm through there...

798
00:35:30,879 --> 00:35:33,674
and started feeling
around to see what was

799
00:35:33,757 --> 00:35:35,509
on top of the man-hole cover.

800
00:35:35,592 --> 00:35:36,885
[tense music]

801
00:35:36,969 --> 00:35:39,638
Mike got his hand in there

802
00:35:39,721 --> 00:35:42,307
and just started doing this.

803
00:35:42,391 --> 00:35:45,644
And together, they move
that man-hole cover back

804
00:35:45,727 --> 00:35:48,647
just far enough that
a corner of a battery...

805
00:35:49,898 --> 00:35:51,066
...could be seen.

806
00:35:53,110 --> 00:35:54,987
That's not the
battery in your car.

807
00:35:55,070 --> 00:35:56,738
These bus batteries

808
00:35:56,822 --> 00:36:00,784
weigh about 125, 150 pounds.

809
00:36:00,868 --> 00:36:02,202
Had Ed Ray...

810
00:36:02,995 --> 00:36:04,288
...slipped...

811
00:36:04,371 --> 00:36:06,874
...had Ed Ray lost his grip...

812
00:36:08,375 --> 00:36:12,004
...Mike Marshall would
have lost his arm.

813
00:36:12,087 --> 00:36:14,798
(Jennifer)
I remember them
saying "watch out" and two

814
00:36:14,882 --> 00:36:16,967
these two huge batteries

815
00:36:17,050 --> 00:36:19,595
were dropped down
on the stack of mattresses.

816
00:36:19,678 --> 00:36:21,430
[music continues]

817
00:36:21,513 --> 00:36:23,891
And then Ed Ray
had a good look.

818
00:36:28,186 --> 00:36:31,690
(Larry)
Around this hole
they made a square box.

819
00:36:31,773 --> 00:36:34,651
Three feet high,
something like that.

820
00:36:34,735 --> 00:36:39,281
And that was so they-as they
were covering the van with dirt

821
00:36:39,364 --> 00:36:42,242
that they wouldn't
cover up the hole.

822
00:36:42,326 --> 00:36:44,119
[cassette static]

823
00:36:44,202 --> 00:36:46,830
(Young Mike on tape)
Edward squeezes me through this

824
00:36:46,914 --> 00:36:49,082
half foot hole.

825
00:36:49,166 --> 00:36:51,293
I get on top of it.

826
00:36:51,376 --> 00:36:54,129
I start pounding on this box.

827
00:36:54,212 --> 00:36:55,881
(Young Jeff on tape)
There was a box up there.

828
00:36:55,964 --> 00:36:57,883
And he tried to
bang his way out...

829
00:36:57,966 --> 00:36:59,801
...but he couldn't do it.

830
00:36:59,885 --> 00:37:01,428
And then they got
me up there with them.

831
00:37:04,389 --> 00:37:09,019
We both tried with our backs
to push up, push up.

832
00:37:09,102 --> 00:37:10,979
We couldn't do it so
Mike tried with his feet

833
00:37:11,063 --> 00:37:13,398
and I tried with my back...

834
00:37:13,482 --> 00:37:15,025
...and still we couldn't do it.

835
00:37:15,108 --> 00:37:17,319
(Larry)
All the seams were
pretty well connected.

836
00:37:17,402 --> 00:37:19,988
Mike said we need
something to pry it with...

837
00:37:20,072 --> 00:37:22,407
And keep the part of
box spring mattress

838
00:37:22,491 --> 00:37:23,742
and was using the wood.

839
00:37:25,243 --> 00:37:26,745
[thudding]

840
00:37:26,828 --> 00:37:29,414
(Young Mike on tape)
So, Robert got up there
with me for a while

841
00:37:29,498 --> 00:37:31,208
and we started hitting
and pounding

842
00:37:31,291 --> 00:37:32,668
hitting and pounding.

843
00:37:32,751 --> 00:37:34,086
(Larry)
Mike would slam

844
00:37:34,169 --> 00:37:35,712
that corner

845
00:37:35,796 --> 00:37:39,174
over and over and over.

846
00:37:40,801 --> 00:37:42,177
It just seemed impossible.

847
00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:45,180
[tense music]

848
00:37:45,263 --> 00:37:47,808
(Mike)
I start digging
underneath the plywood...

849
00:37:50,268 --> 00:37:53,063
...and I realized
after I do that for a while

850
00:37:53,146 --> 00:37:57,275
the material, rock and stuff

851
00:37:57,359 --> 00:37:59,194
is f-falling down

852
00:37:59,277 --> 00:38:02,280
outside of the plywood

853
00:38:02,364 --> 00:38:03,448
into the hole I'm digging.

854
00:38:03,532 --> 00:38:05,158
[rocks rumbling]

855
00:38:05,242 --> 00:38:07,661
I thought maybe
I could get weight...

856
00:38:07,744 --> 00:38:08,829
...off the top.

857
00:38:10,956 --> 00:38:13,333
And then I can pull it
out and I can scoop it

858
00:38:13,417 --> 00:38:15,961
down inside the hole.

859
00:38:16,044 --> 00:38:18,463
[sand and rock rustling]

860
00:38:18,547 --> 00:38:20,549
He was kicking dirt,
throwing dirt.

861
00:38:20,632 --> 00:38:22,884
[thudding]

862
00:38:25,595 --> 00:38:31,309
-(Larry) He kept digging.
-(Jennifer) I don't know how
Mike maneuvered

863
00:38:31,393 --> 00:38:33,228
up in that wooden box.

864
00:38:33,311 --> 00:38:34,980
I don't know how
long he was up there.

865
00:38:36,773 --> 00:38:39,109
It was hours.

866
00:38:39,192 --> 00:38:41,987
(Lenore)
Our sense of time
under scary conditions

867
00:38:42,070 --> 00:38:44,489
is one of the most
vulnerable senses

868
00:38:44,573 --> 00:38:46,867
that we have.

869
00:38:46,950 --> 00:38:48,410
The child who held the light

870
00:38:48,493 --> 00:38:51,163
knew it was a
long, long time.

871
00:38:53,081 --> 00:38:55,584
I was, you know,
drained, tired.

872
00:38:55,667 --> 00:38:57,085
(Mike)
I had no energy.

873
00:38:57,169 --> 00:38:59,463
I was exhausted.

874
00:38:59,546 --> 00:39:02,007
My equilibrium was totally off

875
00:39:02,090 --> 00:39:03,425
and I didn't know

876
00:39:03,508 --> 00:39:05,427
what was up or down.

877
00:39:05,510 --> 00:39:07,846
That's when Edward started

878
00:39:07,929 --> 00:39:10,223
"Pretty please,
don't hurt him."

879
00:39:10,307 --> 00:39:12,684
"Pretty please,
don't hurt him."

880
00:39:12,768 --> 00:39:15,896
I could hear that in my ears,
ringing over and over.

881
00:39:15,979 --> 00:39:17,564
"Pretty please
don't hurt him.

882
00:39:17,647 --> 00:39:19,399
He doesn't know
what he's doing."

883
00:39:19,483 --> 00:39:22,319
And I'm starting to believe
that they are up there.

884
00:39:25,030 --> 00:39:26,573
That to me was scary.

885
00:39:29,284 --> 00:39:32,996
I tried to see if I could get
any weight off the top.

886
00:39:34,790 --> 00:39:37,334
It moved like just a crack

887
00:39:37,417 --> 00:39:39,753
and I looked through it

888
00:39:39,836 --> 00:39:42,422
and plain as day...

889
00:39:42,506 --> 00:39:43,924
...I was going up...

890
00:39:44,007 --> 00:39:45,717
[eerie music]

891
00:39:45,801 --> 00:39:47,344
...in a door opening...

892
00:39:49,221 --> 00:39:52,224
...and beyond that
was just pure darkness.

893
00:39:53,975 --> 00:39:56,561
And you could tell
there was somebody

894
00:39:56,645 --> 00:39:58,396
in that darkness.

895
00:40:01,316 --> 00:40:04,569
But I remember it vividly.

896
00:40:04,653 --> 00:40:06,571
(Lenore)
This was a hallucination

897
00:40:06,655 --> 00:40:09,199
that he had dug into no place

898
00:40:09,282 --> 00:40:12,869
that they were still
in horrible trouble...

899
00:40:12,953 --> 00:40:16,039
...that they were
going to die anyway.

900
00:40:16,123 --> 00:40:17,582
So he went back down

901
00:40:17,666 --> 00:40:19,084
and he sat down and he thought

902
00:40:19,167 --> 00:40:20,585
"But what am I digging for?

903
00:40:20,669 --> 00:40:22,087
This is terrible,
I can't do this."

904
00:40:25,090 --> 00:40:28,260
And then he decided "I'm gonna
go up there anyway."

905
00:40:28,343 --> 00:40:30,345
I took a, you know,
a little break

906
00:40:30,428 --> 00:40:31,638
there, but, then I...

907
00:40:33,223 --> 00:40:35,851
(Mike)
...something clicked in me.

908
00:40:35,934 --> 00:40:38,270
I said to myself,
"You're a cowboy.

909
00:40:38,353 --> 00:40:40,564
"You're gonna get on that
crazy ass horse

910
00:40:40,647 --> 00:40:42,941
you're gonna do whatever it
is you gotta do."

911
00:40:45,318 --> 00:40:46,987
I didn't care if
they were up there.

912
00:40:47,070 --> 00:40:48,363
I wasn't gonna give up.

913
00:40:48,446 --> 00:40:50,949
From that point on,
it didn't matter.

914
00:40:51,032 --> 00:40:52,325
[tape recorder static]

915
00:40:52,409 --> 00:40:54,578
(Young Mike on tape)
I started hitting stuff.

916
00:40:54,661 --> 00:40:57,914
Hitting and pounding
and hitting and pounding.

917
00:40:57,998 --> 00:41:00,292
And I pulled the chip out.

918
00:41:00,375 --> 00:41:03,336
[crackling]

919
00:41:03,420 --> 00:41:06,298
And then
there was big crack.

920
00:41:06,381 --> 00:41:07,340
[creaks]

921
00:41:07,424 --> 00:41:10,302
[sand crumbling]

922
00:41:12,512 --> 00:41:13,722
I cracked the ceiling.

923
00:41:13,805 --> 00:41:16,099
[soft dramatic music]

924
00:41:17,934 --> 00:41:20,353
And then I
almost got it open.

925
00:41:21,688 --> 00:41:23,023
Stole some more and...

926
00:41:23,106 --> 00:41:24,691
[sand whooshing]

927
00:41:24,774 --> 00:41:26,693
...and cracked it again.

928
00:41:26,776 --> 00:41:29,696
[sand whooshing]

929
00:41:29,779 --> 00:41:32,157
[music continues]

930
00:41:33,783 --> 00:41:36,620
(Larry)
It was...the most beautiful

931
00:41:36,703 --> 00:41:38,788
ray of sunlight...

932
00:41:38,872 --> 00:41:40,415
...that I had ever seen.

933
00:41:42,959 --> 00:41:45,253
(Mike)
I just remember the light

934
00:41:45,337 --> 00:41:46,755
and the air.

935
00:41:46,838 --> 00:41:49,674
So much air, cool air.

936
00:41:52,510 --> 00:41:53,845
Not knowing if
they're up there

937
00:41:53,929 --> 00:41:55,513
I kept thinking

938
00:41:55,597 --> 00:41:57,641
we're getting creamed
or we're getting out.

939
00:41:57,724 --> 00:41:58,975
And I think that's why

940
00:41:59,059 --> 00:42:00,602
I didn't hesitate

941
00:42:00,685 --> 00:42:02,020
to stick my head out.

942
00:42:02,103 --> 00:42:03,730
As soon as I had
it broke off.

943
00:42:03,813 --> 00:42:06,691
[tense music]

944
00:42:14,449 --> 00:42:16,409
Going up above the hole

945
00:42:16,493 --> 00:42:18,119
I had no real chance

946
00:42:18,203 --> 00:42:19,621
where it was.

947
00:42:21,331 --> 00:42:23,500
It's these trees.

948
00:42:23,583 --> 00:42:26,086
And it felt like we
were in the mountains.

949
00:42:26,169 --> 00:42:27,379
There was nobody there.

950
00:42:30,298 --> 00:42:32,509
(Larry)
I remember getting up

951
00:42:32,592 --> 00:42:33,760
and looking around...

952
00:42:35,262 --> 00:42:37,973
...off in the distance
was a big...

953
00:42:38,056 --> 00:42:39,057
...big building.

954
00:42:40,934 --> 00:42:43,311
And I was worried
about that building

955
00:42:43,395 --> 00:42:45,522
'cause maybe the kidnappers

956
00:42:45,605 --> 00:42:47,232
were over there.

957
00:42:47,315 --> 00:42:50,193
Edward got all the kids together

958
00:42:50,277 --> 00:42:52,570
said we need to be quiet.

959
00:42:52,654 --> 00:42:54,906
(Jennifer)
And, so, like a
bunch of little ducks

960
00:42:54,990 --> 00:42:57,158
we're just walking
through the sand.

961
00:42:59,035 --> 00:43:01,329
(Mike)
There were 27 of us.

962
00:43:01,413 --> 00:43:03,873
And if they are around
here, we're pretty easy

963
00:43:03,957 --> 00:43:06,543
target to see.

964
00:43:06,626 --> 00:43:08,336
(Larry)
But then we saw
someone coming...

965
00:43:08,420 --> 00:43:09,963
[tense music]

966
00:43:10,046 --> 00:43:12,340
...toward us, and I did not know

967
00:43:12,424 --> 00:43:14,968
who it was or what they wanted.

968
00:43:15,051 --> 00:43:17,971
And the guy's face
was just like

969
00:43:18,054 --> 00:43:20,223
"Oh my God!

970
00:43:20,307 --> 00:43:21,850
"I saw you on the news.

971
00:43:21,933 --> 00:43:24,060
Where in the hell
did you come from?"

972
00:43:24,144 --> 00:43:26,479
[tense music]

973
00:43:26,563 --> 00:43:29,149
(Mike)
We turned out to
be in a rock quarry.

974
00:43:32,027 --> 00:43:36,698
And in no time the
klaxon started sounding.

975
00:43:36,781 --> 00:43:38,575
[klaxon blaring]

976
00:43:38,658 --> 00:43:41,661
(Larry)
They had set off
their-their alarm.

977
00:43:41,745 --> 00:43:43,997
The children have been found.

978
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:45,457
They are in good shape.

979
00:43:45,540 --> 00:43:47,125
The bus driver has been found.

980
00:43:47,208 --> 00:43:48,543
He is in good shape.

981
00:43:48,626 --> 00:43:50,295
There's no indication
of any harm.

982
00:43:52,797 --> 00:43:54,215
[van engine whirring]

983
00:43:56,468 --> 00:43:58,803
(Bruce)
Detective Bernie Serving
and I were the first

984
00:43:58,887 --> 00:44:01,639
to as I recall, to
arrive and make contact

985
00:44:01,723 --> 00:44:03,224
with the bus
driver and the kids.

986
00:44:05,518 --> 00:44:06,853
Kids were actually

987
00:44:06,936 --> 00:44:08,646
for the most part, calm.

988
00:44:08,730 --> 00:44:10,315
[camera shutter flashing]

989
00:44:10,398 --> 00:44:12,025
They were a little bit
dirty looking, obviously

990
00:44:12,108 --> 00:44:14,694
because they were
buried in the ground.
[camera shutter flashing]

991
00:44:23,411 --> 00:44:26,706
(Larry)
We were in this big warehouse.

992
00:44:26,790 --> 00:44:30,043
I remember they
had a water cooler.

993
00:44:30,126 --> 00:44:32,629
I would take my little cup
and I would pour it on my head.

994
00:44:32,712 --> 00:44:34,714
And then I'd fill it up
and I'd pour it on my head

995
00:44:34,798 --> 00:44:36,174
trying to get
the dirt off me.

996
00:44:36,257 --> 00:44:37,467
[water sloshing]

997
00:44:39,594 --> 00:44:41,971
That evening we
had the television on

998
00:44:42,055 --> 00:44:43,973
and I thought, I heard him say

999
00:44:44,057 --> 00:44:46,434
kids from Chowchilla,
had been found.

1000
00:44:46,518 --> 00:44:48,728
I ran in there...

1001
00:44:48,812 --> 00:44:50,105
...jumped over the coffee table

1002
00:44:50,188 --> 00:44:52,023
[chuckles]
turned the TV up

1003
00:44:52,107 --> 00:44:53,900
and sure enough...

1004
00:44:53,983 --> 00:44:55,568
...and I was so thankful.

1005
00:44:55,652 --> 00:44:57,779
My son Michael is fourteen

1006
00:44:57,862 --> 00:44:59,364
and he's alive and well

1007
00:44:59,447 --> 00:45:01,908
and he's coming home
and I can't wait to see him.

1008
00:45:01,991 --> 00:45:03,618
(reporter #6)
'What's the last 24
hours been like?'

1009
00:45:03,701 --> 00:45:05,245
Not very nice.

1010
00:45:05,328 --> 00:45:07,872
I wouldn't want to have
to go through it again.

1011
00:45:07,956 --> 00:45:09,541
Ever.

1012
00:45:09,624 --> 00:45:11,960
[indistinct chatter]

1013
00:45:14,337 --> 00:45:15,922
(Bruce)
We had to decide
how we're gonna

1014
00:45:16,005 --> 00:45:17,549
proceed with the
interviews and things

1015
00:45:17,632 --> 00:45:18,758
and we decided it was best

1016
00:45:18,842 --> 00:45:20,885
to get them to a
secure location.

1017
00:45:20,969 --> 00:45:24,055
(Jennifer)
So, we rode just a
very short distance

1018
00:45:24,139 --> 00:45:25,932
to...the prison.

1019
00:45:29,144 --> 00:45:31,521
They sat us down
at all these little desks

1020
00:45:31,604 --> 00:45:33,773
and they had apples

1021
00:45:33,857 --> 00:45:35,108
and cartons of milk.

1022
00:45:35,191 --> 00:45:36,943
[tense music]

1023
00:45:37,026 --> 00:45:39,571
(Larry)
We were given
inmate jumpsuits.

1024
00:45:39,654 --> 00:45:41,698
Their white jumpsuits to wear.

1025
00:45:41,781 --> 00:45:43,867
(Yong Jennifer on tape)
All those little
kids got into 'em

1026
00:45:43,950 --> 00:45:46,244
and we had to
roll the pants about

1027
00:45:46,327 --> 00:45:47,704
ten feet.

1028
00:45:47,787 --> 00:45:49,122
We sitting there
flapping our arms.

1029
00:45:49,205 --> 00:45:50,874
We said, "Hey, we can fly"

1030
00:45:50,957 --> 00:45:55,211
and we pretend like
we were gonna fly.

1031
00:45:55,295 --> 00:45:57,422
(Jennifer)
And then the police came in

1032
00:45:57,505 --> 00:45:58,506
and talked to us.

1033
00:46:00,049 --> 00:46:02,343
-'What is the situation?'
-'Go ahead.'

1034
00:46:02,427 --> 00:46:04,721
(male #6)
'I would generally describe
them in very high spirits.'

1035
00:46:04,804 --> 00:46:06,389
-Yeah. Has--
-They talk--

1036
00:46:06,473 --> 00:46:08,141
We asked who wants to
be talked to next and they all

1037
00:46:08,224 --> 00:46:10,560
put up their hand
and they're very jovial.

1038
00:46:10,643 --> 00:46:12,645
After that, they
got us loaded up

1039
00:46:12,729 --> 00:46:15,648
in a Greyhound bus
to go home to Chowchilla.

1040
00:46:16,691 --> 00:46:19,360
[cheering and whistling]

1041
00:46:22,447 --> 00:46:24,324
(Lynda)
When we got through Chowchilla

1042
00:46:24,407 --> 00:46:26,868
there were lights everywhere,
people everywhere.

1043
00:46:26,951 --> 00:46:28,453
Just a sea of people.

1044
00:46:28,536 --> 00:46:30,955
(Larry)
It was just a mob.

1045
00:46:31,039 --> 00:46:32,040
[applauding]

1046
00:46:36,211 --> 00:46:39,130
[indistinct chattering]

1047
00:46:39,214 --> 00:46:40,798
(Larry)
A very nice gentleman

1048
00:46:40,882 --> 00:46:42,467
carried me off the bus...

1049
00:46:45,094 --> 00:46:47,555
...and put me in my mom's arms.

1050
00:46:47,639 --> 00:46:49,224
[sniffling]

1051
00:46:49,307 --> 00:46:51,017
[sobbing]
And I put my head
on her shoulder.

1052
00:46:51,100 --> 00:46:54,020
[emotional music]

1053
00:46:54,103 --> 00:46:56,731
(Bob)
It's wonderful. You can't say
there's enough words to-to

1054
00:46:56,814 --> 00:46:59,192
you know, describe
how it feels, you know, I'm...

1055
00:46:59,275 --> 00:47:01,194
Uh, I'm just so happy,
I could cry.

1056
00:47:01,277 --> 00:47:04,155
[cheering and whistling]

1057
00:47:07,367 --> 00:47:08,451
(reporter #7)
'Come here, Mike.'

1058
00:47:08,535 --> 00:47:10,078
(Mike)
Reporters are all over

1059
00:47:10,161 --> 00:47:11,746
asking me what happened.

1060
00:47:11,829 --> 00:47:13,540
And I started

1061
00:47:13,623 --> 00:47:16,251
to talk to him and then
just out of nowhere

1062
00:47:16,334 --> 00:47:18,878
Principal Tatum stepped in

1063
00:47:18,962 --> 00:47:21,881
and said, "Why don't we just
give him a break, boys?

1064
00:47:21,965 --> 00:47:24,259
You know, let him go
home and get some sleep."

1065
00:47:24,342 --> 00:47:26,427
And so we got
in the car and left.

1066
00:47:28,054 --> 00:47:30,723
There was my chance
to tell the world

1067
00:47:30,807 --> 00:47:33,226
what happened
to getting out and everything.

1068
00:47:33,309 --> 00:47:36,104
I didn't do it. I let
the grown-ups do it.

1069
00:47:36,187 --> 00:47:39,107
7 o'clock, we got dug out.
I handed the kids up

1070
00:47:39,190 --> 00:47:40,942
to the other boys
and we got out.

1071
00:47:41,025 --> 00:47:42,402
We all got home safe.

1072
00:47:42,485 --> 00:47:44,571
[crowd applauding]

1073
00:47:44,654 --> 00:47:46,864
(reporter #8)
As miraculously as
they had disappeared

1074
00:47:46,948 --> 00:47:49,826
the children of Chowchilla
returned to their parents

1075
00:47:49,909 --> 00:47:51,536
due to the heroic efforts

1076
00:47:51,619 --> 00:47:53,371
of their bus driver, Ed Ray.

1077
00:47:53,454 --> 00:47:56,332
[mellow music]

1078
00:47:59,961 --> 00:48:02,130
(Larry)
We were calm,
but the kidnappers

1079
00:48:02,213 --> 00:48:03,590
were still out there.

1080
00:48:03,673 --> 00:48:06,384
[propeller plane whirring]

1081
00:48:06,467 --> 00:48:09,304
(Glen)
You knew they were someplace,
but you didn't know where.

1082
00:48:09,387 --> 00:48:10,888
You know, it was
still a mystery.

1083
00:48:10,972 --> 00:48:12,974
You had no answers
to this mystery.

1084
00:48:13,057 --> 00:48:14,017
[helicopter whirring]

1085
00:48:14,100 --> 00:48:16,227
[police siren wailing]

1086
00:48:16,311 --> 00:48:18,271
(Ed Bates)
I had a lot of agents out there

1087
00:48:18,354 --> 00:48:21,065
following leads
on who might have done this.

1088
00:48:21,149 --> 00:48:24,485
I had all the state.
I had all the FBI.

1089
00:48:24,569 --> 00:48:27,363
And my own people,
of course, too.

1090
00:48:27,447 --> 00:48:30,450
The following morning
I was directed to go out

1091
00:48:30,533 --> 00:48:32,410
to the site where
they were buried.

1092
00:48:35,288 --> 00:48:37,123
I had a whole crew of people

1093
00:48:37,206 --> 00:48:39,917
looking for any
evidence we could get.

1094
00:48:40,001 --> 00:48:42,170
(reporter #9)
'This is a place where
they've cut a hole in the roof'

1095
00:48:42,253 --> 00:48:46,466
and made an exit and, uh,
ingress and egress.

1096
00:48:46,549 --> 00:48:48,134
(reporter #10)
The only people into the hole

1097
00:48:48,217 --> 00:48:50,094
have been a couple of
sheriff's criminalists.

1098
00:48:50,178 --> 00:48:52,096
The sheriff's office is
working very carefully

1099
00:48:52,180 --> 00:48:53,640
'cause they hope to find clues

1100
00:48:53,723 --> 00:48:55,433
which will lead them
to the kidnappers.

1101
00:48:57,018 --> 00:48:58,728
The crime scene

1102
00:48:58,811 --> 00:49:01,564
was a mysterious
hole in the ground.

1103
00:49:01,648 --> 00:49:05,234
(Tony)
There was some notion that
it might be a cave.

1104
00:49:05,318 --> 00:49:07,487
An underground room.

1105
00:49:07,570 --> 00:49:10,198
It took us a while
to understand

1106
00:49:10,281 --> 00:49:13,618
that it was in
fact a moving van.

1107
00:49:13,701 --> 00:49:16,245
[excavator whirring]

1108
00:49:18,164 --> 00:49:21,709
By today's standards
uh, it wasn't a 40 foot van.

1109
00:49:21,793 --> 00:49:26,130
It was a fairly short
27 foot moving van.

1110
00:49:26,214 --> 00:49:28,466
[truck whirring]

1111
00:49:28,549 --> 00:49:31,844
When you think about it,
to have 26 kids

1112
00:49:31,928 --> 00:49:34,430
confined in that
kind of a chamber

1113
00:49:34,514 --> 00:49:35,973
I was flabbergasted.

1114
00:49:36,933 --> 00:49:39,227
[indistinct chatter]

1115
00:49:39,310 --> 00:49:40,937
(newscaster #3)
The search for these
suspects is now, of course

1116
00:49:41,020 --> 00:49:42,772
what is preoccupying
authorities

1117
00:49:42,855 --> 00:49:45,692
being sought are
three men and two vans.

1118
00:49:45,775 --> 00:49:47,026
We don't know what
color they are now.

1119
00:49:47,110 --> 00:49:49,612
They were purchased
in November in Alameda.

1120
00:49:49,696 --> 00:49:52,907
(male #7)
'Information on
the registration is all phony.'

1121
00:49:52,990 --> 00:49:55,952
'So we don't know who
we're looking for yet.'

1122
00:49:56,035 --> 00:49:57,954
(Duane)
At that time, we
were looking for

1123
00:49:58,037 --> 00:49:59,539
any information we could get.

1124
00:49:59,622 --> 00:50:01,290
(police on radio)
'We have no hard evidence.'

1125
00:50:01,374 --> 00:50:03,793
We had multiple conversations

1126
00:50:03,876 --> 00:50:05,128
with law enforcement.

1127
00:50:05,211 --> 00:50:06,212
[tape recorder clicks]

1128
00:50:10,133 --> 00:50:11,676
(Jennifer)
My brother and I helped with

1129
00:50:11,759 --> 00:50:13,261
composite drawings

1130
00:50:13,344 --> 00:50:16,180
to help identify
the kidnappers.

1131
00:50:16,264 --> 00:50:19,600
This is the latest composite.

1132
00:50:19,684 --> 00:50:22,353
We have no names
whatsoever at this point.

1133
00:50:22,437 --> 00:50:24,480
(reporter #11)
'Is this from the memory
of the children?'

1134
00:50:24,564 --> 00:50:26,023
(male #8)
'Uh, yes.'

1135
00:50:26,107 --> 00:50:28,526
And then information
had been developed

1136
00:50:28,609 --> 00:50:31,070
on the investigative side
about the vans.

1137
00:50:31,154 --> 00:50:32,780
[helicopter whirring]

1138
00:50:32,864 --> 00:50:34,240
(newscaster #4)
The kidnap vans were found

1139
00:50:34,323 --> 00:50:35,783
in a one story
commercial building

1140
00:50:35,867 --> 00:50:37,368
in southeast San Jose.

1141
00:50:37,452 --> 00:50:39,537
Reports say a rental agent
told police

1142
00:50:39,620 --> 00:50:43,207
a young man rented the place
about six months ago.

1143
00:50:43,291 --> 00:50:44,876
(male #9)
The bus driver, Ed Ray

1144
00:50:44,959 --> 00:50:46,878
was brought to the warehouse
by authorities.

1145
00:50:46,961 --> 00:50:48,838
It is assumed
Mr. Ray will attempt

1146
00:50:48,921 --> 00:50:50,173
to identify those vans.

1147
00:50:50,256 --> 00:50:51,257
[camera shutter flashes]

1148
00:50:53,926 --> 00:50:55,636
(Duane)
When they recovered
the vehicles

1149
00:50:55,720 --> 00:50:58,598
they also recovered
other key pieces of evidence.

1150
00:50:58,681 --> 00:51:01,058
They found a 12 gauge shotgun

1151
00:51:01,142 --> 00:51:02,769
which is probably
the one that was used

1152
00:51:02,852 --> 00:51:06,189
when they made the
stop of the, uh, school bus.

1153
00:51:06,272 --> 00:51:09,442
We found lumber material.

1154
00:51:09,525 --> 00:51:11,569
(Tony)
The same lumber as

1155
00:51:11,652 --> 00:51:14,238
two by fours that were
picked up at the quarry.

1156
00:51:14,322 --> 00:51:16,115
Number of mattresses

1157
00:51:16,199 --> 00:51:20,453
the same mattresses that had
been put into the trailer.

1158
00:51:20,536 --> 00:51:23,372
(male #10)
They also located a Cadillac...

1159
00:51:23,456 --> 00:51:25,875
...that had been
completely spray painted

1160
00:51:25,958 --> 00:51:27,418
flat, black.

1161
00:51:27,502 --> 00:51:30,129
Even the hubcaps.
It was very strange.

1162
00:51:30,213 --> 00:51:31,881
(male #11)
'Did you see them
working on these things?'

1163
00:51:31,964 --> 00:51:33,674
'Were they painting? What
were they doing inside there?'

1164
00:51:33,758 --> 00:51:35,635
-I don't know.
-'Did they talk?'

1165
00:51:35,718 --> 00:51:36,928
I can't see
because of the wall.

1166
00:51:38,805 --> 00:51:39,806
(male #12)
They've recovered what
looked like

1167
00:51:39,889 --> 00:51:42,600
some kind of a journal, diary.

1168
00:51:42,683 --> 00:51:46,896
They had encrypted it into
some kind of unusual writing.

1169
00:51:46,979 --> 00:51:49,440
(Duane)
Never seen anything
like that in my life.

1170
00:51:49,524 --> 00:51:50,817
[eerie music]

1171
00:51:53,402 --> 00:51:54,946
(Lynda)
I was scared, I was actually

1172
00:51:55,029 --> 00:51:57,114
still scared of
those kidnappers.

1173
00:51:57,198 --> 00:51:58,533
"Where they're at,
what they're doing

1174
00:51:58,616 --> 00:51:59,700
are they following us?"

1175
00:51:59,784 --> 00:52:02,286
[tense music]

1176
00:52:02,370 --> 00:52:04,497
(Lynda)
They know where we live,
they know our addresses

1177
00:52:04,580 --> 00:52:05,998
they know our phone numbers.

1178
00:52:06,082 --> 00:52:08,334
It was really
overwhelming for me.

1179
00:52:08,417 --> 00:52:10,336
A lot of them are scared to let
their kids out of the house.

1180
00:52:10,419 --> 00:52:12,380
I know my wife's got
a girlfriend across town

1181
00:52:12,463 --> 00:52:14,423
that says she won't let
her kids out of the house.

1182
00:52:14,507 --> 00:52:15,758
We were in a panic.

1183
00:52:15,842 --> 00:52:17,260
We did not like

1184
00:52:17,343 --> 00:52:18,678
sleeping in the windows

1185
00:52:18,761 --> 00:52:21,639
and every sound...

1186
00:52:22,765 --> 00:52:24,141
...sent us running.

1187
00:52:24,225 --> 00:52:26,602
[eerie music]

1188
00:52:29,021 --> 00:52:30,273
[video tape rolling]

1189
00:52:33,150 --> 00:52:34,986
(Bruce)
The first real
breaks in the case came

1190
00:52:35,069 --> 00:52:37,196
when the former
employee from the quarry

1191
00:52:37,280 --> 00:52:40,366
called up and said that he
had made notes in a ledger

1192
00:52:40,449 --> 00:52:43,619
that they maintained
during their patrols...

1193
00:52:43,703 --> 00:52:45,371
...that he had seen men working

1194
00:52:45,454 --> 00:52:47,748
with a CAT bulldozer

1195
00:52:47,832 --> 00:52:50,501
and he also noted that
there were two moving vans

1196
00:52:50,585 --> 00:52:52,503
parked on the site.

1197
00:52:52,587 --> 00:52:55,506
One time, he said he
found a young man

1198
00:52:55,590 --> 00:52:58,676
working in one of
the scrap yard areas

1199
00:52:58,759 --> 00:53:01,304
and when he
confronted that individual

1200
00:53:01,387 --> 00:53:04,599
he found his identification
said that he was Frederick Woods

1201
00:53:04,682 --> 00:53:06,183
and he was the
son of the owner.

1202
00:53:06,267 --> 00:53:09,061
[tense music]

1203
00:53:09,145 --> 00:53:10,646
(George)
One of the things we learned

1204
00:53:10,730 --> 00:53:12,565
was that the Woods family

1205
00:53:12,648 --> 00:53:14,609
they weren't from
the Central Valley

1206
00:53:14,692 --> 00:53:16,736
they were from the Bay Area.

1207
00:53:16,819 --> 00:53:19,405
From the very nicest suburbs
of the Bay Area.

1208
00:53:21,282 --> 00:53:24,035
In fact, Woods has an
illustrious double name.

1209
00:53:24,118 --> 00:53:25,661
Frederick Newhall Woods.

1210
00:53:25,745 --> 00:53:27,622
[suspenseful music]

1211
00:53:27,705 --> 00:53:29,832
(Jill)
When the Gold rush was
happening in California

1212
00:53:29,916 --> 00:53:32,376
Henry Newhall
ended up amassing

1213
00:53:32,460 --> 00:53:34,879
a great fortune.
148,000 acres

1214
00:53:34,962 --> 00:53:37,340
up and down the
state of California.

1215
00:53:37,423 --> 00:53:40,259
Railroad towns were
named after him.

1216
00:53:40,343 --> 00:53:41,677
They owned Magic Mountain.

1217
00:53:43,304 --> 00:53:45,139
[children screaming]

1218
00:53:45,222 --> 00:53:47,058
(George)
Why would these
people be involved?

1219
00:53:48,100 --> 00:53:50,144
Was it a thrill crime?

1220
00:53:50,227 --> 00:53:51,228
[car door opening]

1221
00:53:53,439 --> 00:53:55,900
(Duane)
Next day and I was asked

1222
00:53:55,983 --> 00:53:59,362
to serve a search warrant
on the Woods estate.

1223
00:53:59,445 --> 00:54:01,155
[music continues]

1224
00:54:03,240 --> 00:54:04,784
When we opened these doors up

1225
00:54:04,867 --> 00:54:07,078
and went in to
the actual mansion

1226
00:54:07,161 --> 00:54:09,914
everything in there
was expensive.

1227
00:54:09,997 --> 00:54:13,709
Very fancy cut crystal statues.

1228
00:54:13,793 --> 00:54:15,169
[helicopter whirring]

1229
00:54:16,754 --> 00:54:18,255
(Bruce)
The place was littered

1230
00:54:18,339 --> 00:54:21,384
literally, with old vehicles.

1231
00:54:21,467 --> 00:54:24,011
It had antique Rolls Royces

1232
00:54:24,095 --> 00:54:25,513
and Bentleys.

1233
00:54:25,596 --> 00:54:27,765
All kinds of military

1234
00:54:27,848 --> 00:54:29,642
war surplus type jeeps.

1235
00:54:29,725 --> 00:54:31,352
It was really something to see.

1236
00:54:31,435 --> 00:54:33,479
[music continues]

1237
00:54:33,562 --> 00:54:35,356
(Duane)
There is a-a separate building

1238
00:54:35,439 --> 00:54:36,983
opposite the mansion.

1239
00:54:37,066 --> 00:54:39,568
It was a series of garages.

1240
00:54:39,652 --> 00:54:41,529
We had been told that Fred

1241
00:54:41,612 --> 00:54:42,947
slept above the garages.

1242
00:54:43,030 --> 00:54:44,949
We went upstairs.

1243
00:54:45,032 --> 00:54:47,284
(Bruce)
The place was full of junk.

1244
00:54:47,368 --> 00:54:49,578
You could barely
walk across the room.

1245
00:54:49,662 --> 00:54:51,247
Old movie cameras.

1246
00:54:51,330 --> 00:54:53,374
There was a bunch of
them all over the place.

1247
00:54:53,457 --> 00:54:55,292
(Duane)
And there was a desk

1248
00:54:55,376 --> 00:54:57,628
and that's where he
had a kind of an envelope

1249
00:54:57,712 --> 00:55:00,006
like a manila type envelope.

1250
00:55:01,590 --> 00:55:03,676
It had the plan.

1251
00:55:03,759 --> 00:55:05,219
The actual plan of how

1252
00:55:05,302 --> 00:55:07,596
the sequence of the kidnapping

1253
00:55:07,680 --> 00:55:08,931
was supposed to go down.

1254
00:55:09,015 --> 00:55:11,559
[tense music]

1255
00:55:13,269 --> 00:55:15,980
And inside that, there
was a jack-in-the-box bag

1256
00:55:16,063 --> 00:55:18,733
that on their backside of it
had been written the names

1257
00:55:18,816 --> 00:55:21,444
and the ages of
all of the children.

1258
00:55:24,196 --> 00:55:26,532
But probably the most telling

1259
00:55:26,615 --> 00:55:28,909
evidence was the ransom note
that was found

1260
00:55:28,993 --> 00:55:30,119
in that envelope.

1261
00:55:30,202 --> 00:55:33,080
[eerie and chilling music]

1262
00:55:40,004 --> 00:55:42,214
And at that point,
it started to gel

1263
00:55:42,298 --> 00:55:43,924
as to who was
responsible for this.

1264
00:55:44,925 --> 00:55:46,594
[helicopter whirring]

1265
00:55:48,637 --> 00:55:50,765
(Ed Bates)
Fred Woods,
the suspect's father

1266
00:55:50,848 --> 00:55:52,433
was very cooperative.

1267
00:55:52,516 --> 00:55:54,643
Told me, he tried
to get his son interested

1268
00:55:54,727 --> 00:55:56,020
in the family business.

1269
00:55:56,103 --> 00:55:57,271
His son got interested

1270
00:55:57,354 --> 00:55:59,148
in these old cars.

1271
00:55:59,231 --> 00:56:00,232
(Bruce)
He developed a business

1272
00:56:00,316 --> 00:56:01,901
of refurbishing old cars

1273
00:56:01,984 --> 00:56:03,110
and selling them.

1274
00:56:03,194 --> 00:56:04,570
He had gone into partnership

1275
00:56:04,653 --> 00:56:06,739
with a friend
from high school

1276
00:56:06,822 --> 00:56:08,783
named James Schoenfeld.

1277
00:56:08,866 --> 00:56:11,202
His brother, Rick
Schoenfeld was involved

1278
00:56:11,285 --> 00:56:14,246
but he was more of a
hanger-on to the other two.

1279
00:56:14,330 --> 00:56:17,374
The brothers,
their father was a, uh

1280
00:56:17,458 --> 00:56:19,001
a foot specialist.

1281
00:56:19,085 --> 00:56:22,046
(Ed Bates)
They were upper middle class.

1282
00:56:22,129 --> 00:56:24,757
They're always very polite
and outgoing

1283
00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:27,551
and if we saw them outside

1284
00:56:27,635 --> 00:56:29,095
they always chatted with us.

1285
00:56:29,178 --> 00:56:31,055
Very friendly boys.

1286
00:56:31,138 --> 00:56:32,431
(Jennifer)
We were really shocked

1287
00:56:32,515 --> 00:56:34,433
that these were
three young men

1288
00:56:34,517 --> 00:56:38,104
that came from
very affluent families.

1289
00:56:38,187 --> 00:56:40,898
I was dumbstruck.

1290
00:56:40,981 --> 00:56:42,775
(reporter #12)
'Why do you suppose that they
would do something like that?'

1291
00:56:42,858 --> 00:56:45,903
I don't know. They
didn't have enough to live.

1292
00:56:45,986 --> 00:56:47,363
(Carol)
Fred Woods is...

1293
00:56:47,446 --> 00:56:49,615
What was he after money for?

1294
00:56:49,698 --> 00:56:51,826
He had more money
than the town had.

1295
00:56:51,909 --> 00:56:54,537
[tense music]

1296
00:56:54,620 --> 00:56:56,789
Now we know who
these people are.

1297
00:56:56,872 --> 00:56:58,833
So we just followed our noses.

1298
00:56:58,916 --> 00:57:01,127
(reporter #13)
Acting on evidence
discovered at the house

1299
00:57:01,210 --> 00:57:02,670
law enforcement authorities

1300
00:57:02,753 --> 00:57:04,797
have just issued
all points bulletins.

1301
00:57:04,880 --> 00:57:06,048
(dispatcher)
Suspects are considered

1302
00:57:06,132 --> 00:57:08,092
armed and dangerous

1303
00:57:08,175 --> 00:57:10,302
arrest on probable cause.

1304
00:57:10,386 --> 00:57:12,429
[police siren wailing]

1305
00:57:12,513 --> 00:57:14,765
(Bruce)
The investigators
worked 24 hours a day

1306
00:57:14,849 --> 00:57:16,433
and found out that

1307
00:57:16,517 --> 00:57:18,561
Fred and James
Schoenfeld took off.

1308
00:57:18,644 --> 00:57:20,104
[propeller plane whirring]

1309
00:57:20,187 --> 00:57:22,022
Fred went to Vancouver.

1310
00:57:22,106 --> 00:57:23,649
He used a fake ID to get in

1311
00:57:23,732 --> 00:57:24,900
checked into a hotel.

1312
00:57:27,444 --> 00:57:30,531
While Woods is up in Canada,
he's writing letters

1313
00:57:30,614 --> 00:57:33,909
from a post office
asking friends for money.

1314
00:57:33,993 --> 00:57:37,663
Jim Schoenfeld drove his car
up to the border...

1315
00:57:37,746 --> 00:57:40,207
...and tried
to enter the border.

1316
00:57:40,291 --> 00:57:43,002
He had weapons in the car
but they didn't arrest him.

1317
00:57:43,085 --> 00:57:45,087
They bought him a soda.
They were nice to him.

1318
00:57:45,171 --> 00:57:48,174
Gave him the guns back
and turned him around.

1319
00:57:48,257 --> 00:57:50,843
Good evening, the FBI is
looking all over the country

1320
00:57:50,926 --> 00:57:54,180
tonight for Frederick Woods
and James Schoenfeld.

1321
00:57:54,263 --> 00:57:56,515
Two of the three men
suspected of kidnapping

1322
00:57:56,599 --> 00:57:59,226
26 children
in California last week.

1323
00:57:59,310 --> 00:58:01,770
The third man,
Schoenfeld's younger brother

1324
00:58:01,854 --> 00:58:03,981
turned himself in.

1325
00:58:04,064 --> 00:58:05,858
(newscaster #5)
In Oakland,
California, last night

1326
00:58:05,941 --> 00:58:08,235
Richard Allen
Schoenfeld surrendered.

1327
00:58:08,319 --> 00:58:10,279
He walked into the
Alameda County

1328
00:58:10,362 --> 00:58:12,031
district attorney's
office along with

1329
00:58:12,114 --> 00:58:13,741
his father and a lawyer.

1330
00:58:13,824 --> 00:58:15,659
The attorney said
Richard surrendered

1331
00:58:15,743 --> 00:58:16,869
for his own protection.

1332
00:58:19,747 --> 00:58:22,833
(Bruce)
James tried to get into
Canada one more time.

1333
00:58:22,917 --> 00:58:25,169
He had gotten rid of
most of the weapons

1334
00:58:25,252 --> 00:58:27,713
but he had one more weapon
that he didn't know about

1335
00:58:27,796 --> 00:58:30,049
that Fred had
hidden in the vehicle.

1336
00:58:30,132 --> 00:58:32,426
So they turned him around
finally gave up on that

1337
00:58:32,509 --> 00:58:34,511
and started heading back home.

1338
00:58:34,595 --> 00:58:37,181
(newscaster #6)
James Schoenfeld was
captured at dawn today.

1339
00:58:37,264 --> 00:58:40,100
His lawyer said he'd gotten
tired of running, had called

1340
00:58:40,184 --> 00:58:42,311
and said he'd turned himself in
at 8: 00 this morning.

1341
00:58:42,394 --> 00:58:45,481
The police closed in
an hour before that.

1342
00:58:45,564 --> 00:58:47,233
(newscaster #7)
The third suspect, Fred Woods

1343
00:58:47,316 --> 00:58:49,026
was arrested at
the main Vancouver

1344
00:58:49,109 --> 00:58:51,904
post office after Royal
Canadian Mounted Police

1345
00:58:51,987 --> 00:58:53,906
had been tipped by the FBI.

1346
00:58:53,989 --> 00:58:55,658
They say the 24-year-old
suspect

1347
00:58:55,741 --> 00:58:57,952
was unarmed and
did not put up a fight.

1348
00:58:58,035 --> 00:59:00,496
He appeared nervous,
a little cocky

1349
00:59:00,579 --> 00:59:02,331
but mostly disinterested

1350
00:59:02,414 --> 00:59:03,999
in talking to reporters.

1351
00:59:04,083 --> 00:59:05,668
No comment.

1352
00:59:05,751 --> 00:59:07,628
What do you think about the
charges against you in court?

1353
00:59:07,711 --> 00:59:10,047
I'm telling you, no comment.

1354
00:59:10,130 --> 00:59:12,758
(reporter #14)
'Any concerns about
going to California at all?'

1355
00:59:12,841 --> 00:59:14,385
[chuckles]
With you?

1356
00:59:14,468 --> 00:59:17,346
[tense music]

1357
00:59:21,225 --> 00:59:24,019
(Patricia)
The kidnappers had
hit this town

1358
00:59:24,103 --> 00:59:25,354
right in its heart

1359
00:59:25,437 --> 00:59:26,730
by taking those children.

1360
00:59:26,814 --> 00:59:28,440
[police siren wailing]

1361
00:59:32,403 --> 00:59:34,530
(Dan)
The community took
it quite personal.

1362
00:59:34,613 --> 00:59:37,866
Saying we're upset is
very, very mild.

1363
00:59:37,950 --> 00:59:41,412
It was voiced...around
town that quote

1364
00:59:41,495 --> 00:59:43,580
"All we need is a good old
fashioned street hanging."

1365
00:59:43,664 --> 00:59:45,749
End quote.
Literally that was said.

1366
00:59:47,293 --> 00:59:48,836
(Larry)
These were three men

1367
00:59:48,919 --> 00:59:51,088
who were so hated

1368
00:59:51,171 --> 00:59:54,508
stationed on top of
the police station, a sniper.

1369
00:59:54,591 --> 00:59:57,052
On top of City Hall, a sniper.

1370
00:59:57,136 --> 01:00:00,347
All in the means of
protecting them.

1371
01:00:00,431 --> 01:00:03,309
[crowd chattering indistinctly]

1372
01:00:06,312 --> 01:00:08,605
(newscaster #8)
Inside, both woods
and James Schoenfeld

1373
01:00:08,689 --> 01:00:11,150
spoke with a firm voice,
showing no fear.

1374
01:00:11,233 --> 01:00:15,821
They were ordered held on one
million dollars bond each.

1375
01:00:15,904 --> 01:00:17,573
(reporter #15)
The biggest question
in this bizarre case

1376
01:00:17,656 --> 01:00:18,949
is still unanswered.

1377
01:00:19,033 --> 01:00:20,242
Were there political motives

1378
01:00:20,326 --> 01:00:21,452
psychological motives

1379
01:00:21,535 --> 01:00:23,120
motives of revenge?

1380
01:00:23,203 --> 01:00:24,246
No one seems to know.

1381
01:00:27,082 --> 01:00:29,084
(Duane)
When I interviewed Fred

1382
01:00:29,168 --> 01:00:32,129
he said that he and his dad
weren't very close.

1383
01:00:32,212 --> 01:00:35,424
He wasn't doing what
his dad expected him to do.

1384
01:00:35,507 --> 01:00:37,092
They were always
bickering about

1385
01:00:37,176 --> 01:00:38,761
him dropping out of college

1386
01:00:38,844 --> 01:00:40,304
and he wanted his own money

1387
01:00:40,387 --> 01:00:42,556
so he didn't have to rely
on his father.

1388
01:00:44,183 --> 01:00:46,435
[instrumental music]

1389
01:00:46,518 --> 01:00:47,519
(male #13)
'Turn to your left.'

1390
01:00:49,688 --> 01:00:51,315
(Duane)
James told me that

1391
01:00:51,398 --> 01:00:54,276
they were gonna make
a movie to make money.

1392
01:00:54,360 --> 01:00:56,987
And that's how
the whole thing started.

1393
01:00:57,071 --> 01:00:59,656
They turned out a movie script
called Chain Reaction

1394
01:00:59,740 --> 01:01:03,118
and it was an amalgam of the
Patty Hearst kidnapping case.

1395
01:01:03,202 --> 01:01:06,538
"The French Connection"
and "Dirty Harry."

1396
01:01:06,622 --> 01:01:08,457
(Harry)
You've got to ask yourself
one question.

1397
01:01:08,540 --> 01:01:09,833
'"Do I feel lucky?"'

1398
01:01:09,917 --> 01:01:11,627
Well, do you, punk?

1399
01:01:11,710 --> 01:01:13,670
And it didn't happen.

1400
01:01:13,754 --> 01:01:15,839
(Jill)
During this time,
they also learned

1401
01:01:15,923 --> 01:01:17,758
that the state
had a surplus of funds.

1402
01:01:17,841 --> 01:01:19,301
So they were trying to think of

1403
01:01:19,385 --> 01:01:21,678
how can we get
ransom from the state?

1404
01:01:21,762 --> 01:01:24,264
So then that led them
to kidnapping a school bus

1405
01:01:24,348 --> 01:01:26,266
because the state
runs the school system.

1406
01:01:28,602 --> 01:01:30,479
(Bruce)
Again, they were
obviously influenced

1407
01:01:30,562 --> 01:01:32,523
by the original,
"Dirty Harry" movie.

1408
01:01:32,606 --> 01:01:34,316
♪ Row row row your boat ♪♪

1409
01:01:34,400 --> 01:01:35,692
What's the matter with you?
Don't you sing?

1410
01:01:35,776 --> 01:01:36,819
(Bruce)
In the final scenes

1411
01:01:36,902 --> 01:01:37,903
of the movie, you had

1412
01:01:37,986 --> 01:01:39,113
an individual who hijacks

1413
01:01:39,196 --> 01:01:40,823
a bus full of children

1414
01:01:40,906 --> 01:01:42,908
and they end up
in a rock-quarry.

1415
01:01:44,910 --> 01:01:47,996
Fred was the leader
who started it.

1416
01:01:48,080 --> 01:01:49,998
(Bruce)
But Fred
didn't have the ability

1417
01:01:50,082 --> 01:01:52,251
to plan something like this
by himself.

1418
01:01:52,334 --> 01:01:54,545
And he thought that
Jim Schoenfeld

1419
01:01:54,628 --> 01:01:56,422
probably was the more
efficient planner

1420
01:01:56,505 --> 01:01:58,674
and had, in fact, he's the one
who wrote the journal

1421
01:01:58,757 --> 01:02:01,260
that was found
at the storage unit.

1422
01:02:01,343 --> 01:02:03,470
(Jill)
When they decoded
these writings

1423
01:02:03,554 --> 01:02:05,013
James Schoenfeld
was asking himself

1424
01:02:05,097 --> 01:02:06,932
"What would happen as
a result of this crime?"

1425
01:02:09,101 --> 01:02:10,686
James had to make a decision.

1426
01:02:14,273 --> 01:02:17,109
He decided to make money
with Fred Woods.

1427
01:02:18,527 --> 01:02:19,862
For 18 months

1428
01:02:19,945 --> 01:02:21,905
they were researching

1429
01:02:21,989 --> 01:02:23,907
different targets.

1430
01:02:23,991 --> 01:02:26,201
They had maps

1431
01:02:26,285 --> 01:02:28,495
where they circled
all the schools

1432
01:02:28,579 --> 01:02:31,039
they were considering.

1433
01:02:31,123 --> 01:02:32,541
They were able to get
identification

1434
01:02:32,624 --> 01:02:33,959
in different names

1435
01:02:34,042 --> 01:02:35,919
to purchase the things
they needed.

1436
01:02:36,003 --> 01:02:38,172
They went out to the quarry
in the cover of darkness

1437
01:02:38,255 --> 01:02:40,924
to bury
an entire transport van.

1438
01:02:41,008 --> 01:02:42,593
They obtained weapons.

1439
01:02:42,676 --> 01:02:44,887
Many, many weapons.

1440
01:02:44,970 --> 01:02:48,015
To collect the ransom money,
they wanted the government

1441
01:02:48,098 --> 01:02:51,101
to fly the ransom money
and drop it at a location.

1442
01:02:51,185 --> 01:02:53,270
(Bruce)
They had intended
to have an airdrop

1443
01:02:53,353 --> 01:02:56,064
over the Santa Cruz Mountains.

1444
01:02:56,148 --> 01:02:58,734
In fact, the Cadillac
was intended to be used

1445
01:02:58,817 --> 01:03:00,194
to pick up the ransom money

1446
01:03:00,277 --> 01:03:02,070
and they wanted it
not to be seen.

1447
01:03:02,154 --> 01:03:05,199
They wanted it to blend in
for a night time operation.

1448
01:03:05,282 --> 01:03:06,867
All the way through,
they thought that

1449
01:03:06,950 --> 01:03:08,243
they had thought of everything.

1450
01:03:08,327 --> 01:03:10,162
(Jill)
But the night of the kidnapping

1451
01:03:10,245 --> 01:03:12,080
they weren't able to call in
their ransom demand

1452
01:03:12,164 --> 01:03:13,665
because the phone lines
were so jammed.

1453
01:03:13,749 --> 01:03:15,834
[indistinct chattering]

1454
01:03:15,918 --> 01:03:17,419
(Jill)
They decided to go home.

1455
01:03:17,503 --> 01:03:19,213
Fred Woods
had a late night dinner

1456
01:03:19,296 --> 01:03:21,507
with his parents
like any other night.

1457
01:03:21,590 --> 01:03:23,258
Then the news came out

1458
01:03:23,342 --> 01:03:25,344
that the children
had freed themselves.

1459
01:03:25,427 --> 01:03:27,638
The children are home.

1460
01:03:27,721 --> 01:03:29,139
(Jill)
Rick and James Schoenfeld

1461
01:03:29,223 --> 01:03:30,474
came over to the property

1462
01:03:30,557 --> 01:03:32,184
and planned their escape
from there.

1463
01:03:34,186 --> 01:03:36,480
(Bruce)
When the children escaped

1464
01:03:36,563 --> 01:03:39,191
that kind of destroyed
their whole plan right there.

1465
01:03:39,274 --> 01:03:40,359
[marching band music]

1466
01:03:42,569 --> 01:03:44,613
(newscaster #9)
With all three suspects
behind bars

1467
01:03:44,696 --> 01:03:46,156
the grateful towns people today

1468
01:03:46,240 --> 01:03:48,951
honored their hometown hero.

1469
01:03:49,034 --> 01:03:51,662
(Jennifer)
The local politicians decided

1470
01:03:51,745 --> 01:03:54,706
that we needed to
celebrate the heroes

1471
01:03:54,790 --> 01:03:58,168
that came from
this horrendous event.

1472
01:03:58,252 --> 01:04:00,337
And so the town had

1473
01:04:00,420 --> 01:04:01,964
what they called,
"Ed Ray Day."

1474
01:04:04,258 --> 01:04:07,678
Me and the 25 kids have
something to give to Edward.

1475
01:04:10,055 --> 01:04:11,056
Thank you.

1476
01:04:13,016 --> 01:04:15,310
(Jennifer)
Edward was a very humble man.

1477
01:04:15,394 --> 01:04:17,896
He didn't ask for the publicity

1478
01:04:17,980 --> 01:04:20,482
and he didn't ask
for all the attention

1479
01:04:20,566 --> 01:04:22,192
that came his way.

1480
01:04:22,276 --> 01:04:25,779
The press assumed
that Edward saved us.

1481
01:04:25,862 --> 01:04:28,865
And he, from that point on,
was the hero.

1482
01:04:28,949 --> 01:04:30,200
And that is true.

1483
01:04:30,284 --> 01:04:32,619
Edward kept us all together

1484
01:04:32,703 --> 01:04:34,746
and Edward helped us get out.

1485
01:04:34,830 --> 01:04:37,624
But Edward was not
the only hero.

1486
01:04:39,334 --> 01:04:41,962
I was telling people,
Mike Marshall dug us out.

1487
01:04:42,045 --> 01:04:43,338
It was Mike that dug us out.

1488
01:04:43,422 --> 01:04:44,756
But nobody was listening.

1489
01:04:47,092 --> 01:04:49,511
(Carol)
That day, I could see
that Michael

1490
01:04:49,595 --> 01:04:52,472
was really depressed.

1491
01:04:52,556 --> 01:04:56,101
(Mike)
I remember thinking to myself

1492
01:04:56,184 --> 01:04:58,520
"Why am I feeling like this?

1493
01:04:58,604 --> 01:04:59,896
"What's wrong with me?

1494
01:04:59,980 --> 01:05:01,773
"Hey, you know what, who cares?

1495
01:05:01,857 --> 01:05:04,735
We all got out, we're all out.
That's what matters."

1496
01:05:04,818 --> 01:05:05,819
I felt...

1497
01:05:07,404 --> 01:05:08,614
...guilty for feeling bad.

1498
01:05:10,574 --> 01:05:13,577
(Jennifer)
Mike was not gonna boast
about what he did.

1499
01:05:13,660 --> 01:05:15,871
That just wasn't Mike.

1500
01:05:15,954 --> 01:05:17,706
(Lynda)
All the children know.
We all know the story.

1501
01:05:17,789 --> 01:05:19,124
We were there for it.

1502
01:05:19,207 --> 01:05:20,751
So we do know what

1503
01:05:20,834 --> 01:05:22,628
everybody did
and everybody's role.

1504
01:05:22,711 --> 01:05:25,047
But I don't think any of us
really went out and spoke.

1505
01:05:25,130 --> 01:05:27,633
We were just children.

1506
01:05:27,716 --> 01:05:30,552
(Jennifer)
We were still just trying to
process what happened.

1507
01:05:32,471 --> 01:05:34,056
(Larry)
That day was supposed to be

1508
01:05:34,139 --> 01:05:35,932
the day of honoring us.

1509
01:05:36,016 --> 01:05:37,809
They put a plaque in there

1510
01:05:37,893 --> 01:05:40,646
with all of our names.

1511
01:05:40,729 --> 01:05:44,524
But a lot of us
were still in that hole.

1512
01:05:44,608 --> 01:05:46,443
[eerie music]

1513
01:05:48,195 --> 01:05:50,405
(Jennifer)
When we got home, I thought

1514
01:05:50,489 --> 01:05:53,575
life would be...okay.

1515
01:05:53,659 --> 01:05:57,037
Even though the kidnappers
were actually arrested...

1516
01:05:58,205 --> 01:06:01,625
...it didn't stop my mind

1517
01:06:01,708 --> 01:06:03,418
from going over

1518
01:06:03,502 --> 01:06:06,213
what happened,
what could have happened.

1519
01:06:06,296 --> 01:06:09,007
I can remember
having nightmares immediately.

1520
01:06:09,091 --> 01:06:10,258
[eerie music]

1521
01:06:12,177 --> 01:06:15,138
My mom tells me
that I started sleepwalking.

1522
01:06:15,222 --> 01:06:17,849
And I would come
into their room just

1523
01:06:17,933 --> 01:06:22,020
in shock and tell them,
they're killing me.

1524
01:06:22,104 --> 01:06:23,355
(Joan)
We're driving down the road

1525
01:06:23,438 --> 01:06:25,273
and there happens to be a van.

1526
01:06:25,357 --> 01:06:27,234
Whether its
telephone company or PG&E

1527
01:06:27,317 --> 01:06:29,653
or just a-a vehicle
beside the road.

1528
01:06:29,736 --> 01:06:32,030
"Go on past, mama, don't stop.
Don't slow down."

1529
01:06:35,242 --> 01:06:38,245
My self esteem at that point
just really started...

1530
01:06:39,579 --> 01:06:41,164
...to go down.

1531
01:06:41,248 --> 01:06:42,374
[intense music]

1532
01:06:44,501 --> 01:06:47,963
(Larry)
I hated sleeping.

1533
01:06:48,046 --> 01:06:49,589
I hated going to sleep

1534
01:06:49,673 --> 01:06:51,925
because every night
I was having nightmares.

1535
01:06:55,011 --> 01:06:57,889
I could hear Andrea screaming.
She could hear me screaming.

1536
01:06:57,973 --> 01:07:01,601
"Mom! Mom! Mom!"

1537
01:07:01,685 --> 01:07:05,397
Those demons were gonna
keep us forever.

1538
01:07:05,480 --> 01:07:07,941
[eerie music]

1539
01:07:09,943 --> 01:07:12,529
(Carol)
I knew Michael
was having trouble.

1540
01:07:12,612 --> 01:07:15,657
He was also screaming
and hollering in his sleep.

1541
01:07:15,741 --> 01:07:18,410
I put myself back in there

1542
01:07:18,493 --> 01:07:20,370
thinking about
how I was gonna die.

1543
01:07:21,872 --> 01:07:23,749
[thud]

1544
01:07:23,832 --> 01:07:26,585
(Carol)
Our family was just turned
inside out.

1545
01:07:26,668 --> 01:07:29,337
Didn't know how to fix it.

1546
01:07:29,421 --> 01:07:31,715
Didn't know
who to talk to about it.

1547
01:07:31,798 --> 01:07:34,551
We left, went on the road.

1548
01:07:34,634 --> 01:07:37,179
Tried to forget it,
get past it.

1549
01:07:38,764 --> 01:07:41,516
And the school did not offer

1550
01:07:41,600 --> 01:07:43,059
any help to those kids.

1551
01:07:43,143 --> 01:07:45,312
Like counseling, whatever.

1552
01:07:45,395 --> 01:07:47,689
I can't visibly see
any problem now.

1553
01:07:47,773 --> 01:07:49,775
Whether or not, you know,
there's some psychological scars

1554
01:07:49,858 --> 01:07:51,193
I-I certainly wouldn't know.

1555
01:07:51,276 --> 01:07:54,070
But, you know, it's just kind of
on the surface.

1556
01:07:54,154 --> 01:07:55,614
I can't pull anything out.

1557
01:07:55,697 --> 01:07:56,865
Not once.

1558
01:07:56,948 --> 01:07:58,867
The kids were totally forgotten.

1559
01:08:01,578 --> 01:08:03,079
(Mike)
You know, there was no

1560
01:08:03,163 --> 01:08:06,166
ground laid
for anything like this.

1561
01:08:06,249 --> 01:08:08,794
Yet back then it was, uh...

1562
01:08:08,877 --> 01:08:10,629
"Go to Disneyland."

1563
01:08:10,712 --> 01:08:11,922
"Go to Disneyland."

1564
01:08:12,005 --> 01:08:14,508
[soft music]

1565
01:08:14,591 --> 01:08:16,885
(Jennifer)
Alliance Club Group
in Los Angeles

1566
01:08:16,968 --> 01:08:19,971
paid for a trip to Disneyland

1567
01:08:20,055 --> 01:08:23,850
as a way to
somewhat overcome

1568
01:08:23,934 --> 01:08:25,685
the trauma that we had faced.

1569
01:08:28,355 --> 01:08:30,524
And so it was, for a moment

1570
01:08:30,607 --> 01:08:33,485
a chance to get away
from Chowchilla

1571
01:08:33,568 --> 01:08:36,571
and go see Mickey and Minnie.

1572
01:08:38,156 --> 01:08:39,825
(Lynda)
They held a parade for us.

1573
01:08:42,244 --> 01:08:44,246
I believe the way
our parents were convinced

1574
01:08:44,329 --> 01:08:45,872
was that they were
giving us therapy

1575
01:08:45,956 --> 01:08:47,082
some kind of therapy.

1576
01:08:49,668 --> 01:08:51,878
The trip to Disneyland

1577
01:08:51,962 --> 01:08:54,965
was an intrusion
into the nightmare.

1578
01:08:55,048 --> 01:08:56,508
That's all it was.

1579
01:09:04,307 --> 01:09:06,393
(Lenore)
In 1976

1580
01:09:06,476 --> 01:09:08,895
there was a word,
childhood trauma out there

1581
01:09:08,979 --> 01:09:12,315
but nobody knew
exactly what it was.

1582
01:09:12,399 --> 01:09:14,109
(Lenore)
'When one is traumatized'

1583
01:09:14,192 --> 01:09:17,153
the sense of gut
basic trust goes.

1584
01:09:17,237 --> 01:09:19,823
(Lenore)
While I was in training
as a child psychiatrist

1585
01:09:19,906 --> 01:09:24,119
and I wanted to find out
what happens to children

1586
01:09:24,202 --> 01:09:25,745
who get frightened to death...

1587
01:09:26,997 --> 01:09:29,416
...and don't die.

1588
01:09:29,499 --> 01:09:31,459
And that started
the Chowchilla study.

1589
01:09:33,003 --> 01:09:35,213
No one other than
Dr. Terre was

1590
01:09:35,297 --> 01:09:36,965
even trying to be helpful.

1591
01:09:37,048 --> 01:09:38,341
(Carol)
She told us right up front

1592
01:09:38,425 --> 01:09:40,218
she was writing a paper

1593
01:09:40,302 --> 01:09:42,929
for the American
Medical Journal.

1594
01:09:43,013 --> 01:09:45,599
She was interviewing the kids.

1595
01:09:45,682 --> 01:09:48,518
She also listened to them.

1596
01:09:48,602 --> 01:09:52,147
I remember seeing various kinds
of statements that were made.

1597
01:09:52,230 --> 01:09:54,858
(Lenore)
The kids were not okay.

1598
01:09:54,941 --> 01:09:58,570
Somebody got a psychiatrist
to come to town

1599
01:09:58,653 --> 01:10:00,071
and he made a prediction.

1600
01:10:00,155 --> 01:10:03,450
He said, "One kid
in this twenty-six

1601
01:10:03,533 --> 01:10:05,493
is going to have a problem."

1602
01:10:05,577 --> 01:10:07,412
But what happened was

1603
01:10:07,495 --> 01:10:09,372
that no parent wanted to admit

1604
01:10:09,456 --> 01:10:12,876
that his kid was
the one in twenty-six.

1605
01:10:12,959 --> 01:10:14,461
By the time I got out there

1606
01:10:14,544 --> 01:10:17,505
a hundred percent of those kids
were having problems.

1607
01:10:19,758 --> 01:10:21,927
(Larry)
Mom and dad
were told not to come in

1608
01:10:22,010 --> 01:10:23,720
when we have nightmares.

1609
01:10:23,803 --> 01:10:26,264
They said that
if they are going in

1610
01:10:26,348 --> 01:10:28,350
when we have nightmares,
that we...

1611
01:10:28,433 --> 01:10:31,978
They are rewarding our behavior
of having the nightmares.

1612
01:10:32,062 --> 01:10:33,855
And if they stop
rewarding the behaviors

1613
01:10:33,939 --> 01:10:35,273
we'll stop having nightmares.

1614
01:10:36,900 --> 01:10:39,694
Andrea became very introverted.

1615
01:10:39,778 --> 01:10:42,739
Where she had been
outgoing before...

1616
01:10:42,822 --> 01:10:45,575
...she preferred
to hide in her room.

1617
01:10:45,659 --> 01:10:47,994
(Lynda)
Some of them became afraid
to really get

1618
01:10:48,078 --> 01:10:49,996
intimate with anybody.

1619
01:10:50,080 --> 01:10:51,581
She would not hug me.

1620
01:10:51,665 --> 01:10:53,750
[soft music]

1621
01:10:53,833 --> 01:10:56,419
I would tell her
that I loved her

1622
01:10:56,503 --> 01:10:59,005
and she would just ignore it
like it was never said.

1623
01:11:01,383 --> 01:11:02,842
(Lenore)
The Chowchilla children

1624
01:11:02,926 --> 01:11:05,887
had the worst idea
about their futures.

1625
01:11:05,971 --> 01:11:08,890
In the unconscious,
we are undestructible.

1626
01:11:08,974 --> 01:11:11,226
We are, we are...

1627
01:11:11,309 --> 01:11:13,144
...gonna live forever.

1628
01:11:13,228 --> 01:11:15,313
After trauma? That's not true.

1629
01:11:17,023 --> 01:11:18,650
You buy it
that you're gonna die.

1630
01:11:21,611 --> 01:11:24,489
In California, yesterday,
three young men pleaded guilty

1631
01:11:24,572 --> 01:11:26,282
to the kidnapping a year ago

1632
01:11:26,366 --> 01:11:29,452
of 26 school children
and their bus driver.

1633
01:11:29,536 --> 01:11:32,038
(newscaster #10)
The men pled not guilty
to different charges

1634
01:11:32,122 --> 01:11:34,833
that carry a life sentence
without parole.

1635
01:11:37,836 --> 01:11:40,213
(newscaster #11)
Prosecutor David Manir
is also trying to show

1636
01:11:40,296 --> 01:11:42,257
that there was
far more bodily harm

1637
01:11:42,340 --> 01:11:44,092
inflicted
on the kidnapped victims.

1638
01:11:44,175 --> 01:11:46,261
Where you have conditions
of total darkness

1639
01:11:46,344 --> 01:11:48,555
of not enough food or water

1640
01:11:48,638 --> 01:11:52,350
extremely hot conditions of
panic among the children.

1641
01:11:52,434 --> 01:11:54,978
(David)
That should be enough
to constitute bodily harm

1642
01:11:55,061 --> 01:11:57,564
even if you don't have
broken bones.

1643
01:11:57,647 --> 01:12:00,567
(Lenore)
Physically, the children
had a bruise or two.

1644
01:12:00,650 --> 01:12:02,110
There was a cut or two.

1645
01:12:02,193 --> 01:12:04,487
They had a little bit of
urinary trouble

1646
01:12:04,571 --> 01:12:06,197
which cleared up.

1647
01:12:06,281 --> 01:12:08,408
So the defense said, "No harm."

1648
01:12:08,491 --> 01:12:10,744
As you gentlemen
who have seen the transcript

1649
01:12:10,827 --> 01:12:13,455
know there's very little
physical damage at all

1650
01:12:13,538 --> 01:12:15,874
and practically
it's-it's non existent.

1651
01:12:15,957 --> 01:12:18,543
(reporter #16)
'What about the emotional damage
that they talked about?'

1652
01:12:18,626 --> 01:12:20,503
'Is that possible?'

1653
01:12:20,587 --> 01:12:21,921
There is no case in California

1654
01:12:22,005 --> 01:12:23,715
that I know of that holds that

1655
01:12:23,798 --> 01:12:26,468
emotional damage
is bodily injury.

1656
01:12:26,551 --> 01:12:28,094
(Lenore)
I couldn't believe it.

1657
01:12:28,178 --> 01:12:30,847
The mind and the brain,
that's not bodily harm?

1658
01:12:30,930 --> 01:12:32,557
What you do to a person's mind?

1659
01:12:32,640 --> 01:12:35,560
What you do to a
young child's developing mind?

1660
01:12:35,643 --> 01:12:37,020
(newscaster #12)
Bus driver Ed Ray

1661
01:12:37,103 --> 01:12:38,438
was among the early arrivals

1662
01:12:38,521 --> 01:12:40,273
at the Alameda County
Courthouse

1663
01:12:40,356 --> 01:12:42,108
closely followed
by some of the children

1664
01:12:42,192 --> 01:12:44,944
who were kidnapped
with him in July of last year.

1665
01:12:45,028 --> 01:12:46,780
(Jill)
So the children
had to be brought in

1666
01:12:46,863 --> 01:12:49,199
had to testify
about the injuries

1667
01:12:49,282 --> 01:12:51,743
that they sustained.

1668
01:12:51,826 --> 01:12:54,662
They had to face the kidnappers
in that courtroom.

1669
01:12:57,290 --> 01:12:59,709
(Jennifer)
I can remember my mom saying

1670
01:12:59,793 --> 01:13:02,879
that the kidnappers
would be in the room.

1671
01:13:02,962 --> 01:13:06,007
I was so scared.

1672
01:13:06,091 --> 01:13:08,176
(newscaster #13)
Ed Ray explained
how he and the children

1673
01:13:08,259 --> 01:13:10,261
were placed in two airless vans

1674
01:13:10,345 --> 01:13:11,679
and how the children wept

1675
01:13:11,763 --> 01:13:13,723
and he feared suffocation.

1676
01:13:13,807 --> 01:13:16,601
Jodi Heffington fell to tears
on the witness stand

1677
01:13:16,684 --> 01:13:18,436
as she attempted
to tell her story

1678
01:13:18,520 --> 01:13:21,606
of the kidnapping and being
entombed underground.

1679
01:13:21,689 --> 01:13:24,943
When they took me
into the courtroom

1680
01:13:25,026 --> 01:13:27,112
I can remember
sitting in the jury box

1681
01:13:27,195 --> 01:13:28,988
and I felt like
I could barely see

1682
01:13:29,072 --> 01:13:30,865
'cause I was so little.

1683
01:13:30,949 --> 01:13:34,369
I remember not looking
at the kidnappers like

1684
01:13:34,452 --> 01:13:36,162
I'm gonna do what I got to do

1685
01:13:36,246 --> 01:13:38,790
and I'm gonna get out of here.

1686
01:13:38,873 --> 01:13:41,501
I told them the harm

1687
01:13:41,584 --> 01:13:43,336
that they caused to us

1688
01:13:43,419 --> 01:13:46,422
was because of the conditions
that they put us in.

1689
01:13:46,506 --> 01:13:48,550
And as I finished
and I walked out

1690
01:13:48,633 --> 01:13:50,343
I just started bawling.

1691
01:13:54,472 --> 01:13:57,433
It was extremely brave of them
to take the stand.

1692
01:14:00,728 --> 01:14:02,772
(reporter #17)
'You think they should
ever be released?'

1693
01:14:02,856 --> 01:14:05,108
-No, I don't think they should.
-'Why?'

1694
01:14:05,191 --> 01:14:07,152
Did you know they was gonna
come back and release us

1695
01:14:07,235 --> 01:14:09,529
if we didn't get out?

1696
01:14:09,612 --> 01:14:13,283
We were buried
under the ground, man.

1697
01:14:13,366 --> 01:14:16,119
(male #14)
After 16 days
of grueling testimony

1698
01:14:16,202 --> 01:14:19,289
Judge Deegan found
all three men guilty.

1699
01:14:19,372 --> 01:14:21,708
Deegan, "This was
an ordeal of terror

1700
01:14:21,791 --> 01:14:23,877
"and that, to me,
causes suffering.

1701
01:14:23,960 --> 01:14:27,255
Suffering is in itself
physical harm."

1702
01:14:27,338 --> 01:14:30,758
Finding out
that my kidnappers got life

1703
01:14:30,842 --> 01:14:33,178
without the possibility
of parole

1704
01:14:33,261 --> 01:14:36,556
was exactly
what we had hoped for.

1705
01:14:38,183 --> 01:14:40,143
(Jill)
But just when survivors felt

1706
01:14:40,226 --> 01:14:42,687
that they can find some
sort of peace with it

1707
01:14:42,770 --> 01:14:45,190
the kidnappers filed appeals.

1708
01:14:45,273 --> 01:14:46,816
And in 1980

1709
01:14:46,900 --> 01:14:49,027
the appellate court agreed

1710
01:14:49,110 --> 01:14:50,820
and reversed the sentence.

1711
01:14:51,863 --> 01:14:53,740
[soft music]

1712
01:14:56,492 --> 01:14:59,704
(Lenore)
The kidnappers
had plenty of money

1713
01:14:59,787 --> 01:15:01,748
and plenty of time

1714
01:15:01,831 --> 01:15:04,083
and a very good attorney

1715
01:15:04,167 --> 01:15:07,670
and said, mental harm
isn't bodily harm.

1716
01:15:07,754 --> 01:15:10,340
(Larry)
They could be out
after 25 years.

1717
01:15:10,423 --> 01:15:12,842
We thought
we were safe, you know?

1718
01:15:12,926 --> 01:15:18,890
That was and still is
like a slap in the face.

1719
01:15:24,437 --> 01:15:26,397
What was the worst
part of it for you?

1720
01:15:26,481 --> 01:15:29,025
I really didn't think we were
gonna get out. My brother did.

1721
01:15:29,108 --> 01:15:31,319
But I didn't think we were gonna
get out 'cause I didn't know

1722
01:15:31,402 --> 01:15:33,571
what was gonna happen to us
or if they'd ever let us out

1723
01:15:33,655 --> 01:15:35,281
or if we'd run out of food
or die or what.

1724
01:15:35,365 --> 01:15:37,659
I just figured that was it.

1725
01:15:39,827 --> 01:15:41,537
(Jennifer)
After the trial is done

1726
01:15:41,621 --> 01:15:44,707
I couldn't progress
past the kidnapping.

1727
01:15:44,791 --> 01:15:48,670
My self esteem
took a large blow.

1728
01:15:48,753 --> 01:15:51,130
I didn't want anybody knowing

1729
01:15:51,214 --> 01:15:53,132
everything
that I had been through.

1730
01:15:53,216 --> 01:15:55,718
But everybody in Chowchilla
knew about the kidnapping

1731
01:15:55,802 --> 01:15:57,470
so I had a lot of eyes
watching me

1732
01:15:57,553 --> 01:15:59,681
at that point in time.

1733
01:15:59,764 --> 01:16:02,684
And then, unfortunate for us

1734
01:16:02,767 --> 01:16:04,519
five years after the kidnapping

1735
01:16:04,602 --> 01:16:06,813
my brother was in
industrial accident

1736
01:16:06,896 --> 01:16:09,524
with my dad and
my brother was killed.

1737
01:16:11,818 --> 01:16:14,195
(reporter #18)
About 300 people
attended Jeff's funeral.

1738
01:16:14,279 --> 01:16:17,031
Many standing outside
because the chapel was full.

1739
01:16:17,115 --> 01:16:18,116
[sirens wailing]

1740
01:16:20,868 --> 01:16:23,246
(Jennifer)
I felt so betrayed by God

1741
01:16:23,329 --> 01:16:26,332
that he got me
through the kidnapping...

1742
01:16:26,416 --> 01:16:29,294
...and then took away
my beloved brother.

1743
01:16:31,587 --> 01:16:34,090
The spotlight was on us again.

1744
01:16:34,173 --> 01:16:38,428
We had reporters at our house
all the time.

1745
01:16:38,511 --> 01:16:42,682
My small family
at that point crumbled.

1746
01:16:42,765 --> 01:16:45,601
My parents divorced.

1747
01:16:45,685 --> 01:16:49,897
That small town became
so suffocating for me

1748
01:16:49,981 --> 01:16:54,360
that I couldn't go to school
without stares.

1749
01:16:54,444 --> 01:16:58,072
I couldn't go to school without
people talking behind my back.

1750
01:16:58,156 --> 01:17:00,116
I couldn't go to school
without somebody

1751
01:17:00,199 --> 01:17:02,160
saying, "I am so sorry."

1752
01:17:05,163 --> 01:17:07,540
And my mom
and I made the decision

1753
01:17:07,623 --> 01:17:09,000
to leave Chowchilla.

1754
01:17:11,502 --> 01:17:14,088
I left during
my junior year of high school.

1755
01:17:14,172 --> 01:17:16,674
I was a class officer.

1756
01:17:16,758 --> 01:17:18,509
I was a cheerleader.

1757
01:17:18,593 --> 01:17:20,011
I was involved in everything.

1758
01:17:20,094 --> 01:17:22,180
I gave it all up so that we
could move away

1759
01:17:22,263 --> 01:17:24,057
and I could be a nobody.

1760
01:17:24,140 --> 01:17:26,851
I just wanted to be nobody.

1761
01:17:29,062 --> 01:17:31,230
(Lenore)
When they get to be adults

1762
01:17:31,314 --> 01:17:33,983
childhood trauma
doesn't just go away.

1763
01:17:34,067 --> 01:17:35,777
In fact, some of it gets worse.

1764
01:17:38,780 --> 01:17:41,115
[engine revving]

1765
01:17:43,326 --> 01:17:46,037
(Mike)
I was about 19 or twenty

1766
01:17:46,120 --> 01:17:48,706
going out and getting...

1767
01:17:48,790 --> 01:17:51,125
...hammered, blackout drunk

1768
01:17:51,209 --> 01:17:52,418
every single night.

1769
01:17:54,420 --> 01:17:57,048
I just didn't want to remember
anymore about kidnapping.

1770
01:17:57,131 --> 01:17:58,383
I just wanted it to go away.

1771
01:18:01,969 --> 01:18:03,763
(Lenore)
Around the four
or five year mark

1772
01:18:03,846 --> 01:18:05,515
he was in trouble

1773
01:18:05,598 --> 01:18:07,433
as a rodeo rioter.

1774
01:18:07,517 --> 01:18:09,185
It was such a shame

1775
01:18:09,268 --> 01:18:11,646
that he had lost
this pride in himself.

1776
01:18:12,730 --> 01:18:14,899
And some of that pride

1777
01:18:14,982 --> 01:18:17,402
from having been the kid's hero

1778
01:18:17,485 --> 01:18:19,153
had been robbed from him

1779
01:18:19,237 --> 01:18:21,239
by the town's response.

1780
01:18:23,324 --> 01:18:24,742
He was never acknowledged.

1781
01:18:26,702 --> 01:18:30,540
(Mike)
I didn't know
who I was anymore.

1782
01:18:30,623 --> 01:18:33,960
That cowboy part of me
went away.

1783
01:18:35,503 --> 01:18:38,131
I'm still alive.
I still walk and talk.

1784
01:18:38,214 --> 01:18:40,883
But still the way
I feel inside me

1785
01:18:40,967 --> 01:18:42,427
what they'd done to me...

1786
01:18:44,178 --> 01:18:45,304
...they could never feel

1787
01:18:45,388 --> 01:18:47,682
what-what they put us through.

1788
01:18:49,016 --> 01:18:51,519
Alcohol helps with that
in a big way.

1789
01:18:53,271 --> 01:18:55,815
[tense music]

1790
01:18:55,898 --> 01:18:59,235
(Carol)
Over the years, everything
just overwhelmed him.

1791
01:18:59,318 --> 01:19:01,279
He got more and more in...

1792
01:19:02,738 --> 01:19:04,073
...into the hole.

1793
01:19:04,157 --> 01:19:06,951
I was drinking and using it

1794
01:19:07,034 --> 01:19:13,040
and all that to the point
where I'd been to seven rehabs.

1795
01:19:13,124 --> 01:19:14,709
Was living in insanity.

1796
01:19:16,377 --> 01:19:19,297
Before the kidnapping

1797
01:19:19,380 --> 01:19:22,758
I could see so much light

1798
01:19:22,842 --> 01:19:26,262
ahead of me, see my future.

1799
01:19:26,345 --> 01:19:28,723
But then after the kidnapping

1800
01:19:28,806 --> 01:19:30,183
I couldn't see anything.

1801
01:19:39,192 --> 01:19:40,943
(Jill)
The kidnappers have been
having parole hearings

1802
01:19:41,027 --> 01:19:43,529
since the early 1980s.

1803
01:19:43,613 --> 01:19:46,824
Many of the survivors wanted to
participate in the process.

1804
01:19:46,908 --> 01:19:50,119
Jodi Huffington attended
almost every hearing

1805
01:19:50,203 --> 01:19:52,288
having to face
each of the kidnappers

1806
01:19:52,371 --> 01:19:53,748
every five years.

1807
01:19:53,831 --> 01:19:55,833
They did a number
of emotional damage

1808
01:19:55,917 --> 01:19:58,461
to-to all of-all of us

1809
01:19:58,544 --> 01:20:02,048
including our families,
our parents.

1810
01:20:02,131 --> 01:20:07,261
Um...our lives were never
the same after that, ever.

1811
01:20:07,345 --> 01:20:08,930
(Jennifer)
During the kidnapping

1812
01:20:09,013 --> 01:20:11,807
Jodi Heffington
was one of the older girls

1813
01:20:11,891 --> 01:20:14,727
who was like
a older sister figure

1814
01:20:14,810 --> 01:20:16,812
to a lot of the kids.

1815
01:20:16,896 --> 01:20:19,106
(Lenore)
She was the one kid
who held the flashlight

1816
01:20:19,190 --> 01:20:23,569
the whole time
and stood steady as anything.

1817
01:20:23,653 --> 01:20:26,697
(Jennifer)
She became one of our
strongest advocates.

1818
01:20:26,781 --> 01:20:29,158
Her and Melinda Correjo
have gotten in the car

1819
01:20:29,242 --> 01:20:31,661
and driven hours to the Bay Area

1820
01:20:31,744 --> 01:20:35,790
to be there in person
numerous times.

1821
01:20:35,873 --> 01:20:38,751
What they did,
they should stay there.

1822
01:20:38,834 --> 01:20:41,254
(Matthew)
It was on the victims to fight
for them to be in jail.

1823
01:20:41,337 --> 01:20:43,798
If they had not been
going to the parole hearings

1824
01:20:43,881 --> 01:20:45,633
they'd have been out
in probably 1980 something.

1825
01:20:48,010 --> 01:20:51,305
At one hearing,
they actually shut me down

1826
01:20:51,389 --> 01:20:53,474
because I was so angry.

1827
01:20:53,558 --> 01:20:56,561
One of the guards led me away.

1828
01:20:56,644 --> 01:20:59,105
It was one thing
that they hurt me

1829
01:20:59,188 --> 01:21:01,649
but they completely
shattered my family.

1830
01:21:03,776 --> 01:21:08,197
Andrea had dissociated
from the family

1831
01:21:08,281 --> 01:21:10,449
and left Chowchilla.

1832
01:21:10,533 --> 01:21:12,159
My mom lost faith

1833
01:21:12,243 --> 01:21:14,078
in my dad as a protector.

1834
01:21:15,580 --> 01:21:18,165
I was surviving day to day.

1835
01:21:18,249 --> 01:21:20,209
Hated my life, hated myself

1836
01:21:20,293 --> 01:21:21,752
and hated everyone around me.

1837
01:21:26,048 --> 01:21:27,842
(reporter #19)
Park has had trouble
with the law

1838
01:21:27,925 --> 01:21:29,719
spent some time in prison.

1839
01:21:29,802 --> 01:21:31,387
He's doing better now, he says

1840
01:21:31,470 --> 01:21:32,930
but still struggling.

1841
01:21:33,014 --> 01:21:35,558
If they want me to believe
that they're ready...

1842
01:21:37,101 --> 01:21:40,229
...they're gonna have to let me
see him cry.

1843
01:21:40,313 --> 01:21:42,523
They're gonna have to let me
see him cry for me

1844
01:21:42,607 --> 01:21:44,442
and for my sister
and my family.

1845
01:21:46,235 --> 01:21:48,529
When they would go
to the parole hearings

1846
01:21:48,613 --> 01:21:50,489
it would be the responsibility
of the victim

1847
01:21:50,573 --> 01:21:53,242
to say what their story is.

1848
01:21:53,326 --> 01:21:55,202
(Matthew)
My mom talked about
how she didn't feel safe

1849
01:21:55,286 --> 01:21:57,747
around men, her depression

1850
01:21:57,830 --> 01:22:00,750
her struggles
with addiction issues.

1851
01:22:00,833 --> 01:22:02,960
What they don't tell you

1852
01:22:03,044 --> 01:22:05,588
is that you're not just
gonna speak your piece
for one time.

1853
01:22:05,671 --> 01:22:09,634
They never got rest.

1854
01:22:09,717 --> 01:22:13,804
(Jennifer)
The kidnappers were denied
parole for many, many years.

1855
01:22:13,888 --> 01:22:15,681
It wasn't until after 2010

1856
01:22:15,765 --> 01:22:18,225
that there was
public support for them.

1857
01:22:18,309 --> 01:22:21,937
(newscaster #14)
A rally was held today
in San Francisco by supporters

1858
01:22:22,021 --> 01:22:24,106
demanding parole
for the kidnappers.

1859
01:22:24,190 --> 01:22:28,444
Several high profile
politicians and families

1860
01:22:28,527 --> 01:22:30,946
became involved
in advocating for parole.

1861
01:22:31,030 --> 01:22:33,157
(Jill)
This includes
Gavin Newsom's father

1862
01:22:33,240 --> 01:22:34,909
who was an appellate judge.

1863
01:22:34,992 --> 01:22:37,411
Nobody was physically injured.

1864
01:22:37,495 --> 01:22:39,622
Huge factor in the case.

1865
01:22:39,705 --> 01:22:43,542
(Jill)
And Dale Fore who was part of
the investigative team

1866
01:22:43,626 --> 01:22:45,294
from Madera county when

1867
01:22:45,378 --> 01:22:47,672
the Chowchilla
kidnapping case occurred.

1868
01:22:47,755 --> 01:22:49,131
(Dale)
What's right is right.

1869
01:22:49,215 --> 01:22:51,092
How much time
you want out of these guys?

1870
01:22:51,175 --> 01:22:53,344
He was one of the people
who assured us that

1871
01:22:53,427 --> 01:22:56,347
none of the kidnappers
would ever get out.

1872
01:22:56,430 --> 01:22:59,308
(Jill)
He started working
for Fred Wood's team.

1873
01:22:59,392 --> 01:23:02,812
He knew many of the survivors
and at times

1874
01:23:02,895 --> 01:23:04,730
he approached them
and offered them money

1875
01:23:04,814 --> 01:23:08,109
to come and support parole
to change their position.

1876
01:23:08,192 --> 01:23:11,070
He had offered me personally

1877
01:23:11,153 --> 01:23:14,156
at one point
to make some money.

1878
01:23:14,240 --> 01:23:16,450
He wanted me
to write letters in support

1879
01:23:16,534 --> 01:23:19,328
of parole for the kidnappers

1880
01:23:19,412 --> 01:23:21,872
and I let him know
I was not the kind of girl

1881
01:23:21,956 --> 01:23:24,208
that could be bought.

1882
01:23:24,291 --> 01:23:25,751
The next parole hearing

1883
01:23:25,835 --> 01:23:27,670
one of the kidnap victims

1884
01:23:27,753 --> 01:23:30,297
showed up with Dale
as her support person

1885
01:23:30,381 --> 01:23:32,800
with letters
in support of release.

1886
01:23:32,883 --> 01:23:35,261
Don't ask me nothing.

1887
01:23:35,344 --> 01:23:38,264
It was a complete,
like, betrayal to everyone.

1888
01:23:38,347 --> 01:23:41,225
[dramatic music]

1889
01:23:51,110 --> 01:23:52,903
(Larry)
Over the years

1890
01:23:52,987 --> 01:23:55,531
there was an anger
building in me

1891
01:23:55,614 --> 01:23:57,950
that infested...

1892
01:23:58,033 --> 01:24:00,453
...absolutely every aspect
of my life.

1893
01:24:02,204 --> 01:24:05,499
I was replaying the
kidnapping constantly.

1894
01:24:06,792 --> 01:24:08,627
I wanted to torture those men.

1895
01:24:09,962 --> 01:24:11,380
I would fantasize...

1896
01:24:12,715 --> 01:24:15,259
...about the different ways

1897
01:24:15,342 --> 01:24:16,635
that we could get them.

1898
01:24:19,346 --> 01:24:22,391
I was in a prison

1899
01:24:22,475 --> 01:24:24,101
of my own making...

1900
01:24:26,812 --> 01:24:28,397
...and I decided to pray.

1901
01:24:30,191 --> 01:24:32,693
I said, "God forgive 'em,
because I can't.

1902
01:24:32,777 --> 01:24:34,195
God bless 'em,
because I can't."

1903
01:24:34,278 --> 01:24:36,071
And I realized

1904
01:24:36,155 --> 01:24:38,991
"God, forgive 'em,
because I won't."

1905
01:24:40,659 --> 01:24:43,913
And God, he said

1906
01:24:43,996 --> 01:24:45,539
"I can work with the truth.

1907
01:24:47,166 --> 01:24:49,084
We can move forward from here."

1908
01:24:55,508 --> 01:24:57,426
(Jill)
Larry park decided
to go through

1909
01:24:57,510 --> 01:24:59,637
the restorative justice process

1910
01:24:59,720 --> 01:25:00,888
and that's a process

1911
01:25:00,971 --> 01:25:02,431
that assists survivors

1912
01:25:02,515 --> 01:25:05,851
that choose to,
to talk to their offender.

1913
01:25:05,935 --> 01:25:08,062
To come to closure
if it helps them.

1914
01:25:08,145 --> 01:25:10,731
[soft music]

1915
01:25:12,817 --> 01:25:13,943
(Larry)
So I got to go in...

1916
01:25:16,153 --> 01:25:19,365
...and I said, "I was your
victim for 36 hours."

1917
01:25:21,784 --> 01:25:24,870
But for the last 38 years,
I've been my own victim.

1918
01:25:27,456 --> 01:25:29,834
I told them
that I forgave them...

1919
01:25:31,710 --> 01:25:33,963
...but forgiving them
wasn't enough.

1920
01:25:35,714 --> 01:25:38,092
I had spent my lifetime...

1921
01:25:39,510 --> 01:25:41,929
...hating them, and so I asked...

1922
01:25:43,347 --> 01:25:44,723
...for their forgiveness.

1923
01:25:53,023 --> 01:25:56,277
A man convicted of kidnapping
a bus full of children

1924
01:25:56,360 --> 01:26:00,447
in Chowchilla more than
35 years ago is now free.

1925
01:26:00,531 --> 01:26:02,241
The California
Department of Corrections

1926
01:26:02,324 --> 01:26:04,577
released Richard Schoenfeld
last night

1927
01:26:04,660 --> 01:26:07,079
from a San Luis Obispo prison.

1928
01:26:07,162 --> 01:26:10,916
In 1976 he kidnapped
26 children.

1929
01:26:11,000 --> 01:26:14,670
A crime that held the nation
with great concern.

1930
01:26:14,753 --> 01:26:17,298
(Lynda)
When the youngest
kidnapper got out

1931
01:26:17,381 --> 01:26:20,384
that's when the panic attacks
started happening.

1932
01:26:20,467 --> 01:26:21,802
And the worry,
all these feelings come up

1933
01:26:21,886 --> 01:26:23,637
that you hadn't felt in so long.

1934
01:26:23,721 --> 01:26:26,390
I was kind of nauseous

1935
01:26:26,473 --> 01:26:28,309
and then very tearful

1936
01:26:28,392 --> 01:26:31,395
because first-I think first
of other children.

1937
01:26:31,478 --> 01:26:34,815
I prepared myself because
I knew that his brother

1938
01:26:34,899 --> 01:26:37,985
would be not too soon
after that.

1939
01:26:38,068 --> 01:26:40,112
(newscaster #15)
After nearly 40 years
behind bars

1940
01:26:40,195 --> 01:26:43,699
James Schoenfeld will soon be
out of prison and on parole.

1941
01:26:43,782 --> 01:26:45,242
News of the latest release

1942
01:26:45,326 --> 01:26:47,244
did not go over well
with the victims.

1943
01:26:47,328 --> 01:26:50,998
This led all the prisoners
who hurt someone

1944
01:26:51,081 --> 01:26:53,334
and hurt their families.
Just let's let them all go.

1945
01:26:55,586 --> 01:26:58,881
Jodi went into
a huge depression.

1946
01:26:58,964 --> 01:27:00,549
She would say, "Lynda,
it's all my fault.

1947
01:27:00,633 --> 01:27:03,093
It's all my fault they're
getting out. It's all my fault."

1948
01:27:03,177 --> 01:27:05,304
And I said, "We have
as much responsibility

1949
01:27:05,387 --> 01:27:07,181
as you do to keep them in."

1950
01:27:10,100 --> 01:27:11,977
(Matthew)
She couldn't get
out of bed no more.

1951
01:27:12,061 --> 01:27:13,687
And it was just,
she was so weak.

1952
01:27:15,439 --> 01:27:16,982
Because she was
just drinking so much

1953
01:27:17,066 --> 01:27:19,234
and she wouldn't eat
because she was so depressed.

1954
01:27:19,318 --> 01:27:22,655
And she basically
just couldn't

1955
01:27:22,738 --> 01:27:25,658
process life the way
she was supposed to.

1956
01:27:25,741 --> 01:27:27,242
And my mom just did her best

1957
01:27:27,326 --> 01:27:28,702
for as long as she could.

1958
01:27:28,786 --> 01:27:31,664
[soft music]

1959
01:27:35,334 --> 01:27:36,794
And it was their fucking fault.

1960
01:27:38,128 --> 01:27:39,129
[sighs]

1961
01:27:44,760 --> 01:27:47,262
(George)
While the Schoenfelds in prison

1962
01:27:47,346 --> 01:27:50,849
seemed to behave
according to the rules

1963
01:27:50,933 --> 01:27:52,726
Woods was different.

1964
01:27:52,810 --> 01:27:55,771
It was discovered that
he was conducting businesses

1965
01:27:55,854 --> 01:27:58,315
including a Christmas tree
farm, a gold mine.

1966
01:27:58,399 --> 01:28:00,818
(Jill)
And he continued to purchase
and collect cars

1967
01:28:00,901 --> 01:28:02,736
while he was incarcerated.

1968
01:28:02,820 --> 01:28:03,821
(George)
He was able to acquire

1969
01:28:03,904 --> 01:28:05,489
contraband cell phones

1970
01:28:05,572 --> 01:28:07,825
and use them
to conduct the businesses.

1971
01:28:07,908 --> 01:28:11,120
The extent that Fred Woods
involved himself

1972
01:28:11,203 --> 01:28:14,873
in every small detail
was staggering.

1973
01:28:14,957 --> 01:28:17,543
-This is a prepaid call from...
-Fred.

1974
01:28:17,626 --> 01:28:20,170
(automated voice)
An inmate at the county
Correctional Facility.

1975
01:28:20,254 --> 01:28:21,672
(Fred)
Hey, Mike, it's Fred,
what's the deal about

1976
01:28:21,755 --> 01:28:23,173
the generator being screwed up?

1977
01:28:23,257 --> 01:28:26,135
Listen, I need
green-dark numbered...

1978
01:28:26,218 --> 01:28:29,096
[overlapping chatter]

1979
01:28:31,932 --> 01:28:35,769
Also the title the truck is...

1980
01:28:35,853 --> 01:28:37,771
(George)
One of the more
astonishing things

1981
01:28:37,855 --> 01:28:40,315
that Fred Woods has possession

1982
01:28:40,399 --> 01:28:42,359
of the two kidnap vans

1983
01:28:42,443 --> 01:28:44,528
that the children
and the bus driver

1984
01:28:44,611 --> 01:28:45,904
were transported in

1985
01:28:45,988 --> 01:28:48,073
because he thinks the value

1986
01:28:48,157 --> 01:28:50,284
will increase
because of their notoriety.

1987
01:28:52,578 --> 01:28:55,664
It's not any sentimental value.

1988
01:28:55,748 --> 01:28:58,917
This is Fred's
continuing obsession

1989
01:28:59,001 --> 01:29:01,754
I would call it with money.

1990
01:29:01,837 --> 01:29:04,840
It's amazing, because
he didn't even need the money.

1991
01:29:04,923 --> 01:29:08,510
The Woods family set up a trust.

1992
01:29:08,594 --> 01:29:11,847
They wanted to pass on
what they could to their son...

1993
01:29:11,930 --> 01:29:13,557
[eerie music]

1994
01:29:15,225 --> 01:29:17,227
...and it was estimated
in one filing

1995
01:29:17,311 --> 01:29:19,980
to be a $100 million.

1996
01:29:20,064 --> 01:29:23,525
Money that woods, even as
an inmate had access to.

1997
01:29:23,609 --> 01:29:24,902
[instrumental music]

1998
01:29:27,196 --> 01:29:29,615
(Lynda)
The hearing came up
pretty quick.

1999
01:29:32,284 --> 01:29:34,078
It was really difficult

2000
01:29:34,161 --> 01:29:37,456
because we have
just recently lost Jodi.

2001
01:29:37,539 --> 01:29:40,084
But the community
came together and said

2002
01:29:40,167 --> 01:29:42,503
"Okay, we got to
not just do it for ourselves

2003
01:29:42,586 --> 01:29:45,923
do it for Jodi and Jeff
and...each other."

2004
01:29:48,175 --> 01:29:50,677
(reporter #20)
This is the 17th subsequent
life parole

2005
01:29:50,761 --> 01:29:53,263
consideration hearing
for Frederick Woods.

2006
01:29:55,349 --> 01:29:58,268
(George)
Only the inmate
and his attorney

2007
01:29:58,352 --> 01:29:59,937
were in the prison.

2008
01:30:00,020 --> 01:30:02,106
Everybody else was on remote.

2009
01:30:02,189 --> 01:30:05,984
Here we are wondering if
rehabilitation has o-occurred.

2010
01:30:06,068 --> 01:30:08,904
Is rehabilitation running
businesses out of a jail cell

2011
01:30:08,987 --> 01:30:11,156
sneakily smuggling contrabands
such as cell phones

2012
01:30:11,240 --> 01:30:12,866
in and out of prison
without regard

2013
01:30:12,950 --> 01:30:14,743
to rules, regulations,
and authority?

2014
01:30:14,827 --> 01:30:16,745
He should not be released.

2015
01:30:16,829 --> 01:30:18,622
His mind is still evil.

2016
01:30:18,705 --> 01:30:20,624
And he is out to get
what he wants

2017
01:30:20,707 --> 01:30:22,668
with no regret for the
safety of others.

2018
01:30:22,751 --> 01:30:25,087
Mr. Woods has not
changed for the better

2019
01:30:25,170 --> 01:30:27,840
in the 45 plus years
he's been incarcerated.

2020
01:30:27,923 --> 01:30:30,217
He's gotten to heal.

2021
01:30:30,300 --> 01:30:33,428
And my mother was
never granted that chance.

2022
01:30:33,512 --> 01:30:37,307
From 1976 to when
she died two years ago.

2023
01:30:37,391 --> 01:30:39,434
The biggest question
the commissioners had

2024
01:30:39,518 --> 01:30:41,520
was from the lead
commissioner, uh

2025
01:30:41,603 --> 01:30:46,275
who asked why Woods
was so fixated on money.

2026
01:30:46,358 --> 01:30:48,152
(Woods)
I've always said I
needed the money.

2027
01:30:48,235 --> 01:30:50,737
Well, I didn't need the money.
I wanted the money.

2028
01:30:50,821 --> 01:30:53,365
I've learned that in
the last few years.

2029
01:30:53,448 --> 01:30:55,450
That was a mistake on my part.

2030
01:30:55,534 --> 01:30:58,162
I was totally wrong
with this way of thinking.

2031
01:30:58,245 --> 01:31:00,998
I've had a thinking change.

2032
01:31:01,081 --> 01:31:04,334
I felt that he still wasn't...

2033
01:31:04,418 --> 01:31:07,588
...wholly truthful and that he
still showed some of the same

2034
01:31:07,671 --> 01:31:11,717
characteristics that he did
at the time he planned this.

2035
01:31:11,800 --> 01:31:14,428
I wonder if he
understands that the trauma

2036
01:31:14,511 --> 01:31:17,472
the physical and emotional
trauma, is life altering.

2037
01:31:20,184 --> 01:31:22,769
[unnerving music]

2038
01:31:22,853 --> 01:31:25,647
That was really very sad

2039
01:31:25,731 --> 01:31:28,025
thinking how
we've worked so hard.

2040
01:31:30,736 --> 01:31:33,989
(Jennifer)
I feel that I did everything
I could possibly do

2041
01:31:34,072 --> 01:31:37,201
but I had to let go

2042
01:31:37,284 --> 01:31:40,370
of the thought that I had
th-that control.

2043
01:31:41,997 --> 01:31:45,334
If that kept me in dark place

2044
01:31:45,417 --> 01:31:47,419
for too much longer

2045
01:31:47,502 --> 01:31:48,712
it would be overwhelming.

2046
01:31:55,510 --> 01:31:58,805
(George)
The thing about this case
that made it unique

2047
01:31:58,889 --> 01:32:03,435
was the continuing impact of
the crime on the children.

2048
01:32:03,518 --> 01:32:07,272
In 1976, we thought
they would just get over it.

2049
01:32:07,356 --> 01:32:09,858
[instrumental music]

2050
01:32:09,942 --> 01:32:13,278
But all were deeply affected.

2051
01:32:13,362 --> 01:32:15,405
Dr. Tear once called
the children

2052
01:32:15,489 --> 01:32:17,574
little pioneers of medicine

2053
01:32:17,658 --> 01:32:19,785
because they so helped
in the understanding

2054
01:32:19,868 --> 01:32:21,286
of childhood trauma.

2055
01:32:21,370 --> 01:32:24,831
They paved the way
for us to understand

2056
01:32:24,915 --> 01:32:26,792
more contemporary things.

2057
01:32:26,875 --> 01:32:28,377
What happens when
you force children

2058
01:32:28,460 --> 01:32:30,462
away from their
parents at a border.

2059
01:32:30,545 --> 01:32:32,547
(Lenore)
What happens to children

2060
01:32:32,631 --> 01:32:36,426
at some of these horrible
school shootings.

2061
01:32:36,510 --> 01:32:38,720
(Larry)
Because of the
Chowchilla kidnapping

2062
01:32:38,804 --> 01:32:42,182
there were counselors at
Columbine after the shooting.

2063
01:32:42,266 --> 01:32:46,812
There are counselors at
nightclubs after shootings.

2064
01:32:46,895 --> 01:32:49,773
Chowchilla children are heroes.

2065
01:32:49,856 --> 01:32:52,150
(Lenore)
And they continue to teach us

2066
01:32:52,234 --> 01:32:54,903
what childhood trauma is.

2067
01:32:54,987 --> 01:32:57,114
Forty-six, forty-seven,
forty-eight

2068
01:32:57,197 --> 01:32:59,241
fifty years after the fact.

2069
01:32:59,324 --> 01:33:01,535
[music continues]

2070
01:33:03,537 --> 01:33:07,541
(Jennifer)
We are in an area that
is prone to tornadoes.

2071
01:33:07,624 --> 01:33:11,003
It's very common to
have a storm shelter.

2072
01:33:11,086 --> 01:33:13,505
So we actually purchased one.

2073
01:33:13,588 --> 01:33:16,091
We weren't able to submerge
it in the ground

2074
01:33:16,174 --> 01:33:19,720
because that's just a little bit
too traumatic for me.

2075
01:33:19,803 --> 01:33:21,430
[door screeches]

2076
01:33:21,513 --> 01:33:23,807
My family knows that
it's a struggle for me.

2077
01:33:23,890 --> 01:33:25,809
They work with me on that.

2078
01:33:25,892 --> 01:33:29,646
I'm thankful to my
parents for encouraging me

2079
01:33:29,730 --> 01:33:32,899
to try to grow and give back.

2080
01:33:32,983 --> 01:33:37,321
To show that this one
event has not defined me.

2081
01:33:37,404 --> 01:33:38,530
[wind rustling]

2082
01:33:40,824 --> 01:33:44,453
I focused on putting
my energy towards

2083
01:33:44,536 --> 01:33:46,288
positive things in my life.

2084
01:33:46,371 --> 01:33:48,165
So I chose education.

2085
01:33:48,248 --> 01:33:51,126
And I went back to Chowchilla

2086
01:33:51,209 --> 01:33:53,754
and taught in Chowchilla
at Avi Dairyland.

2087
01:33:53,837 --> 01:33:55,339
[music continues]

2088
01:33:55,422 --> 01:33:58,550
(Lynda)
And I take the responsibility.

2089
01:33:58,633 --> 01:34:00,510
My eyes are always
watching the children

2090
01:34:00,594 --> 01:34:03,180
making sure they are safe
every second in the classroom.

2091
01:34:05,015 --> 01:34:07,017
I chose making a
difference that way.

2092
01:34:07,100 --> 01:34:08,435
[pleasant music]

2093
01:34:10,228 --> 01:34:12,481
(Larry)
For 34 years

2094
01:34:12,564 --> 01:34:14,066
I was nothing but a survivor.

2095
01:34:15,692 --> 01:34:17,319
Today I am a reverend.

2096
01:34:17,402 --> 01:34:19,571
A Christian counselor.

2097
01:34:21,448 --> 01:34:22,657
And I am a friend.

2098
01:34:24,534 --> 01:34:25,869
I wake up in the morning

2099
01:34:25,952 --> 01:34:28,163
I say my rosary
and I step out...

2100
01:34:29,581 --> 01:34:30,582
...in faith.

2101
01:34:31,666 --> 01:34:32,834
I never gave up.

2102
01:34:34,127 --> 01:34:35,128
Not completely.

2103
01:34:37,172 --> 01:34:41,051
Because I was
taught at six years old

2104
01:34:41,134 --> 01:34:44,513
by a 14 year old boy,
you don't give up.

2105
01:34:45,639 --> 01:34:46,848
You keep digging.

2106
01:34:46,932 --> 01:34:47,891
[music continues]

2107
01:34:47,974 --> 01:34:49,726
-How are you?
-Good.

2108
01:34:49,810 --> 01:34:54,648
1977, it's the last time
that I saw Mike Marshall.

2109
01:34:54,731 --> 01:34:57,609
Do you know I'm
standing with my hero?

2110
01:34:57,692 --> 01:34:59,111
[sniffles]

2111
01:34:59,194 --> 01:35:00,654
I can't believe what he did.

2112
01:35:02,155 --> 01:35:03,448
I still can't believe it.

2113
01:35:03,532 --> 01:35:04,866
[Larry sniffles]

2114
01:35:04,950 --> 01:35:06,326
I appreciate that.

2115
01:35:06,410 --> 01:35:08,120
Thank you.

2116
01:35:08,203 --> 01:35:09,913
Thank you so much, Mike.

2117
01:35:09,996 --> 01:35:12,374
[instrumental music]

2118
01:35:14,126 --> 01:35:16,586
I didn't realize how much...

2119
01:35:16,670 --> 01:35:18,505
...it would help me to...

2120
01:35:20,590 --> 01:35:23,927
(Mike)
...understand and
to actually hear...

2121
01:35:24,010 --> 01:35:26,805
...one of the kids
tell me that I saved

2122
01:35:26,888 --> 01:35:29,683
their lives and that
they were grateful.

2123
01:35:29,766 --> 01:35:34,271
Not very many people that,
you know, can...relate.

2124
01:35:34,354 --> 01:35:35,397
[engine rumbling]

2125
01:35:37,649 --> 01:35:41,403
When I was a kid, I wanted to
be a rodeo cowboy like my dad.

2126
01:35:41,486 --> 01:35:43,530
[rattling]

2127
01:35:43,613 --> 01:35:46,575
I would see myself
far in the future

2128
01:35:46,658 --> 01:35:48,160
rodeoing for a living.

2129
01:35:48,243 --> 01:35:51,496
But woke up at about...

2130
01:35:51,580 --> 01:35:54,040
...forty-eight years old
with a...

2131
01:35:54,124 --> 01:35:56,460
[chuckles]
...blurry hangover.

2132
01:35:58,253 --> 01:36:00,964
But, then, getting
sober, is amazing.

2133
01:36:01,047 --> 01:36:03,383
It's to have a life.

2134
01:36:03,467 --> 01:36:06,428
And, uh, to be
grateful for every day.

2135
01:36:06,511 --> 01:36:08,138
[tires rustling]

2136
01:36:10,432 --> 01:36:13,894
It's taken a while to
c-come back and rodeo.

2137
01:36:13,977 --> 01:36:16,605
But once you're a cowboy,
you're always a cowboy.

2138
01:36:16,688 --> 01:36:18,231
'Cause it's in your heart.

2139
01:36:20,609 --> 01:36:23,862
So, I'm gonna cowboy
up tomorrow and go

2140
01:36:23,945 --> 01:36:26,239
to this rope in here
in Chowchilla

2141
01:36:26,323 --> 01:36:29,159
and...stick some steers.

2142
01:36:29,951 --> 01:36:31,286
[chuckles]

2143
01:36:31,369 --> 01:36:33,914
[tires rustling and
water splattering]

2144
01:36:33,997 --> 01:36:35,373
(female announcer)
'Five, Lisa Jones, Jeff Cabal.'

2145
01:36:35,457 --> 01:36:37,000
'Six, Adam Silvera,
Spencer Mitchell.'

2146
01:36:37,083 --> 01:36:38,502
'Seven, Tateville, Jimmy Joe.'

2147
01:36:38,585 --> 01:36:40,545
[country music]

2148
01:36:40,629 --> 01:36:42,589
(Mike)
God has a way of making things

2149
01:36:42,672 --> 01:36:45,342
come full circle in his timing.

2150
01:36:45,425 --> 01:36:46,885
(female announcer)
'Mike, you're up.'

2151
01:36:46,968 --> 01:36:49,846
[Gunilla Hutton singing
"Hot Chowchilla Dust"]

2152
01:36:51,848 --> 01:36:52,849
[rattles]

2153
01:36:55,936 --> 01:36:58,522
♪ Bending over
miles of cotton ♪

2154
01:36:58,605 --> 01:37:01,233
♪ Finally ruined
my daddy's back ♪

2155
01:37:03,401 --> 01:37:05,820
♪ As he overcompensated ♪

2156
01:37:05,904 --> 01:37:08,281
♪ For an education lack ♪

2157
01:37:10,242 --> 01:37:12,953
♪ As a kid I rode behind him ♪

2158
01:37:13,036 --> 01:37:16,122
♪ On his canvas cotton sack ♪

2159
01:37:16,206 --> 01:37:20,085
♪ And every day say
500 pounds a buzz ♪

2160
01:37:21,711 --> 01:37:23,547
♪ As he pulled me through ♪

2161
01:37:23,630 --> 01:37:25,799
♪ That hot Chowchilla dust ♪

2162
01:37:27,551 --> 01:37:30,053
♪ When I grew too big to ride ♪

2163
01:37:30,136 --> 01:37:33,056
♪ I got myself an old sew sack ♪

2164
01:37:35,016 --> 01:37:37,811
♪ Mama sewed me on a harness ♪

2165
01:37:37,894 --> 01:37:39,938
♪ And strapped it on my back ♪

2166
01:37:41,856 --> 01:37:44,317
♪ Daddy headed for the fields ♪

2167
01:37:44,401 --> 01:37:47,445
♪ And as I stepped
into his track ♪

2168
01:37:47,529 --> 01:37:48,863
♪ I ain't sure ♪

2169
01:37:48,947 --> 01:37:53,201
♪ But I think my mom cussed ♪

2170
01:37:53,285 --> 01:37:57,455
♪ As I followed him through
that hot Chowchilla dust ♪♪

2171
01:38:03,837 --> 01:38:06,214
[applause]