Episode Revisit: The Schoolbus Kidnapping of 1976

Summary

Morbid Podcast: "Episode Revisit: The Schoolbus Kidnapping of 1976"

Hosts: Ash Kelley & Alaina Urquhart
Episode Date: December 25, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this emotionally charged Mini Morbid, Ash and Alaina revisit the 1976 Chowchilla school bus kidnapping—a harrowing true crime case where 26 young children and their bus driver were abducted at gunpoint and buried alive in a moving van. Despite the nightmarish nature of the story, the hosts assure listeners of its happy ending, balancing their hallmark blend of dark humor and heartfelt empathy. This episode is both a chilling recount of a historical crime and a tribute to the incredible bravery and resilience of the victims.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene

• The case takes place in Chowchilla, California on July 15, 1976.
• 26 children, ages 5 to 14, were heading home on Ed Ray's bus after summer school.
• Host Alaina gives credit for the episode suggestion to a listener named Thomas.

Quote:

“Let me preface this ... I debated whether to preface this story with it having a happy ending or not ahead of time. I’m gonna preface it with it has a happy ending because kind of needs to be prefaced that way.”
— Elena, [08:33]

2. The Kidnapping

• The bus is stopped by a white van blocking a rural road.
• Bus driver Ed Ray, a beloved figure among the kids, kindly offers help, but is ambushed by three young men with sawed-off shotguns wearing pantyhose as masks.
• The children and driver are forced at gunpoint onto separate blacked-out vans, pre-rigged by the kidnappers for abduction.

Quote:

“Three men with pantyhose over their heads jumped on the bus with guns—sawed-off shotguns—pointed at this kind man in a bus full of essentially babies.”
— Elena, [12:17]

• The children endure 11 hours in stifling vans with no water or bathroom access, riding through 100-degree Californian heat.

3. Buried Alive

• The group is eventually herded into a buried moving van at a remote California quarry owned by one of the kidnapper’s families.
• They are sealed in with a manhole cover, truck batteries, and dirt.
• Inside, they find minimal food and makeshift toilets; the ventilation system fails, causing panic and near-suffocation.

Notable Survivor Perspective:

"As a six year old, the only way that I can describe this darkness in the van is that it was trying to get me."
— Survivor Larry Park, via Elena, [16:37]

• The oldest child, Michael Marshall (14), and Ed Ray coordinate a daring escape, stacking mattresses to reach the exit. The children cheer them on in a moment of collective hope.

Quote:

"If we're going to die, we're going to die trying to get out of here."
— Survivor Jennifer Brown Hyde, via Elena, [31:28]

4. Rescue and Aftermath

• The entire group escapes after 16 hours underground, crawling into a quarry where a worker greets them with:

“The world’s been looking for you.”
— Elena recounting, [35:32]

• The police take the children and Ed to the local jail for safety, where they are reunited with their families. None of the 27 victims are physically harmed beyond exhaustion and dehydration.
• Ed Ray is celebrated as a hero, remaining close to many of the children for the rest of his life.

5. Apprehension of Kidnappers

• The three kidnappers: Fred Woods, James Schoenfeld, and Richard Schoenfeld are all from wealthy families.
• They planned the ransom scheme for over a year, motivated by greed and a desire to extort $5 million, believing that “multiple victims” (i.e., children) meant “multiple millions.”
• All three are apprehended, tried, and sentenced to life in prison, although two (James and Richard) are later paroled due to legal technicalities. Fred, the ringleader, remains imprisoned due to continued misconduct.

Quote:

"We needed multiple victims to get multiple millions. And we picked children because children are precious. The state would be willing to pay ransom for them. And they don't fight back. They're vulnerable. And they will mind you."
— Kidnapper James Schoenfeld at parole hearing, via Elena, [48:45]

6. Trauma, Recovery, and Legacy

• The children struggle for years with PTSD, nightmares, and phobias as described by psychiatrist Dr. Lenore Terr in her book Too Scared to Cry.
• Many survivors overcome trauma and choose to forgive their kidnappers; some, like Larry Park, even meet them and find closure.
• Ed Ray’s bravery is honored with a local holiday and citations for heroism. He passed away surrounded by many of the rescued children, who continued to regard him as a father figure.

Quote:

"He was just one of those guys who just ... kids were his world. And he felt like he had a duty to protect kids."
— Elena, [55:16]

• The original bus and the buried van now reside in a museum, with survivors leaving messages of gratitude to Ed.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Monica, age 5, to a kidnapper:
  "Are you the Easter Bunny?" (the kidnappers' pantyhose masks resemble bunny ears)
  — Elena recounting, [15:36]

• Survivor Larry Park (age 6 at the time), upon rescue:
  "His mom picked him up in her arms ... and he said, 'I just said, hi, Mom,' and put my head on her shoulder and fell asleep because he was six."
  — Elena, [39:35]

• On Ed Ray’s legacy:
  "His own kids said he just loved kids his whole life. ... They said a lot of those children that he saved were there by his side when he passed away.”
  — Elena, [56:32]

• On the horror of defense lawyering for the kidnappers:
  “How do you lay your head on the pillow ... defending someone like that?”
  — Ash, [45:44]

• Host Commentary (on learning of the case):
  “Thank you, Thomas, for sending that to us. I can’t believe I’d never heard of that case before.”
  — Ash, [58:09]

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [08:33] – Warning it has a happy ending
• [10:01] – Initial overview of the abduction
• [12:17] – Gunmen board the bus
• [15:36] – Easter Bunny quote and childlike innocence
• [16:37] – Survivor Larry Park describes “darkness”
• [23:09] – Older children and Ed try to console younger ones
• [31:28] – Decision to attempt escape
• [35:32] – Quarry worker: “The world’s been looking for you.”
• [41:18] – Police close in on kidnappers at the rock quarry
• [48:45] – Parole hearing and rationale for targeting children
• [53:23] – Psychiatrist Dr. Lenore Terr on survivors’ PTSD
• [56:32] – Ed Ray’s final years and his bond with the children

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Episode Tone & Style

• True crime storytelling laced with the hosts’ characteristic irreverent humor and personal tangents.
• Deep empathy for victim experience, especially as both have young children.
• Outrage at the perpetrators and those who attempted to mitigate their responsibility.
• Emphasis on survival, healing, and the importance of community and heroism.

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Closing Thoughts

Ash and Alaina bring heart, humor, and humanity to a case defined by both cruelty and hope—spotlighting the heroism of Ed Ray, the resilience of the child survivors, and the senselessness of the criminals’ greed. The episode not only informs but deeply moves, encouraging new generations to honor the courage that carried 27 people through the “lighthearted nightmare” of Chowchilla.

Memorable Sign-off:

“We hope you keep it weird. ... But not so weird that you go to the store and you buy some nylons and you put them over your head ... and just maybe wait until your trust fund hits and stop kidnapping people ... Fred, Red and Poop, those are your names.”
— Elena and Ash, [60:00]

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For further reading:

• Book: Too Scared to Cry by Dr. Lenore Terr
• The bus and van can be visited at the LeGrand equipment museum, with survivor tributes on display.

Transcript

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[Elena]

Done.

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[Ash]

My name is Ash.

[Elena]

And I'm Elena.

[Ash]

And this is a Mini Morbid. Mini.

[Elena]

Mini.

[Ash]

Mini.

[Elena]

Mini.

[Ash]

Mini Morbid. Mini Morbid. Mini Morbid. Mini Morbid.

[Elena]

It's so little. So little. Tiny.

[Ash]

Small.

[Elena]

I can't even see it.

[Ash]

You can't see it? How are you gonna read it?

[Elena]

I can see it.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Elena]

Just kidding.

[Ash]

She's. This is what she's telling me, folks. She's telling me that it's a real mini.

[Elena]

It really is. We'll find out, guys, I promise. It's an actual Mini, I swear. Mainly because I'm tired this week and this case just happens to be a Mini.

[Ash]

Is it a little tiny Small?

[Elena]

It's little tiny small.

[Ash]

Oh, I made a really gross mouth noise just then that you're going to die when you edit out later.

[Elena]

Cool, thanks.

[Ash]

What did everyone do for Halloween?

[Elena]

Yeah. I hope you guys all had a spooky, ooky spectacular Halloween. On the Facebook page, people have been posting photos of all their Halloween costumes, and you guys fucking kill it.

[Ash]

I'm just saying, whoever dressed up as Old Greg, you won everything. Because that's been my favorite video since I. When did I even find that?

[Elena]

It's true. She found that way young.

[Ash]

I think I was probably, like, 9 or 10. And me and my best friend Allison at the time used to literally watch it over and over again, yell about it to each other. Do you love me?

[Elena]

Do you love me?

[Ash]

Could you learn to love me?

[Elena]

And you know what's funny? The guy who plays old Greg. So Ash used to tell me about this all the time, and I was like, yeah, okay.

[Ash]

And she never thought it was funny, everybody.

[Elena]

Well, I never watched it.

[Ash]

Oh, you didn't watch it?

[Elena]

Yeah, I never watched it. I was always just like, yeah, I've seen, like. I know what it is. I've seen, like, the screenshot of it.

[Ash]

But she never.

[Elena]

Good.

[Ash]

She never laughed at my impersonations of old Greg.

[Elena]

I didn't. And then, uh, Mama loves the Great British Bake Off.

[Ash]

And by mama, she means herself and not me.

[Elena]

Except Ash watches it literally every time I put it on, so I have no choice. She could pretend, but she loves it. But I really love it.

[Ash]

Yeah, you get into it.

[Elena]

I love baking shows of all kinds and cooking shows, so that's just who I am as a person. But the Great British Bake off is so soothing and so wonderful. And the guy who hosts it. What's his fucking name?

[Ash]

Old Greg.

[Elena]

His name is not Old Greg, but the comedian slash actor slash whatever he is. He's one of the hosts now, and he's the guy who is Old Greg. And when he mentioned it on an episode, I was like, whoa, Ash. It's Old Greg hosting. So our world's collided.

[Ash]

I just want to know. I want to know why he hasn't said anything on the baking show about it.

[Elena]

He did. That's what I just said.

[Ash]

Oh, he said it. Oh, he said it on the show?

[Elena]

Yeah, on the show. He said, I used to play a merman named Old Greg I love. And somebody was like, that's cool.

[Ash]

And then somebody else was like, you have a drunk Bailey's from your shoe.

[Elena]

And now I've watched it, and it's hilarious. So now I'm in.

[Ash]

I do watercolors.

[Elena]

So you know what? Good job, Old Greg.

[Ash]

Mother liquor.

[Elena]

Good job. Person who dressed up as old Greg, you killed it.

[Ash]

I. It made my whole year.

[Elena]

So yeah, everybody, honestly, everybody did an amazing job. There are a bunch of like Beetlejuices. There were a lot of Adam's family. There was just so many good ones. So you guys killed it per usual this year. I just brought my kids out because it was actually kind of warm outside, which was kind of nice. And down the street from us there's this house that in front of it, it has this like weird like almost like a mausoleum looking thing that sits on the sidewalk. It's very creepy. Yeah. You walk by like the door to the mausoleum kind of thing and it's always spooky. It's always been this spooky thing. And then on Halloween, the owner of the house is brilliant and they open it up and they put a fog machine in there and lights and they make it like a little haunted mausoleum that everybody can go into. And the owner is in there dressed up like spooking you out.

[Ash]

That's so cool.

[Elena]

So we went by now my kids are three and a half years old, we go buy it and I'm like, oh yeah, it's fine, let's just scoop by it. Cuz I didn't want them to get freaked out. And as we're going by, one of my kids was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, mom, wait a second, I want to go in the cave. And I was like, what? I was like, well, it's a little spooky in there. Are you sure? And she was like, I want to go in the cave. We went to like six more. Say what she said the entire time. The entire time she's getting free candy. And she's like, but I'd like to go in the cave. I don't want to trick or treat anymore. And I was like, okay, it's spooky. And she goes, I love spooky, mama. And I was like.

[Ash]

And then Elena melted into a puddle on the floor and died.

[Elena]

I have done it. Right.

[Ash]

And then she became resurrected.

[Elena]

Yes. And then I took my three and a half year old into this mausoleum room and she loved it. The other one not so much. She gave it a try, but then she was like, no, no. And she had John pick her up. But one of them was into it.

[Ash]

I straight up fell asleep at 7:30 on Halloween because it was the day after our live show and I hit a wall from all the adrenaline. But don't worry, I woke up like an hour later and watched Texas Chainsaw by myself.

[Elena]

I love that for you.

[Ash]

It was so Soothing.

[Elena]

We, actually. Because that's one of my favorite parts of Halloween, is that every single horror movie ever is on. Yes. And you can just flick through the channels and just hit all kinds of them. So I go through, and Beetlejuice is on. So I'm like, oh, hell, yeah. So I go to Beetlejuice, and John's like, yeah, I've never seen this movie.

[Ash]

I've never seen Beetlejuice the whole way through. I've only seen bits and pieces.

[Elena]

Who are both of you? Who are both of these people that are in my house right now?

[Ash]

I was fuck out of my house, luckily.

[Elena]

Because I was like, oh, no, this could change our relationship if we watch this. And he's like, this is dumb. I'm going to be like, what's happening, though? And we watched it, and John was like, all right. That's a sick movie.

[Ash]

Like, he loved it. I. I have. The bits and pieces I've seen have been good pieces.

[Elena]

He loved it. And now I have to get him to watch the Addams Family and Addams Family Values, because he never saw those either.

[Ash]

Unpopular opinion. I don't love the original Adam family.

[Elena]

No, Adam's family values is way better.

[Ash]

I like Adam's family values.

[Elena]

I don't think that's an unpopular opinion. I like the original one.

[Ash]

Yeah, me, too.

[Elena]

But the Addams Family values is superior.

[Ash]

I like when she's like, Wednesday's at the age where she only has one thing on her and the mom is like, boys, and Wednesday's like, homicide. Because I feel as though that was you as a child.

[Elena]

It's 100%. I think I related so hard to Wednesday Adams in that when I was little.

[Ash]

I love that for you.

[Elena]

But enough about all my spooky childhood shit. This is a mini episode, so we've actually done more talking than we normally do.

[Ash]

Let's shut the fuck up.

[Elena]

Let's shut the fuck up and get to the case, shall we?

[Ash]

We shalleth.

[Elena]

All right, let me preface this. I debated whether to preface this story with it having a happy ending or not ahead of time. I'm gonna preface it with it has a happy ending because kind of needs to be prefaced that way. Okay, I know. I needed to hear that. And I have a lot of, like, quotes from the people involved in it, so it kind of gives that away.

[Ash]

It's like 7 o' clock in the morning. Are you gonna really me up?

[Elena]

I'm. I mean, it's not, like, gruesome. It's. It's more just, like, slightly Disturbing. But it has a happy ending.

[Ash]

I have to do seven blow dries later, so don't be up my day.

[Elena]

I'm gonna up you. No, I'm gonna make it okay at the end. Okay. So this was from July 15, 1976.

[Ash]

Oh, vintage.

[Elena]

Very vintage. And actually, I am going to bring up the person who suggested this case right now, because they suggested it to me, like, literally yesterday. And when they did, I just happened to, like, peek at it. And I was like, I'll take a look at it real quick because I take a look at the cases you give me that. I don't know. And this person's name was Thomas. So thank you, Thomas. I'm not going to say your last name because I don't know if you want me to, but I looked this up, and when I looked it up, I was like, oh, this is perfect for a mini. And I have to do it now because I was just so fascinated by it.

[Ash]

You, like, threw your other mini out the window.

[Elena]

I literally did. And I. And I couldn't believe I had never heard of this.

[Ash]

Well, tell me what happened.

[Elena]

It took place in Chowchilla, California, and it's known as the school bus kidnapping of 1976. Oh. So the day before the final day of summer school at Dairyland Elementary School, 26 children ranging in age from 5 to 14 were on a bus to be brought back to their homes. The bus was driven by Edward Ray. He was known as Ed, but his name was Frank. Edward Ray. He was previously a farmer, but he later became a bus driver. The kids absolutely loved him. And he was just one of those bus drivers that we all remember that we loved. You know, they were just nice, sweet. They clearly loved kids. They cared about. You like the total opposite of the bus driver that you remember that, like, hated kids and was the worst bus driver ever.

[Ash]

I never had a bad bus driver.

[Elena]

Really? I thought everybody had, like, that warm, fuzzy bus driver and then that, like, demon spider.

[Ash]

Oh, wait, wait, wait. I had a bus driver one time, and I was little and I forgot to get off at my stop. And then he kept going, and I was like, no, no, no. Like, you're supposed to stop there. And he was like, well, you missed it. And I was like, I'm five. Oh, my God. Yeah.

[Elena]

So you did have a terrible Buster.

[Ash]

I did, I did. I think you just resurrected a memory.

[Elena]

Yeah, I was gonna say that was a deeply buried memory that you.

[Ash]

That was a deep cut.

[Elena]

So Ed was great. Like, an Ed was legitimately great. Like, we. We love it now, according to a CNN report on the case, the kids all loved this summer school so much as well that they all signed a petition that day to have it last two more weeks.

[Ash]

Shut up. That's so cute.

[Elena]

Isn't that adorable?

[Ash]

I would never have signed that petition.

[Elena]

No, but apparently it was all that like they have all these interviews with these kids now because again, this has a happy ending and they all talk about how like it was like so much fun. They loved it. They did. It was almost like a summer camp kind of thing. So these were all just happy kids who were going home after a fun day at summer school while driving down a rural road. Rural is so hard to say. Truly. A rural road. Rural road. The rural juror. The bus came across a white creep van that had parked across the road and was blocking their way a bit. Yes. The bus had to maneuver around it to get by. And as they went by, Ed being the kind man he was, noticed the hood was up as on the, in the van. So he stopped briefly and just called out the window, does anyone need any help? Because he thought this person had broken down.

[Ash]

Don't ever offer help. Yeah, don't ever offer help.

[Elena]

What? What? I think I, I said this at the live show to somebody. I don't remember who, but like my main like affirmation that I use in life is never help anyone. Yeah, that's just what. Just never help anyone. I just won't do it. So as soon as he offered the help, three men with pantyhose over their heads jumped on the bus with guns. What? Sawed off shotguns, what? Pointed at this kind man in a bus full of essentially babies. What? Yeah, the, and I use, I use the term men very loosely here. Let's say creatures because what man or human jumps on a bus full of children with a kindly older bus driver with a sawed off shotgun? Not any man's.

[Ash]

I'm trying to know.

[Elena]

This case made me, I was so angry by the end of it at these. Because you have kids and they're all alive and like literally fuck all of you because like these guys are disgusting.

[Ash]

I just want to know what the whole point of this thing is.

[Elena]

Oh, it's ridiculous. There really is. This is the worst part.

[Ash]

Oh, is there no point? There's hardly a point to keep going.

[Elena]

There is, but this, it's a stupid point. The men were 24 year old Fred Woods, 24 year old James Schoenfeld and his younger brother, 22 year old Richard Schoenfeld.

[Ash]

I was Expecting them to not be 22 and 24. That's wild.

[Elena]

It's because it's frustrating. All three of these guys had come from rich families and Fred had a trust fund of like over $100 million waiting for him.

[Ash]

So, Fred, what the you be doing?

[Elena]

So what are you doing? So you may be wondering why the they did this. Well, I'll tell you in a bit. They demanded Ed to go to the back of the bus. And they screamed at the kids to shut up and follow orders. Of course the kids are freaking out. And Ed was just trying to calm them all down. One of the survivors, Jennifer Brown Hyde as an adult, said in an interview, quote, edward kept telling his kids, just be quiet, sit down, do what they say. Edward was speaking in a harsh tone. And that normally was not Edward. That, that normally was not the Edward that we knew and loved. So poor Ed is trying to be like, guys like, sit the fuck down. You know, like trying really. And he's like getting. He's trying to be like a little more firm with them to make them listen, because he knows if they don't listen, we're fucked. This could get really bad really fast.

[Ash]

I have one of those lumps. I'm gonna start crying.

[Elena]

Oh, I. While I was reading it, there was a couple of times I was like, oh, no, what if I cry on the podcast for the first time?

[Ash]

Oh, God. So that means I'm definitely. Yeah.

[Elena]

The youngest baby on the bus was a little girl named Monica. And she was only five years old.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

And there's three men with sawed off shotguns yelling at them. Now, apparently, like I said, the kidnappers were wearing pantyhose over their heads, but they wore them so that the legs dangled down like next to their heads, which is stupid. So like a, like bunny ears. So Monica asked one of them if he was the Easter Bunny.

[Ash]

And here I go sobbing.

[Elena]

I mean that when I heard that this little five year old is like, are you the Easter Bunny? And this guy has like a sawed off shotgun in her face and she's like, are you the Easter Bunny?

[Ash]

Oh my God.

[Elena]

Like this poor little baby. Oh my God. She's like, what the is Easter Bunny?

[Ash]

What are you?

[Elena]

So one of the men was pointing the shotgun at these children while another one drove the bus. He drove the bus through, straight through a bamboo field. And all of these kids in the bus were jolting around. They said they were being thrown around the bus. Like, it was really aggressive and awful. When it finally came to a stop in the bamboo field. There was another van waiting for them.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

The men pulled the bus up to the back of that van and forced half the kids in there and the other half with Ed the driver, into the white van that they initially used. The vans were outfitted with wood paneling and blacked out windows. They had made the kids jump from the bus to the vans so they wouldn't leave any footprints. So this was very planned.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

Yeah. Now, one of the survivors, Larry park, who is amazing. I'll tell you why later, told CBS News, quote, as a six year old. Oh, my God, six years old. The only way that I can describe this darkness in the van is that it was trying to get me. Like, these poor kids are in pitch black in these vans.

[Ash]

My God.

[Elena]

And they're all crammed in there. The kidnapper drove these kids in two. In two vans. Blacked out vans in 100 degree weather. They were 100 degrees in those vans.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Want to know how long they drove them for?

[Ash]

Like hours.

[Elena]

11 hours.

[Ash]

11 hours.

[Elena]

11 hours straight with no water, no bathroom breaks. So these poor children are not drinking water. They're all screaming and crying. Some of them are as young as.

[Ash]

Five years old and they're probably getting, like, dehydrated.

[Elena]

They're peeing. They're like, nowhere to go to the bathroom. Some of them are vomiting. Like there's. And they're stuck in these tiny little vans.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

And yeah, and poor Ed is in one of the vans with one of them. Just trying to keep them all like.

[Ash]

I'm probably like, what the. Is happening in the other van?

[Elena]

And he's sitting there thinking, I don't know what's on going. Going to happen. And I'm having to tell these kids everything's going to be all right. And I don't know that everything's going to be all right.

[Ash]

If you're sitting in that position, you're like, everything is surely not going to be all right.

[Elena]

He's responsible for these 26 babies. And he's. And he's. Instead of like, just cowering and being like, I don't know what's going to happen, and crying himself, which I probably would.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

He's like stepping up and being like, I need to be. I. I might die. Right. I need to pretend that I'm not scared of that. These kids like that. This guy's amazing. Like, we love it.

[Commercial Voice 2]

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[Ash]

It if you listen to this show.

[Commercial Voice 2]

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[Elena]

Won'T make you panic.

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[Ash]

Oh, good to go.

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[Elena]

So as this is happening, parents are obviously freaking out because their very young children are nowhere to be found after supposedly getting on a bus at school.

[Ash]

Well, this is like all day at this point. 11 hours.

[Elena]

And they are all calling the police. And then they. And then they all started helping the police look for the bus because that was the first thing they were like, we gotta find this. Where could this bus have gone?

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

It's a huge fucking school bus.

[Ash]

They're probably like, ed, yeah.

[Elena]

And I think that's probably. People are like, what the. Like, the FBI was called in to help. It was mayhem. And finally they found the bus via. Via an air search because it was so well hidden in the bamboo field. Wow. That they just found. So the parents just found this abandoned school bus. And they found tire tracks moving away from the school bus. But again, no footprints. So they. It was clear. And the police said it's clear that somebody has pulled another vehicle up to this bus and driven away.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Can you imagine being a parent? Nope, I can't imagine any. My child's being on that bus and just seeing like they've been kidnapped off a bus. Right.

[Ash]

How do you wrap your brain around.

[Elena]

So children are screaming Crying, like I said, like vomiting. It was a nightmare situation. The older kids as well as Ed the driver were just trying to console them. Even the older kids were stepping up, just trying to like, these kids are amazing. And this bus driver is amazing because these older kids were like. There's some that were like. The oldest one was 14, his name was Michael. And he like stepped right up and just became an adult for these kids. Like, you know, and meanwhile, these are children, the 14 years old. You're a child, you're having to be an adult for these little kids trying to be like, it's okay. They said that Ed was trying to keep them calm by singing them songs like Boogie Nights, Love Will keep us Together and if you're happy and you know it, clap your.

[Ash]

Oh my God.

[Elena]

While they're in the.

[Ash]

I'd be like, I'm not happy and I know it.

[Elena]

Well, I guess they change the words to if you're sad and you know it, clap your hands.

[Ash]

Oh my God, So sad. Isn't this just like, sad and you know it?

[Elena]

And literally everyone in the van is like, clap, clap.

[Ash]

Like, What?

[Elena]

After almost 12 hours in that van, they were driven off the road and were again thrown all around the vans because they were like off roading at this point. Then they stopped the vans. So first the kidnappers reached in the van and took Ed out and shut the door.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

So these kids said they just saw the van door open. Ed be dragged out in the door shut.

[Ash]

Does Ed die?

[Elena]

No.

[Ash]

Oh, good.

[Elena]

Then the kids said they would open the door and just grab the nearest kid to the door, take them out of the van and shut the door. So they were doing this one at a time. So they would do it again and again and again to every kid. So these kids all had no idea what was happening.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

As far as they knew, they were being taken out one by one and killed.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

I mean, that's what it looks like, right? And one takes out. You don't hear anything, you don't see anything. Next one gets taken out. Like, I'd be like, yeah, they're taking them out and shooting them in the woods and leaving them for dead. So as they were pulled from the van, one man asked their name, the other asked their age, and the third asked their address. They also took a little piece of clothing from each of them. So the oldest boy named Michael Marshall, the one that was 14, he said that the kids were just clinging to him in the van that he was in. Like, all the younger kids, they were just clung to him. And he was just trying to be there for them. Fourteen years old, he said. Finally, it was just he and the youngest, the girl named Monica, who's five years old, in the van. And she was just clinging to him for dear life. The kidnapper came and he went to grab Monica, but Michael said he couldn't bear to hand him her over to him. No. Because again, he had no idea what was happening. Right. And so he said he pushed her behind him and went ahead of her like a brave man at 14 years old, like a brave ass adult.

[Ash]

And poor Monica's just like sitting in the van alone.

[Elena]

Well, and he said to CBS News, quote, I had to take her hands from mine and rip and tear them apart, say it would be okay and go with them and leave her. That was so hard.

[Ash]

Oh, God.

[Elena]

So this 14 year old, like, understands.

[Ash]

Like, I need to know why this is happening.

[Elena]

Well, what happened was the kidnappers, months before the kidnapping, had buried a moving van in a ditch in the California rock and gravel quarry.

[Ash]

Why?

[Elena]

They had each child and Ed climb down a ladder into this van that they had buried. In the van, they had put mattresses, water, peanut butter, bread, and cereal, enough for one meal, not enough for any more, stocked on one side and holes cut into boxes for makeshift toilets. They put all 26 kids and Ed in this little moving van that was buried under the earth in a rock quarry. Then they took up the ladder and told them all, we'll be back for you, and then just shut the top. No. Yep. Before leaving, the kidnappers put a manhole cover on the entrance that they had put the kids in, like, on top.

[Ash]

This is my absolute worst nightmare.

[Elena]

Yeah. And then they put two truck batteries over that manhole so they couldn't move.

[Ash]

The COVID And then, like, you're just sitting there, like, are they gonna come back?

[Elena]

And then they buried the top of the van. They were buried under, like, between 6 and 12ft of. Of earth.

[Ash]

Nope.

[Elena]

Yeah. And they could. They said they could all hear dirt and gravel being thrown on top of the van. So they were literally.

[Ash]

In my mind, I'd be like, this is like, this is how we're going to die.

[Elena]

Oh, they all said that. They said we all sat there and we're like, we are being buried alive. Like, we're buried alive. And some of them were like, as soon as I got down there, I was like, this is our coffin. This is our giant coffin that they're putting us in.

[Ash]

Why is this happening?

[Elena]

Yeah, I'll get to it.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Yeah. One survivor Correjo Labandera was 10 at the time. And she said, quote, there were times we all thought we were dying. I promised God, if I survived this, I would be the best little girl. I'd be the best little girl my whole entire life.

[Ash]

Oh, my God, that part.

[Elena]

I just got like a little lump because thinking about this 10 year old being like, I. I won't ever do anything bad again. Like, please just get me out of here. They were in this hole for 12 hours together. Okay? They said it was awful. I mean, the bathrooms were literally holes cut in two boxes. There's 26 kids. So these are just holes filling up with everything. So the whole place is smelling of urine and feces and kids are vomiting because one, they're in about a billion degree weather. They probably have heat stroke. They're also just hysterical, of course. So this whole place is filled with urine, feces.

[Ash]

I'm never putting my children on a bus.

[Elena]

Oh, I'm literally. I never was. Anyways, I already told John. I was like, no, they're already told Ed. Yeah, I already told Ed. They're never going on a bus. Like, my kids aren't.

[Ash]

Because I don't. I don't know any.

[Elena]

It's just not happening. I don't trust anybody. I know there are beautiful bus drivers like Ed. Many of most of them are wonderful, amazing humans. But I'm not trying to chance it. But I don't know you, and I don't.

[Ash]

Now that I know this story, I'm just like, I think I'll drive my kid everywhere while they're wrapped in plastic wrap.

[Elena]

Pretty.

[Ash]

I meant to say bubble wrap, not plastic wrap. That's.

[Elena]

I'm just gonna Dexter up my kids and drive them places.

[Ash]

It's gonna be awesome.

[Elena]

It'll be fine. And it's true. It's like, you can't. I don't trust anybody. My kids. It's awful. So the kids were crying for their parents. Like, Ed said there was a lot of crying for mama. Like, which just destroys my.

[Ash]

Why are you doing this to me right now?

[Elena]

Because there is a good. Yeah. Can we get to it like really fast? Michael the brave, the 14 year old, I want to, like, he should legally change his name to that. He said that it would just be quiet, like dead silent in there all of a sudden. And then one kid would start crying and the whole place would erupt into like. Yeah, Cr. It was just a nightmare. They all ate the food and then the fit. Because again, this was like, you know.

[Ash]

They'Re Going on what, almost 24 hours of.

[Elena]

Over 24 hours of just insanity. So all the food was gone because it was only enough for one meal. And then they had put a ventilation. Like a makeshift ventilation system in there, because they would have just suffocated right away. Right. And obviously these guys are looking to keep them alive for some period of time because they.

[Ash]

Does this all have to do with, like, ransom them or something?

[Elena]

Yes.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

And the ventilation system they put in were just fans that were, like, put into this thing, and they. The batteries all died, so the ventilation system failed. So now they're all literally suffocating. Like, suffocation, heat stroke, just all of this. And then the roof began to literally cave in under the weight. It was starting to bow in, and, like, they could hear the creaking, like pieces of dirt were falling in. So all the kids were like, oh, we're gonna die here, after being literally buried alive. So Jennifer, the survivor that I mentioned earlier, told CBS News that once this started happening, they were in full panic mode, thinking, this is it. Then she says, quote, we thought. And they said, the older kids and Ed, if we're going to die, we're going to die trying to get out of here.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

So this is when Ed and Michael and a couple of other of the other bigger boys took the mattresses. They stacked them all up under the hole that they were placed in, and they attempted to move the COVID but it wouldn't budge because it was, you know. So Michael said the kids were all cheering him on. Like, they were all literally, like, come on, Michael, you could do it. But, like, it started turning into this.

[Ash]

Like, I just got full body, Right.

[Elena]

I still get chills. At last, after, like, we're. I mean, Ed and Michael were move. They were trying for. They said, like, hours. They were trying to get this thing.

[Ash]

They got it.

[Elena]

They were sweating. They're, like, dying of heat stroke. And all of a sudden, another kid looks and says, it's moving. I see it.

[Ash]

Oh, my God, I'm gonna cry right now.

[Elena]

Right. So they were all able to collectively push the COVID out of the way once it was moved. The kidnappers had made a wooden box that was placed around the entrance so it didn't go directly into the earth. You know what I mean? Like, there was a wooden box over the hole. So Michael. Ed had Michael squeeze through the hole to get into that box and try to see what they were working with outside of the box. Right. So when he got up there, he realized that outside of the box was just Earth. It was just dirt. So he had to dig. So he and Ed, he. They just dug and dug and dug for another hour or so until they reached sunlight. And when they saw sunlight, all the kids are freaking out. The sunlight's pouring into the place. They're all like, holy, we're gonna get out of here. But then all of a sudden, all the kids are like, one, where are we? And two, what if they're waiting up there?

[Ash]

Right?

[Elena]

Because all of a sudden they're like, we don't know what they want.

[Ash]

We have no idea what's happening.

[Elena]

We don't know if they've been sitting outside of this thing the whole time just watching us try to escape. Like, we don't know. But they were like, what else? We have to get out of here. Yeah. So one by one, they hoisted each other up out of the hole. Luckily, the kidnappers were better. The kidnappers, where were they? They were all taking a nap. Where? Yeah, they were taking a nap at home. They had tried to call the police department to demand ransom of $5 million for these children's lives, but the lines were jammed because the kids. Families in the media were calling non stop.

[Ash]

So they kind of like a trust fund.

[Elena]

Yeah. So they couldn't get through to the police station to demand the ransom. So they were like, you know what? We're real tired. Let's just go to sleep. Oh, my God, let's take a nap while these kids die beneath the earth.

[Ash]

We buried children alive, but let's. But I'm like, it was tiring work.

[Elena]

Yeah, we buried children in a kindly old bus driver alive in the earth, but we are so much of a sociopath that we can lay our head down on the pillow and go to sleep.

[Ash]

What I need to know is how did three people this evil meet each other?

[Elena]

I have no idea.

[Ash]

How does the world bring that much evil together?

[Elena]

That it, it, it drives me nuts. And what. But what kills me is while they're all sleeping, their quote unquote victims are just pushing through, just committing acts of badassery, getting the out of that thing against all odds.

[Ash]

This is like a straight up movie.

[Elena]

It really is. And it's like, I love the idea of them just snoozing away, thinking they've buried these fucking babies in the earth. And the babies are like, just. And these babies and this older guy are like, like, off. And I love here that they were like, we are not dying, just sitting passively in here waiting for them. We are gonna die getting out of here. Die like yeah, babies. So once they escaped out of the hole, they saw a man in the rock quarry. He was apparently, because it was. This was a rock quarry. So it's a working place. People are working on machines and stuff. And the man looks over and sees.

[Ash]

Them all coming, sees 26 children coming out of the well.

[Elena]

You know what he says? He looks at them and he goes, the world's been looking for you. Right.

[Ash]

Like, I'm clutching my Damn.

[Elena]

That's just like. When I read that, I was like, holy.

[Ash]

Oh, my God. I just had chills for five whole minutes.

[Elena]

Yeah. Literally, the world's been looking for you.

[Ash]

Oh.

[Elena]

Because the world had been looking for them. It was just. These are.

[Ash]

I was waiting for you to be like. He was gonna say, like, the world is ending. Like, this is Satan's undead army. Like, that's what the fuck I would think. You see all these kids climbing out.

[Elena]

Of the earth, probably just covered in like all kinds of muck.

[Ash]

I'd be like, this is Satan's work. Yeah. This is the work of the devil.

[Elena]

Something bad's afoot.

[Ash]

And I would run.

[Elena]

But this man turns around and says the most movie worthy line I have ever heard. And just, this world's been looking for you.

[Ash]

This whole. Is a movie. And they're like, yeah, can you bring me back to the civilization of the world?

[Elena]

They were more than a hundred miles from chowchilla. More than 100 miles. They were driven away from where they were. The police came, obviously, because.

[Ash]

Yeah, that's what they do.

[Elena]

And Ed led all these. These. And Ed had led all these kids out, like, to safety.

[Ash]

Oh, my God, Ed. Did he get like the biggest heroism award? Oh, yeah, just heroism.

[Elena]

I said heroism. Them, correct? Close. So the police had to take them the only place that was like, safe for all of them to go, which was the local jail. Oh, God. They weren't putting like, cells or. Yeah, they were putting these things, like these rooms. But I guess the kids, when they pulled up, they were all like, we're going to jail. Like, why are we going to jail? They were all photographed, they were checked by doctors. They had interviews.

[Ash]

You kept saying, like, the survivors. And I was like, does somebody die?

[Elena]

No. That's why I didn't want to, like, give too much away. That's why I wanted to say no. They were all relevant, relatively unharmed. There was some heat stroke. There's obviously shock and trauma, but physically they were all relatively all right.

[Ash]

Oh, my God. I hope this kid, when he gets caught, I hope his trust fund paid for.

[Elena]

Their therapy. Seriously.

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[Elena]

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[Elena]

Well, they were all given soda and apples at the police station.

[Ash]

Oh my God, stop it. That is so pure.

[Elena]

And then they were freed to go with their families, which all of them said, like, I think the guy Larry Park, I mentioned, he said that he literally just like went. His mom picked him up in her arms and she, and he said, I just said, said, hi, mom, and put my head on her shoulder and fell asleep because he, because he was six. Like, he was six. He's this little sick, he's just like, hi, Mom.

[Ash]

I just keep picturing your kids.

[Elena]

Oh, that's all I kept picturing.

[Ash]

Oh, I, I, I don't even know what I would do. No to these people when they got caught. I. I would go to jail.

[Elena]

Oh. I would 100.

[Ash]

I would just start ripping them apart with my teeth.

[Elena]

I could not. The. The thought of it is unfathomable. Yeah. It really is. Like I. I would to articulate any kind of thought when it has to like putting myself in the situation and none are coming.

[Ash]

I would turn into a creature and just rip them to shots.

[Elena]

I would literally turn into my true form and I would just.

[Ash]

I would call upon Satan after Satan's work and just be like, yo, sir.

[Elena]

I need your help.

[Ash]

Give me the power. Give me the power.

[Elena]

I would call upon the power of Mennon.

[Ash]

I was literally going to say that after you said what we would call.

[Elena]

The corners craft style.

[Ash]

So hit me up with how these get caught.

[Elena]

So unfortunately, none of the kids could say a lot about what they looked like because they were wearing pantyhose. Except they look like the Easter bunny. But a team went back to the quarry to search the buried van for clues. And they figured out that the only person who would have access to via a key to this rock quarry was Fred woods, who was the son of the owner of the rock quarry.

[Ash]

Straight up idiot.

[Elena]

Idiot.

[Ash]

Thank God.

[Elena]

Of course, he became the chief suspect. And once they put it together, the other pieces they were led to the other two fools. Ed was also able to give one of their license plate numbers under hypnosis. Yes, they put him under hypnosis and he read aloud their license plate number.

[Ash]

I don't want to know what I would remember under hypnosis.

[Elena]

Here's Ed just helping. Even in, like a subconscious state. That's just a big old help. Ed.

[Ash]

Ed.

[Elena]

So he's a hero heroism. Two years before this kidnapping, Fred and his Fred woods and his two friends, James and Richard Schoenfeld. The three kidnappers, Duchenfeld. They had been arrested for grand theft auto. So they were already had arrest warrants on them. You're rich.

[Ash]

Why are you stealing things?

[Elena]

That's what kills. And that's what nobody truly understands about this. They were three rich. Right?

[Ash]

They're bored.

[Elena]

Investigators served and executed a search warrant at Fred's father's mansion. And they found one of the guns used in the kidnapping. So they were able to tie him. They also found a literal document labeled plan that detailed the entire thing, along with a ransom note. Apparently, they have been meticulously planning this for over a year.

[Ash]

I believe it. I mean, that was so.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

I hate to say what I was Gonna say, I hate to say well orchestrated, but it was.

[Elena]

And I mean, months before they were caught, this whole thing happened. That's when they started burying this van. So they were already like, well, that's.

[Ash]

All together to put that whole, like, place together.

[Elena]

And they. And actually they were able to gather witnesses that said they had noticed people digging in there like months earlier, but they didn't know why. So Richard Schoenfeld was the one who turned himself in. And as we'll see, Richard seemed. He's the youngest one of the kidnappers. He seems to be the one that was along for the ride and he shows the most remorse. He turned himself in.

[Ash]

So he's somewhat of a human.

[Elena]

He acknowledges that it's horrific and that like, he's. He acknowledges it. I'm not saying he's a good person. I'm just saying he's the only one out of the three that seems to have any truly. Have full remorse and, and to truly grip what he did and what he did to these kids for the rest of their lives.

[Ash]

Yeah, I just like.

[Elena]

And what we'll see is later one of these kids actually like went and met him and like talked to him. Yeah. So James and Fred left, fled California. So Richard turned himself in immediately. James and Fred fled California. Fred went to Vancouver and was caught by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Police.

[Ash]

Because they're awesome.

[Elena]

Yak and Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

[Ash]

I want to be a royal.

[Elena]

The police. But the police put the three of them and. And James was also caught, I think, just like somewhere outside of California. They put the three of them in a video lineup and told them to say phrases that the kids said they used during the kidnapping.

[Ash]

Oh God.

[Elena]

And the children were all able to identify them.

[Ash]

They're like, it was that, that. Yeah, that other.

[Elena]

They literally had them say things like, like, shut up and sit down. Get to the back of the bus. Listen to what I say. Like all these things that the kids were like, yeah, they said all this and then they had the kids come in and they all recognize them, which it's like more badassery.

[Ash]

Cuz like to be even be able to do that.

[Elena]

Yeah. All three pled guilty to 27 counts of kidnapping for ransom and robbery. They were all charged with eight counts of bodily harm as well. But they refused to plead to it because all of them said. Said they. That was going to carry a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. So none of them would plead guilty.

[Ash]

To it even though they were guilty as well.

[Elena]

The kids all testified at the trials, Right. So they were, like, badasses again. February 17, 1978, all three were charged with mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole.

[Ash]

Because if you sat here and told me they got, like, 25 years, I would lose my noodle.

[Elena]

Well, unfortunately. What? Their lawyers appealed the charges of bodily harm because they say, it said, although traumatic, real bodily harm as definition by law did not occur.

[Ash]

Eat my shorts.

[Elena]

So, like, are you kidding me?

[Ash]

I. Oh, my God. This is what I just thought.

[Elena]

How do you.

[Ash]

Defense lawyers. How do, like, the defense.

[Elena]

How you defend these guys of these people?

[Ash]

What?

[Elena]

Oh, they should.

[Ash]

How do you lay your head on the pillow?

[Elena]

The ones that defended these guys should be ashamed. Ashamed of themselves.

[Ash]

How do you put your head on the pillow?

[Elena]

I don't know how you go to sleep at night defending someone like that.

[Ash]

When you know they're straight up guilty.

[Elena]

That. And it's like, bodily harm. I don't give a. If physically they're all, like, together, they are ruined.

[Ash]

Your brain is in your body.

[Elena]

Well, and as I read a ton about these kids later in adulthood, how do you function? They were. I mean, most of them had phobias well into life of, like, the dark. Yeah. Claustrophobia. Yeah.

[Ash]

They wouldn't let their humans alone.

[Elena]

They all have kids. A lot of them have kids now, and they won't let their kids anywhere. Like, they're like, I am the most overprotective parent ever, and it's, like, affecting me.

[Ash]

I'd be like, well, let me tell you about the time I was buried alive, child.

[Elena]

Yeah, well. And so these sentences were gotten rid of, and they were sentenced again to life with the possibility of parole. Parole.

[Ash]

Okay. I mean, I'm still pissed, but as long as it's life. Well, did they get let out on parole?

[Elena]

Richard, who was the one who turned himself in, the one I said, seems to have the most remorse for it. He was granted parole in June 2012.

[Ash]

Why?

[Elena]

36 years after the crimes, three years after that, his brother James was paroled.

[Ash]

Are you kidding me?

[Elena]

Fred is still in prison. Fred seems to be the ringleader. Yeah, he was always labeled as the ringleader. And. And the sheriff actually, at the time said that James and Richard were just two kind of like, dumbasses that just, like, did. Stupid Fred, they said, was a true psychopath. Like, he was a social.

[Ash]

Clearly, who devises this plan in their mind?

[Elena]

He's still a piece of to this day. Like, he's in his, like, 70s or something, and he's still a piece of. He breaks all Kinds of rules in prison, which is why he's not getting parole. Good.

[Ash]

Keep breaking those rules, Fred.

[Elena]

Exactly. Because they always say an indicator of how you will be on the outside if you can follow rules on the inside. And he can't follow rules on the inside. He's. He constantly gets caught with, like, porn and cell phones in his cell. He's trying to run his businesses from inside prison, and he's, like, actually doing it.

[Ash]

What businesses?

[Elena]

I guess he has businesses that are already in his name because he's a little rich and they just got put in his name. So he's able to run some businesses from inside.

[Ash]

Said, what is the point? You're not getting the money.

[Elena]

It's the thing. He's still getting, like, richer in prison because I assume he thinks he's gonna get out at some point because he's such a idiot, he's never gonna get out. So why did they do this?

[Ash]

Why?

[Elena]

Apparently, James and Fred were in debt from being dumbasses.

[Ash]

But you have a trust fund, and.

[Elena]

But that trust fund wasn't gonna kick in until he was, like, a certain age, so he couldn't have access to it yet. So he was like, oh, instead of working, I'll just kidnap a bunch of kids. And James. And again, I said, like, you know, Richard just seems like he was the younger brother taken along for the ride. James told a parole board in 2015, when he was paroled, quote, we needed multiple victims to get multiple millions. And we picked children because children are precious. The state would be willing to pay ransom for them. And they don't fight back. They're vulnerable. And they will mind you.

[Ash]

That is the most up sentence ever said.

[Elena]

And it's like, I understand that they're saying, like, they paroled the two of them because they showed remorse. They've been good in prison. They're getting. I guess that was the first time in 2015, that was the first time that any of the three of them had given any motive. They had no idea before this why they did this. And so. But what's bothering me is it's like, okay, so in 2015, this dude's standing before a parole board being like, this is why we did it. And it's the most up reason ever that children are vulnerable and precious and will mind you.

[Ash]

Also, can you let me and you parole him?

[Elena]

I'd be like, what?

[Ash]

Like, I understand.

[Elena]

You're looking at it like he's telling you the truth and he's giving you the insight.

[Ash]

Yeah, but the truth is horrifying.

[Elena]

But, like, how do you know he doesn't still think this way, right? Like. Like, maybe he doesn't. I. I hope he doesn't. I do believe in rehabilitation.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Not for everybody, but I do believe in rehabilitation, so. God, I'm hoping these guys did come out of here and be like, I was 24 years old. I was 22. That's not who I am. Like, holy. But, like, that's scary to me.

[Ash]

It's so crazy because I'm thinking of, like, my friends. Like, I am 23 years old and I.

[Elena]

Could you.

[Ash]

I.

[Elena]

Can you imagine some like them thinking this way?

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

Well, in Larry park, the one I've mentioned a few times, the, like, 6 year old who was like, I fell asleep on my mom, he met all three of these men and he forgave them.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

He.

[Ash]

That's the thing, though. It's almost like you would have to. Because if you don't, how do you go on with your life?

[Elena]

I think that's what it was too. He said he was like one night and he was like. He said he, like, looked up and was like, God, help me, forgive them.

[Ash]

Like, I'm never gonna be able to.

[Elena]

I need to move past this, this. And so Richard in particular has been cited as being, you know, the one that showed the most remorse. And there's a picture of Larry and Richard, like, smiling with each other.

[Ash]

So wild.

[Elena]

It's so bizarre. But you look at it and you're like, holy.

[Ash]

Like, I think it must help too. Like, it's. It's like meeting a monster. It's like somebody taking their mask off.

[Elena]

Exactly.

[Commercial Voice 2]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Like, I'm. It.

[Ash]

It wasn't real. Like, it was real, but like.

[Elena]

But like, they, You. You can shrink them down to size instead of them being this like, larger than life entity. Because again, he was. They were all like, you know, 5, 6, 7, 10, right. 12. All that. Like, they were little and these men were these big scary monsters. And in their mind, they're probably always been this big scary monsters. And to meet them as adults and be like, oh, you're just a little.

[Ash]

And I can look at.

[Elena]

It's shrinking them down to like, like a size you can just flick them away at all. Right, keep going. So the children. After. After the whole, like, experience, the children were granted a trip to Disneyland.

[Ash]

Oh, my God. Amazing. With Ed. I've got to go.

[Elena]

And Ed. The California School Employees association in Sacramento presented Ed with the Associations Association Citation for outstanding community service. This quote, particularly to 26 precious Chowchilla School Children. The award was given by the governor and he got many more heroism awards after that. And then five weeks after the kidnapping, the entire town of Chowchilla created and celebrated Ed Ray and Children's Day. Stop. With a huge celebration and parade where Ed and the kids were on floats.

[Ash]

Stop it. Stop it right now.

[Elena]

Like video. There's like pictures of this and everything.

[Ash]

I can't believe I've never heard of this case.

[Elena]

It blew my mind. Like, Thomas, thank you for bringing this.

[Ash]

You would think that this should be a well known case. Yeah.

[Elena]

And then I just found out, like, these kids did have tons of issues.

[Ash]

Of course they did.

[Elena]

A woman named Dr. Lenore Terror, who is a San Francisco psychiatrist, actually wrote a book called Too Scared to Cry. She wrote about their trauma in this book and she said, quote, In 1976, we didn't know much about childhood trauma, much less how to treat it. Despite their varied backgrounds, every Chowchilla kid I interviewed suffered from PTSD symptoms for years after the kidnapping and burial alive.

[Ash]

Oh, yeah.

[Elena]

Many of them were well into adulthood, having to sleep with night lights because the dark was just so much that, like, they were just traumatized by it. They suffered from constant nightmares, phobias. A lot of them had substance abuse and legal issues for a little while, but most of them turned their. Around. Around.

[Ash]

That's good.

[Elena]

Recognized what was happening and what this was coming from, and they were able to turn it around. And their stories are, like, amazing to read now. But a lot of them would say they still have these nightmares where they will be buried alive or that, like, they're lined up and shot by these guys and stuff. Like, they just have these awful nightmares. And a lot of the parents of these kids said that when they first came back, it was years of them screaming in the middle of the night, running in their bedroom in the middle of the night, like, thinking they were being chased for a little while. They didn't know who the kidnappers were. It took a little while to find those. The time between then and when they were caught, they said was unbearable.

[Ash]

It must have felt like years because.

[Elena]

They felt like they were going to come back and get them.

[Ash]

Like, also, I feel like if I was a parent, I'd be like, no, you're not sleeping in your room tonight. Like, you're sleeping in my room forever.

[Elena]

I was gonna say, I'm pretty sure I would ruin my kids even further because I would be like, you're never leaving. Leaving my sight.

[Ash]

Yeah. No, I'd be like, you're never. You don't have a room anymore. We're sharing.

[Elena]

Yeah. And these poor. These poor parents were just, like, after this hugely traumatizing experience that they lived through, now they're living through the aftermath once again with their kids. It's like, holy. Ed was hailed as a hero, like, we said, like, his whole life. He was.

[Ash]

He deserves it.

[Elena]

But he was super humble and, like, would never acknowledge that. Right. And, like, he's just adorable. His. His. His own kids said he just loved kids his whole life. Like, they were like, he was an amazing father. He's amazing grandfather. An amazing great grandfather.

[Ash]

Stop it.

[Elena]

Because he had great grandchildren.

[Ash]

Hell, yeah.

[Elena]

Thank goodness Ed got to live to have great grandchildren. And they said he was just one of those guys who just. Kids were his world. And he felt like he had a duty to protect kids.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And he said about that day, he was like, all I knew was that I had to protect these kids. I had to make them feel like everything was going to be okay. Because even if they were dying that day, he was like, I wanted them to. To die thinking that everything was okay. And he was like. And I wanted to make sure these kids. His main goal. He was like, we weren't dying that day. My main goal was to get these kids back to their parents. And he did. And he did.

[Ash]

He moved a manhole cover with two truck batteries on it, and he killed.

[Elena]

Kept his together throughout this whole thing. And, like, maintained I would not be able to sing songs. I would be bawling my eyes out.

[Ash]

In a be like, don't touch me.

[Commercial Voice 2]

I'm terrifying.

[Elena]

Seriously. And Ed lived to be 91 years old.

[Ash]

Oh, my God. That's amazing.

[Elena]

Which. It's like, yes, yes. Like, I wanted that. I was like, don't tell me. Live to be, like, 70. Like, tell me. He's got a long life. 91 years old. He passed away in May 2012, and according to an article in the New York Times, his entire life, those children were by his side.

[Ash]

Oh, my God. Yes.

[Elena]

They all maintained, like, best friendships with him. Like, they all talked to him all the time. They visited him. They said a lot of those children that he saved were there by his side when he passed away. And they had visited him consistently through his entire life. Like, they were with him throughout it all.

[Ash]

I love that.

[Elena]

Family members said Ry collected newspaper clippings about the kidnapping. Like, he wouldn't talk about it. He just, like, silently have this stuff. And he also bought the school bus from it for $500 because he said he didn't want it to go to scrap iron. Cuz he was like, I feel like this is an important thing.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

Like we, we survived. Like, I want this to stay. Wow.

[Ash]

Where did he put it?

[Elena]

His son said, quote, he parked it in the barn and he go out and start it every once in a while. He kept it for many years, but then he ended up giving it to an old equipment museum in LeGrand where it's still there for public viewing today.

[Ash]

If I was him, I wouldn't want to go in it ever again.

[Elena]

He goes in there and he starts it just to make sure it's like still working.

[Ash]

I wouldn't.

[Elena]

And the van is there in the museum today in LeGrand. And a lot of the kids came back after he passed away and they wrote messages to him on the outside of the. Of the bus us. Wow. And you can look at it online. They all wrote like, Ed, you'll always be my hero and stuff like that.

[Ash]

Like, oh my God.

[Elena]

I know. I like, choked up.

[Ash]

Yeah. I just, I got.

[Elena]

I just got another lump that came. Came a. Rocking him through. But that's the. The tale of the 1976 Chowchilla school bus kidnapping.

[Ash]

Thank you, Thomas, for sending that to us. I can't believe I'd never heard of that case before.

[Elena]

I'm shocked.

[Ash]

I'm ruined. But I can't believe I never heard of that case before.

[Elena]

Yeah, it's one of those that, like, you read it and you just think of all these what's these kids went through. But then you're like, thank goodness. I mean, from what I read, I didn't see any like, stories of, you know, them really going down into like a dark place forever. You know, most of them were able to. And, and a lot of them say, like, I want people to know these kids grew up to have wonderful lives. We didn't let these men take that from us. Some of them stumbled a bit, of course, because I couldn't imagine living through that.

[Ash]

I probably would have.

[Elena]

Most of them came out of it and were like that. I'm gonna, gonna. I'm gonna forgive them. I'm gonna move past this. I'm gonna just.

[Ash]

Even forgiving them is.

[Elena]

Yeah. Wild. And as far as what I read, James and Richard have not been back to prison. They've not been in trouble again.

[Ash]

I hope I don't feel like they're doing heckle them like Lizzie Borden.

[Elena]

Oh yeah. I hope they get heckled with some nursery rhymes. And Fred, I don't know if he'll ever get out of Prison. He rots in there. Because he sounds like a.

[Ash]

He truly does.

[Elena]

So.

[Ash]

Yeah. So pointless.

[Elena]

So point. It's so pointless. That's the part that kills me.

[Ash]

Like, I'm in debt.

[Elena]

So pointless. Everybody's in debt who's not in debt.

[Ash]

Yeah. That's like the whole.

[Elena]

Raise your hand.

[Ash]

That's America.

[Elena]

See, Nobody's raising their hands.

[Ash]

No one in this room.

[Elena]

Nobody.

[Ash]

Nobody just won't raise their head.

[Elena]

Nobody in this world.

[Ash]

Am I okay. Wow. Well, thanks for that.

[Elena]

You're welcome.

[Ash]

Can't wait to live my life now again.

[Elena]

Can't wait to hug my baby.

[Ash]

I'm not bringing them to school with you anymore. I. I am.

[Elena]

That's why I bring them. I will forever school.

[Ash]

I renounce that.

[Elena]

I renounce that.

[Ash]

I renounce them going to school.

[Elena]

I resumed that.

[Ash]

So, yeah, we hope you keep listening.

[Elena]

And we hope you keep it weird.

[Ash]

But not so weird that you go to the store and you buy some nylons and you put them over your head and you're like, why I look like these?

[Elena]

So running.

[Ash]

I bet I should kidnap some kids, because that's really up.

[Elena]

And guess what?

[Ash]

You already have a trust fund. So why don't you stop being a douche nozzle and just maybe wait until your trust fund hits and stop kidnapping people. And also, how up are you to dig the earth into the earth and put people in there and just, like, go yourself? Fred, Red and poop. Those are your names.

[Elena]

Bye. Those are your names. Bye.

[Ash]

That was a good one.

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[Elena]

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