Awesome - A Bus Full Of Kids Vanished Before Parents Learned The Wild Truth
The small town of Chowchilla, California, was rocked when a bus full of children and its driver seemed to vanish from thin air. The worried parents and community didn’t know where they could've possibly gone. When the details about their location started pouring in, however, the situation seemed far worse than anyone could've imagined. If it weren't for one brave individual, the whereabouts of the bus —and the children within — might've remained a mystery forever.
Dairyland Elementary
On July 15th, 1976, the summer school kids of Dairyland Elementary were on a sleepy bus ride back from a swimming pool field trip. They had one more day left in their fun-filled program before they were free to enjoy their final few weeks of vacation.
Veteran driver
Frank "Ed" Ray manned the wheel. That day, he was shuttling the group of 26 kids, ages 5-14, many of them still in their wet swimsuits from the day's activities, waiting to change once they got home.
Following right behind
In his 23 years driving bus part-time, Ed had long since mastered operating his rig under premium levels of distraction. So when he clocked a white van with its hood up on the road, he made to pass on by.
In danger
Before Ed could flip his blinker, he decided to holler out his window to offer the van driver help. That never happened, though. Instead, Ed watched in surreal dread, as a man wearing pantyhose over his face appeared at the bus door wielding a gun.
Surrounded
The assailant pointed the gun at Ed and demanded to enter the bus; two more masked men filed on after him. They waved guns and forced Ed out of the driver's seat and to the very back of the bus with all the terrified children.
The youngest rider
Monica Ardery, the youngest of the kids on board at 5 years old, remembered the nearly silent ride. She kept focusing on the legs of pantyhose draped on the gunman’s shoulders, resembling the Easter Bunny.
Out of sight
After 15 minutes, the masked men turned the bus off the road and parked it out of sight behind overgrown shrubs and bamboo. Ed and the children were ushered off the bus and split between two waiting vans with covered windows.
Made to sing
Without a clue where they were headed, the older kids in the van attempted to soothe the younger ones during their seemingly never-ending drive. They passed some of the 11-hour trip singing songs like “If You’re Happy And You Know It.”
Going down
Pretend positivity vanished when the vans parked. The doors opened, and the masked men pulled Ed and the children out into an expansive rock quarry. At gunpoint, they were marched to a hole in the ground; the sight triggered the first screams of fear.
Makeshift prison
They were instructed to climb single file down a ladder into the hole, which was the cargo area of a moving truck. It was buried in the dirt to prevent anyone from escaping, even if they had managed to break through the metal walls.
Locked inside
Each captive was forced to provide their name, address, phone number, and a small portion of their clothing to the masked men. Then they climbed out, took the ladder, and closed the hatch, leaving the children and Ed alone in the darkness on dirty mattresses.
The helpless driver
At 3 am, they listened to the vans drive off. No one would find them trapped in the metal box, let alone hear their screams. Ed attempted to calm the kids crying for their parents, secretly believing they'd never make it home.
Dwindling supplies
They ran through the small portion of food and water quickly. Each minute dragged and with sunrise came the California heat, rapidly turning their cell into a sweatbox. Boarding the bus earlier that afternoon seemed like a distant memory.
The official search
All of Chowchilla was up in arms within hours of the children not arriving home to their parents. Earlier that night, at around 7:30 pm, a searcher plane spotted the abandoned school bus. Police scoured the vehicle for clues to no avail.
Phone lockdown
Meanwhile, the kidnappers lounged at their hideout. They attempted to reach someone at the Chowchilla police to state their demands, but all the frantic dialings-in from parents to the authorities had jammed the phone system.
Calling it a night
Since they failed to request their hefty $5 million ransom, they slept on it. Kidnapping and long-distance driving was tiring work, so they took a nap, agreeing to make the call later. It wasn’t like their captives were going anywhere.
Tensions were high
Back in the underground bunker, Ed found reassuring the kids worse than the heat and stench of urine. Everybody was starting to crack. Among them, 14-year-old Mike Marshall, who shooed away Ed’s theory that the kidnappers were sitting watch above ground.
Escape attempt
Stewing for all that time convinced Mike of one thing — they needed to try to escape. He reasoned and convinced Ed, that even if their captors were keeping guard outside, if they stayed put, they would likely die from heat or starvation.
Finding an exit
Their plan was to reach the ceiling hatch at any cost. Mike and his friend gathered and stacked the old mattresses scattered about the space. Then, he used one of the wooden bed frame slats to prod the hatch for hours, hoping it would budge.
A weighty problem
Mike didn’t know the kidnappers covered the hatch with a metal plate, two 100-lb batteries, and a layer of dirt. His determination never wavered. Hours of balancing on the mattresses and hammering at the ceiling hatch till exhaustion paid off.
Fresh air
Over 16 hours after they climbed into the moving van, the 27 victims pulled themselves back out into the evening air. Thanks to Mike’s resolve to survive, they were able to escape physically intact, though not without trauma.
Back into the real world
No one waited to see if the kidnappers were lingering. Ed led the children to an office in the quarry where a worker who’d heard the news report recognized them instantly, saying, “This world’s been looking for you.”
Questioning the driver
The thirst for justice motivated the police to act fast. It was a case-breaking move to use hypnosis on Ed. While under, he recalled a full license plate number of one of their transport vans and a partial of the other.
Telltale clues
Police traced the license plates, finding them registered to a warehouse in San Jose. It just so happened to be leased to a man that owned the rock quarry — Frederick Woods. A careful search of the Woods family estate provided another crucial clue.
Manhunt
A discarded draft of a ransom note was found in the home right when the son of the homeowner, Fred Woods IV, had hoofed it out of town, his whereabouts unknown. The disappearance of Fred’s buddies, brothers Richard and James Schoenfeld, sparked a manhunt.
Under arrest
Enduring a nationwide searched was too much for Richard; a week later, he turned himself in. Soon after, James was picked up in Menlo Park after a witness phoned in a hotline tip. The last of their trio was booked while trying to keep a low profile in British Columbia.
Legal drama
The judge handed down three life sentences without the possibility of parole to the kidnappers, all of who were young unambitious sons of wealthy connected families. Later, another judge concluded that ruling was invalid, granting all three parole.
Serving their sentences
Good behavior behind bars led the parole board to release both the brothers, Richard in 2012, and James in 2015. As of October 8th, 2019, Fred Woods was denied parole yet again, as he’s still made attempts to minimize the severity of his crimes. Needless to say, plenty of people were opposed to his becoming a free man.
Lasting trauma
For the victims, knowing their kidnappers walk free while they still grapple with the lasting effects of their trauma - anxiety, claustrophobia, paranoia, and panic disorders - is equally hard to bear. Though, their experience bonded them together.
Alternative endings
If the kidnappers hadn't taken a nap, and actually phoned in their ransom, or if Mike Marshall gave up after only 10 hours of hammering at the ceiling hatch, Ed and the summer school children could have suffered a much grimmer fate. But the survivors are still coming to grips with the experience, and similar cases show that it often takes years to deal with the full ramifications of a kidnapping.
Aucun commentaire: