The young Schoenfeld is also sought in the kidnapping. Determined to save all of the children, the bus driver and the oldest student acted quickly. Psychiatrist Lenore Terr told CBS News, There are a number of these kids who have gone to prison for doing something controlling to somebody else., As Heffington-Medrano explained, The emotional scars that they put on all of us, theyre countless.. Park remembered Marshalls determination at that moment. He was left with relatives every year for at least a month or two all his life when his parents traveled. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. On November 28, 2012, Frederick was denied parole for the thirteenth time. A school bus carrying 26 students mysteriously vanished on the way back from a summer field trip, and three wealthy young men were the top suspects. Once all 27 members of the group were inside, the kidnappers put a heavy piece of metal and two 100-pound industrial batteries on top of the entry theyd cut into the roof of the truck, filled in the rest of the hole with dirt, and left the scene. The shotgun thing concerns accounts that Mr. Woods on one or two occasions fired over the heads of teenagers who attempted to enter the long drive up the hill at 800 Los Tancos Road where the Woods estate is situated. 'The sides of the van were bowing in I knew that I was going to die. But even with the family, he was not close, she said. Under immediate suspicion was Frederick Newhall Woods IV, the 24-year-old son of the quarry's millionaire owner. Ray and Michael Marshall, aged 14 at the time, managed to find an escape for the group, which finally led to the apprehension of the three kidnappers, Frederick Newhall Woods IV, the quarry owner's son, and his two friends, James, and Richard Schoenfeld. As a youngster, little is known of Fred Woods. If were going to die, were going to die trying to get out of here, she remembered Ray and Marshall saying. We've received your submission. The men planned to. Despite the significant wealth of their families, James Schoenfeld told CBS that he and Woods were in serious debt at the time of the kidnapping and that the crime was financially motivated. At the time of the abduction, Frank "Ed" Ray - the bus driver - was bringing students from Dairyland Elementary School home from a summer trip to the local fairgrounds. They will mind.. "I was 24 years old," he said, per Fox News. Frederick and James panicked and fled northward in a car, while Richard decided to return home to confess to committing the mass abduction to his parents. A Puzzling Portrait of Key Coast Kidnapping Suspect, https://www.nytimes.com/1976/08/05/archives/a-puzzling-portrait-of-key-coast-kidnapping-suspect.html. Herself the product of a tangled and traumatic home situation, housed in a foster home, she said that Mr. Woods found her a person aloneand he took me in.. Once the decision becomes final, California Gov. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USE BY OTHERS OF THE INFORMATION THAT YOU DISCLOSE IN CHAT ROOMS, FORUMS, BLOGS, AND OTHER He liked police, programs; among his favorites were The Rookies, and also Mod Squad, his former wife said. Frederick, Richard, and James, drawing from their discussions over perfect crimes, decided to get the money they needed by holding hostages for ransom. All three were from wealthy San Francisco Bay Area families when they kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver near Chowchilla. And now, more than 40 years later, all three will soon be walking free once again. However, according to CBS News, their families appealed the conviction and in 1980, a panel of judges ruled that the kidnappers would eventually be eligible for parole instead of spending life in prison without said eligibility. Currently, Frederick is 68 years old. Mr. Woods also met Songel Nichols, who was to become his wife. The three men pleaded guilty to kidnapping in July 1977 and received life in prison. Frederick purchased an ocean-view mansion at Nipomo appraised at nearly $1.5 million. While underground, Ray and one of the elder students were able to dig their way out of the truck. It surprised me how much [money] he made, but it was a lot, the youth said. She said that she had begun dating Fred Woods in late 1974he said his mother put him up to calling meand that the relationship had been an intimate, if unsatisfactory one. she said, I would have friends. Terr also found that many of the children had developed a strong fear of strangers, even if they were in safe public areas with numerous passerby, and even refusing to answer the front door. His accomplices, brothers Richard and James Schoenfeld, were freed years ago. Home. Once they found themselves above ground, Ray and the children walked to the quarry's guard station near the Shadow Cliffs East Bay National Park where authorities were called. Fridays hearing was Woods 18th attempt for parole. I asked him if he felt funny, finding a dead man. Birth Date His parole hearing in March of 2022 was held at the California Men's Colony, a state prison. After discovering that they could reach the top of the truck if they stacked the mattresses, Ray and Marshall worked for hours trying to wedge a piece of wood into the opening in the roof. Now, after nearly a half-century behind bars, he is on the brink of freedom. Anyone can read what you share. Madera County prosecutors said Woods' disciplinary infractions in prison showed he had not yet learned to follow the rules. Public DomainFrederick Newhall Woods IV, James Schoenfeld, and Richard Schoenfeld planned the Chowchilla kidnapping for over a year. That, plus the fact that Frederick's father owned the rock quarry where the hostages were discovered, placed suspicion on him. ony, but the charges were later reduced to petty theft and finally to auto tampering, a misdemeanor. The three eventually formulated a scheme to hijack a school bus, hide all of the passengers somewhere safe, demand a $5 million ransom from the state of California, retrieve the money, and then release the hostages unharmed, all within twenty-four hours. Jerry Brown paroled James Schoenfeld in 2015. He's demonstrated the capacity to do this kind of a crimeto mastermind and carry out something like this. Others knew him casually, for he had few close friends and among the casual acquaintances were schoolmates, neighbors, the young mechanic who helped him restore the old cars he sold as a business venture, some relatives and some family friends. The three men were arrested in the weeks following the kidnapping and were initially sentenced to life in prison without parole, but an appeals court later changed the sentences to make the trio eligible for parole. Survivor Larry Park told CBS News that Ray and Mike Marshall, one of the oldest students among the kidnapping victims, stacked the mattresses left in the trailer for them high up until they were right underneath the manhole cover at the top. "I tell myself I should be able to shake this off and deal with it. But I never saw any of that shotgun thing, pointing them at people and shooting at them, the youth said. The group was loaded into the two vans and driven around for 11 hours, during which time the hungry, petrified children soiled themselves and clung onto each other in fear. Mrs. Woods had her friends by the cottage on the big estate where they lived; her new husband had none. After 17 unsuccessful attempts, a California man who kidnapped 26 children on a school bus in 1976 has been recommended for parole. Matthew Medrano, son of Jodi Heffington Medrano, sobbed several times as he recounted watching his mother change from being a loving, outgoing survivor until she experienced darker, bitter thoughts and depression before her early death. By They had panic attacks and nightmares about kidnapping and death. When Frederick Newhall Woods and two other gunmen hijacked the school bus in Chowchilla, California, it was considered the biggest kidnapping in US history. Ray, the driver, and the children were herded into two vans and driven around for 11 hours. At the timehe wasn't really workinghe told me from time to time his father would lean on him. He is an elderly inmate, fast approaching 70, and clearly presents no danger to anyone.. There was no quit in him, said Park of Marshall, adding that eventually Marshall broke the surface and brave person that he is, crawled out of the hole first.. Almost alone among those who knew Fred Woods well, the young woman said she did not find the cowboy image unsurprising. Fred Woods and James and Richard Schoenfeld, the men who kidnapped 26 children in 1976. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Here's what you need to know about what happened to Fred Woods and James & Richard Schoenfeld, the 1976 Chowchilla kidnappers who abducted a school bus full of children and buried them alive in a quarry. Frederick "Fred" Newhall Woods IV, Richard "Rick" Schoenfeld, and James "Jim" Schoenfeld were a trio of abductors infamous for hijacking a school bus full of children and holding them for ransom. He dug until he was exhausted, and then he kept on digging. He agreed, however, that his employer, who paid him $2.50 an hour for parttime work, was suspicious of intruders at the estate behind a closed gate on which no trespassing signs hung. He had boyish charm that enabled him, when he could overcome his shyness, to enter into intimate relationships with women, but the relationships seemed to end quickly, and over these relationships there was the same quick, jealous guarding that caused him to ward off intruders on the family estate with a shotgun, and, on at least one occasion, with gunfire. We would not have lived much longer. I said we didn't come with any idea of trespassing and he said he had problems with trespassers. Frederick Newhall Woods IV and Richard and James Schoenfeld were soon . ", Woods added: "I've had empathy for the victims which I didn't have then.". Frederick Newhall Woods was 24 years old at the time of the 1976 Chowchilla school bus kidnapping. In response, James drove back to the Bay Area, unsure of what to do, while Frederick wrote a letter to a friend, but the friend turned the letter in to the FBI. Following the kidnapping, Woods and his co-conspirators - Richard and James Schoenfeld - each pleaded guilty. Mrs. Padgett said she had lived with Fred Woods for some time before she learned that he had a younger sister, Wendy, who was retarded and kept in an institution. On July 29, fourteen days after the mass abduction, Frederick and James were both arrested when they were recognized by several civilians. Now Frederick Newhall Woods IV, the "mastermind" of the trio, could be paroled next month and walk out of state prison as a multimillionaire. Woods will next be eligible for parole in 2024. Name After 17 unsuccessful attempts, a California man who kidnapped 26 children on a school bus in 1976 has been recommended for parole.. Male (all three) While behind bars, he continues to run his businesses and grows richer by the day. I was 24 years old, he said. Fred (Frederick)Rick (Richard)Jim (James) Woods, Wealthy Kidnap Suspect, Described as a Loner and a Loser, https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/26/archives/woods-wealthy-kidnap-suspect-described-as-a-loner-and-a-loser.html. ', The comments below have not been moderated, By However, Newhall has kept applying for parole 17 times, and his most recent rejection came in October 2019. On July 15, 1976, 26 children ranging in age from five to 14 boarded a bus driven by 55-year-old Frank Edward Ed Ray for a summer field trip to a local swimming pool. A van blocked the road ahead of the bus; one man held a gun to the driver while the other drove the bus. When Frederick Newhall Woods and two other gunmen hijacked the . He urged Woods to consider getting treatment. He was not even getting along with his parents and got few friends. But eight days later, Richard Schoenfeld turned himself in to the authorities, according to the San Francisco Gate. Abduction His mother took a lot of home movies of us.. At the time, they were given 27 life sentences without the possibility of parole. gas and land His friends say Woods never hurt for money. We needed multiple victims to get multiple millions, and we picked children because they are precious, James Schoenfeld said at a 2015 parole hearing. Our childhood was completely turned upside down., Many of the children went on to suffer from depression and substance abuse. His parents were very much into each other. Mr. Though none of the victims of the kidnapping sustained life-threatening physical injuries, the psychological effects of being taken hostage at gunpoint and then kept underground for nearly 20 hours have been harrowing for many. After the children managed to free themselves, the kidnappers fled. of Mutual Victims Dogdog.. No record of such an incident could be found in the records of appropriate police or medical officials, and a check of newspapers disclosed nothing involving Mr. Woods. So, where are they now? But man, you're in the weird people capital of the world, so I didn't think much.. 13:36 GMT 30 Mar 2022. An appeals court later overturned the sentences, ruling the men should have a chance for parole at some point in their time behind bars. What is lynching and what is the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Bill? After 16 hours, the victims were able to dig their way out and escapeas the kidnappers were asleep. my friends, by the house, and if we had anyone that he invited it was always his family or relative, no one else.. The mechanic, who asked not to be identified, and who has been questioned intensively by local police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said that he had last seen Fred Woods in the early afternoon of July 15, the day of the kidnapping. Frederick Newhall Woods IV was 24 when he and two brothers, James and Richard Schoenfeld, held up a school bus in Chowchilla, Calif., on July 15, 1976. When Frederick Newhall Woods and two other gunmen hijacked. Richard Schoenfeld was paroled in 2012, and James Schoenfeld was released in 2015. A relative said that the family can trace its ancestry to six Mayflower pilgrims, including John Alden and William Bradford, the Governor of Plymouth. It would really surprise me if he had anything to do with this thing. 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