DISCLIAMER : If you're under the age of 13, or if you're sensetive to scary stuff and kidnapping, I suggest you don't read this for your own safety. Credit goes to Mr. Nightmare and Wikipedia for the information. Now enjoy.

On this day, 46 years ago, at 4:00 PM on the afternoon of July 15th 1976 in Chowchilla California, Ed Ray, a 55 year old school bus driver picked up students from Dairyland Elementary School from The Chowchilla Fairgrounds Swimming Pool to take them back home after a fun day. Unfortunately, what would happen to Ray and the 14 children on his bus would be an event so terrifying, that it would go down as the worst kidnapping in U.S. history...

On this day, 46 years ago, at 4:00 PM on the afternoon of July 15th 1976 in Chowchilla California. Ed Ray, a 55 year old school bus driver picked up students from Dairyland Elementary School from The Chowchilla Fairgrounds Swimming Pool to take them back home after a fun day. The children had a lot of fun at the public swimming pool, and they were even happier when they met up with Ray. Born on February 26th 1921, Ray was a stocky and humble bus driver who didn't talk much, but was friends with everyone and everyone loved for his laid back personality, his patience, and his reliability and always being on time.

At 4:00 PM that afternoon, he picked up all of the students from the swimming pool and began to drive them back home. Even though Ray's bus was acting routy that day, none of the students cared as they were happy he was driving them home and they were trying to calm themselves down after having a crazy day at the swimming pool. It was a typical bus ride home with students talking and singing to each other and enjoying the ride. However, none of them were aware of the horror that would unfold within a few minutes that would forever change their lives...

A few minutes after picking up the students from the swimming pool, the bus turned on to Avenue 21 when Ray saw a white van blocking the road with its doors open. Confused at what was happening, Ray attempted to drive around the van, when a man wearing overalls and a pantyhose covering his face suddenly jumped in front of the bus with a revolver gun. The man then walked to the side window and calmly asked Ray : "Could you open the door, please?".

Even though Ray and everyone else in the bus were a little freaked out, he opened the door and the man along with two other men walked into the bus. One of the men immediately withdrew another rifle and pointed it at Ray. Ray and the students were now scared as they all walked to the back of the bus as the only man who didn't have a rifle hijacked the bus and drove it away while the other two men hopped into the van and drove behind the bus.

The man then drove the bus another mile to a bamboo thicket which made everyone in the bus even more scared. The entire ride to the thicket was completely silent which only made the hijacking much scarier.

The man then parked the bus near The Chowchilla River and ushered 14 students into the white van with the other two men following the bus while Ray and the other 12 students were ushered into a green van that was parked next to the bus.

Ray and the 26 students spent the next 11 hours in both of these vans. There was a partition separating the front seats from the rest of the van and all the windows were sealed. Everyone was scared for their lives, completely unaware about what was happening to them.

The older kids attempted to cheer up the younger kids from the horrifying experience, such as singing songs like "If you're happy and you know it". Unfortunately, there wasn't much anyone could do for the next 11 terrifying hour ride in the vans.

A police search immediately began to find the missing 27 people only 15 minutes after Ray picked up the students from the swimming pool when none of the students came home and no one could get a hold of Ray. Especially when Ray was always on time when getting the students home. Everyone immediately began to worry and they knew there was a serious problem...

Within an hour, the missing bus and its 27 people were being talked about everywhere on the news and as the time went by, the more worried everyone started to get about the missing 27 people. Parents, Ray's employees, and the entire town helped the police by tracing roads and giving them as much information as they could. Everyone did everything they could to find the missing 27 people. Later that evening, after a few hours of frantically searching all over the city, the missing bus was found by The Chowchilla River and 30 FBI Agents immediately arrived at the bus and investigated it, but unfortunately, no one was inside the bus. As the bus was taken back to the city to be confiscated, a huge investigation began, desperately trying to find the 27 people missing.

Early the next morning at 3:30 AM on July 16th 1976, after 11 terrifying hours of sitting in the dark vans, they finally arrived at a rock quarry 100 miles from Chowchilla in Livermore, California. At this point, Ray had been awake for 24 hours and the students had been awake for 20 hours.

When the two vans stopped, their back doors swung open and the three men ordered Ray to step out of the van as they handed him a Flashlight and ordered him to remove his clothes so they could take any of his valuables and then they ordered him to climb down a hole in the ground with a ladder which the men simply referred to as "The Hole". The three men then ordered all 26 of the children to remove their clothes so they could take any of their valuables, and ordered them one at a time to climb down the ladder with Ray, all the while writing everyone's name down.

It turns out that the hole the 27 people were in was actually an old moving van that was buried 12 feet deep in the ground that the men had dug. When everyone was inside the buried van, Ray immediately began to worry that the ground would quickly cave in on them or they would suffocate.

However, there were oddly a lot of luxuries inside the buried van, such as two air shafts, hoses above the ground that were tied to a nearby tree, a lot of mattresses, Wonder Bread, Peanut Butter, Potato Chips, Water Jugs, and even holes that could be used as toilets.

After all 27 people were inside the van, one of the kidnappers said to them : "We'll be back for you.". Then the three men slid a steel plate over the entrance and weighed it down with something the people were not sure of.

The 27 people begged to be let out of the van while some of the younger children screamed to be let out. But things only became more terrifying when they heard repeated thumps on top of the van. They didn't know what was happening, but the three men were shoveling dirt on top of the van, burying the people alive.

When the people in the van learned that the three kidnappers were burying them alive, everyone started to panic even more. Ray tried to calm the students down, then he and 14 year old Michael Marshall, the oldest of the kidnapped children tried to push open the steel plate covering the entrance to try to escape, but it was no use. After Ray and Marshall failed to move the steel plate out of the way, Ray told everyone in the van to eat and get some rest.

After 12 hours of living in the buried van, all of the food was already consumed and the ventilation system that was keeping the van cool stopped working and the extremely hot July air started to fill the van. Worst of all however, the roof of the van started to cave in on the people and Ray knew time was running out fast. Ray and the children came to the horrifying realization that with the van walls caving in and the lack of food, water, and air, this would probably be the end of their lives.

After everyone came to the chilling realization that they would probably never see the light of day again, Ray came up with one last decision to try to escape from the buried van, and that was to wedge the van open. Ray and Marshall quickly piled mattresses together to open the roof which was being weighed down by a large sheet of metal and two 100 pound industrial batteries.

After the most anxious hours of the kidnapped people's lives, Ray and Marshall were finally able to wedge the steel plate lid open with a plank of wood and moved the batteries and the other debris that was blocking the entrance. After 16 terrifying hours of being buried alive, the children jumped with joy as they climbed out of the van and ran to the quarry's guard shack where a security guard was who immediately called the police, Ray's employees, the children's families and everyone else to let them know that Ray and the 26 children were finally safe.

The 27 kidnapped victims were brought to a nearby jail where they were fed, taken care of, and interviewed by police as the families and friends of the victims arrived at the jail, the happiest they'd ever been in their lives to see that everyone was alright.

After Ray and the 26 students were finally safe at last, a massive manhunt began to find the three sadistic kidnappers who immediately fled the area when they found out they escaped and everyone was on the lookout for them. However, they were quickly captured 2 weeks later.

The three kidnappers turned out to be three men in their early 20's. The mastermind of the abduction, 24 year old Frederick Newhall Woods, and his two henchmen, 24 year old James Schoenfeld, and his brother 22 year old Richard Schoenfeld. Frederick Woods's family owned the quarry where the buried van was. The three men were finding themselves in severe financial desperation, so for severe entire year, they planned to hijack Ray's school bus and hold the 27 people in it hostage and demand a $5 million ransom to release them.

The three men were found guilty and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, because none of the kidnapped victims died from the crime, their sentences were later changed to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Unfortunately, this would benefit the three kidnappers.

Richard Schoenfeld was scheduled to be paroled in 2021, but he was actually paroled 9 years earlier on June 20th 2012. His brother, James Schoenfeld was Paroled 3 years later on August 7th 2015. Frederick Woods was denied parole 15 times because he owned the quarry and he was the mastermind behind the kidnappings and attempted murders, but on March 25th 2022, he was also granted parole, and he is currently awaiting his release back to the free world.

Understandably, everyone in Chowchilla and people all over the world were disgusted that the three kidnappers and attempted murderers could be released back to the free world, If Ray and Marshall had given up hope and never dug their way out of the van, all of the 27 victims would've  suffocated to death. But unfortunately, there is nothing anyone could do. The three kidnappers are now free, and who knows what they are planning to do for the rest of their lives when they get out of jail.

Ed Ray passed away on May 17th 2012 at the age of 91, but he has always been remembered as a hero for saving the lives of the 26 children that were kidnapped with him that day. Ray's Birthday, February 26th has become known as National Ed Ray Day. Thanks to his brave and determined efforts to never give up on saving the 26 children he loved dearly.

All of the kidnapped victims and their families, friends, and the entire city of Chowchilla and the entire world have tried to move on with their lives after the horrific kidnappings, but unfortunately, The Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping is just an event the world could never forget and it will always be remembered as a cruel reminder as how sadistic people are willing to be just to benefit themselves...

To this day, 46 years later, The Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping remains as the worst kidnapping in U.S. History, and a terrifying event that would be remembered forever...

The end...