♪ at t the presentnt time, we ew thatat there arere 27 peoplele g since ababout 4:15 yesterdaday afternoooon. still nono break in n that chowowchilla, cacalifornia,, school busus kidnappining. 26 s schoolchildldren and thtr bubus driver h have vanishsh. vanishshed yesterdrday afternn nearar chowchilllla, califoro. [newscasteter] presidedent fod directcted the attttorney gel to use a all availabable gogovernment r resources.. [newewscaster #2#2] ththe californrnia nationanad joined s state and l local pe anand the fbii in a g giant searcrch for the chilildren and t the dri. [carol] it was likike someboy comeme down fromom mars and just t took 'em upup off ththe planet.. [newscasaster #3] was itit an outrigight kidnap, a psychopath or sex maniac on the loose? whoever r did it putut a great l of p planning anand effort,, and we migight even sasay mon. [walter r cronkite]] therere may nevever have been as a anguishing g a myster. [carrerejo labendedeira] it's the w worst kind d of sy you cocould tell.. beining buried a alive is our wororst fear. [tererr] the chohowchilla ks showowed the wororld what childldhood traumuma realally does toto a perso. [brown hyde] my childhood ended july 15th, 1976. i i will neverer get backk the kikid that i w was. ththat kid statayed undergrgr. ththat happenened for each and d every one e of us. ♪ ♪ [b[brown hyde]e] chowchillls in centralal californinia. it was verery small-totown us. [trarain whistlele blows] [newscasaster #4] chchowchilla s a a place wherere time can n seem to ststand stil, but t there's alalways sometg that neeeeds to be p plantd or harvevested as t the cycle o of life conont. by the timime i was ththere in , it wasas mainly cacattle anand farming.g. they hadad a fair anand a rod. [womanan] 1246. [bateses] each yeaear ththey had a c cattle drivi. [siriren chirps]s] ...r.right throuough ththe center o of town. [mikike] my dad d was a world-chchampion steteer wres. i i was raiseded right, really t to believe e in god, anand cowboy.. at a a early agege, i knew i i d to be e a rodeo cocowboy like my y dad and hihis frie. [brown hydyde] chowcwchilla ws a wowonderful plplace to gro. we'd'd catch frorogs. we'd go roroller skatiting down t the hills,, gogo play in t the mud in the i irrigation n ditch. ththe town hadad no crime. no cririme at all.l. [crewsws] you u didn't havave murder. you didn't't have a lot ofof big caseses. itit wasn't ununcommon to o gl ninight long o on a graveyeyardt and ththe phone nonot ring one time.. [terr] in n chowchillala, the e children c could develp a sesense of basasic trust,, and thatat is an impmportat foundatition in earlrly lif, thatat sense thahat you can nt sortrt of trust t the world. [church h bells tolllling] [park] i it's one ofof the fefew towns inin ameria that h had fewer b bars ththan it had d churches.. [laughs]s] as a childld, god d was very r real to m. [p[preacher] b by the powewr ofof our livining god... [park] we had angels, demons. i i could imagine satan's army. my dad said that we all have a guardian angel that keeps those demons at bay. you imimprint thatat on a t three-year-r-old's bra, and therere's just n no dou. [indistincnct conversasation] [carrejojo labendeirira] at e timeme we were i in summer s . we did a arts and crcrafts, ceramicscs. wewe got to gogo swimming. [l[laughter] i rememberer we had acactuay started d a petitionon so t that we couould have anana two weeks s of summer r schol 'cause we e were havining so m much fun, wewe did not w want it to o . [c[camera shututter clicksk] i have a large f family. i'm third d youngest in a famamily of 11.1. ththat day i h had three s sibs on the b bus and twowo cousin. we were lilittle, innocent c children. ♪ ♪ ♪ [man] okay. load up. -[boy] load up? -[man] yeah. where are we going? we're going homeme. takeke you home.e. [w[woman] ed r ray was theher that d day. hehe was a lococal farmer. yoyou could tetell this mamn was bubucking his s own hay. yet hehe was so kikind. he k knew all ththe kids by first n name, knew mosost of theirir parent. there'e's not a onone of themt didn't wanant to hug h his nk whwhen they gogot on the b b. [mike]e] i remembeber mom wod cocome get me e every day y a, alall summer, , and the dady befofore the kididnapping, i i got into m my mom's bebr and tried d to make sosome popc, almost b burnt the h house. shshe walked i in and saidi, "o"okay, mike,e, well, yoyour punishmhment is, you knowow, yoyou're gonnana have to ride thehe bus home e tomorro" [enginine starts]] ththat day, i i was out in thehe orchard withth the teachcher's daughgr memessing arouound and stutu. and [chuckckles] the b buses e startingng to leave e at 3:3, anand she's lilike, "you betteter go get o on the. buses are leaving." and so i took off running and flagged down the e last bus l leaving, which wawas edward's's. ["chowowchilla dusust" plays] ♪ bending g over miles of c cotton ♪ ♪ fifinally ruinined mymy daddy's b back ♪ ♪ ♪ as he overercompensateted ♪ [brown hydyde] when w we loaded u up on the b , i wewent to the e very backk so t that i coululd be rowdy and tatalk with mymy friends. i i was a veryry outgoing, outspopoken child,d, anand i was coconstantly getting g in troublele on t the bus foror talking.. ♪ as he e pulled me e throh that h hot chowchihilla dus♪ [brorown hyde] m my brother f was also o on the bus.s. hehe was one y year ahead of m me in schooool, an honoror-roll stududent, basically y an all-amemerican. [carrejo labendeira] jeff was right in front of me, by the way. hehe was a sweweetheart. hehe was my 1010-year-old d boy. ♪ as i follolowed him ththrough that hotot chowchilllla dust ♪ [park] as s a child, i was s hyperactivive. i i was such a a problem o on t, you coululdn't keep p me in a s. and me b being me, i i forgot to take e my meds ththat day. i wawas moving s seats, bugging g this persoson and hittining this pererson and d pulling ththis person'n's. my sister r andrea wouould sit e on t the bus. she would d get me to o rel, basicalllly. she wawas my best t friend. i remembmber a lot o of the gis had d a crush on the 1 14-year-oldld cowboy mike mararshall. he was defefinitely a a hande 14-year-r-old boy. nevever heard ofof him. never realally seen hihim befo. here's's this kid d who comet ofof complete e obscurityy for the sosole purposese that god knew what was about to happen. ♪ we were drdriving homeme. ♪ asas usual, wewe were dropoppins off f along the e way. we'r're in thehe middle of thehe orchards s and field. we t turn this c corner... ...and ed d ray stoppeped. [b[bus brakes s hiss] [officer] i'd like you to tell me in youour own wordrds first- whwhen you're e riding thehe, jujust tell meme what you u rem. [b[brown hyde]e] there wasas s white vavan parked o on the . and thenen... ...t.two guys jujumped out with g guns. and one totold him to open n his door.. ♪ soso he openeded the door. and then t the guy gotot i. he h had a pantytyhose over his h head. he told d edward to o go toto the back k of the busu. [mikike] when ededward had openeded the door,r, one of t the kids, j jeff bro, he gotot up and sasaid, "we e didn't do o it," and everybybody kind o of lau. he thougught it was s a joke. i i was scareded, soso i ducked d under my s . ♪ [park] e ed ray got t up anand he moveded to the baba. i went bacack over to o my si, andreaea. i heheld her hanand. the e guy with a a shotgun -- he's s staring at t me with hih. they t told everybybody inin the firstst three seas to go o to the bacack of the b . and i i was in thehe fourth ses. everybody y was scareded. [carrejo l labendeira]a] theyey kept theieir gun poinid inin the direcection ofof all of usus children.. so it t was the whwhole time pointed atat the childldren. even more e scary wass the papantyhose that thehey had pulllled over t their face.e. [park]k] they werere tight. smasashed their r nose dow. ththeir eyes w were hollowo. it rememinded me o of demons. ♪ and then a all of a susudden, we're driviving. i'm trtrying to fifigure ot what's g going on. if i can f figure out t the w, then m maybe i canan figure ot a waway to... interrrrupt what's's gonna come next.t. and we d drive a litittle fur, anand the guyy runsns the bus i into a big g s. [m[metal bangiging] [carrerejo labendedeira] it was a d deep inclinine. wewe were joststled all over t the place.. whenen we finalllly stopped, we sawaw another v van. now w there was s a white van anand a green n van. [parark] the van drove rigight k to the d door of thehe bus, and ththen they hahad all the s onon the rightht-hand sidee go i into the whwhite van. [b[brown hyde]e] in that t first grououp of chiln was my brorother. he t turned and d looked at e down t the aisle.. he g gave me thahat look o, "youou just needed to be qui" and d so i did.. i had d seen enougugh tv shos that i k knew ththat this wawas serious.. [mikike] i was t the firstse to get intnto the van.n. goining through h the door,, there wawas another r guy standing t there like e a st, pointingng his gun straigight throughgh, so you hadad to go by y him. they h had plywoodod all l inside thehe van so that you couldn't see out or anything. ♪ and then they backed the second van up to the bus, anand the otheher kids --- we g got in thatat van. i i was scareded becaususe there wawas absoluty no communinication frorom thm on where w we're goingng or what t they're gogonna dodo with us.. and then t they shut t the doo. i i had fixed d michael bacon-anand-tomato s sandwichs for dinnnner. and about t 4:30, i started d looking fofor the . itit didn't cocome. [indistinct conversations] [crerews] about t 4:30, i gt a a phone callll from a papt thatat the childldren hadn't't d home aftfter school.l. i ththought, ththey've had d a flat tiri. the e bus is broroken down or somethihing like ththat. then we rereceived several momore calls.. [telelephone rininging] [batates] in 1976, t the sheriffff's oe hahad one patrtrol officer in c chowchilla.a. there e was only o one little-ey office andnd one phonene. when thehe call cameme in that the b bus was misissing, i said,, "what t do you meaean, missin? how does a a school bubus all l painted yeyellow in a smallll county show up p missing?"" i put outt an all-p-points bulllletin. [telephohone ringingng, indidistinct cononversations] it w was a summemer sessio, so the busus driver didn't't take the e normal re ththat he woululd take to drop chchildren offff. so we had d to check e everyw. [carol] ] i went allll the y to thehe school, b backtrack, looked d down every y street, every whicich way. dididn't see a anything. i knknew someththing was wron. the parents werere congregatg atat the policice stationn 'cause we e were gettiting reallyly anxious.. [i[indistinct t conversatiti] we're trtrying to lolocate 2626 lost chilildren, along wiwith their d driver. never r in my wildldest dreas did i i think somemething majoje ththis could h happen in c chow. [s[siren waililing] ♪ ♪ [brown h hyde] it seseemed lie we werere driven a around for lilike hours u upon hou. it was hotot in that v van. itit was just t stifling.. kikids got sicick from thehe mn of the v vehicle anand no food,d, no water. i i just felt t like an anal being takeken to slaugughte. if you a as a child d can be thn ininto the bacack of a vann without t any comfororts, ththey didn't t care aboutut. i told a f few of m my little f friends, i i told them,m, "be brave 'cause e everything'g's gogonna be allll right." ♪ [mike] we e thought ththat theyey might be e back thee killining the guysys in the bs 'cause w we didn't k know what they y were doingng to . [carrerejo labendedeira] i was sepaparated fromom my t three sisteters. were thehey alive? did theyey get left t behind? [park]k] andrdrea and i w were togetht. i i took her h hand. therere was someme security y . [brownwn hyde] we e prayed. we sang, " "if you're e happy d you knknow it, clalap your han" nobodydy clapped t their hand. [tererr] all l of us haveve a wall againsnst gettingg totatally overwhwhelmed. and thatat wall is o our defe, ouour coping m mechanisms,s, hu. and when t the wall gegets bro, that's's trauma. [carrejo l labendeira]a] theyey wouldn't t let us use the e restroom.. i heheld myself f all day. i was inin tears bececause i wawas in physisical pain.. jeffff didn't wawant me to be emembarrassedd 'cause he e knew i was embabarrassed. anand so jeff f wet his owown ps and totook my handnd anand placed m my hand on n h. he said, " "look, i wewent. yoyou can go a ahead and g g" [brown h hyde] edward wasas very quieiet. i think k he comprehehended tt this wasas a seriousus situatio. the e kids were e asking me, you knknow, questitions, wondndering if t they were ga see their r mommies anand dad. anand i think k that they y bed that i w would tetell them ththe truth. i told thehem, "yes, y you wil" and i i didn't lieie. i i didn't telell them what lifetetime it migight b. [s[siren waililing, popolice radioio chatter]] [batates] we werere lookingg for r 'em everywywhere. then i i recalledd one e of my sergrgeants -- he didn't t have an aiairplan, but he h had another bubuddy that d did. so i asksked him to get up p in a planene. ♪ my dad, , robert gududgel, was s well-knownwn as a lococal aviatoror, and he apppproached dadan right here to auaugment the e search. i rememember goingng, flying thehe airple out overer the ash s sl, lolooking for r the. [g[gudgel] d dad took beberena slough d down here t to the s, and d dad is thehe one ththat spotteded it. it was dififficult toto see from m the groundnd becaususe the slououghs had d quite a bibit of treeses. [helicopteter blades w whirri] they k knew someththing was terriblyly wrong at t that pot when they y found the e empty . i coululdn't undererstand it. i actualally looked d up in the. ufos? ? what? where are e the kids?? whwhere's michchael? [batates] this was a a major casase. i i called govovernor jerrrry bs officece. i said,, "i wanant every ststate ageny ththat has carars and radids in m my office."." he s said, "you u got it." in t the meantimime, neararby countieies said, "w"what do youou need? we'll hehelp you anyny way we. wewe'll set upup roadblockck" [p[police radidio chatter]] ♪ [mike] we were e driving araround r seemeded like hoururs and d hours and d hours... ...u.until they y finally sts. [brarakes squeakak] and stararted hearining sawiwing and hamammering. [saw w whirring, hammer pouounding] ♪ ♪ and d then all o of a sudden, the e door flieses open. [p[park] they took k ed ray outut firs. [mikike] and then they g grab one of thehe kids. dooror flies shuhut again. fefew minutes s would go b . they'd reach in and grab anotherer kid. and i scscooted myseself wy to thehe front of f the van a. i was s trying to o survive at that t point. [mikike] i felt t helpless.. that, toto me, was one of t the scariesest because now we're e gonna find out w what's goining on. [officicer] when y you opend ththe doors, w what did yoyo? [b[brown hyde]e] i saw --- it w was kind ofof like a tet, but t it had thrhree sides and it h had a roof f on i. [p[park] theyey had builtlt this struruce and covevered it with somome kind of f a tarp, and they h had backed d the vn underneaeath the strtructure. and d so it was s enclosed.. i rememember that t my knes gave a a little bibit jujust from nonot having s stop for so l long. they asksked me my n name. i i couldn't p pronounce m m, so i wasas "lawwy popok." anand that's h how theyey wrote it t down. [brownwn hyde] thehey askede my n name and mymy age, and theyey took my s shirt. soso at that p point, it w was e in my y pink, fuzzzzy swimsui. [carrerejo labendedeira] they took k my purse - -- white leleather pursrse, whicd a a little addddress book. and i i thought, are you u giving thehese guys whwho are poininting guns s au your addreress and phohone numr wherere they canan get ththe rest of f your famil? finanally came d down toto me and ththis little e mo, and d she was fofour years o . hardest t part that t stickst in m my head wasas i had d to eitherr hand h her over toto them or l leave her t there, and i coululdn't hand d her ov. they e escorted meme... ...to o where therere was a e inin the grounund with a a ladder cocoming out. i lookeded down the e ladder, and d i could sesee ed ray.. ththe kidnappepers gave hihm onone flashligight. i did nonot want to o go down t. i knknew if i wewent down ththa, i was nenever comingng back o. time f froze. [voice b breaking] and then e ed ray grababs my an. ed says,s, "come on n inside. it'll be o okay." [sniniffles] and d i climbed d down into o. [brorown hyde] i inside thisis e that we e were in, we werere in the d dark aga. you couldndn't really y comprd at t that point t where you u. [indistincnct conversasation] i found mymy brother,, so i k knew that h he was ali. my sisisters were e there. whenen they let t monica comome, i was relilieved. [brorown hyde] some o of the yoyounger chiln were whimpmpering and d cryi. i remembmber jodi heheffingn was onone of the o older gis who tried d to keep the younunger kids c calm somet anand composeded. [camamera shutteter clicks] someme people jujust had that persosonality of an oldeder-sister f figure ththat was thehere to helpl. [park]k] i look araround. therere are someme mattresses anand some blalankets. there's s a table inin the b, anand it has w water arounun. i remembmber thinkining i wand that w water so babad. [sniffles]s] [c[carrejo lababendeira] and therere was some food. theyey had cereaeal, peananut butter,r, bread. [p[park] for us to o use the e restroo, they hadad cut out h holes. but t we were okokay, atat least foror now. we'r're okay. we're all l alive. we're alall back togogethe. suddddenly, theyey dropped,, like, , a manhole e cover over t the hole. [mike] t that's whenen we startd hehearing thatat dirt. [shovel digging, dirt thudding] you know, "psssh!" and we were being cocovered up, buried a alive, you u know. [shovevel digging,g, dirt t thudding] ♪ ♪ [indistincnct conversasation] [oststerkamp] i i was a young newsws director r at kqed, the pupublic televevision sta. so the n news of thehe kidnappg cameme to me on n a wire macac. [wirire machine e tapping] i realalized thatt this w was a big s story. it was prorobably ththe story ofof the decada, possiblyly the storyry of the c century. [telephohone ringingng, indidistinct cononversations] the nenews media just floododed the plalace. [indisistinct convnversation] [oststerkamp] the phphone lines s were jam, both w with reportrters and with a anxious pararents. itit was a grereat story for repoporters, a terribible event f for paren. good e evening. ththere may nenever have b bn as a anguishing g a mystery. [ostererkamp] it was c covered eveverywhe. the bubus has beenen found. ththere are nono signs of f vio, and there e are only horrifieied guessess as t to what mayay have happpp. [osterkampmp] it l led the newewscasts. still no b break in ththat chowchchilla, calilifornia, scschool bus k kidnapping.. it was i internationonally cove. but inin those eararly hours, of coursrse, nobody y knew anyt. therere are lotsts of theoris as to o why. yoyou tell mee what t the theorieies are, i willll select onone. we h have no theheories at a . what w would you s say about the possibible motive e then? do you h have a a theory as s to... i i really donon't. i i don't realally have. [n[newscaster r #2] sandy y zyla was ththe last chihild toto be let ofoff the buss befofore it disasappeared. [repororter] hahad you everer seen any y s fofollowing ththe bus befofore? no. dodo you have e any idea who might t have done e that? no. did yoyou see anytything afteter the bus s let you ofoff? nonope. ththe sheriff f says the o onlyg he hasas ruled outut at this pt isis the possisibility of a flyining saucer.. and d there are e those in t tha who don'n't rule outut that posossibility e either. [crerews] there werere people cacallinn wiwith conspiriracy theoriri. i i remember t talking to o onen going onon and on about the e son of samam. mustst have receceived at lelt 1,000 0 calls thinking i it ws ththe zodiac k killer or moon upup in oregonon. [woman]] i memean, in the last few w y, we've e become usesed to terrt activity i in this couountr. unfortrtunately soso. anany politicacal, dodo you thinkn? that's s speculationon, sir. yoyour guess i is as goodd as mine e at this popoint. ♪ [brown hydyde] you couould hr thesese, like, e exhaust fa. anand if you w went to thehe s, you coululd feel airir coming . nonot air-condnditioned ai, bubut warm airir circulatit. to me, thehere was jusust very l little air,r, veryry hard to b breathe. after r so many hohours, itit just becocomes desperer. [mike]e] edward yeyells up, "wouould you plelease opopen the doooor? i bebeg of you.. pretetty please.e. pretty plelease, let u us o. i gogot a blank k check if that'llll help any.y." and d he says, " "everybody e say 'pretttty please.'.'" so we alall start sasaying t. and the guguy wouldn't't answer. [c[children yeyelling] ed rayay and mike e marshall took thehe flashlighght and realally starteded lookining around.. every crcrack and evevery cre, ththey're lookoking at thehe . theyey're lookining at the cs in the c ceiling. [mike] t the only waway we could get out t was go thrhrough the . all ththe little k kids, they startrted saying,g, "t"try and movove it." edward d didn't wantnt to 'ce he thohought we'd d get hut ifif they caugught us trying t to get out.t. we b begged edwaward, "pleasas. you've gotot to try. we're e gonna die e in here. you've g got to get t us out" [park]k] ed r ray put hisis hands upp and hehe pushed onon it a little b bit. ed rayay is a ststout man, but, manan, it was n not movi. the wateter was runnnning ou. nobody's's come to f find us. anand then thehe batteriesesn whatever f fans they h had g, they just t stopped. ♪ [park] i r remember anandreas sittining by herseself prayi. ♪ eded ray got u us all to c calm. he hadad all 26 ofof us take a . i dodon't know if it wawas the heatat... but i i kept goingng back to campiping trips that i i had had w with my fa. i cocould see ththe water. waiting fofor that mononster . i could..... sesee us gathehering around thehe campfire.e. i could smsmell the smsmok. ♪ ♪ [terr]r] in the papast, hallucinatations were e attrid to viriruses, headad injuri. but t what hadn'n't been knon befofore chowchihilla is thahat pure friright, getttting scareded to death, cocould make y you hallucicin. one little child saw right through the ceiling of the hole... righght through h all the rors and the didirt thatat had been n piled on... ...a.and saw t the scene of kidnapappers sleepeping above e. that wasas a completete mirag, anand that camame from being trtraumatized.d. [parark] when i i woke up, someththing was wrwrong. [metal c creaking] dirt wasas coming inin, dust. it made, l like, a litittle, "k"kk-kk-kk," " like that.. [metalal creaking]g] what's going on? [park] the only thing holding the roof in placace were 4x4x, one e on the ceieiling, and thenen a post hoholding i. you coululd hear thehe screechg of t the metal.. [metal groroaning anand screechihing] and the roof... ...j.just gave. [metal crarashing, children s screaming]] [brownwn hyde] it was t terrifying.g. there wawas dust andnd dirt that was f flying evererywher. wewe thought w we were gonna didie right ththere. that's whehen we thougught wewe would smomother to ded. [chihildren screreaming] my sport propels me forward. contra costa college saw potential in me that i didn't know i had. focus. determination. drive. contra costa college helped me blaze the trail. now i'm a comet, and there's no stopping me. come on, this is your shot. take it. join the team at contra costa college. start today at coall right.edu 60 seconds to draw the perfect gift. what's it gonna be? a bottle of don julio, 1942, delivered. delivered with drizly. gifting without the guessing. drizly. all right, sheila, are you throwing a dress like a dad party, a birthday brunch, or a vow renewal for your dogs? yes! the right drinks delivered for any party. drizly. n screaming]right drinks delivered for any party. [c[carrejo lababendeira] and ththen it finanally stop. but anyone that touched that beam, the sand would trickle in. so we couldn't move. we had to stay put wherever we were at. we k knew we w wouldn't lalt muchch longer inin there. [john n chancelloror] goodod evening.. the e californiaia national d today joined statate and lococal pole and ththe fbi in a g giant searcrch for 26 califorornia childrdre. there e are no reaeal clues, only an n eerie silelence in a frirightening and bizazarre case.. [newscasteter] ththroughout m much of thihi, parents anand other fafamiy ofof the missising children cameme to the cocommand pot set t up in downwntown chowcw. at that t time, therere was 100 peoplele waiting f for wo. and it wasas scary. i wawant to exprpress to you the gogovernor's c concern anand my concecern. the e californiaia highway p pl and d the state e police and, if nenecessary, the natitional guardrd are avaie to a assist in t the search. whenen somebody y disappears for ththat long and you u have no woword whatsor on where they y might be,, you'u're scared d to death.. [reporter]r] do you hahave other children?? i do, anand i would d have hd two chilildren on ththat bus, but she e woke up sisick yeststerday mornrning and d i didn't s send her, and she e was... [speaks inindistinctlyly and crcries] my husbaband, bob ---- he was i in canada at thehe calgary stampede. he was p practicallyly in teas trying to get home. i was able to sleep for a while, but asas soon as i i opened mym, it w was like a ton of bricks hit t me. [m[man] i guesess now all thatat we can do is to jn withth the famililies and loved d ones of ththose invod and prayay, pray harard for r their safefe recover. ♪ we b begged edwaward, "pleasas. you've gotot to try. we're gonnnna die in h here. yoyou've got t to get us o o" i reremember edwdward saying that i it looked l like we were gonna hahave to stayy down thehere and kicick the buc. ededward was f fearful thaht his s actions cocould cause em not onlyly to him, b but to u. but mike d didn't haveve thatat sense of f hopelessnen. [mike]e] you know,w, a lilittle fear r kind of hih, but at thehe same timeme, it genenerates morore power. i wawas trying t to process s i, and i thouought to mysysel, "if we're e gonna die,e, we'r're gonna didie getttting the hehell out of he. you know,, we're gogonna die trtrying." [brownwn hyde] thehey started stackiking up mattttresses to g get to the e top. even a a lot of ththe younger s totook turns doing whatatever it isis ththat their y young littltle s could dodo. we'r're not gonnnna die. this is nonot hohow we're gogonna end. [c[carrejo lababendeira] j jodib was s to shine t the flashlit while michchael went u up, and wiwith all hisis might, gave his c cowboy pushsh. [m[mike] all t the kids ar, "comome on, mikeke. you u can do it,t, mike." and i dodon't feel i it move oror see it momove. but t all the kikids -- i i just heardrd them say,, "it momoved! it momoved!" [park]k] for the f first ti, i fefelt hope. i kikind of wondndered ifif he was mymy angel, my g guardian anangel ththat dad talalked about.. at t that point,t, we said,, "edwarard, you havave to help . we got t to get out t of her. we're gogoing to dieie. we're e gonna suffffocate in h " edwardrd was fearfrful that sosy was up thehere just wawaitin. but he finally w went over and hehelped. [park]k] ed ray ststarted pug with everyrything he h had. they knenew somethining was on, but wewe didn't knknow what iti. anand so he pupushed up, and d he got thahat manhole e cp maybe ababout yay hihigh. anand mike mararshall stuck his s arm througugh thee and d started fefeeling aroud to seeee what wass on top o of the manhnhole cov. mike got h his hand inin thee and just s started doioing th. anand togetherer, they movd thatat manhole c cover back just farar enough ththat a cr ofof a batteryry could be e s. that's not the battery in your car. these e bus battereries weigh about 12125, 150 pounds. had ed ray slipped, had ed r ray lost hihis grip.. mike marshshall woululd have losost his arm. [b[brown hydyde] i rememembr them sayining, "watch h out." and -- toooom! -- these two o huge batteteris wewere droppeded down on the s stack of mamattresse. and then ed ray had a good look. arouound this hohole, they made e a square b box ththree feet h high, sosomething lilike that. and thatat was so ththat as they wewere coverining ththe van withth dirt, that t they wouldndn't cocover up thehe hole. [mikike] edward d squeezes e ththrough thisis half-footot. i i get on topop of it. i ststart poundiding on thisis . [jeff] there wawas a box upup there, anand he trieded to b bang his waway out, but hehe couldn't t do it. and then t they got me up there with him. we both tried with our backs to push up, push up. we couldn't do it, so mikike tried with his feet and i i tried with my back, and still we couldn'n't do i. [park] all the seams were pretty well connected. mike said,d, "we need something to pry i it with." i take a apart a boxox spring mattress a and was usising the . so r robert got t up there with m me for a whwhile and we statarted hihitting and d pounding,, hihitting and d pounding.. [parark] mimike would s slam that c cor over andnd over and d over. it just seseemed imposossibl. [mike] i start digging underneath the plywood. and i rerealize afteter i do tht fofor a while,e, the e material, , rock and s f is falalling down n outside of the p plywood into the hole i'm digging. i thought maybe i could get weight off the top. then i can pull it out and i can scoop it down inside thehe hol. he w was kickingng dirt, throwing d dirt. he kept didigging. [brown h hyde] i donon't know how mimike maneuvevered upup in that w wooden box. i dodon't know h how long he wasas up there.e. it was houours. [terr] our sense of time under scary conditions isis one of ththe most vululnee senses t that we havave. the e child who o held thehet knew it t was a longng, long . i i was, you k know, drainined,. i had no e energy. i was exhahausted. my eququilibrium w was totallyl. i didn't k know what was u up or down.n. that's whehen edward s starte, "pretty y please, dodon't hurt . pretty p please, donon't hurt h" i i could hearar that in m mys ringing ovover and ovever. "p"pretty pleaease, don't t hur. he doeoesn't knoww whatat he's doining." and i'i'm startingng to beliee that t they are upup there. that, to m me, was scacary. and d i tried toto see if i i d get any weweight off t the to. it m moved, likeke, just a c c, and i i looked thrhrough it, and plaiain as day,, i wawas going upup... inin a door opopening. and beyondnd that was justst pure darkrkness. anand you coululd tell t thes somebobody in thatat darkne. i rememember it vivividly. this was a a hallucinanation that he hahad dug intoto no pl, that thehey were stitill in h horrible trtrouble, thatat they werere gonna de anywayay. so he wewent back k down, anand he sat d down and hehe th, "well,l, what am i digging f f? this i is terrible. i cacan't do thihis." and thenen he decideded, "i'm g gonna go upup there anyn" i took a, , you know,, a littttle break t there, but ththen i... sosomething clclicked in m. i said to myself, "you're a cowboy. you're gonna get on that crazy-ass horse. you'u're gonna do whateverer is yoyou got to d do." i didndn't care if thehey were up p there. i wasn't't gonna givive up. from thahat point onon, it d didn't matttter. i ststarted hitttting stuf. hittining and poununding and hittining and poununding. and i pupulled a chihip ou. and ththen there w was a big c . [wood cracacking] [sand d clatteringng] i cracacked the ceceiling. and ththen i almosost got it . just pulleled some morore, and - and cracacked it agagain. [wood crcracking] [park] [vovoice breakiking] it was thehe most beauautiful ray of s sunlight that i h had ever seseen. [mikike] i just t remember the lilight and ththe air. so much aiair and cocool air. nonot knowing g if they're up t there, i kekept thinki, "w"we're gettiting creamedd or we'e're gettingng out." and i thinink that's w why i dit hehesitate to o stick my h het as soooon as i hadad it broke. ♪ . . ♪ goining up above thehe hol, i had no r real sensee wherere it was.. i see trees, and i felt like we were in the mountains. there was nonobody there. [p[park] i rememember gettttt and lolooking arouound. off inin the disistance was a big,g, big buildldin. and i i was worrieied about thatat buildingg 'cause maybe the kidnappers were over there. ededward got a all the kidis togegether and s said, "we e need to bebe quiet." anand so, likeke a bunch of littltle ducks, we'r're just walalking through ththe sand. [mike] we'e're 27 of u us, and if thehey are arouound h, wewe're a pretetty easy targetet to see. [park] butut then we s saw sosomeone comiming toward d . and i did not know who it was or what ththey wanted.d. and ththe guy's faface was s just like,e, "oh, my gogod. i sasaw you on t the news. where inin the helll did yoyou come frorom?" [mike]e] we turneded out toe in a a rock quararry. and in no time, the klaxon started sounding. [a[alarm blareres] they h had set offff their -- theieir alarm. the chchildren havave been fou. theyey are in gogood shape.. the e bus driverer has been n . he is in g good shape.e. there's s no indicatation ofof any harm.m. [sirirens wailining] dedetective bebernie surbhbhi were the f first two, , as i re, to arrrrive and mamake contactch the bus drdriver and t the k. kids werere actuallyl, for r the most p part, cal. [camerera shutter r clicks] they were e a little b bt didirty-lookining, obviousu, becacause they w were bd in thehe ground. [camerera shutter r clicking] ♪ [parark] we werere in this big w warehouse.. i reremember thehey had a a water coololer. i would d take my lilittle p and i woululd pour it t on my h, and then i i'd fill itit up and i'd popour it on m my hd trtrying to geget the dirtrt . that e evening we had thehe televisioion on, anand i thoughght i heard d hiy the e kids from m chowchila had bebeen found.. i ran n in there,, jumpeded over the e coffee tab, [chuckckles] turnened the tv , and susure enough.h. and i wawas just so o thankfu. mymy son, michchael, is 141, and hehe's alive a and well. and he's c coming homeme, and d i can't wawait to see e. [reporter]r] what's ththe lat 24 hours b been like?? not veryry nice. i wouldn't't want to have t to go throuough them again, e ever. [indisistinct convnversation] [t[tellardin] ] we had to o e how we w were gonna a prod with thehe interviewews and thi, anand we decidided it wasas best to g getm to a sececure locati. [brorown hyde] s so we rode t a very shohort distancnce toto a prison.n. [i[indistinct t conversatiti] theyey sat us dodown atat all thesese little ded, and d they had a apples and cartonons of milk.k. [p[park] we wewere given inmatete jumpsuitsts, ththeir white e jumpsuits,s, to. [brownwn hyde] allll us littlels got intoto them and wewe had to roroll the panap about 1010 feet. we're sisitting therere flflapping ourur arms. we said, " "hey, we cacan fly" and d we'd pretetend lilike we werere gonna flyl. and thenen the pololice came n anand talked t to us. [man] okay, hehere's the s situatio. [man #2] g go ahead. [m[man] the kikids now- we'd g generally d describe tm in very y high spiri. yeyeah. [womoman] have t they talkeded to theirir parents?? we asksk who wantss to be e talked to o , and theyey all put u up their d and d they're vevery jov. after r that, theyey got us loaded u up in a grereyhound s to go homeme to chowchchilla. [cheerers, whistleles, and d applause]] [man] whwhoo! charteter. [c[carrejo lababendeira] when we gogot through h chowchi, there werere lights eveverywher, peopople everywhwhere. just a seaea of peoplele. [park]k] it w was just a a mob. [applause]e] ♪ a a very nice e gentlemann carrieied me off t the bus... ...a.and put me e in my mom'm's. [s[sniffles] and d i put my h head on h her shouldeder. [r[reynolds] i it's wondere. you u can't say y there's enh words to, , you know,, describebe how it fefeels, you ? i'm just s so happy, i could d cry. [cheheers and apapplause] [man] chcharter! [cheers s and applauause conti] [repororter] cocome here, m mike. [mike]e] reportersrs are all , asasking me whwhat happene. and i ststarted to t talk to t, and d then just t out of nowow, prprincipal tatatum steppepn and said,, "whyhy don't we e just giveve him a brereak, boys?? you know, , let him gogo home and get sosome sleep."." and so we e got in thehe cr and left.. ththere was mymy chance to tell ththe world whwhat happd to getetting out a and everyth, anand i didn't't do it. i let t the grown-n-ups do . [ed] 7:00 w we got dug g out. i i handed thehe kids up to thehe other boyoys, and we g got out and we a all got homome safe. [applaususe] [newscasaster] as mimiraculoy as thehey had disasappeare, the chchildren of f chowchia retuturned to ththeir paren, due toto the heroioic effors of t their bus d driver, ed . ♪ we werere home, bubut the kikidnappers w were still l out. [helicopopter bladeses whirri] [glen] yoyou knew thehey were somomepl, but t you didn't't know whe. you knknow, it w was still a a mystery.. you hahad no answewers to thihis mystery.y. [sirenen wailing]] [bates] i had d 100 agentsts out the followining leads on who m might have e done th. had all ththe state, i had d all the fbfbi, anand my own p people, ofof course, t too. the e following g morning, i was direrected to gogo out toto the sitee where ththey were buburied. i hahad a whole e crew of pepeoe lookoking for anany evidencece we c could get.. [man] ] this is a a place whee theyey've cut a a hole in ththf and d made an exexit and iningress and d egress. [r[reporter] the only p people intoto the hoe have b been a coupuple ofof sheriff's's criminalil. the sherififf's officece is w working verery carefully 'cause thehey hope to o find s which h will lead d them to the kididnappers. the e crime scenene was a a mysteriousus hole in t the . there was s some notioion thatat it might t be a cav, an undergrground room.m. it tooook us a whihile toto understanand that it t, in f fact, a movoving van. by todayay's standarards, itit wasn't a a 40-foot va. it was a a fairly shshort 27-foot momoving van.. when y you think a about i, to have e 26 kids confined in thahat kind of f a chamb, i was flababbergasted.d. [indisistinct convnversation] [newscscaster] thehe search for ththese suspecects is n, of c course, whahat is preococcg authororities. beining sought a are three mn and d two vans.. we d don't knoww what cololor they arare now. they w were purchahased in n november inin alameda.. ininformation n on the regegistn is allll phony, so w we don't knknow who o we're lookoking for ye. [gull] a at that timime, we werere looking g for any infoformation we could g get. [manan] they havave no hard evididence. theyey are bringn. we hadad multiple e conversatis wiwith law enfnforcement.. my b brother andnd i helpedd withth compositete drawingss to helelp identifyfy the kikidnappers.. this i is the latetest composi. wewe have no n names whatstsor at this popoint. [repororter] is ththis frm the memomory of the e childre? [man] ] yes. anand then infnformation had beenen developeded onon the invesestigative s se about the e vans. [repeporter] ththe kidnap v vans were f founn a a one-story y commercialal bug in s southeast s san jose. reportrts say a rerental agt toldld police a young maman rented t the pe about t six monthshs ago. [repeporter #2#2] ththe bus driviver, ed raya, was broughght to the w warehe by authohorities. it is s assumed mrmr. ray wl attempt t to identifify those v. [camamera shutteter clicking] [t[tellardin] ] when they recovd the e vehicles,, they a also recovevered other key y pieces of f evid. they fouound a 12 gagauge shot, whicich is probabably ththe one thatat was usedd whenen they madede the e stop of ththe school b . we f found lumbeber material, the sameme lumber asas the 2xs that were e picked upp at t the quarry,y, numberer of mattreresses, the e same mattrtresses tht had d been put i into the trt. [tellalardin] they alslso located d a cadic ththat had beeeen completey spspray-painteted flat-blal, even the h hubcaps. it was very strange. [r[reporter] did you seeee them woworking on t these thingngs? were thehey painting? what weree they d doing insidide there? i dodon't know.. i can'n't see throrough the wa. [tellalardin] theyey recoved what l looked likeke some k kind of a j journal, d. they h had encryptpted it ino some kinind of unususual writin. [s[sprague] nenever seen a ag like thahat in my lilife. [carrejojo labendeirira] i i was scareded. i i was actualally still s scd of thosese kidnapperers, where ththey're at,, what t they're doioing, are theyey followingng us? [p[police radidio chatter]] theyey know wherere we liv. they k know our adaddresse. they know w our phone e numb. it w was really y overwhelmig for meme. a lolot of them m are scaredeo let t their kidsds out of ththe. i knknow my wifefe's got t a girlfrieiend across sn ththat says shshe won't let her r kids out o of the ho. we were inin a panic.. we did notot like sleeeepig inin the windodows, anand everyy sound sesent us ru. [shohovel diggining, man n breathing g heavily] [pololice radio o chatter] [telellardin] ththe first real b break in ththe case cae whwhen a formemer employeee from t the quarry y called up and d said that t he had madades in a lededger that thehey maintainined duriring their p patrols, that he hahad seen menen working g with a catat bulldoze. and d he also nonoted that there e were two m moving vs parkeded on the sisite. one time h he said he found a a young manan workining in one of the scrcrapyard arereas, anand when he e confronted that i individual,l, he found h his identifificati, said that t he was frerederick s and he wasas the son of thehe owner. [ostererkamp] one of t the things s we lead was s that the w woods famil- they werenen't from the centntral valleyey. they w were from t the bay ar, from thehe very nicecest subs of thehe bay area.a. inin fact, woooods has an illustrtrious doublble name- fredererick newhalall woods. [klinge] when ththe gold rush wawas happenining in califif, henry newhwhall ended d up amasg a greaeat fortune,e, 148,8,000 acres s up and down the ststate of calalifornia. railroadad towns were nameded after himim. they o owned magicic mountai. [riderers screamining] why woululd these pepeople bebe involved?d? wawas it a thrhrill crime?? [indisistinct convnversation] [g[gull] nenext day, i i was askedd to sererve a searcrch warrant on thehe woods eststate. whenen we openeded these doooorp and went i into the actualal mansion,, everythingng in theree was exexpensive ---- very f fancy-cut c crystal, statueues. [helicopteter blades w whirri] the plplace was lilittered, literalllly, wiwith old vehehicles. [gull]l] it had anantique rolls-roroyces and b bentle, all l kinds of m military, war-surprplus-type j jeeps. it was r really somemething to . therere was a seseparate buig opposite t the mansionon. it was a a series ofof garage. we h had been totold that fd slepept above ththe garage, anand we went t upstairs.. [tellalardin] the e e was fullll of jun. you u could barerelyk across t the room. old d movie camemera- therere was a bubunch of thm alall over thehe plac. [gulull] and d there was s a desk. and that's's where he e had a kind of f an envelopope, like a m manila-typepe envelo. it had t the plan ---- the actutual plan ofof how the sequenence of the e kidnag was s supposed t to go dow. and ininside that,t, there wawas a jack i in the boxg ththat on the e back side e t had beenen written t the nas and ththe ages of all o of the chilild. but t probably t the most tetg evidencece was the r ransom e thatat was found in thahat envelope. ♪ ♪ and at thahat poi, it startrted to gl as t to who was s response for r this. [helelicopter blblades whirrr] [bateses] fred woooods, ththe suspect't's father,, was very c cooperativeve, told me e he tried to getet his son i interested in thehe family bubusiness. his soson got inteterested in these o old cars. [tellalardin] he developed a bususines of refurbishing old cars and selling ththem. he had g gone into p partnerp with a friend frfrom high scscl namemed james scschoenf. his brotother, rick schoeoenfeld, wasas invo, but he was more of a hanger-on to the other two. the brothers -- their father was a foot specialist. they w were upper r middle clal. ththey were alalways vevery polite e and outgoioi. and if w we saw themem outsid, they a always chatatted with , very f friendly boboys. [brown hydyde] we werere realy shockeked that thehese were ththree young g men that c e from veryry affluentnt famili. i was s dumbstruckck. [r[reporter] w why do you u sue that they y would do somethining like th? i dodon't know.. ththey didn't t have enenough love.e. fred woooods is -- what wasas he after r money f? he hadad more moneney thanan the town n had. now we knonow who o these peopople are. so we e just follolowed our no. [newscasteter] acting g on evide discscovered at t the hous, law-enfoforcement auauthoritis haveve just issusued all-poinints bulletitins. [disispatcher] s suspects ae consididered armeded and dangeg. arrest o on probablele cause. [s[siren wailing] [telellardin] ththe investigis worked 2 24 hours a ay and fofound out ththat d and jamemes schoenfefeld took . frfred went toto vancou. he used d a fake id d to get , checkeked into a h hot. while e woods is up in cananada, he's writiting letts from a a post offe askingng friends f for mone. jim schoenenfeld droveve hir up to o the borderer anand tried toto r the borderer. he had weaeapons in ththe c, but theyey didn't ararrest h. they bouought him a a s. ththey were ninice to h. gave him t the guns baback and d turned himim around. good evevening. the fbi isis looking a all ovr the cocountry toninight fofor fredericick woods anand james scschoenfeld,, two of thehe three menen suspecteted of kidnanapping 26 chihildren inin californinia last weee. the thirird man, schoenfeldld's youngerer broth, turned himimself in. [newscasaster] in oaoaklan, californiaia, last nigight, ririchard allelen schoenfed susurrendered.d. he walalked into the alalameda coununty distririct attorneney's offe alonong with hisis father and d a lawyer.. the attornrney said richarard surrendedered fofor his own n protectiono. [tellalardin] jamemes trio get t into canadada one morer. he had g gotten ridd of m most of thehe weap, but hehe had one m more weapn that h he didn't k know about that fred d had hidn in thehe vehicle.. soso they turnrned him aror. he f finally gavave up ont anand started d heading babac. [newscasteter] james s schoed was s captured a at dawn todo. hihis lawyer s said he'd g gn tired ofof running, , had cad and saidid he'd turnrn himsen at 8 8:00 this m morning. the popolice closesed in an hour bebefore that.t. [newscasaster #2] the ththird suspecect, fred w, was arrerested at ththe man vancouvever post offffice afafter royal l canadian mounteted police had beenen tipped byby the fb. they say t the 24-yearar-od suspect wawas unarmedd and didid not put t up a figh. he appearered nervous,s, a littttle cocky,, but momostly disininterestd in talkiking to repoporter. no comomment. what do yoyou think about ththe charges s against ? nono comment.. anany concernsns about going to c california a at al? would yoyou? [laughghs] ♪ [crews] ththe kidnappepers d hit thisis town right inin its heartrt by takaking those e children. [s[sirens waililing, inindistinct c conversatioio] [gudgegel] the comommunity tot ququite persononal. sayingng we were u upset is very, veryry mild. it was voiced around town that, quote, "a"all we needed is a goodod old-fafashioned ststreet hangi" end quote.e. literalllly, thatat was said.d. [park] thehese were ththree mn who wewere so hateted. statationed on t top of the e e station ---- a sniper.r. on topop of city h hall -- a sniperer. alall in the m means ofof protectining them.. [peoplple shoutingng indistinc] [newewscaster] i inside, boboth woods a and james s schod spoke e with a firirm voic, showing g no fear. they were e ordered heheld on $ $1 million n bond eac. [repeporter] t the biggestst qun in t this bizarrrre case is stillll unanswerered. wewere there p political m mot, psycholological motitives, motives s of revengege? no one s seems to knknow. [upbeat music] ♪♪ ♪♪ new pork carnitas. only at el pollo loco. (♪♪) (♪♪) the new festive family meal. starting at $24. now celebrating at el pollo loco. [gulull] when i i interviewewed fred, he s said that h he and his sd wereren't very c close. he wasasn't doing g what hisd exexpected himim to do. they were e always bicickering t him drdropping outut of college, and d he wanted d his own momony so h he didn't h have to rely on hihis father.. [m[man] tuturn to yourur left. [gulull] james t told me that ththey were gogonna make a ae to makake money, and thatat's how ththe whole ththing starteted. [tellardinin] they'd t turnedt a momovie scriptpt calllled "chain n reaction" and d it was an n amalgm of the patatty heat kidndnapping cas, "the frerench connecection" and "dirirty harry."" you'u've got to o ask yoursef one ququestion --- "do i fefeel lucky?"?" well, dodo you, punknk? and it dididn't happ. [klilinge] durining this timimey also l learned thahat the ste had a a surplus ofof funds, so thehey tried toto think , "how canan we get raransom fromom the statete?" so then n that led t them toto kidnappining a schoolol , because e the statee runs thehe school sysystem. [tellardrdin] again,n, they e obviviously inflflued by t the originanl "dirtyty harry" mom. ♪ row,w, row, row w your boat♪ whatat's the matatter with y ? don'n't you singng? [tellardinin] in the f finl scscenes of ththe movi, you had anan individuauao hihijacks a bubus full of f chi, and they e end up in a rock k quarry. [tires s screech] fred was t the leaderr who ststarted it.. [t[tellardin] ] but fred didn't h have the abability to plan sosomething lilikes by himseself. and he t thought tt jim m schoenfeldld proy was s the more e efficient p pr and, in fafact, he's the o one who wre ththe journall that w was foud at a s storage un. [klilinge] when n they decod thesese writingsgs, james schohoenfeld was askiking himselflf what wouldld happen as a resesult of thihis crim. jajames had toto make a dedecis. he dececided to mamake mony with frered woods. for r 18 months, they were researching different targets. ththey had mapaps where they c circled allll the schs they were e considerining. theyey were ablele to getet identificication in dififferent namames to p purchase ththe things they n needed. theyey went out t to the quauy in the covover of darkrkness to b bury anan entire trtransport va. they obtbtained weapapons - many, mamany weaponsns. to collect the ransom money, they wanted the government to fly the ransom m money and d drop it atat a locatio. [tellardrdin] they h had inted toto have an a air p the e santa cruzuz mountain. in fact, the cadillac was intended to be used to pick up the ransom money, and they wanted it not to be e seen. they w wanted it to blelend in for a ninighttime opoperati. alall the way y thr, they thohought that ththey had thohougt ofof everythinin. [klinge]e] but the n night of the kididnapping, ththey weren't able to call in their ransom demand because the phone lines were so jammed. [indndistinct coconversation] they d decided to o go hom. fred w woods had a late-n-night dinnener with his p parents, like anyny other nigight. then the news came out that the children had freed d themselveses. ththe childrenen are home.e. [klilinge] rick and james schoenfeld came over to the property and planned their escape from there. [tellardinin] whwhen the chihildren escac, thatat kind of d destrod their whwhole plan r right the. [band playays upbeat s song] [newscscaster] witith all thre suspspects behinind bars, the grgrateful towownspeople y honored ththeir hometotown h. [brownwn hyde] ththe local popoliticians s decd that w we needed t to celebrae ththe heroes ththat came frfrom thisis horrendouous event. and d so the towown had what thehey called " "ed ray " me andnd 25 kids h have somethg toto give to e edward. thank k you. oh.. [brownwn hyde] ededward was a a very humbmble . he dididn't ask for ththe publicitity and hehe didn't asask for all le attention n that came e his w. ththe press asassumed that edwarard saved usus, and he, , from that t point o, was ththe hero. and thatat is true.. edwaward kept usus all togete, and edwardrd helped usus get o. bubut edward w was not the ononly hero.. i i was tellining people,, "mike e marshall d dug us ou. it w was mike ththat dug us s " but nonobody was l listening. [carol] ] that day,, i coululd see thatat michal was rereally depreressed. [mike] i i rememberr thininking to mymyself, "why am m i feeling g like t? whatat's wrong w with me? hey, y you know whwhat? whwho cares? we allll got out.. we're e all out. thatat's what mamatters." i felt g guilty for r feeling . [brorown hyde] m mike was nonota boast ababout what h he di. that j just wasn't't mike. [carrejo l labendeira]a] all l the childrdren know. we all know the story. we were there for it. so we do know what everybody did and everybody's role. but i don't think any of us really went out and spoke. we were jujust childreren. [brownwn hyde] we were e still justst trying to prorocess what t happened. [park] thahat day was s supposeo bebe a day of f honoring u. theyey put a plalaque in thee withth all of ouour names. bubut a lot ofof us wewere still i in that hol. when we gogot home, i thoughght life wouould be ok. even thougugh the kidndnapps were actuaually arreststed, it didn'n't stop my y mind from goingng over what happep, what could have happened. i can remember having nightmares immediately. my mom telells me thatat i std sleeeepwalking,, anand i would d come intoto their roooom just in n sk anand tell thehem, "thehey're killiling me." we'r're driving g down the r d anand there hahappens to b be , whether itit's telephohone comy or pg&g&e or just t a vehicle besiside the roaoad, "go o on past, m mama. don't t stop. don't slslow down."" my s self-esteemem at that p t jujust really y started to g go down. [park] i hated sleeping. i hated going to sleep because every night i was having nightmares. [manan breathingng heavily]] i could d hear andrea screami. she could hear me screaming. "mom, mom, mom!" those demons were gonna keep us forever. [carol] i knew michael was having trouble. he was also screaming and hollering in his sleep. i put myself back in there, ththinking abobout hohow i was gogonna die. [thud]d] [c[carol] our r family wasas t turned i inside out.t. didndn't know hohow to fix i. didn't knonow who toto talk to a about it. we left, w went on thehe ro, tried to f forget it,, get t past it. and ththe school did not offer any help to those kids, likeke counselining, whateve. i i can't visisibly see any proboblems. now, whehether or nonot theres some p psychologicical scars, i cecertainly wowouldn't kno. but, y you know, j just kind f on thehe surface,, i cacan't pull a anything ou. nonot once. the kikids were tototally forgr. you knowow, there wawas no grod laid f for anythining like thih. back t then, it wawas, "go to disisneyland."" "go o to disneylyland." [brorown hyde] a a lions clulubp in losos angeles paid f for a trip p to disneylyd asas a way to o somewhat o ovee the trauma that we h had faced. and soso it was, f for a mom, a chchance to geget away from chowcwchilla and d go see micickey and minn. [carrerejo labendeira] they heleld a paradede for . i believeve the way y our pares werere convinceded was thatat they werere givingng us therapapy, [chuckles]s] some k kind of theherapy. ththe trip to o disneylandnds an i intrusion i into the ninig. thatat's all it t was. [slilides clickiking] ♪ inin 1976, thehere was a w wd "c"childhood t trauma" outut t, but t nobody knenew exexactly whatat it was. when o one is trauaumatized, the sensnse of basicic trust g. while e i was in t training as a chihild psychiaiatris, and i wantnted to findnd out whatat happens t to children who o get frighthtened to dedh anand don't didie, and thatat started the chowchilla study. no one other than dr. terr was even trying to be helpful. she toldld us right t up frt she was s writing a a paper for the "amerirican medicacal journal" she wawas intervieiewing the . shshe also lisistened to t t. i reremember s seeing variriouss of statatements ththat were ma. the kidsds were nonot okay.. somebody got a psychiatrist to come to town, and hehe made a prprediction. he said,d, "one kid d in this6 is goioing to haveve a proble" but what h happened wawas thatat no parentnt wanted totot ththat his kidid was the 1 1 i. by the timime i got ouout th, 10100% of thosose kids were havining problemsms. [park] mom and dad were told not to come in when we have nightmares. they said that if they are going in when w we have nigightmares, thatat they are e rewardingg our bebehavior of havaving the ninightmares. and d if they ststop rewardrding the bebehaviors, wewe'll stop h having nighghtm. andrdrea became e very introrov. where e she had bebeen outgtgoing beforore, she prefeferred to h hide inin her room.m. [terr] someme of them b became afrd to realllly get intitimate with anybobody. she woululd not hug g me. i would tetell her that i lovoved her, and shshe would jujust ignoret like i it was nevever said. [tererr] the chohowchilla chcn had the e worst ideaea about theieir futures.s. inin the uncononscious, we are u undestructitible. we a are -- we are gononna live foforeve. afafter traumama, that's n not. you buy itit that y you're gonnnna die. in california yesterday, three young men pleaded guilty to t the kidnapppping a yearao of 26 scschoolchildrdren and d their bus s driver. [n[newscaster]r] the men p d not t guilty to o different t cs that cararry a life e sentee without t parole. [newscscaster #2]] prososecutor davavid minierr is alslso trying t to show that t there was f far more bodilyly harm inflicted d on ththe kidnap v victims. wewe have condnditions of total d darkness, ofof not enougugh food or r w, extremely y hot, coconditions o of panic among ththe childrenen. that s should be e enough to conststitute bodidily ha, evenen if you dodon't have brokenen bones. [t[terr] physisically, thehe chn had d a bruise o or two. ththere was a a cut or twow. ththey had a l little bitt of uririnary troububle, whwhich clearered up. so thehe defense s said, "no h " as you g gentlemen w who have seen thehe transcripipt know, ththere's veryry little physical d damage at a all, and, p practicallyly, it's's nonexistetent. whwhat about t the emotiononal e that thehey talked a ab? is t that possibib? there e is no casese in califoa ththat i know w of that hohos ththat emotiononal damagee is bododily injuryry. [terr] i couldndn't believeve it. the mind a and the brarain -- ththat's not b bodily harmr? whatat you do toto a person'n's, what y you do to a a young chis deveveloping minind? [newscscaster] busus driver ey was among g the early y arris at thehe alameda c county courthououse, clclosely follllowed by some ofof the childldren who werere kidnappeded with hm in jululy of last t year. [k[klinge] so o the childrn hahad to be brbrought in,, hahad to testitify about t e injuriries that ththey sustaini. they hadad to face t the kidnaps inin that coururtroom. [brown h hyde] i can rememember my momom sag that thehe kidnapperers woululd be in ththe room. i wawas so scarered. [newscscaster] ed d ray expld how he andnd the childldren were placed into airless vans and hohow the chilildren wet and he fearered suffocation. jodi heffington fell to tears on the witness stand as she attempted to tellll her r story of t the kidnappig and being entombed underground. when they took me into the courtroom, i i can remember sitting in the jury box, and i felt like i cocould bary see e 'cause i w was so litt. i remember not looking at the kidnappers, like, "i'm gonna do what i got to do and i'm gonna get out of here.e" i told them the harm that they caused to us was because of the cononditions that they put us i in. and as i finished and i i walked outut, i just statarted bawliling. it was extxtremely brarave of m to takake the stanand. [horn n honks] [repeporter] you think they shoululd ever be e release? [ed] no,o, i dodon't think k they shou. [reporter]r] why? didid you knowow they wasas gonna comome back anand release e us if w we didn't g get out? we was b buried under the e ground, maman. [newscasteter] after 1 16 ds of grueleling testimimony, judge deegegan found all threree men guililty. dedeegan -- "this s was an ordrdeal of te, anand that, toto me, causes sufuffering. suffering g is, in itstsel, phphysical harm." finding out that my kidnappers got life without the popossibilityy of parole was exactltly what we had hopoped for. [k[klinge] but justst when survrvivors t ththat they cocould find some s sort of peaeace with i, ththe kidnappepers filed a appe. and in 198980, the e appellate e court agred anand reverseded the sentete. the e kidnappersrs had plenty of m money and p plenty of t e and a veryry good attotorney and saidid mental haharm isn't bodily h harm. [park] thehey could bebe ot afafter 25 yeaears. we t thought we e were safe, you knknow? ththat was, anand still is, like a slap in the face. ♪ what w was the wororst part of it fofor you? i i really dididn't tk we werere gonna geget. mymy brother d d. but i dididn't thinknk we wee gonna geget out 'cause i i didn't knknw whatat was gonnana happen tots or if f they'd er let t us out, oror if we'd r rut of food oror die or wh. i just figigured thatat was it. [b[brown hyde]e] afteter the trial was donene, i coululdn't progrgress papast the kididnapping. my selelf-esteem took a a large blolow. i didn't want anybody knowing everything that i h had been ththrough, but evererybody in c chowchia knewew about thehe kidnappi, so i had a a lot of eyeyes watcg meme at that p point in tit. and ththen, unfortrtunately fof, fifive years after ththe kidnappiping, mymy brother w was in an i indul accidedent with mymy dad, and mymy brother w was kille. [repeporter] abobout 300 peoee attended j jeff's funeneral, many standnding outsidide bebecause the e chapel wasas. [sirens s wailing] [b[brown hyde]e] i fefelt so betrayed by god that he got me through the kidnapping and then took away my beloved brother. the spotlight was on us again. we had reporters at our house all the time. my s small familily atat that poinint crumblede. my parenents divorceced. thatat small towown became so suffofocating foror me that i couldn't go t to schol without stares. i coululdn't go toto school wiwt people talalking behinind my b. i i couldn't g go to schoool withouout somebodydy saying, "i"i am so sororry." anand my mom a and i mamade the dececision to leaeave chowchihilla. i left dururing my jununior r of high h school. i i was a clasass officer.. i was s a cheerleaeader. i was s involved i in everythih. i gave it all up so that we could move away anand i could be a nobody. i justst wanted to be nobodyd. [tererr] whwhen they geget to be adadu, childhooood trauma doesn't t just go awaway. in facact, some ofof it gets w . [e[engine revsvs] [mikike] i wawas about 1919 or 20, going out t and gettining hamme, blackout d drunk every singngle night.. i i just didn't want t to remer anymorore about ththe kidnappi. i just wananted it to o go aw. [tererr] around d the four-- or f five-year m mark, he w was in trououble as a rodeoeo rider. it was sucuch a shame e that hed lolost this prpride in himim, and some o of that priride from h having beenen the kids'so had bebeen robbed d from hm by the t town's respsponse. [cheerers and applplause] he was nevever acknowlwledg. [m[mike] i dididn't know who i i was anymorore. that cowboy part of me went away. i'm m still alivive. i cacan still wawalk and tal. bubut still, with thehe way i feeeel inside, what t they done t to me... theyey can neverer feel whata- whwhat they puput us throuou. alcocohol helpeded with that in a a big way.. [carolol] over thehe years, everytything jujust overwhehelmed him. hehe got more e and more in.. into the h hole. i wawas drinkingng and using and all that to t the point where i'd d been to seseven reh, was living in insanity. before t the kidnapppping, i coululd see so m much light aheaead of me, sesee my futurure. but thenen after thehe kidnapp, i coululdn't see a anything. ♪ ♪ [klilinge] the k kidnappers e been havining parole h hearis since the early 1980s. many of the survivors wanted to participate in the process. jodi heffington attended almost every hearing, having to face each of the kidnappers every five years. they did a number of emotional damamage toto all of ---- all of us, including g our famililies, ouour parents.s. umum. our lilives were n never the se afafter that, , ever. [brorown hyde] duringng the kidnanapping, jodi heffifington wass one e of the oldlder girls who o was like a an older-sisr fifigure to a a lot of thehe . she e was the onone kid who od a a flashlightht the wholele e and ststood steadydy as anythi. [brorown hyde] s she became one ofof our stronongest advoco. her and lylynda carrejejo haveve gotten inin the car and d driven houours to the e ba toto be there e in personn numemerous timeses. what thehey did -- they shoululd stay thehere. [m[medrano] it was o on the victctims to fight f for them to be inin jail. if they y had not bebeen goining to the p parole hearar, they'd h have been o out in p probably 191980-somethih. at one h hearing, they actctually shutut me don becacause i was s so angry.. one e of the guauards led mem. it was one thing that they hurt me, but they completely shattered my family. andrea had d dissociated from the family, had left chowchilla. my mom lost faith in my dad as a protector. i was surviving day to day, hated my life, hated myself,, and hahated everyoyone around . [repeporter] parark has had d te with t the law, spenent some timime in pris. he's d doing betteter now, he e, but stilill struggliling. if they want me to believe that they're ready, they're gonna have t to let me see themem cry. they'r're gonna hahave to let me seeee them cry y for e and d for my sisister and mymy . when thehey would gogo to the p parole heararings, itit would be e the respononsiy of the v victim to sayay what theieir story i. my mom t talked abouout how e didndn't feel safe around me, her depression, her struggle with addiction issues. what they don't tell you is t that you'rere not just t ga speak yoyour piece o one tim. they never got rest. [klilinge] the k kidnapperss werere denied paparole for r many, manyny years. itit wasn't ununtil after r0 thatat there wasas publicic support f for the. [newewscaster] a a rally wasas d today in s san francisisco by supportrters demandnding pe for r the kidnapappers. several l high-profifile polititicians and d families became i involved in advococating for parole. this incluludes gavin newswsom's fatheher, whwho was an a appellate j judg. nobobody was phyhysically inin. huge facactor in thehe case. [klingnge] .....and dale e fore, who o wt of the invnvestigativeve team for madera county when the chowchilla kikidnapping c case occurrrr. [fore] what's r right is riright. how much time you want out of these guys? he was onene of the pepeople whwho assured d us that nonone of the k kidnappes would d ever get o out. [k[klinge] he e started woworg for fred w woods' teamam. hehe knew manyny of the susurv, and at timimes he apprproached m and d offered ththem money to come e and supporort paroe and to c change theieir positio. hehe had offerered me persrsoy at one poioint to makake some money. he wanted d me to write letters in supupport of paparole for r the kidnapappers, and i let t him know i was nonot the kindnd of gil that couould be bougught. ththe next pararole hearin, one ofof the kidnap victims showed up with dale as herer support p person withth letters in suppoport of relelease. don't asask me nothihing! itit was a comomplete, like, betrtrayal to eveveryon. ♪ ♪ [parark] over ththe years, te was an angnger buildining ine thatat infested d absolutely every asaspect of mymy life. i wawas replayining ththe kidnappiping constana. i wawanted to totorture thoso. i i would fantntasize abouout the difffferent ways that we e could get t them. i was in a prison of my own making. and i decicided to praray. i sasaid, "god f forgive 'm becaususe i can't.t. god blbless 'em bebecause i cac" and i i realized, "god forgive m because i won't." and god -- he said,, "i canan work withth the trut" "we e can move f forward frorom" ♪ [klingnge] larry p park dedecided to g go throughh the rerestorative-e-justice pro. anand that's a a process t tt assisists survivivors that chooo toto talk to their offenende, to come e to closure if it helplps them. [gateses buzz] [parark] soso i got to o go in. and d i said, "i"i was your vim for 36 houours. and d for the lalast 38 year, i'veve been my o own victim." i told them that i forgave them, but forgivining them wasn't enough. i had spent my lifetime hating them, anand so i asksked for r their forgrgiveness. ♪ ♪ a man convicted of kidnapping a bus full of children in chowchihilla more t than 3535 years agogo is now frfr. the california d departmentt of corrections released r richard schchoenfed last n night from a s san luis obobispo pr. in 1 1976, he kidnapppped 26 chilildren, a crime ththat held ththe nan with g great concecern. [cararrejo labenendeira] whee youngest kidnapppper got outu, thatat's when ththe panic atats started hahappening. and d the worry y -- all l these feelelings come p that youou hadn't fefelt in so . i was s nauseous and ththen very tetearful because fifirst i think k first of o other chil. i prepareded myself because i i knew that his brotor woululd be not t too soon a after that. [newscasteter] after n nearly 40 years b behind barsrs, james scschoenfeld w will soon e ouout of prisoson and on p pa. nenews of the latest release did not go over well with the victitims. just let all the pririsoners whwho hurt somomeone and huhurt their f families - just l let 'em allll g. jojodi went ininto a huhuge depressssion. she would d say, "l"lynda, it's's all my fafa. itit's all my y fault they're gegetting out.t. itit's all my y fault." and i sasaid, "we have a as much resesponsibiy as y you do to k keep them i " [m[medrano] shshe couldn't get ouout of bed n no more. [crying]g] and it wawas just - she was s so weak 'cause shehe was just t drinkg so much h and she wowouldn't t because shshe was so d depress. and d she basicacally jujust couldn'n't process s e the way y she was susupposed. and my mom just did her best for as long as she could. ♪ and itit was theirir f***ing fa. [sighs] in order for small businesses to thrive, they need to be smart, efficient, savvy. making the most of every opportunity. that's why comcast business is introducing the small business bonus. for a limited time you can get up to a $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. yep, $1000. so switch to business internet from the company with the largest fastest reliable network and that powers more businesses than anyone else. learn how you can get $1000 back for your business today. comcast business. powering possibilities. [celell door clalangs] [oststerkamp] while the e schoenfeldlds in prn seemeded to behaveve accordining to the r rules, woods s was differerent. it was d discovered d that hehe was conduducting busisine, including g a christmamas tree , a gogold mine, and he conontinued to o purce and collect cars while he was incarcerated. [osterkamp] he was able to acquire contraband cellphohones anand use themem to c conduct thehe business. the exextent that t fred woos involveded himself inin every smamall detaill is stataggering. [automomated voicece] ththis is a prprepaid callll . [woodsds] fred. [aututomated voioice] ...an inmamate at the e couy correctitional facilility. [woods] hehey, mike. i it's . what's's the deal l about ththe generatotor being scscrew? listen, , i need a green n dot numberer. onon that inteternational l , i sure h hope yoyou put the e californiaa license e plates on n that truc. alsoso, the titltle ofof that trucuck is -- [o[osterkamp] ] one of t the e astonishshing thingsgs -- that fred wowoods has popossesn of the t two kidnap p vans ththat the chihildren and the e bus driverer wewere transpoported in, becaususe he thinknks the vale will increrease because ofof their nototoriet. it's n not any senentimental v , just frered's contininuing obobsession, i i would callll it, with h m. it's a amazing bececause he didn't t even need d the m. the woods family set up a trust. ththey wanted d to pass onn what t they could d to their s. and it was estimated in one filing to be $100 million, money thatat woods, even a as an inmatate, had accessss to. [carrejo labendeira] the hearing came up pretty quick. it was really difficult because we had just recently lost jodi. but t the commununity came t tor and sasaid, "okay,y, we got toto not just tt for ourselelves, do it fofor jodi andnd jeff anand each othther." [womanan] ththis is the e 17th subseseqt lifefe parole coconsideration heararing for frfrederick wow. [o[osterkamp] ] only the i ine and his s attorney wewere in the e prison. eveverybody elelse was on n rem. hehere we are e wonderingg if rehababilitation n has occur. is rehababilitation n running businesssses out of f a jail c, sneakikily smuggliling contrab, susuch as cellllphones in and out of prison without regard to rules, regulations, and authority? he should not be released. his mind i is still evevil, and he is s out to getet what h he wants, with no reregret fofor the safefety of othehe. mr. . woods has s not changed for r the betterer inin the 45-plplus years he's been n incarceratated. he's g gotten to heal, and my motother wawas never grgranted thatat ce fromom 1976 to w when she did two o years ago.o. the e biggest ququestion the commisissioners hahad wawas from thehe lead commmmiss, who askeked why woodods was soso fixated o on money. [woods] i've always said i needed the money. well, i didn't need the money. i wanted the money. i've learned that in the last few years. that was a mistake on my part. i was totally wrong with this way of thinking. i've had a thinking change. i felt that he still wasn't wholly truthful anand that he e still showd sosome of the same c characterisistis that he e did at thehe time he plannnned this. i wowonder if hehe understas thatat the traumuma, ththe physicalal and emotitl trtrauma, is life-e-altering.. that wasas really vevery sad, ththinking how we've e worked so o hard. [brown h hyde] i feeeel that d everytything i couould possiblb, but t i had to l let go of the thohought that i hadad that contntrol. ifif that keptpt me in a d darke for totoo much lononger, it would b be overwhelelming. ♪ [ostererkamp] the e thing abot ththis case ththat made itite was the e continuingng impact of the c crime on ththe childr. in 1 1976, we ththought they wouould just geget over. but alall were deeeeply affectc. dr. terrrr once calllled ththe childrenen "little pipioneers of f medici" becaususe they so o helped in the undnderstandingng of chihildhood trarauma. they paveded the way f for us to understand more conontemporary y things. whwhat happensns when you u fe children a away from theheir parentsts at a bor? what happepens to chilildrn atat some of t these horririe school shohootings? [parark] becausese of the chowchchilla kidnanappi, therere were couounselors at columbibine after t the shoo. there e are counseselors atat nightclububs after shshoo. chowchililla childreren are her, and theyey continue e to teachs what c childhood t trauma is 46, 4747, 48, 50 years afteter the factct. [b[brown hyde]e] we are inin a that i is prone toto tornado. it's very y common to have a a storm shelelte. so we e actually p purchased o. we weren't't able to s submergt in thehe ground bebecause thatat's just a a litt too trtraumatic fofor me. mymy family knknows that it's a a struggle e for me. they worork with me e on tha. i'm thanankful to mymy pares for r encouragining me to try to o grow and g give k to show w that this s one evet has nonot defined d me. i focused on putting my energy towards popositive thihings inin my life.. so i chosese educationon, and d i went bacack to chowcwca and taughtht in chowchchilla atat alview-dadairyland. and i take the responsibility. my eyes are always watching the children, mamaking sure e they are s se evevery secondnd in the clclas. i chose e making a differerence that t way. [park] f for 34 yearars, i was s nothing bubut a survivi. today, i i am a reveverend, a chriristian coununselor, and i i am a frienend. i i wake up inin the mornini, i say my r rosary, and i step out in faith. i never gave up. not completely. bebecause i wawas taught at six yeaears old byby a 14-yearar-old boy,, you dodon't give u up. yoyou keep digigging. how w are you? good. 1977 i is the lastst time that i sawaw mike marsrshall. [voice brereaking] do o you kw i'm standiding with mymy he? i can't t belie what he e did. i ststill cacan't believev. i appreciaiate that. i really d do. thank you u so much, m . i didndn't realizeze how much it wouldld help me to underststand anand to actuaually hear one of t the kids tetell me that i savaved their l livs and ththat they wewere grate. nonot very manany people t t, yoyou know, cacan relate.. when i i was a kidid, i wanteo be a rodeoeo cowboy lilike my. i woululd see myseself fafar in the f future, rodeoingng for a liviving, but t i woke up p at about 48 yearsrs old wiwith a blurrrry hangovere. [chuckles]s] but t then gettiting sober is amamazing. it's's to have a a life and to b be gratefulul for evevery day. it's's taken a w while to come baback and rododeo. but oncece you're a a cowboy, you're alwlways a cowbwboy, 'c'cause it's s in your heh. soso i'm gonnana cowboy upup tow anand go to ththis ropin'' herere in chowchchilla and sticick some steteers. [chuckles]s] [truck whihirring loududly] [announcncer speakining indidistinctly]] gogod has a waway of makinings come full l circle in n his tim. [announcncer] mikeke, you're u up. ["chowchililla dust" p plays] ♪ two o broadcast t titans are now onon cnn. what's going on, america? to get real... what do you all think? we're tired of the b.s. ...on the stories that matter most to you. this will be a place that you can have conversation. and they're not holding anything back. anybody who wants everybody to agree with them is an idiot anyway. gayle king, charles barkley. this is our unfiltered take on the biggest stories of the day. king charles, wednesday at a special time, 9 p.m. eastern on cnn. next sunday on cnn. get ready to be inspired and honor some of humanity's best. this is amazing. a night where the stars meet with heroes. please join me in honoring cnn hero, cnn hero of the year.. a night full of hope. we have a whole world to build. join anderson cooper and laura coates live. ♪ cnn heroes, an all-star tribute. next sununday at 8 p.m. eastern on cnn.