popotatoes butut we failed.. >> r reporter: t there is one e i now knknow for c certain. if anyone tells you they knonow exacactly what o our s society, woworld, will l look like e in r 10, 20, 10100 years, whehere w l go frorom hehere, they don't.. no o one does. we j just t don't knknow where wiwill take usus. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪♪

at thehe present time, w wew ththere's 27 p people missssing abouout 4:4:15 yesteterday afte. >> still n no o break k in that chchowchilla, californrnia schc bus kidnappiping. >> 2 26 school c children anand bus driviver have vavanished. >> vanisished yesterdaday after nenear chowcwchilla, califororn. prpresident foford directeted t atattorney geneneral to ususe a availalable governrnment resour. > the californinia nationalad jojoins state,e, local pololice the fbfbi i in a giant s search the e children a and thehe drir. > it was like somebody come down f from m mars andnd just t them u up off the plplanet. > was i it anan o outright kidnappingng? a psycychopath o or a sesex man the e loose? > whoever d did it put t a g deal of plananning and effort a you u might evenen say mononey. >> may nevever have been as anguisishing a mysteryry.

>> it't's the worsrst kind o of you can tell. being buried alive is our worst fear. > the c chowchilla kikids sh the world what c childhood trar really d does s to a p person. > my y childhood ended jujul 1976. > i will nenever get back t d that i w was.. thatat kid stayed ununderground. thatat happened for r each andny one of u us. ♪ chowchchilla i is inin c ce californiaia. it wasas very smalall l town us. > c chowchilla isis a plalac titime can seem to s stand stil. but t there's alalways someteth ththat neeeeds to bebe planted harvested,d, as s the cycle e o continues.s. >> by y the timeme i wasas ther 1970, it w was mainly cacattle farming. theyey had a fair anand a a rod.

>> 124246. >> eacach year, they had a catt drive.e. right ththrough the e center o town. >> my dad d was a world chchamp steer r wrestler. i i was raised right, really to believeve in godod andnd cowboy. at an n early age,e, i knew w id to be e a rodeo cocowboy like md and his friendnds. >> chohowchilla a was a wonderf place toto grow w up. we'd catatch frogs. we'd go rollerer skatingng dowo hills, g go o play i in the mum the irirrigation ditches. the town h had no crime, n no c at allll. >> you didn't hahave murdeders. you didn't't have a lolot ofof cases.s. it wasn't t uncommmmon to go al ninight long o on a gravaveyard anand the e phone not ring onen. >> in chchowchilla, the chilild

could d develop a sense of basi trust. anand that is s an importatant fofoundation i in early y life. that s sense that you can n jus sort o of, t trust the worldld. >> it's one of thehe few townsn america ththat hadad f fewer ban it hadad churches.s. as a childld, gogod was vevery o me. >> by the power of our living god -- >> we had angels, demons. i could imagine satan's army. my dad saiaid that we all have guardianan angngel thahat t kee demons at bay. you imprint that on a a 3-year-o-old's brainin and ther jujust n no doubt. >> at the e time, wewe were in summerer school.l. wewe did a arts anand crcrafts, ceceramics. we got to o go swimmmming. i reremember we had d actually started a petitition so that we could hahave an exextra two wewf summerer school l because wewe

hahaving so mumuch fun. we did notot want it to end. i have a large famamily. i'm thirird youngestst in a fam of 11.1. and ththat day, i i had three sisiblings on n the bus anand t cocousins. wewe were e littlele, innocentn childrdren. >> allll right, load up. >> l load upup? > yep. >> where a are we going? > i don't k know. i'llll take you homeme. >> ed raray was ththe driviver day. he was a l local farmemer. > you couldld tell thisis m buckining his own hay,y, yetet so kind. >> he knew a all the kidids by t name, , knew m most t of theiri paparents. ththere's not t a one of them t didn't't want to hug hisis neckn ththey got on n the bus. > i rememember mamama come g

me every day at noonon all summ. and the daday befofore the kidnappiping, i got t into my m bebeer and t tried to makeke so popcpcorn, a almost burnt the h. she walked i in and d saidid, o michchael, your r punishmentnt you're g going to have t to rire bus home tomorrow.w. that day, , i was s out in the ororchard withth the teacher's' daughter, messing around and stuff, and the bus is starting to leave a at 3:3:30. and she's s like, , you better get on the bus. the bus s is leavingng. soso, i tookok offff rununning flagged down thehe last bus leaving,g, which wasas edwdward. ♪ m miles of cotttton finallylyd byby daddydy's bacack ♪ ♪ as he ovevercompensatated ♪ >> when wewe wounded up on the bus, i i w went toto thehe very

that i c could be rorowdy y and with my friendnds. i was s a very outgoining, outsn child. and i was s constantlyly gettin trouble e on the busus f for ta. ♪ as he pulleled meme throughgh hohot chowowchilla dust ♪ >> m my brotheher, jeff, w was n the e bus. he w was one yeaear ahead ofof schohool, an honororable studen basicacally an all-amemerican k. >> jeff wawas righght inin fron me, byby the way.. he w was a sweethearart. he wasas my 1010-year-old d boy. ♪ hot c chowchilla dust ♪ >> as a chilild, i wasas hyperaractive. i wawas suchch a p problem on t, you coululdn't keep p me i in n. me being me, i i forgot t to tay meds thahat day.y. i was moviving seatsts, buggggis person a and hittiting t this p and d pulling thisis person'n's. mymy sister, a andrea, wouould me on the bus. she would get e me to relax.

basically she was my besest friendnd. >> i rememember a lot t of the s had a crusush on the 14-4-year- cocowboy, mikeke marshal. he was d definitely a a handsom 14-year-olold boy. > never heaeard of him.m. never rereally s seen n him bef. here's t this kid who comes outf complelete obscuririty for the purposose e that god knew w wha about toto happen. >> we e were driving home.e. as usualal, wewe were droppingn off f along the way. wewe're in thehe middldle of th orchards and fields.s. we tururn ththis corner,r, a an

spot. >> i'd likike for yoyou toto te in y your own words first, w wh you'u're riding the bus, just tl meme what t you remembmber. >> t there was t this white e v parkeded on the road, and d the >> two g guys jumpmped out with guns. and onone opened thehe door. >> so, i i opened ththe door, a thenen the guy got i in. he had -- overer his head.d. he told ededward to go t to thek of the bus. > when ededward opened d the one of the kidids, j jeff f bro gogot up, we didn't dodo it. eveverybody kikind of f laughed. >> h he thought t it was a j jo. i was scarared, so i ducked und my s seat.

> bud ray got u up, and he m to t the b back. > i went baback over toto my sister, , andrdrea. i held h her h hand. >> the g guy witith h a a shoto stararing at me with his gun.. >> t they y told everybodydy in firsrst three seseats to go o t back of f the bus. anand i was in thehe f fourth s. eveverybody wawas s scared. > they kept their gun pointe in t the directition of all l o childrenen.. so, , it was, the whole time, pointeted at thehe children.n. even more e scary was the pantyhose e that they had pulll over t their f face. > t they were t tight, smash their r nose dowown. their r eyes w were e hollow. it r reminded me of demomons.

> and a all of a sudden, we' drivining. i'm trtrying to figure o out wh going on.. if i can figure e out the why, maybe e i can figure o out a wa interrrrupt what's's going t to next. we driveve a little e further, the e guy runs the bus intnto o slew. >> i it was a dedeep i incline. we were jojostled all overer th place. whwhen we finanally stopped,d, anotheher van. now w there was a a white van a green vavan. >> we drove riright back to the door of f the bus, and then n t had alall the e kids on the right-t-hand side e go into o t

white e van. >> in that firirst group o of childrenen was my brbrother. he turned and lookeded at me do the aisle.e. he gave e me thahat lookok of, just neeeed to be ququiet. and so i did. i had seen enough h tv shows th i knew thahat this wasas s seri. >> i i was the first o one to o ininto the van. going throrough the dooror, tht anotheher guy standiding there a statueue pointing hihis gugun straraight throughgh. i i go by him. they hadad plywood all i inside vavan so t that you couldn't't t or a anything. >> and t then n they backed d t second vanan up toto t the bus.. the e other r kikids, wewe got van. i i was scscared becausese t th ababsolutely n no cocommunicatim themem on n where we're going o what thehey're goingng to dodo

us. >> and thehen ththey shut the d. >> i had fixed michael b bacon d tomato sanandwiches for dinnere. and d about 4:30, i started looking for the bus. it d didn't comeme. >> abobout 4:3:30, i got a phon cacall from a parent thahat the childrdren hadn't arririved hom after schohool.. i ththought, thehey've had a fl tire, , the bus is brokeken dowr sosomething lilike t that. ththen we e received severeral cacalls. >> a at t 1976, shereriff's offd one patrol o officer in chowchchilla. there was s only o one little b ofoffice and one phohone when t cacall came in that the e bus w missining. i said, what d do you meanan mimissing? how doeses a school l s,s, alll painteted yellow in a a small cy

show up missining? i puput out an all pointnts s bulletetin. it w was a summer sesession, so bubus driver d didn't takeke th normrmal route t that he w woul to drop childrenen off. soso, we had to chcheck evevery. >> i went all the way to t the scschool, backck trackeded, loo dodown every street, evevery wh way, didn'n't see ananything. i knew s something wasas wrong.. the parerents were congrgregatit the polilice stationon bececaus were gettiting r really anxiouo. >> trying to lococate e 26 lost childrdren a along witith the d. >> n never in n my wilildest dr did i ththink k something g maje this couldld happen inin chowch. ♪ [brown h hyde] it seseemed lie we werere driven a around

for lilike hours u upon hou. >> it seems s like we were d dr aroundnd for, like, hours s upo hoururs. >> it t was hohot in that t van. it wasas jusust t stifling.. >> kids got t sick from m the mn of this s vehicle anand no food water. i i just felt like an animal b g tataken to slaughterer. if y you, as a child, , can be thrownwn into the e back of a v wiwithout any y cocomforts, tht didn't carare ababout us. >> i told a few w of my littttl friends, i i told them, be brav bebecause evererything's g goine all righght. >> we e thought they m might be killining the guys in the e bub. we didn'n't know whahat they we doing toto them. >> i was sepeparated f from my e

sisters. were they alive?e? did they get left behihind? >> andndrea and i i were togoge. i took herer hand. there e was some security y the. >> we e prayed. we sang "i"if you'u're happy anu knowow i it, clalap your h hand" nobodydy clapped t their hands. >> all o of f us had a w wall a getting tototally ovoverwhelmedd that w wall l is o our defenens coping mechahanisms, humor. and when t the wall gegets brok thatat's traumuma. >> thehey wouldn't't let us usu restroomom. i heldld myself alall l day. i wawas in tears becausese i w physicical pain. jeff d didn't want m me to b be emembarrassed d because hehe kn wawas embabarrassed, s so jefffs own pants s and d took my hand plpla

placeded my hand o on his lap p said, lookok, i went. yoyou can go a ahead andnd go. >> edward was very quiet. i ththink he comprprehended tha this wasas a seriousus situatit. >> t the kids were a asking mem know, whenen were theyey going see theieir mamas s and daddiei. anand i think k they belieievedi wowould tell t them the truth.h. i totold thehem, yeses, you wil. and i dididn't lie.. i didn't't telell them what lile it migight be. >> we'rere looooking f for them evererywhere. then i recall onone e of m my sergeants,s, he didn't't have a airprplane, but he had anoththe buddy thatat did.. so, , i asked him m to getet up plplane. >> my dad, robert,t, was w well knowown as a a lococal aviatato.

and he approroached dad right he to augment the searcrch. > i remembeber flying o out the e slew looking foror the b . >> a and the slew down here to e south.h. and dad d is t the o one that s it. itit was diffificult t to o seee grouound becausese the slelews ququite a bit of t trees.. >> t they knewew somethihing wa terribibly wrong at that poioin when thehey found d the e empty. >> i cououldn't undederstand it. i i actually looked d up in tht. ufosos? whatat? where e are the kidsds? where'e's michaeael? >> thihis was a major r case. i cacalled govovernor r jerry b officece. i said, i wantnt every statate agenency that hahas cars and ra in m my y office. he saiaid, you gotot it.t. in thehe meantimime, nearby cocs saidid, what do you needed? wewe'll help y you any way w we. seset up roaoad blocks.

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[mike] we were e driving araround r seemeded like hoururs and d hours and d hours... > we were drivining around seseemed like e hours and d hou hours untitil l they fininally ststopped.

> we starteted d hearing sawd hammerining. > and then n all of a a sudde door flieses open. > they tookok addddry outut . >> and thehey grgrab one of the kids. the floor flieies shutut again. > few minututes wouldld go b. ththey'd reachch i in, grarab a kid.d. and i i scooted d myself way to frfront of t the vanan againin. >> i w was tryin trying g to su that p point. >> i felelt hehelpless. that, to me, was onene of f the scarariest becauause now we'e'rg

to finind out what's goingng on. >> w when you opened the doorsr what d did you s see? >> i s saw -- it was kinind of a tentnt, but it hadad thrhree and d it had a r roof onon it. >> thehey had built ththis strue anand covered itit w with somemf a a tarp, , and d they had b ba vavan underneaeath the strucuct. so, it w was enclolosed. >> i r remember ththat my kneeee a littttle bit just frfrom n no having stotood up for soso lono. ththey asked m me mymy name. i cocouldn't proronounce my rs,i was s -- poke. and d that's how thehey wrotote down. >> they asasked me my name a an age, a and they took my shshirt. so a at that poioint, it wasas e

and my pink,k, fuzzy s swimsuit. >> they totook my white leatheh pursrse, which h had my address bookok. i thouought, are y you giving g guguys that arare poininting g you yourur a address and phone number w where they y can get t rest of your f family? >> f finally c came e down to m ththis little e monica. she was s four yearsrs old. hahardest partrt sticks s out i hehead was, i had d to eitither her over to themem or r leave e there. anand i couldndn't hand her ove. >> thehey escocorted m me to w there e was a whole in the g gr with a a l ladder cocoming out. i lolooked down the e ladderer, could see e ed ray. the kidnapappers gavave him one flashlhlight.

i i did not t want to go d down. i i knew if i i went d down tha, i wawas never coming back out.t. titime froze. anand then ed d ray grabs my a . he s says, comome on, son, i it okay. and i climbebed d down i into t. >> i inside thisis hole e that e in, we werere in the dark again. you couldndn't reaeally cocompr at that t point wherere you wer. i fofound my brorother, , so i thatat he was alive. my sisteters were e there. > when they let mononica com down, , i was rerelieved. > some of the youngnger c ch were whimpmpering and crying. i rememember jody huffffington one ofof the older girls, who

tried d to keep ththe yoyounger calm, sosomewhat, anand composo. someme people e just hadad t th personalality of an n older sis fifigure that t was there e to . >> i look araround. there are e some matattresses a some blankets.s. there'e's a table e in the bacad itit has waterer around itit. i remembmber thinkining i wante that waterer so bad. >> and thehere was some food. they had cereal,l, peanut bubut brbread. >> f for us to u use the resest they h had cutut outut hololes. >> w we were okakay at leastst now. wewe're okay.. we're all l alive. we're all back togogether. >> suddenlnly, t they drdrop, , manhole e cover ovover the h ho.

>> that's when w we stararted hearining the dirt. you knknow -- and we werere bei covered d up, , buried alive, , knowow?? >> i was a y young news direrec atat the public televivision station.n. so, the newsws o of the kidndna came to meme on a a wire macach. i realizized that t this was a story. it wasas probably y the story ye decade, popossibly the s story the century.y. >> news media a just floodeded place. >> the p phone lineses were jam both witith rereporters anand w anxious s parentnts. itit was a grereat stotory for

repoporters, a terriblble evene paparents. > g good evevening. ththere may nenever haveve been ananguishing a a mysystery. > it was cocovered evererywh. >> the busus has been found. therere are no s signs of viole anand there arare only horririf guesses asas to whwhat may have happened. >> stitill no break k in the chowowchilla, , californiaia, s bus s kidnapapping. > it was ininternationanally covered.d. >> but in thosose early hohours course nobobody knew a anything. >> there a are lots s of theoris to whyhy.. can n you tell m me what the theories are?? >> we hahave no theoriries at a. >> whahat would yoyou u say abo possiblele motive? >> i really y don't. >> z zoster wawas the e last ch be l let off thehe bus befefore disasappeared. >> have yoyou ever seeeen any c followining the bus before? >> n no. >> d do you haveve a any idea w mimight have d done it? >> no. > did y you see anything aft ththe bus let t you off? >> nope. >> t the sheriffff s says the e thining he's ruled out at thisi point isis the possibilility of flyiying saucer.r. and therere are e those in thiha

who o don't rulele out that popossibility eithther. >> thehere were pepeople callin with cononspiracy theorieses. i i remember talalking to one pn going on and on about the e sonf sam. >> must hahave receieived at le 1,1,000 calls thinkingng i it w zodidiac k killer or moon up in oregon. >> in the e last few yeaears, , becomeme used toto terroristst actitivity in ththis country, , unfortunatately y so. > is s it a politicalal act? >> that't's s specululation, si. your g guess is as good as minet this pointnt. >> you could hear these, like,e exhaust fans. and if you went to thehe side,eu could d feel air coming in.. not t air condnditioned aiair, warm a air circulalating.. >> to me, just v very littttle . very harard d to breathe.

> after so mamany houours, i becomes despsperate. >> wouldld you pleasase open th dooror? i beg g of you. pretty please, pretttty please.. let us o out. i've g got -- - if that will he any. and it s says, everyrybody here pretty plelease, s so we all std sasaying that.t. and the guguy woululdn't ansnsw. > ed ray y and mimike marshs the flashlhlight and really started lookoking arouound.. every y crack and d every crcre theyey're e looking g at the wa. they're lolooking at t the cracn the ceceiling. >> we knknow if f we get out, , have to gogo throughgh the top. the littlele k kids stararted d try and move it.t. edward d didn't want to bebecaue thought t we'd get hururt if t caughtht us tryingng to o get o.

>> we beggeded e edward, plelea. you'u've got to o try. we're goining to die in here. you'veve got to get usus out.. >> e ed d ray puput t his hands he pushed d on i it a little bi. > ed ray is a stoutut man, b maman, it was s not momoving. >> the watater was r running ou. nonobody's comome to f find usu. and then t the batatteries on whwhatever fanans ththey had go they j just stopopped. >> i i remember anandrea wasas g by hererself prayiying. > ed raray got us all to cal down. he had all 26 of u us tatake a . >> i donon't know ifif it wawas

heatat, but i kept going back t cacamping tripips that i had h with my fafamily. i coululd sesee the wateter. waititing for that monsterer fi. i could sesee us gatheringng ar ththe cacampfire. i could d smell the e smoke. >> in n the papast, hallllucina were attribubuted to viruses, ,d ininjuries. but what hadn't been known before chowchilla is that getting scared to death could make you hallucicinate. >> one litittle e child d saw r through h the ceililing ofof th,

right ththrough alall the rocks the dirt thahat had been piled , and sasaw the scenene e of kidi sleeeeping aboveve them. that was a a comomplete e mirag thatat came from being traumamatized. >> when i woke u up, somethingns wrwrong. dirt was c coming g in, dustst. >> it made, like, little -- - le thatat. what's's going on? > the only thing holding tht roof in place were four byby fours,s, one on ththe ceiling, then a post holding it up. you could hear the screeching of

the e metal l , and the roof ju gagave. >> it t was teterrifying. there e was dustst and dirt t ts flying eveverywhere. i thought t we were gogoing to righght there. that's whehen n we thoughtht we smotheher to death. [ screaming ] n screaming]

[ screreaming ] >> it finally stopped, but anyone that touched d that beam the e sand wouldld tricklele in. so, we c couldn't move.. we h had to ststay p put wherev werere at. we knew w we wouldldn't last m longerer in ththere. >> good evening. the cacalifornia n national gug totoday joinined state a and lo police and t the fbi i in a gia search foror 26 califofornia childrdren. therere are no r real clclues, n eerie silelence and a frfrighte bizarrrre casese. >> thrhroughout mumuch of this parents s and other famimily o missssing childrdren came e to cocommand postst s set up in do chowchillala. >> at t that time, t there was peopople waitingng for word. and d it was scaryry.. >> i want to expreress to you t

coconcern, the califorornia sta popolice and i if necessssary, nationonal guard are availablel assist in the sesearch. >> whehen somebodydy disappeara that l long and you haveve no w whatatsoever on n where ththey be, yoyou're scarered to death.. >> d do you haveve other chihil? >> i do,o, and i wouould havave chchildren on that bus but she wowoke up sickck yesteterday mo and i i didn't send d her. [ cryiying ] > my husband, bob, he was in canada at the calgary stampede. he was practically in tears trtrying to get t homeme. i was s able to slsleep for a a. bubut as soon n as i openened m, it was, like, a a ton of briric hit t me. >> allll we cacan do is join w the familyly and loved onenes o thosose involvlved andnd pray, hard foror their safe rerecover.

>> we e begged edward, please t. you've got to try, we're going to die in here. you've got to get us out. >> i r remember edwardrd sayayit it looked like we were goioing have to ststay down there and kk the bucket.. >> edward was fearful thatat hi actions cocould caususe harm n only to o him but to u us. bubut mike dididn't have t that of hopelessnsness. >> y you know, a little fear, kd ofof, hits you, but at thehe sa titime, it generateses m more p. i thought t to mysyself, if f w going g to d die, wewe're goinge gettining the e hell outut of h. we'r're going to d die tryining. >> they started stacking up mamattresses t to get toto the . even a lot o of the younger kik took tururns doioing whatever i thatat their yououng little bob could dodo. we're nonot going to d die.

this is nonot how we'r're going end.d. jody's j job was to o shine the flasashlight whihile michahael p and, with h all his might,t, g his cowboyoy push. >> all t the k kids arare, c co mimike, you cacan do it, mike. and i i don't feel i it t move it m move, butut all thehe k ki just heaeard them say, it momov it moved.. >> f for the firstst time, i fe hope, kindnd of, wonondered ifi was my angngel, my guauardian a that dadad talked about.t. >> at t that poioint, wewe saia ededward, you u have to hehelp . we've gogot to getet outut o of. we're going to die.. we're going toto suffocate in here.. >> edwarard was fearful ththat somebodydy was up therere just waititing. but t he f finally wenent ovove hehelped. >> ed d ray started pushining w everytything he had. theyey knew something was onon

but t we didn't know w what iti. and d so he pushed up, and he g that manholele covover up maybe abouout yea hihigh. and mike marshshal stutuck his through ththere and ststarted feeling araround to see whwhat onon top of the mamanhole cover. mikeke got his hand in thehere just s started doing this. and togegether, theyey moved th manhole cocover back just far enough that a quarter ofof a battery could be seen. that's not the battery in your car. these bus battereries weigh h a 125,5, 150 pounds.s. had d ed r ray slippeded, had d lost hisis gririp, m mike marsh woululd have losost hihis ararm. >> i r remember ththem s sayingh

out, and -- these two huge batteries s were dropppped down the stack of mattresesses. >> a and then ed rayay hadad a lolook. >> aroround this h hole, they'de a squarere box, , three feet h somethining like thahat. and thatat was so that as they were covering ththe vavan witht that t they wouldndn't covover hole.. >> edwarard squeueezes me throu this halalf-foot holole. i get t on top of it. i i start t pounding on ththis . >> thehere was a box up there, d he tried to bang his way out. but he couldn't do it. then he got me up there with him. we all tried with our backs to push out, push up. we couldn't do it, so mike tried with his feet and i trieied wit my back. and ststill we cououldn't do it.

>> all t the seams werere prett wewell cononnected. mike saiaid, we neneed somethih pry y it w with. >> i t took apart a box springn mattreress and wasas usising th. >> robobert got up there with h for r a while, andnd we starart hitttting and poundingng, hitti anand poundingng. >> mike would slam that cornrne overer and over and d over. it just seemed imposossible. >> i startrt d digging u undern the plywooood, a and i realilizr i do thahat for a while, the material rock k and stuff is falling down outside of the plywood into the holole i'm didigging. i i thought, maybe i can get weweight off the top. then i canan pull it out and i n scscoop itit down insiside the .

>> he was kickining didirt, thrg dirt.. he kept digggging. >> i donon't know how mike maneuvereded up in thahat woodo bobox. i don't know howow long g he wa there. it was hours. >> our senense of timeme under y condititions is s one of the mo vulnererable senseses that we e. the chchild whwho heheld the li knknew it was s a long, lolong . >> i was, yoyou know, drdrained titired. i hahad no e energy. i was exhaususted. my equililibrium w was totallyl. i didn't k know what w was up o downwn. that's's when edwaward started pretty p please don'n't hurt hi prpretty pleasase don't hurt hi. i i could hearar thahat in my e

ringing ovover and ovever. pretty p please don'n't t hurt . he d doesn't knonow what he's d. anand i'm startiting t to beliet ththey are up there. that, , to me, wasas scacary. i try y to s see if i coululd d weight offff the top.. it moveded, like, just a a crar and i looked throughgh i it. and d plain as d day, i wawas gp and ththe door o opened. and beyondnd that t was justst dadarkness. and you cocould tetell therere somebody i in that d darkness. i rememember it t vividly. >> this wawas a hallucucinationt he had dug into no place, ththa theyey were stilill in horririb troublble, that ththey were gogo die ananyway.

so, he went t back d down anandt dodown and he ththought, w what didigging for? this is teterrible. i can't dodo thihis. and d then he dedecided, i'm go toto go o up therere anynyway. > we e took a, yoyou know, l break there. but then i -- something clicked in me. i saidid to myself, you're a a cowbwboy. you'u're going t to get on t th crazy y ass horse.e. yoyou're goingng to do whatever is y you've got to do. i didndn't carare if they wewer there. i wasn't g going to o give up. from t that t point onon, itit mamatter. > i starteded hittingng stuf hihitting and poundingng, hihit anand popounding. and i pulllled the chip out. and d then therere was a big c .

so, i crackeked the ceililing. and d then i almlmost got t it . jujust pulled some more and cracked it agagain. >> it t was ththe most beautifuy of sunlight that i h had ever seen.. >> i just rememember the light d the air, so much air, and cool aiair. >> notot knowing i if they'r're there, i k kept thinkiking, we gettining creamemed or we getti ouout? and i i think thatat's why i d hehesitate to stick my head out.

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going up the hole, i had no real chance where it was. you u see trees, and it felt li we were in t the mountaiains. therere was nobobody there.. >> i i remember getting out and lolooking arouound. off in the distance was a big, big building. and i i was worrrried about tha buililding. bebecause maybybe the kidndnapp were over r there. >> e edward got all l the kidsd totogether, sasaid we neneed to ququiet. and d so likike a a bunch of li ducks,s, we're just walkining througugh this sanand. >> t there were e 27 of us, , a they a are around here, we're a pretty easy targetet to see. > but then we saw somomeone cocoming towarard us, , and i d knknow who it was or what they

wanted.. >> a and the guy's f face was j lilike oh mymy god!! i sasaw you u on the news.s. whwhere in thehe hell did d you fromom? >> we turned out to be in a rock quarry.. >> and i in nono time,e, the kl started d sosounding. they h had set offff their alal. >> t the c children hahave b be. they are in good s shape. the bus driverer h has been fou. he is inin good shapape. there e is no indidication of f harmrm. >> detectitive bernie serbeyey i were the f first two arrive e a make c contact witith ththe busr anand the kids. > the kidids were actuaually the e most part calmlm. they were e a lilittle bit dirt looking obviouously, becauause werere buried inin the grounund.

>> w we were in this big warehouse.e. i remembmber they had d a watet cooler.. i would takeke my y little c cu i would d pour it onon my head fill it t up andnd pouour it on headad, trying t to get the dirf me. >> that evening, we e had the television on, andnd i thohough heard d him sasay ththe e kids chchowchilla h had been found.d. i ran in there, jumped over the coffee table, turnrned the tv v and sure enough. i was s so thankfuful. >> my soson is 1 14. he i is alive and well andnd he comingng home. and i can'n't wait to o see him >> what't's the last 24 hours bn like? >> not v very nice.. i wowouldn't wanant to h have t ththrough themem again, evever..

>> w we had toto decide e how w going to proceed w with ththe intervrviews and t things, and decided itit was best to g get to a securure locationon.. > so we rode justst a very s diststance to o the prisonon. and they sat u us downwn at all ththese littlele desesks, and dd apples a and cartons of milk. > we e were giviven inmate jumpsusuits, they'y're white jumpmpsuits to weaear. >> a all u us s little kids got ththem, and we had t the rololl pants ababout 10 feet. sitting ththere flappingng ouru we said,d, "hey,y, we can flfly we pretetended likike wewe can . >> andnd then n the policece ca and talklked to us. > what is t the sitituation ththe kids now? >> i w would generallyly strikem in very hihigh spipirits. >> we asked who o wants s to be talked t to next, and ththey alt up theheir h hand, a and they'r jovial.

>> after that, they y got usus loadeded up in a g greyhound bu go home e to chowchihilla. [ [ applause ] ] >> whehen we g got thrhrough chowchillala, there wewere l li evererywhere, pepeople everywhe just a sea of peoplele. > it wawas just a mob.. >> rightht. >> a verery nicece gentlememan d meme off t the bus and putut m mom's ararms.. and d i put my heaead on her shououlder. > it's wowonderful. you cacan't say enouough words descriribe how it t feels. i'm m just so hahappy i could d. > come here, mike. >> the reporteters are allll o asasking what happppened.. and d i ststarted to talk to th

and thenen just out of nowherer princicipal tatum m stepped in saidid why d don't we justst gim a break,k, boys. let themem go home and get s so slsleep. so w we got in t the car andnd . there was s my chance toto tell world whwhat h happened to gett out and evererything, anand i dt do it. i let ththe grown-upups do it. >> 7:0:00, we got dug out. i handnded the boyoys s up to o otother boys a and w we got oute all l got home s safely. >> a as mimiraculouslyly as the disasappeared, the children of chowchchilla retururned to t th parents s due to the heroic c effoforts of their b bus driver ray.y. >> w we were home,e, but the w . >> you knenew w they werere e s plplace, but y you didn't know where.e. it was s still a mystery.. you u had no ansnswers to ththi myststery.

> a lotot of f agents outut following leadsesed on whoho mi hahave done this. i had d all the ststate. i had all the fbi, and m my own people o of course t too. >> thehe f following mororning, didirected to o go out to the e whwhere they w were burieded. i hahad a a whole crewew of peo lolooking for any evidencece we coululd get. >> this isis a place where theh cut a hole i in n the roof and an e exit, a an ingrgress and e. > the only peopople intnto te have beeeen a cocouple of shere crcriminaliststs. the shsheriff's ofoffice is wow vevery carefulully becausese the to f find d clues s which h wil ththem to ththe kidnappepers. > the c crime scene was a mysterioious hole inin t the gr. therere was sosome notion that might t be a cave,e, a an unund room.. it took usus a whihile to underd that it was inin fact a a movin van.

by today's standardsds, it wasn a 40-f-foot t vavan, i it was a shshort 27-foooot moving v van. whwhen you thihink about it, toe 2626 kids confineded in that kif a chamber,r, i was flalabbergas. > the seaearch h for r theses is n now what isis preoccupypyi authororities. bebeing soughtht are threeee me two vavans. >> w we dodon't t know whahat ty arare now. theyey were e purchased in nove in alamemeda. ininformation n on the regisist is all phony, so we don't know who o we're lookoking for yeyet. >> at t this t time, w we wewerg for anany informatation we couo get.t. >> w we had multiplele cononvers withth law enforcecement. > one man saw what cocolor h didid he have? >> kinind ofof b blond. >> my y brother anand i helpede compositite drawingsgs to hehel

idenentify the k kidnappers.s. >> this s is thehe latest compo. we have nono names whahatsoever this point. >> is ththis frorom the memory the childrdren? >> yeses. >> and thehen informrmation hadn developeped on the i investigat sidede about thehe vans. > the kididnapped vans were d in a one-stotory c commercial building i in southeasast san j. repoports say y a rentalal agen polilice a youngng man renteted plplace about t six monthshs ag. >> the b bus d driver, ed ray w brought toto the wararehouse b authororities. itit is asassumed thatat mr. ra attempt t to identifify those e. >> when theyey recoverered the vehicleses, they alslso recover key pieces o of evidence. they found the 12 gauguge shoto whwhich h probably w was the on when thehey made t the stop p o school bus. >> we e found d lumber materiale

same lumbeber as 2 x 4 4s ththa pickcked up at thehe quauarry, number o of mattresseses, the s mattttresses thahat had beenen ininto the trarailer. > they alsoso locateded a ca that h had been completelyly sp painted flat blalack. eveven the hububcaps. it was verery strange. >> you s see them working g on e thingsgs? were t they paintiting? what werere they doioing i in t projects?? >> i donon't know. i can't t see ththrough ththe w. >> t they y recovered d what lo like s some kikind of a journal diarary. they h had encryrypted it into kikind of f unusual writing.g. nenever seen a anything lilike n my life.e. > i was scared. i was actuallyly still scared o those e kikidnappers.. wherere they're e at, whatat th doing, a are they fofollowing u. they k know wherere wewe livive. they k know our addresses.s. they know w our r phone numbere. itit was realllly overwhelelmin me. >> a lot o of ththem are s scar let ththeir kids out of f the h.

i knknow i have a girlfriend across town, she won't let her kids out of the house.e. >> we e were in a a paninic. we did not l like sleepiping in windowows. and evevery sosentnt us runnini. >> the firstst real brbreaks in case c came when thehe former employoyee from ththe quarryry up and saiaid he had m made notn a leledger they maintatained du patrols s that he hahad seseen woworking withth a catat bulldl and he alslso noticed d there w two o moving v vans parked o on sisite. one e time he said he founund a young man woworking in one of t scrapyard areas,s, and whehen h confnfronted thahat indidividua found his s identificacation, s he wasas frederickck woods andn was s the son ofof the ownerer. > one o of the ththings we l isis the woodsds f family, theh

weren'n't from the c central va. they were e from t the b bay ar frfrom the verery nicest s subu the bay y area. in fact, woodsds has an n illulustrious dodouble namame, fredririck newhallll woods. >> whehen ththe gold rusush was happppening in calififornia, he newhall ended up a amassing a great fofortune, 138,00000 a ac anand down the state of f cacalifornia.. railroadad towns werere named a him.m. they ownwned magic m mountain. >> whyhy would t these peoplple involveded? was itit a thrill l crime? >> the n next t day, i i was as servrve a sesearch warrarant on woods s estate. when we openened these doooors anand went in to the actuaual mansnsion, everyrything inin t s expensive,e, very fancy cucut crystal, s statues.

> the place was littered,d, liteterally, witith old vevehic. > it hahad antique e rolls-r and bentleys, all kikinds of militaryry war s surplus type j. it was realllly somethining to . therere was a a separate b buil opposite t the m mansion. it was a serieies s of gararage had beenen told ththat fred sle above e the garageges. we went upstairs. > the placece was f full of . you cocould barerely walalk acre room. olold movie camemeras, there wa buncnch of them all over thehe place. >> and there was a d desk. anand that's w where he had kin an envnvelope likeke a manilila envevelope.. it h had the plan,n, the actualn of h how the sequence of thehe kidnapping was s supposed toto down..

>> andnd insidide that, there w jackck in the bobox bag thatat back s side of it had bebeen wrn the names s and the ages of allf the childrdren. but prprobably thehe most telli evevidence wasas ransosom note was fofound in thahat envelopep. >> and at that point, , it s std to gel w who was respoponsible ththis. >> fred woods,s, thehe s suspec fatherer, was veryry cooooperat. told m me he trieded to get his intereststed in the e family busineness. the e son got t interesteded in old car. >> he developed a business of refurbishing old cars and reselling them. >> he had gone into a partnership with a friend from high school named james schoenfeld. his brother, rick schoenfeld was involved, , but he w was m more

hanger-on n to the othther t tw. >> thehe brorothers, theheir fa was s a foot specialisist. they were upper middddle clalas >> t they were alwayays veryry and outgoingng. anand if we saw ththem oututsidy alwaysys chatteded w with us. very frienendly boys. >> we werere reaeally shococked these were three yououng men th cameme from vevery affluenent famililies.. >> i i was d dumb b struruck. >> whyhy do yoyou suppppose thed do s something l like e that? >> we don'n't t knknow. they d didn't haveve enough lov. >> fred d woods,s, w what was hr moneney for? hehe had more e money thanan th had. >> now we know whoho thesese pe are. >> acting on evidence discovered at the house, law enforcement authorities have just issued alall-points b bulletins.. >> suspepects are consnsidered d and dadangerous. arrest on n probable c cause. >> thehe invesestigators worked

hours a day and founund out tha fred and jamames schchoenfeld d off. fred w went to vanancouver.. he u used a fake i id to get in checked d into a hototel. while woods is up in cananada, is w writing letters f from a p askingng friends f for money. jim schoenenfeld droveve his ca toto the bordeder anand trtriedr ththe bordrder. he had weaeapons in ththe car, they dididn't arrestst him.. theyey bought hihim m a sodada. they werere nice to him.m. >> gavave him m the guguns back tuturned him around. >> g good evevening. the fbfbi is looooking all ovev country toninight for fred wooo anand james schoenfefeld, twtwoe three e men sususpected d of kidndnapping 26 6 children i in califofornia last t week. the e third man, schoenfnfeld's yoyounger brotother, turnened h in. >> in oakland, californinia lal night,t, richard allen s schoen surrenendered. hehe walked ininto the alameda coununty districict attorneyey' offifice along w with his fafatd

a a lawywyer. the attornrney said richarard surrenendered for r his own protectionon.. >> james tried to get intoto canada o one more titime. hehe had gotteten ririd of mosoe weweapons, butut he had d one e weaponon that he didn't know abt that f fred had hihidden i in t vehicle. so they turned him around, finally y gave up on that, a an stararted headining baback home >> jameses schoenfnfeld was s cd at dawn todaday. his lawywyer said he h had gott tirered of runnining, had cacald saidid he'd turnrn himseself in 8:0000 this mornrning. the e police closed d in an hoh before that. the e third suspect,t, fred woo was arrerested a at the e main officece after royal canadiaian momounted d police hadad been n byby the fbi. the suspspect was ununarmed and nonot put up a a fightht. he appeaeared nervous, a little cocky,y, but mostltly disintere in t talking t to rereporters. >> no cocomment. >> what dodo you thihink aboutu chargeges against t you?u? > no commenent. >> a any cononcerns about t goi

californiaia at all? >> with yoyou? >> thehe kidnappppers hahad d h townwn right in n its heard t b tataking those c children. >> the commumunity t took it qu personal.. sasaying we'rere upset is vevery mimild. it w was voiceced aroundnd town quotote, all w we e need is s a old-fashshioned strereet h hang end quotote. liliterally ththat was said.d. >> these w were e three memen we so hated, statationed on top of the e police s station a sninip top p of city hall, a sniper, a inin the meansns of protecectin. >> inside,e, both woods anand j scschoenfeld s spoke with a fir voicice, s showing no fearar.

ththey were orordered heldld on millioion bond each.h. > the biggest question in th bizarre e case is ststill unananswered. were thehere politicical mototi psychohological momotives, moto of revevenge? nono one seems to know.

[gull] when i interviewed fred, he said that he and his dad weren't very close. he wasasn't doing g what hisd exexpected himim to do. whwhen i interviewewed fred said t that t he and his dad wet vevery clolose. hehe wasn't dodoing what h his

expectcted him to do. ththey were alalways bicickerint him dropopping out o of colleged he wanteted d his s own money s didn't't have to r rely on hisi fatherer. > turn n to y your left. >> jameses told me they wewere g to make e a movie e to make e m and that's how thehe wholele t started. >> they y turned out a a movie scriript calleled "chain reaeac" itit wasas an n amalgam ofof th hearstst kidnappining case, , t frfrench c connection,n, and di harry. >> you h have to ask yourself f questition, do i feeeel lucky.y. well, dodo y you, punk? >> andnd didn't happen. >> durining this time,e, t they learned ththat the statate had susurplus of fununds. so thehey trtried to thihink of can n we g get ransom m from th ststate. so t then n that led t them m t kikidnapping a a school bubus, e the statate runs thehe school system. > they werere obvioiously

influencnced by the e original y haharry movie.e. and in the final scenenes ofof movie,e, you had an n individuao hihijacks a bus full o of chili and they e end up inin a rock quarryry. freded was the leaeader who o s it.. >> butut fred didndn't have the ability y to plan someththing l this b by himself.f. >> and he thoughght t that j ji schoenenfeld probabably was thee efficient t plannener. in fact,t, he is the one t that wrote e the journanal that w wad at a stotorage uninit. >> w when they decododed these writinings, james schoenfefeld askingng himself w what woululdn asas a resesult of this.s. jajames had to m make a decicis. decided to make money withth f woods. for 18 m months, thehey y were researchining didifferent targe. they hadad maps s where ththey d all l the schoolols they werere consididering. they werere able to o get

identifification in difffferent names to p purchase the things ththey neededed. ththey went ouout to thehe quau the covever of darkness to buryn entire transpoport van. they obtbtained weapapons, many mamany weaponsns to cocollect t ransom mononey, they wananted t government to fly the ransom money and drop it at a location. >> they had intended to have an air drop over the santnta cruz mountainins. in facact, the cadillac c was s intetended to bebe used to pick the raransom mononey, and d the wanteded it toto not be e seene. they wanted itit to blend in f ninighttime operation.n. > all the w way throughgh, t thought ththey had thought of everythingng. >> butut the nightht of f the kidnappingng, they wereren't abo callll in ththeir ransom demema because the phone lines were so jammed. they decided to go home. fred woods had a latate night dinnerer with his parentnts s ly otheher night. anand then thehe newews came ou children had freed themselves. >> the children are e home. >> rick and james scschoenfeld came over toto t the p property

planned d their escacape from t. > when ththe childrdren e es that kind of d destroyed t thei whwhole plan r right therere. > with alall three suspspect behindnd bar, the gratefeful townspeoplple today y honored t homemetown hereroes. > the local p politiciansns d that we needed t to celebratate heroeses that cameme from this hohorrendous event. anand so thehe t town had whata cacalled ed raray day. >> m me and 2525 kids have s sog to give to ed. >> t thank y you. >> edwdward was a very humble m. he d didn't ask for the pupubli, and he didn't ask for alall the atattention ththat came hihis w. the e press assumemed d that ed saved us, and he from m that pot onon was t the herero. anand that i is true. edward k kept us a all togethehd

edward helped usus get out. but edwardrd w was notot the o hero.. >> i was t telling people,e, m marshall d dug us s out. itit was mike e that d dug us o. but nobobody was listetening. > that day,y, i c could seee mimichael was realally depresss. >> i rememember thinking to o myseself, why am i feelingng li this? whwhat's wrongng with meme?? hey,y, you know whatat? who cares. we all gotot outut.. we'r're all out.t. that's w what matters. i felt guiuilty for fefeeling b. >> mikike wawas not going g boa about t what he did. ththat just wawasn't mike.e. >> all the childldren know. we all knonow the story. we w were there e for it. soso we dodo know whatat evever didid, and everybobody's r role. but i i don't thinink any of us really wenent out and spoke. we werere just c children. >> we wewere stillll just tryiy prprocess whatat happened.d.

>> thahat day wawas susupposed a day of honoring g us. ththey put a plalaque in there all ofof ourur names, but a a l us were e still in t that hole. >> when we got home, i thought life would be okay. even though the kidnappers were actually arresteted, it didn't stop my mind from going over what's happened,d, what could he happeneded. i cacan rememberer having nights imimmediately.y. > my mom tells meme thahat i ststarted slsleepwalkingng, ana would cocome into their room j in shohock and telell them they killing g me. > we're driviving down n the anand there happppens to be e a whether itit's telephonene comp or pg&e or a a vehehicle asided roadad. "go on past, mama, d don't stop

don't t slow down.n." >> my y self-esteeeem at this p just really started to go down. >> i h hated sleepeping. i hated going to sleep because every night i was having nightmares. >> i could hear andrea screamaming. she could hehear me scscreaming "mom, , mom,m, mom!" >> those demons were going to keep us forever. >> i knew michael l was havivin trtrouble. he was alslso screamaming and hohollering inin his sleleep. >> i put myself baback in there thininking aboutut how i w was to die. >> o our famamily was s just tu inside o out. didndn't know hohow to fix i it. didndn't know whwho o to talk tt it.. we left,t, went on the road.

tried to forget it. get past it. and the school d did n not offfy help to thosose kids, lilike coununseling, whwhatever.. >> i i can't visibibly seeee a problelem now whetether or notoe isis some psychohological scars cecertainly wowouldn't knonow. but justst kind of on the surfr, i can't pupull anyththing ouout. >> n not once.e. the kidsds were totatally forgo. >> you know, there was n no grod laid f for anyththing like t th. back then it was go to disneyland. >> go toto disneylanand. >> a lions clulub group p in lo angeleles paid foror a trip p t didisneyland as a way to somewh overcome t the trauma a that we faced.d. and so it t was for a momentnt chanance to get t away frorom

chowchililla andnd go see mickcd miminnie. >> thehey held a p parade for r. >> i b believe thehe wayay the s were cononvinced is s they were giving u us therapy,y, some kin ththerapy. >> the trip p to disneylanand wn intrusioion into thehe n nightm. ththat's all i it was. >> in n 1976, there was s a wor childhdhood traumama out t ther nobody k knew exactltly what it. >> when onone is t traumatizede sense of basic trurust goeoes. >> whilele i w was in traininin child psychihiatrist, anand i wd to f find out t what happensns children who get frighteninged to death. and don't die. and that started t the chowchih stududy. >> you know, otherer than docto

was trying t to be helelpful. she totold us righght upup fron was trtrying to write e a papep ththe americanan medical journa. she e was s interviewiwing the . she also listened to them. >> i remember seeing various kinds of statements thatat were made.. the kidsds were not t okay. sosomebody gotot a a p psychiate to town, and he mamade a predi predediction. he said onone kid in t this 26 going toto have a prproblem. but whatat happenened was thata parentnt wanted toto admdmit th kid d was the onone in 26. by t the time e i got out there 10100% of ththose kikids were h prproblems. > momom and told,d, w we're to c come in when we have nightmareses. they s said if we are goining i when we hahave nighthtmares, th they arere rewardingng our b be ofof having ththe ninightmares. and if they stop rewardiding th

bebehaviors, w we'll stop p hav ninightmares. andreaea became very intntrover where shshe hahad been outgoini before. she preferrered to hide inin he roomom. >> somome e of them bebecame afo really g get intntimate with anybody. >> she wouould not hugug me. i would tetell her that t i i l her, andnd shehe w would just i it likike it was n never said.d. >> thehe chowchilllla childrene ththe worst ididea aboutut t th futureres. in thehe uncononscious, we arer undeststructible.. we are going to live foreverer. after r trauma, ththat's not t . you buy y it that yoyou're goin 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 plalaced into a airless vas and hohow the chilildren wet and d he feared d suffocati. jodi heffington fell to tears on the witness stand as s she attemptpted to tell her story of t the kidnappppig and being entombmbed undergrgro. when they took me into the courtroom, i can remember sitting in the jury box, and i felt like i cocould bary see 'cause i w was so litttt. i remember not looking at the kidnappers, like, "i"i'm gonna d do what i g goo and i'm gogonna get ouout of he" i told them the harm that they caused to us was because of the conditions that thehey put us i in. and as i f 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 is, in itstself, phphysical hararm." finding out that my kidnappers got life without the possibility 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'n't bodily h harm. [park] thehey could bebe ot afafter 25 yeaears. we t thought we e were safe, you knknow? that wasas, and stilill 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 triaial was done, i coululdn't progrgress papast the kididnapping. my selelf-esteem took a largege blow. i didn't want anybody knowing everything that i h had been through, 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. [reporter] abobout 300 peoeope 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 cououldn't go t to scl 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 made the dececision to leave 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 everythin. i gave it all up so that we could move away anand i could d be a nobodo. i justst wanted toto be nobod. [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 the years, everything jujust overwhehelmed him..

hehe got more e and more i i. into the hole. i was drinkingng and usingng and alall 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 usu,

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 was the onone kid who o hd a a flashlightht the wholele e and ststood steadydy as anythi. [brorown hyde] s she became one ofof our stronongest advoco. her and lynda carrejo have gotten in the car and driven houours to the e baya toto be there e in personn numemerous timeses. what thehey did -- they shoululd stay thehere. [m[medrano] it was o on the victims 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 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, hateted myself,, and hahated everyone around d . [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 gogonna have t to lete 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 aroround , 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 gotot 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 r 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 madedera countyy when the chowchilllla 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 people 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 toto make some mononey. he wanted d me to writite letts in supupport of parole 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 kidnanap victims showowed 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 forgigm because i won't." and god -- he said,, "i canan work withth the trut" "we e can move f forward frorom" ♪ [klinge] larry park decided to go through the rerestorative-e-justice prp.

anand that's a a process that assisists survivivors that c cho toto talk to t their offenen, to come e to closurere if it t helps themem. [gateses buzz] [parark] soso i got to o go in. and d i said, "i"i was your r m for 36 houours. and d for the lalast 38 year, i'veve been my o own victim." i toldld them that i forgave them, but forgivining them wasn't e 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 cororrections 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. news of the latest release did not go over wellll with the victitims. just let a all the pririsones whwho hurt someone 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 " [medrano] she couldn't get out of bed no more. [crying] and it was just -- she was 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]

[cell door clangs] [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 -- ththat fred wowoods has popossn of the t two kidnap p vans ththat the chihildren and the e bus driverer wewere transpoported in, becaususe he thinknks the vale will increase because of their notoriety. 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. they wanted to pass on 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. [carrerejo labendedeira] the hearing cacame up pretetty quic. it was reaeally difficicult becacause we hadad just rececy lolost 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 rehabilitation running businesses out of a jail cell, sneakily smuggling contraband, such as cellphones 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 was really very 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 underststand 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 understand and to actually 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 sunday at 8 p.m. eastern on cnn.