The Crime Book

192

T

he 15 July 976 was a typical

summer day in California’s

Central Valley – hot, dry,

and sunny, with the temperature

approaching triple digits. It was an

ideal time for children to play in

the water, which is exactly what

26 summer school students from

Chowchilla had been doing when

bus driver Ed Ray collected them

from the community pool just

before 4pm that afternoon.

Driving through fruit groves on

the way back to the school, Ray

came across a white van blocking

an isolated stretch of Avenue 21 on

the south side of town. When Ray

slowed down, looking to see if the

occupants were having trouble,

he saw three men with guns and

with women’s nylon stockings

covering their heads leap from

behind the van. The men ordered

him to stop and then

commandeered his bus.

Terrifying journey

The group’s intention was not

simply to hijack the vehicle. This

was a kidnapping plot. With Ray

and the children still on board, the

men drove to a nearby slough – an

intermittent stream obscured by

bamboo and other vegetation –

where they crammed Ray and the

children, aged between five and 14,

into the back of two white vans.

The kidnappers abandoned the bus

in the dry streambed, and drove

away in the two vans, with their

victims huddled in the back.

THE CHOWCHILLA KIDNAPPING

It was a harrowing ride for the

children. With no water, no

bathroom breaks, and the windows

blacked out so they could not see

where they were going, the children

endured an 11-hour drive.

Some of the younger children

vomited due to motion sickness.

The older ones sang popular songs

to cheer them up, including

“Boogie Fever”, “Love Will Keep

Us Together”, and, ironically, the

old summer camp standard “If

You’re Happy and You Know It

Clap Your Hands”.

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

Chowchilla, California, US

THEME

Mass kidnapping

BEFORE

6 October 1972 Tw o

plasterers, Edwin John

Eastwood and Robert Clyde

Boland, abduct six students

and a teacher from a school in

the rural town of Faraday in

Victoria, Australia, but the

victims escape.

AFTER

14 April 2014 Militant

Islamist group Boko Haram

kidnaps 276 students at

Chibok Government Girls

Secondary School in Nigeria.

One girl is rescued in May

2016, and on 13 October 2016,

21 more students are released

by kidnappers.

A buried removal van was used as

a prison during the kidnapping. Here it

is shown being excavated by workmen

from the Livermore quarry, after the 26

children had escaped to safety.

He was a courageous

man. He kept 26 scared

children in line and

made us feel safe.

Jodi Heffington-Medrano

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193

Buried alive

Finally, in the early hours of 16 July,

the vans came to a halt at a rock

quarry in Livermore, about 160 km

(100 miles) from Chowchilla. The

abductors took the names of their

captives and an item of clothing

from each, then made them climb

into an old Allied Van Lines

removal van that was buried

beneath the ground.

Ventilated by two tubes, the

van was equipped with a few dirty

mattresses and box springs. The

only food provided – cereal, peanut

butter, bread, and water – was

barely enough for one meal. Once

all the captives were inside, the

kidnappers closed the opening in

the van’s roof, plunging the interior

into darkness. They shovelled dirt

over the roof, burying their

hostages alive. The victims

huddled together in the darkness

of their metal box, the California

heat making the smell of vomit and

filth unbearable.

When the bus failed to arrive

back at Dairyland Elementary

School, parents began to call the

school. Assuming the bus had

broken down, school officials ❯❯

See also: The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping 178–85 ■ The Kidnapping of Natascha Kampusch 196–97

■ The Zodiac Killer 288–89 ■ The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt 324–25

KIDNAPPING AND EXTORTION

It was like a grave, dark.

Everyone had messed their

pants, sweaty little bodies

in 43°C (110°F).

Lynda Carrejo Labendeira

Escape tools

The captives were able to stack the

mattreses to reach the van’s roof

opening and use a wooden beam to

lever the van’s metal lid open.

Mail slip

In a letter sent from his

hideout in Canada,

Woods revealed his alias

to a friend, who gave the

letter to the police.

Burial site

The removal van was

buried at a stone quarry

owned and operated by

Woods’s father.

Vehicle registration

The Allied removal van

used to imprison the 27

victims was registered in

the name of kidnapper

Fred Woods.

Licence plates

The kidnappers failed

to conceal or switch

the licence plates on

the kidnap vehicles. The

bus driver remembered

them under hypnosis.

Chowchilla kidnapping mistakes

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