Mass abduction · collective escape · lasting consequences
Gunmen took 26 children and Ed Ray from a school bus to a buried furniture trailer at a Livermore quarry. After about 16 hours underground, Ray and older pupils opened the roof exit and helped everyone escape.
On July 15, 1976, masked gunmen seized a Dairyland school bus near Chowchilla, California. They hid the bus and drove 26 children and Ed Ray to a Livermore quarry, where they sealed them inside a buried furniture trailer for a planned $5 million ransom. After about 16 hours underground, Ray and older pupils including Michael Marshall opened an escape route. All 27 captives survived. Fred Woods and brothers James and Richard Schoenfeld pleaded guilty to 27 kidnapping counts each. An appeal removed parole ineligibility while affirming their convictions and life sentences. Richard was paroled in 2012, James in 2015, and Woods obtained final parole approval in 2022.
California, July 1976
Interior of the recovered furniture trailer
Recent developments
Recent reporting and official developments, labeled by source and verification status.
Jul 16, 2026 · Crime Scene / Sony Music Entertainment
A new English-language anniversary episode revisits the disappearance, underground captivity and escape, with historical context for the story’s enduring public impact.
Listen to podcast →Jul 13, 2026 · A&E
Sara Kettler’s anniversary article surveys the escape, investigation, parole history and the crime’s continuing impact on survivors.
Read article →The scale
Key figures are drawn from the published case record.
The case chronology
The ambush, van journey, underground captivity, escape and subsequent prosecution.
See all 7 mapped locations →Jul 15, 1976
At about 4 p.m., a van blocked Ed Ray’s route on a rural road north of Chowchilla. Armed men seized the driver and the 26 children still on board.
Jul 16, 1976
The kidnappers sealed the furniture trailer with a steel plate, heavy batteries, plywood and earth. The captives faced cramped conditions, darkness and uncertainty about release.
Jul 16, 1976
Around 8 p.m., after approximately 16 hours underground, the captives escaped through the roof. Ray and older children, including Michael Marshall, worked to overcome the barriers.
Jul 25, 1977
The defendants admitted kidnapping for ransom while reserving a separate contest over bodily harm. The robbery counts were dropped.
Nov 4, 1980
The Court of Appeal struck the bodily-harm findings and corresponding no-parole terms. It affirmed the kidnapping convictions and life sentences.
Aug 1, 2022
The final approval process cleared the way for the last imprisoned kidnapper’s release. Survivors expressed different views, including support from Larry Park and opposition from Jennifer Brown Hyde.
Evidence and legal proceedings
The school bus was hidden above ground; a separate trailer became the prison.
Ray and older pupils worked together to clear the blocked roof exit.
The 1980 court affirmed the convictions and life terms while removing parole ineligibility.
Clinical follow-up documented effects beyond the immediate physical ordeal.
The opinion recounts the kidnapping, the guilty pleas and the sentencing hearing, then explains the removal of bodily-harm findings and parole ineligibility.
Explore the primary records →Go deeper
This overview is the map. The case tabs hold the underlying events, people, media, locations, and source material.