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California

California man who kidnapped 26 children, buried them alive is recommended for parole

Survivors of the kidnapping say they are still fearful

By Emma Colton Fox News
Published | Updated
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Inside the Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping Video

Inside the Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping

Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping

A California man who kidnapped 26 children on a school bus in 1976 was recommended for parole. 

Frederick Newhall Woods was one of three gunmen who hijacked a school bus with 26 kids and their bus driver in Chowchilla, California, in 1976. The men transferred the driver and children to vans and drove them 12 hours before they were buried alive in an underground truck trailer, CBS News reported. 

It is considered the biggest kidnapping in U.S. history. 

'NIGHTMARE IN CHOWCHILLA': SURVIVORS OF THE 1976 SCHOOL BUS KIDNAPPING REUNITE AFTER 45 YEARS

Woods had attempted to earn parole 17 times since his conviction, and was granted a recommendation by a panel of two commissioners during his 18th attempt this year. The full parole board, the board's legal division and Gov. Gavin Newsom still need to approve the recommendation. 

Fredrick Woods

This is a Nov. 9, 2015, photo released by the California Department of Corrections, showing Fredrick Woods. Woods is one of three men convicted in the kidnapping of 26 children and their school bus driver in Chowchilla, Calif.  (California Department of Corrections via AP) (AP)

Woods and the two other kidnappers, James and Richard Schoenfeld, had wanted $5 million in ransom during the kidnapping. The driver and some older children, however, managed to escape by digging out of the trailer while their captors slept. 

'NIGHTMARE IN CHOWCHILLA': NOTORIOUS 1976 SCHOOL BUS KIDNAPPING REVISITED

The children and driver did not suffer from life-threatening injuries but reported psychological harm following the incident. 

  • Chowchilla kidnappers
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    Fred Woods, James Schoenfeld, Richard Schoenfeld pictured in custody (ALAMEDA COUNTY D.A.'S OFFICE)

  • Chowchilla kidnap victims
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    Many of survivors of the Chowchilla kidnapping gather at the Ed Ray Day celebration on August 22, 1976. Ray, the school bus driver, is pictured back row center next to Michael Marshall.  (Handout courtesy of Jennifer Brown Hyde)

  • Chowchilla kidnappers
    Image 3 of 5

    Chowchilla kidnappers Richard Schoenfeld, James Schoenfeld and Fred Woods  (ALAMEDA COUNTY D.A.'S OFFICE)

  • Chowchilla families
    Image 4 of 5

    Families of the 26 children who were abducted from their school bus along with the bus driver await word of their fate outside police headquarters in Chowchilla, July 16, 1976. (AP Photo/Jim Palmer)

  • Chowchilla van prison
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    California officials allow photographers to take pictures of the inside of this van in Livermore, Calif., on July 24, 1976.  The van was used as a prison for the 26 Chowchilla school children and their bus driver. (AP Photo/Jim Palmer) (AP Photo/Jim Palmer)

"I'm 50 years old, and I can have an anxiety attack over getting in the car with my husband," survivor Jennifer Brown Hyde told Fox News senior correspondent and "Nightmare in Chowchilla" host Claudia Cowan earlier this year. 

Woods and the two other men were arrested about two weeks later and sentenced to life without parole. An appeals court later overturned the decision and made the men eligible for parole. 

Richard Schoenfeld was paroled in 2012 and James Schoenfeld in 2015. 

Woods read an apology for the mass kidnappings Friday. 

"I've had empathy for the victims which I didn't have then," he said, according to CBS News. "I've had a character change since then."

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"I was 24 years old," he added. "Now I fully understand the terror and trauma I caused. I fully take responsibility for this heinous act."