Many of the children continued to report symptoms of trauma for at least twenty-five years after the hijacking, including substance abuse and depression. Cars were his hobby and his income too, said an 18yearold youth who worked for the two men in the car restoration venture, and who was one of the last persons known to have seen Mr. Woods before his disappearance. The third followed in the truck. Frederick Newhall Woods was approved for parole on Friday, a spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has confirmed Woods, 70, is one of three men. He just seemed the normal kind of guy, the former classmate said. When they were married, Mr. Wood was a salesman at a paint store, but lost the job. Woods appeared via video on Friday before the panel where his attorney, Dominique Banos, said his client has not faced any disciplinary actions since 2019. PLEASE NOTE ORDERS MAY TAKE LONGER TO SHIP AT THIS TIME. After discovering that they could reach the top of the truck if they stacked the mattresses, Ray and Marshall worked for hours trying to wedge a piece of wood into the opening in the roof. Less than a week later, Frederick Woods was captured in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and James Schoenfeld was captured in Menlo Park, California. When Frederick Newhall Woods and two other gunmen hijacked the school bus in Chowchilla, California, it was considered the biggest kidnapping in US history. Miraculously, the driver and children managed to dig themselves out and escape relatively unharmed and the kidnappers were eventually caught. A classmate of the younger one, Richard, described him as just real, real normal.. On November 28, 2012, Frederick was denied parole for the thirteenth time. Frederick Newhall Woods was a child of his wealthy parents. Frederick Newhall Woods IV and Richard and James Schoenfeld were soon . A van reportedly blocked the road ahead of the bus, with three armed men jumping out and confronting the driver. The portrait that emerges from interviews with Mrs. Padgett and others who knew 24yearold Fred Woods, most of them casually because he had very few friends, is one of a longersome say a loserwho got along poorly with people, and who perhaps as a result, cloaked himself in his possessions, carrying with him as a high school student not pictures of girls but pictures of his automobiles. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and he had everything, and saved everything, said his former wife, 24yearold Songel Padgett, whose oneyear marriage to Mr. Woods ended in divorce in early 1972. Now Woods, who was 24 when he committed the kidnapping, has moved one step closer to leaving prison. In 1993, a made-for-TV movie based on a book written about the crime was made, and Frederick sued the filmmakers, feeling that the character portrayed in the movie was extremely biased, but the lawsuit was eventually dismissed. A 70-year-old man convicted of hijacking a school bus full of children and holding them and their driver for $5 million ransom in 1976 has been approved for parole. When Frederick Newhall Woods and two other gunmen hijacked the . One evening coming home from work [from his father's rock quarry], he went by the field to count the horses, because one was stolen the week before. The heir to two wealthy California families, the Newhalls and the Woodses, he inherited a trust fund from his parents that was described in one court filing as being worth $100 million (equivalent to $113 million in 2021), although Woods' lawyer disputed that amount. Alias Theyre vulnerable. However, his parents were always together and into each other. He was wealthy and lavished money on the things he wanted, his possessions, but stingy in all else. The story soon began to unfold. 1950s[1] ', And I'd say he was tinliberated about women. However, he was merely denied entry again, and James went back to Idaho, where he abandoned the car in Coeur d'Alene the next day and purchased a truck that he drove back to Washington. I was 24 years old. Stopping over at a drainage slough, half of the passengers were forced into the van, which drove off before a second white van arrived sometime later, taking the remainder of the hostages. By the time I was 21, I was using meth. Their miraculous escape made national headlines, but their abductors were still on the loose. Public DomainFrederick Newhall Woods IV, James Schoenfeld, and Richard Schoenfeld planned the Chowchilla kidnapping for over a year. His accomplices, brothers Richard and James Schoenfeld, were freed years ago. He really didn't want people around here. And now he rescues me every day, said Marshall. Frederick Newhall Woods, 70, was one of three men who kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver in Chowchilla, a small city in Northern California's Madera County, more than 45 years ago.. He had obtained the job through an employment agency after the marriage, she said, and after losing it went to work in his father's stone quarry. The panels decision will now be reviewed by the California Board of Parole Hearings legal division. Hes been married three times while behind bars. By 7:30 p.m., an all-points bulletin was broadcast while numerous people, including the parents of the missing children, initiated a widespread search. He wanted to really control. But Woods and his attorney, Dominique Banos, emphasized that he had a discipline-free record since his last parole hearing in October 2019. On August 4, Frederick, Richard, and James went to court in Chowchilla, where Frederick, Richard, and James pleaded innocent to more than 40 felony charges. And I was just angry, said Park. He said, Oh, yeah, I've cracked down on a couple of trespassers with a shotgun. I thought, well, what's with this guy. Frederick purchased an ocean-view mansion at Nipomo appraised at nearly $1.5 million. but he didn't tell me until he got mad at me when we broke up., The young woman said that they seldom went out on dates, and that Fred Woods was very thrifty, but in odd ways. He'd buy things he didn't needflashlight batteries, maybebecause they were cheap. Everybodys crying. The kidnapping, which was the subject of massive media attention when it happened, has resurfaced in popular culture in recent years through CBS and Fox television specials. He just said she just left him, no discussion, no nothing.. Exposure to and discussions of crime and action films such as Dirty Harry and The French Connection allegedly led to the three musing over the prospect of "perfect crimes" and whether or not it was possible they could be committed. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. At this point, Frederick and James, having passed through the Bay Area, decided to split up and head into Canada separately. Chowchilla bus kidnapper Fred Woods, 70, has been approved for parole - CNN. "Now I fully understand the terror and trauma I caused. Upon discovering that he and James were missing, police launched a manhunt for them and also placed a tight watch on Richard, whom they also suspected. Hyde was just nine years old at the time of the kidnapping, but she still recalls the panic that set in at that moment. 01:30 GMT 30 Mar 2022 According to James, they initially weren't serious about actually committing such a crime, but as time passed by, they began to consider it. And now, more than 40 years later, all three will soon be walking free once again. They were good kids., See the article in its original context from. READ NEXT: Why A Georgia Beauty Queens Alleged Murderer Still Hasnt Been Tried in Her Death, Two Kidnappers of 26 Children Paroled; One Remains in Prison, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. He was really adamant that I not see my former boyfriend. But when they woke up and turned on the news, they saw that the children had already escaped. I think he was not hostileyou really couldn't put it as hostile, the youth said. The young man constantly sought to please his father, she said, but always felt inadequate. At some point in their early lives, Richard and James became acquainted with Frederick, working on cars and talking about movies with another friend. His trust fund helped settle the civil lawsuit brought by the kidnapping victims. I knew it.'. Powered by. They were eventually able to slide the metal cover and the batteries out of the way but then Marshall saw there was a wooden box placed atop the exit as well. On July 29, fourteen days after the mass abduction, Frederick and James were both arrested when they were recognized by several civilians. In the years after the kidnappings, the children continued to be affected by the trauma. Three young men from extremely wealthy families had meticulously planned and carried out the kidnapping all so they could demand a $5 million ransom to pay off their debts. As per Woods's wife, he was a loner. Frederick has been called the mastermind of the kidnapping, and like his accomplices, he received 27 life sentences without the possibility of parole. Meet Rafael Prez, The Crooked LAPD Officer Who Stole Pounds Of Cocaine And Inspired 'Training Day', 7 Creepy Cold Cases Where The Killer And Victim Still Remain Unknown, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Bill Young/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images. The three suspects were arrested two weeks after the kidnapping and were initially sentenced to life in prison without parole. These include two people who, arguably, knew him besta woman whose yearlong marriage to him ended in divorce, and a young woman who was his girlfriend after his marriage. A Puzzling Portrait of Key Coast Kidnapping Suspect, https://www.nytimes.com/1976/08/05/archives/a-puzzling-portrait-of-key-coast-kidnapping-suspect.html. It was discovered he was running a gold mining business and a car dealership from behind bars without telling the prison. He was not even getting along with his parents and got few friends. According to his attorney, however, he has not faced any disciplinary action since his last parole hearing in 2019. The group was loaded into the two vans and driven around for 11 hours, during which time the hungry, petrified children soiled themselves and clung onto each other in fear. The state would be willing to pay ransom for them. Woods has spent the vast majority of his life in prison, where his disciplinary record reportedly includes citations for running an unauthorised gold mine, a car dealership, and a Christmas tree farm. The kidnappers forced the children and Ray into vans, according to court records. Dogdog.. But though the first part of their plan went off without a hitch, everything went awry when they tried to phone in the ransom. Six months after the mass abduction, Bay Area psychiatrist Lenore Terr had gone to Chowchilla to help with a noted rise in nightmares and phobias that were being experienced by the children; Terr conducted interviews with all but one of the children, also performing follow-up interviews three to four years afterward. Lori Lightfoot becomes the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose re-election, Fiery Greece train collision kills 32, injures at least 85, A condition called POTS rose after covid, but patients can't find care, Drones fly deep inside Russia; Putin orders border tightened, Rep. Lauren Boebert Gets Absolutely Schooled By Jamie Raskin Using Trump's Own Words, Snow plow drivers prepare for another round of winter weather, FSU women's basketball: Ta'Niya Latson and Makayla Timpson earn ACC postseason honors, Calls for more protection after cashier attacked, beaten at Bronx grocery store, Sublime menace and sonic enormity: 50 years of Pink Floyds The Dark Side of the Moon. On October 30, 2008, after being denied parole twenty times, Richard was deemed suitable for parole by the California Board on Parole Hearings and was released on June 20, 2012, presently living with his mother in a condominium in Mountain View, California. Two men boarded the bus wearing pantyhose over their heads and carrying sawed-off shotguns. Hes incarcerated at the California Mens Colony in San Luis Obispo. He'd buy a shirt he didn't need.. Yet here I am, a mess.". She said that she had begun dating Fred Woods in late 1974he said his mother put him up to calling meand that the relationship had been an intimate, if unsatisfactory one. CBS reported that in previous parole hearings he was evasive, unable or unwilling to follow prison rules and fail[ed] to acknowledge the severity of his crime. CBS He immediately forced Ray to get up from his seat and moved him to the back of the bus while the other two jumped out of their van and boarded the bus as well, taking control of the schoolchildren riding inside. Frederick Newhall Woods is ready to go free - Wikipedia Frederick Newhall Woods was 24 years old when he committed the crime. Born sometime in the 1952 and 1954, respectively, Frederick, James, and Richard all came from privileged backgrounds, having lived in wealthy neighborhoods in the San Francisco area. I was doing acid. Darla Neal, who was 10 at the time of the hijacking, told CNN in 2015 her 'extreme anxiety' made it impossible to live normally. During that time, the younger Woods, in partnership with 24yearold James Leonard Schoenfeld, the son of Dr. John B. Schoenfeld, a podiatrist of nearby Atherton, restored the vehicles they bought and sold them in a business venture in which they employed parttime mechanics. Now I fully understand the terror and trauma I caused. I rescued him before he was a year old. But even with the family, he was not close, she said. But he was lonely, and it was lonely living with him.. But there were no children, and that set the stage in part for the young couple's breakup. A relative said that the family can trace its ancestry to six Mayflower pilgrims, including John Alden and William Bradford, the Governor of Plymouth. And he found this man's body. The middle name, Newhall, is one of prominence and wealth. Terr also found that many of the children had developed a strong fear of strangers, even if they were in safe public areas with numerous passerby, and even refusing to answer the front door. Frederick Newhall Woods IV Richard Schoenfeld James Schoenfeld Alias Fred (Frederick) Rick (Richard) Jim (James) Gender Male (all three) Birth Date 1950s [1] Pathology Mass Abductors Modus Operandi Abduction No. They ordered Ray and the children into the back of the two vans, which had been converted from prison transport vehicles. Hyde, during Friday's hearing, said Woods has yet to fully make amends for his crime and 'is still a millionaire. . The marriage ended abruptly in early 1972, when Songel simply told her husband that she was leaving him. At the time of his release, his lawyer said to People Magazine, It was long overdue, and I think there is solid evidence that he isnt dangerous, and California has no interest in keeping him in prison. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, said his former wife, whose name is now Padgett and who is now living in Georgia. 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James Schoenfeld once told parole officials that he envied friends who had 'his-and-hers Ferraris.' 'This is an individual who's demonstrated how dangerous he is,' she said after Friday's decision. It was enough to pay for some therapy but not enough to buy a house.'. He attended public school at Portola Valley's Woodside High School, the kind of school that people lie, cheat and steal to get into, said a neighbor, and it was there that he met James Schoenfeld, also charged with the kidnapping. She concluded, about three years later, that they were traumatized by the ordeal, resulting in panic attacks, nightmares of abductions that led to their deaths, and personality changes. After knocking down another battery from the lid, Ray and the boys cleared out dirt and debris until they made a hole large enough for one of the smaller boys to fit through. Male (all three) ', The comments below have not been moderated, By
He was always swaggering, she said. While the men had equipped the van with fans and mattresses, carved makeshift toilets into the wheel wells, and provided bread, peanut butter, and water, Ray knew he and the students wouldnt survive long if they ran out of air. What is lynching and what is the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Bill? It was back in July 1976, when three young men from. ", Woods added: "I've had empathy for the victims which I didn't have then.". He has married three times during the period of his incarceration, and he has also purchased a mansion nearby. At the time of the hostages' captivity, Frederick, Richard, and James had previously tried to call in their ransom, but without success due to, ironically, the flooding calls from reporters, law enforcement agencies, and tipsters. After nearly 40 years, James gained his freedom in April at the age of 63, after twenty parole hearings. Now I fully understand the terror and trauma I caused. You see them and you rationalize all yourproblems will be over in 24 hours. We needed multiple victims to get multiple millions, and we picked children because children are precious, Schoenfeld said. The young man wanted no one near the estate, his former wife said, and once he fired a shotgun over the heads of some youngsters who played in an old caboose on the estate, she said. At the time, memories of the Patty Hearst abduction and the October 1969 threat by the Zodiac Killer to target a school bus for a massacre were still fresh on people's minds. A draft ransom note was found at the scene, with some of its phrasing seeming to make reference to Hugh Pentecost's story, 'The Day the Children Vanished', which had been published in Alfred Hitchcock's Daring Detectives and was displayed in the Chowchilla public library. He says the nightmares have finally stopped and that healing continues if you allow it., Park also said he met his kidnappers, shook their hands, and forgave them, which changed [his] life.. (1) Frederick Newhall Woods IV, son of the quarry owner, 25 years old, 6 foot, 145 pounds, brown hair and blue eyes; (2) James Schoenfeld, son of a podiatrist in Atherton, 25 years old, 6 foot, 170 pounds, red hair and blue eyes; (3) James' brother Richard Schoenfeld, 22 years old, 5 foot 11 inches, 150 pounds, blonde hair and blue eyes. "48 Hours: Live to Tell": Twenty-six school children abducted and buried alive in a truck trailer by three young men. He came home and told me about it and was all excited. Bill Young/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty ImagesThe interior of the moving truck in which Ed Ray and 26 children were buried alive. However, once this was proven to be wrong, local police and the county sheriff was called in to investigate, determining that the bus disappeared after successfully making its first three stops. Richard Schoenfeld was paroled in 2015; James was paroled three years later. After 17 unsuccessful attempts, a California man who kidnapped 26 children on a school bus in 1976 has been recommended for parole. Yet here I am, a mess.. By Wayne King Special to The New York Times. But I never saw any of that shotgun thing, pointing them at people and shooting at them, the youth said. During the same interview, Brown saidshe 'felt like an animal going to the slaughterhouse'. He was always alone in them and his parents were always together., Others who knew Mr. Woods casuallya service station attendant where he had his cars certified for sale, a former high school classmate and a neighbor who saw him occasionally also agreed with the description of him as a loner, the kind of guy who didn't seem to want to make friends., In contrast with this picture of Mr. Woods is the description by acquaintances of the Schoenfeld brothers. But as of the 48 Hours episode, Park is nine years sober and volunteers as a pastor at a local church. Now, after nearly a half-century behind bars, he is on the brink of freedom. "I was 24 years old," he said, per Fox News. Fred Woods and James and Richard Schoenfeld, the men who kidnapped 26 children in 1976. As a teenager and a young married, he enjoyed a liberal stipend from his wealthy parents, but was penurious about purchasing such things as household goods. While executing a search warrant at the Woods estate, investigators found a gun used in the abduction, a draft of a ransom note, and even a document titled plan. But Woods and his two suspected accomplices, brothers James and Richard Schoenfeld, were nowhere to be found. Frederick Newhall Woods first became eligible for parole in 1982 and has had 18 parole hearings since. Nevertheless, the three were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, although the prevention of parole was later overturned in 1981. Frederick Newhall Woods hijacked a school bus full of 26 children at gunpoint, kidnapped them, and then attempted to murder . So, where are they now? Woods (the father) expected too much of him and he couldn't live up to it, she said. I think I only saw a few pictures of him and his parents together in the family pictures. Three years later, his brother followed suit. In October 2019, Woods was denied parole for the 17th time. 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It was at the Woods estate, called The Hawthorries, in wealthy Portola Valley, that the authorities found a draft of the kidnapping ransom note demanding $5 million from an undesignated source. Mass Abductors Larry Park, who was just six years old at the time of the Chowchilla kidnapping, later told 48 Hours, Where their eyes were it almost looked hollow. Thanks for contacting us. 'He's ruined the lives of dozens of these kids - they still struggle, a lot of them, with the aftereffects of this. Victim Jennifer Brown Hyde, who was nine at the time, said she 'felt like an animal going to the slaughterhouse.' He told me once he was ashamed of her, she said. Subscribe to the 48 Hours" Channel HERE: bit.ly/1DvRWbT Watch Full Episodes Of "48 Hours" HERE: bit.ly/1fop6N1 Investigate with "48, Video related to two kidnappers of 26 children paroled; one remains in prison, kidnapped a school bus driver and 26 children, Why A Georgia Beauty Queens Alleged Murderer Still Hasnt Been Tried in Her Death. At this point, the positions Frederick, Richard, and James took during the initial abduction are unknown. Frederick, Richard, and James targeted a school bus full of children, all aged 5 to 14, whom they got to stop by pretending that their van broke down in the middle of the road. It surprised me how much [money] he made, but it was a lot, the youth said. It was at the gravel quarry owned by Mr. Woods's father, Frederick Nickerson Woods 3d, that the children were held in a buried moving van for 18 sweltering hours before they managed to dig their way out. Ive had empathy for the victims, which I didnt have then. Woods said. We would have suffocated to death in there, Labendeira said. When police finally caught up with the perpetrators, they were stunned. Frederick Newhall Woods IV, left, is escorted . But the sing-a-longs came to a sobering halt when the vans came to a stop at a quarry near Livermore, where the captors forced Ray and the children down into a buried trailer stocked with mattresses, a small amount of food and water, and ventilation fans. Their marriage, in the Calvary Baptist Church in Redwood City, was unpretentious and the wedding album portrays nothing except a normal American couple. If were going to die, were going to die trying to get out of here, she remembered Ray and Marshall saying. It would really surprise me if he had anything to do with this thing. Richard Schoenfeld was paroled in 2012, and James Schoenfeld was released in 2015. According to KIRO7, in March 2022, Frederick Newhall Woods received two recommendations for parole, but his release will require the approval of the entire parole board and its legal team and must be approved by the governor. Frederick Newhall Woods III, a member of one of California's wealthiest and most prominent families, rented the San Jose warehouse where the two vans were found. A local NBC affiliate reported at the time of James parole that he would join Richard in caring for their elderly mother at her home in Mountain View, California. Frederick Newhall Woods, now a bit frail, had been incarcerated 43 years for helping commit one of California's most shocking crimes. Thankfully, all the children and their bus driver returned home 36 hours after they were abducted, safe but traumatized. His parole hearing in March of 2022 was held at the California Men's Colony, a state prison. Wedging a wooden beam through a small gap between the hole and the metal lid, they were able to move the lid, allowing Ray to reach up and pull down a heavy industrial battery that was used to weigh down the lid. Frederick Newhall Woods was found suitable for parole at a hearing Friday at California Men's Colony, a state prison in San Luis Obispo County. ', 'He could have done much more,' she said. They hid the bus in the Berenda Slough, where a second van had been stashed. PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif., July 25 Frederick Newhall Woods 4th, subject of a nationwide hunt as the key suspect in the bizarre kidnapping of 26 school children near Chowchilla, Calif., was the. Woods became eligible for parole in 1982 but was previously denied release 17 times. According to reports, hes directing at least three enterprises from behind bars, including Ambria Acres Christmas tree farm, the Little Bear Creek gold mine near Lake Tahoe, and another used car business. Marshall also struggled with addiction for a while as a young adult, but he too is sober now and has a therapy dog named Blue. Eventually, they moved the cover and Marshall scrambled into a box the kidnappers had put on top.