History?
Chowchilla School Bus Hijacking
The most infamous incident of school bus hijacking occured more than a quarter century ago in Chowchilla, Calif. There, at 4:15 p.m. on the afternoon of July 15, 1976, three young men hijacked a school bus with 26 children onboard.
The children, including their driver, were herded into a moving van that was buried -- yes BURIED -- in a quarry near Livermore, California. The kidnappers demanded $5 million ransom. The school bus driver and students eventually burrowed their way to safety after being trapped for 16 hours in the van. Their captors were captured within two weeks.
The three young men convicted of the crime, Richard Schoenfeld, then 22, his brother James, 24, and Newhall Woods also 24, were sentenced to life in prison where they continue to serve to this day. A TV movie was made of the event and the kidnappers have tried to profit from the film, but to no avail.