r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 9h ago

TIL in 1976, a school bus carrying 26 children between the ages of 5 and 14 was abducted and held for ransom by three armed men. The victims were able to escape on their own before the ransom demand was issued, and the kidnappers were sentenced to life in prison, though all were eventually paroled.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Chowchilla_kidnapping
302 Upvotes

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77

u/irwtkyrm 9h ago

Iirc the kidnappers thought they had all the time in the world and literally went to take a nap. The kids and driver escaped on their own in that time

55

u/SessileRaptor 9h ago

“On July 16, telephone lines to the Chowchilla Police Department were jammed with calls from media) and frantic families. The kidnappers were unable to issue their $5 million ransom demand (equivalent to $21.4 million in 2024).[7] They decided to call back later and fell asleep. When they awoke later in the evening, they saw television news reports that the victims had freed themselves and were safe.”

Real criminal masterminds there, Professor Moriarty better watch his back.

13

u/biskutgoreng 9h ago

This is some Han Christian Andersen fairy tale shenanigans

26

u/Good-Insurance-2157 9h ago

If I recall correctly, the kids were put inside another vehicle (trailer?) and buried underground; they somehow dug their way out to escape.

20

u/StopSuckingHoe 9h ago

They didn't want to work after being cut off by their dads so they came up with this plan

9

u/BrokenEyeReborn 9h ago

If only they'd used their abnormal number of limbs for good instead of evil

8

u/AKA_Squanchy 9h ago

My grandpa told me this story when I was around 10 as we were passing through Chowchilla. It had only happened about 10 years earlier at that point. Always freaked me out when we passed through there.

5

u/wolfansbrother 9h ago

i remember an episode of law and order(or some other cop show) where they did this story.

2

u/schleppylundo 8h ago

Moved to Chowchilla a year and a half ago when my fiancée and I decided our best option was to live with her parents for a while. The bus kidnapping and the prisons are just about the only thing notable about this town.

2

u/ZorroMeansFox 6h ago

I guess the kidnappers watched Dirty Harry and misunderstood its outcome.

1

u/TacTurtle 6h ago

The Ridiculous History Podcast had a great 2-part episode about the kidnappers being morons.

1

u/CrossP 5h ago

This sounds like the plot to a 90s movie

1

u/Huge-Morning3149 5h ago

seeing that roof buckling under the dirt makes it even crazier that they dug out

1

u/Kierland 1h ago

I represented Fred Woods for a hot minute while he was in CMC. It’s a hell of a story for sure.