After more than four decades behind bars, Fred Woods, the ringleader of the Chowchilla school bus kidnapping is released from prison. In this bonus episode,  survivors share what his release means to them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

After more than four decades behind bars, Fred Woods, the ringleader of the Chowchilla school bus kidnapping is released from prison. In this bonus episode, survivors share what his release means to them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After more than four decades behind bars, Fred Woods, the ringleader of the Chowchilla school bus kidnapping is released from prison. In this bonus episode,&nbsp;&nbsp;survivors share what his release means to them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices" rel="noopener noreferrer">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

Bonus: Fred Woods

It was one the largest abductions in U.S. history. 

On July 15, 1976, a school bus carrying 26 schoolchildren ages 5 to 14 and their driver vanished without a trace in the tiny farming community of Chowchilla, California. As a frantic search for them began, the young, terrified hostages and their 55-year-old bus driver found themselves trapped in a scene that seemed like something straight out of a horror movie.

Their unlikely captors, three directionless young men from affluent families, planned the kidnapping for more than 18 months in the hopes of getting “easy money.”

In “Nightmare in Chowchilla,” we untangle a controversy that has dogged this case for decades: Who was the real hero in the Chowchilla kidnapping? The bus driver who received all the acclaim in the days following their escape, or a 14-year-old boy who hatched a plan that ultimately saved the lives of 27 people. 

Senior correspondent Claudia Cowan travels throughout California to get firsthand accounts from the people who lived through this horrendous crime, including several of the survivors and their parents, the sheriff who feverishly looked for the abductors, a TV news producer who covered the story and a prosecutor who has worked on the case.  And in our podcast exclusives, we reunite two survivors who haven’t seen each other since that fateful day as well as reveal a message from one of the captors.

True Crime

It was one the largest abductions in U.S. history. On July 15, 1976, a school bus carrying 26 schoolchildren ages 5 to 14 and their driver vanished without a trace in the tiny farming community of Chowchilla, California. As a frantic search for them began, the young, terrified hostages and their 55-year-old bus driver found themselves trapped in a scene that seemed like something straight out of a horror movie. Their unlikely captors, three directionless young men from affluent families, planned the kidnapping for more than 18 months in the hopes of getting “easy money.” In “Nightmare in Chowchilla,” we untangle a controversy that has dogged this case for decades: Who was the real hero in the Chowchilla kidnapping? The bus driver who received all the acclaim in the days following their escape, or a 14-year-old boy who hatched a plan that ultimately saved the lives of 27 people. Senior correspondent Claudia Cowan travels throughout California to get firsthand accounts from the people who lived through this horrendous crime, including several of the survivors and their parents, the sheriff who feverishly looked for the abductors, a TV news producer who covered the story and a prosecutor who has worked on the case. And in our podcast exclusives, we reunite two survivors who haven’t seen each other since that fateful day as well as reveal a message from one of the captors.

It was one the largest abductions in U.S. history.&nbsp;

On July 15, 1976, a school bus carrying 26 schoolchildren ages 5 to 14 and their driver vanished without a trace in the tiny farming community of Chowchilla, California. As a frantic search for them began, the young, terrified hostages and their 55-year-old bus driver found themselves trapped in a scene that seemed like something straight out of a horror movie.

Their unlikely captors, three directionless young men from affluent families, planned the kidnapping for more than 18 months in the hopes of getting “easy money.”

In “Nightmare in Chowchilla,” we untangle a controversy that has dogged this case for decades: Who was the real hero in the Chowchilla kidnapping? The bus driver who received all the acclaim in the days following their escape, or a 14-year-old boy who hatched a plan that ultimately saved the lives of 27 people.&nbsp;

Senior correspondent Claudia Cowan travels throughout California to get firsthand accounts from the people who lived through this horrendous crime, including several of the survivors and their parents, the sheriff who&nbsp;feverishly&nbsp;looked for the abductors, a TV news producer who covered the story and a prosecutor who has worked on the case.&nbsp;&nbsp;And in our podcast exclusives, we&nbsp;reunite two survivors who haven’t seen each other since that fateful day as well as reveal a message from one of the captors.

Share Bonus: Fred Woods

Sign up to save your podcasts

Bonus: Fred Woods

Bonus: Fred Woods

More shows like Nightmare in Chowchilla: The School Bus Kidnapping

A Dana Perino Podcast: Everything Will Be Okay

The Vanished Podcast

20/20

48 Hours

Fox Across America w/ Jimmy Failla

The Fox News Rundown

Crime Junkie

Guy Benson Show

Riddle: The Podcast - The Search for James R. Hoffa 50 Years Later

The Untold Story with Martha MacCallum

True Crime Bullsh**

Dateline NBC

Proud American

The Binge Cases: Where is Daniel Morcombe?

Kennedy Saves the World

House of Broken Dreams: The Jennifer Kesse Story

The Big Ben Show

Jason in the House

From the Kitchen Table: The Duffys

Alchemy of Violence: Narcos, Reapers and Survival

Grim Tide: Hunting The Long Island Serial Killer

Nobody Should Believe Me

Betrayal: Weekly

Fear Thy Neighbor

Who Took Misty Copsey?

The FOX True Crime Podcast w/ Emily Compagno

Perino on Politics

The Menendez Brothers: Victims or Villains Podcast

FOX Nation Investigates Podcast

Up and Vanished Weekly

What Happened to Holly Bobo?

Life, Liberty & Levin Podcast

Devil in the Desert

FOX News Primetime Highlights

Cold Blooded: Mystery in Alaska