A look back at Chowchilla school bus kidnapping 41 years ago today

On July 15, 1976, three men kidnapped 26 children and their school bus driver and held them captive in a buried trailer.

James Schoenfeld, his brother, Richard, and a friend, Fred Woods, were given life sentences after pleading guilty to kidnapping charges.

The men spent 18 months devising the plot and planned to ask for a $5 million ransom for the children, who ranged in age from 5 to 14.

The hostages were taken from Chowchilla to a quarry near Livermore and kept inside the ventilated trailer stocked with mattresses, food and water. The driver and children dug their way out and escaped unharmed after about 16 hours.

This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 10:46 AM with the headline "A look back at Chowchilla school bus kidnapping 41 years ago today."