However, it left several children with trauma and PTSD coming out of their near-death experience.
The Max documentarytakes an interesting direction when re-telling these horrific events.
The Chowchilla Kidnapping: What Happened?
A van reportedly pulled in front of the bus and blocked the road.
Then,three masked men came up with guns and hijacked the bus(viaThe New York Times).
According to authorities, 19 girls and seven boys, aged six to 14, were on the bus.
Custom image by Ana Nieves
As the authorities were desperately searching for the missing children, one child saved them all.
The three kidnappers planned to ask for ransom and left with the names of all the children.
The state would be willing to pay ransom for them.
And they don’t fight back."
(viaCBS News).
However, as the authorities were desperately searching for the missing children, one child saved them all.
The Max documentary movie also has fictional reenactments of the kidnapping.
It was my chance to tell the world what happened getting out and everything.
And I didnt do it; I let the grown-ups do it."
Less than a week later, Richard Schoenfeld voluntarily surrendered to police, accompanied by his attorney and father.
He was held on a $1 million bail.
Six days later, the RCMP captured Woods, who had fled to Vancouver in Canada.
James Schoenfeld was also preparing to surrender when he was arrested in Menlo Park.
They were sentenced to life without possibility of parole in December 1977.
As a matter of fact, it was the opposite.
It added in things that no one knew before.
However, this movie did something special.
It showed Michael Marshall as the hero he should have always been remembered as.
When Marshall reunited with fellow survivor Larry Park, he finally understood.
Not very many people can relate.
Richard Schoenfeld was granted parole, 36 years after the kidnappings.
The three ended up re-sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
One of the children, Jodi Heffington, went to every parole hearing, fearing the worst.
Those fears came true in June 2012 when Richard Schoenfeld was granted parole, 36 years after the kidnappings.
Three years later, his brother, James Schoenfeld, was also paroled.
The two brothers were reportedly ideal prisoners and caused no problems in prison.
They were 57 and 63 when released.
Fred Woods, considered by many to be the ringleader of the kidnapping, wasn’t so lucky.
He reportedly kept breaking prison rules and caused a lot of trouble while serving his sentence.
She died in 2021 at 55.
Just 14 months after her death, Woods was finally granted parole at the age of 70.
I just didnt want to remember any more about the kidnapping.
I was drinking and using and all of that to the point where …
I was living in insanity."
However, the kids didn’t leave their traumatic experience well.
Marshall wasn’t the only person whose life became a nightmare.
According to Joan Brown, her daughter Jennifer (aged 9) had nightmares.
“She had horrible nightmares.
I give a shot to be those things.
But it seems like it just took something from me that I cant ever get back.
And I cant tear down … no matter how hard I try and no matter what I do.
Larry Park was only six when he was abducted.
Despite his young age, it still hit him hard, and he struggled to have a normal life.
He said he spent his 20s and 30s abusing drugs.
However, he finally “healed.”
He owns a handyman business and works as a volunteer pastor at a local church.
He says his nightmares stopped, and he is a decade sober.
… Something washed over me.
… And there was peace like I had never known.
She is also someone else who was able to find peace years after the event.
Each child from the incident revealed in theChowchillamovie had their own stories and struggles.
He is now sober, a father and a long-distance truck driver.
“What they put my mom and dad through is something I cannot forgive,” he said.
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