Frederick Newhall Woods is a California man who abducted 26 children on a school bus in 1976. He has now been recommended for parole.
Woods, along with three other gunman, hijacked a school bus with the students in Chowchilla, California, in 1976. The men then put the bus driver and students into vans and transported them 12 hours away. The victims were buried alive in an underground truck trailer.
This was known to be the biggest abduction in U.S. history.
After the kidnapping, Woods and the other two men, James and Richard Schoenfeld, had demanded $5 million in order to have the victims returned to their families. But, the driver and a few older kids were able to get away. They did so by digging themselves out of the trailer while their kidnappers were sleep.
Two weeks after the occurrence, the men were apprehended and later sentenced to life without the chance of parole. They were made eligible for parole after the decision was appealed in court.
In 2012, Richard was paroled, and in 2015, James was paroled.
“I’ve had empathy for the victims which I didn’t have then. I’ve had a character change since then,” Woods stated.
“I was 24 years old. Now, I fully understand the terror and trauma I caused. I fully take responsibility for this heinous act,” he added.
