FOX FILES SLIDESHOW: Inside the 1976 Disappearance of a School Bus in Chowchilla, California
In this Friday's episode of “Fox Files,” Arthel Neville tells you the harrowing tale that seems like it came straight out of a horror movie: How a school bus carrying 26 school children vanished without a trace in 1976 in the tiny farming community of Chowchilla, California.
According to FoxNews.com, on July 16, 1976, three men pretended their van had engine problems along Avenue 21 about 35 miles south of Fresno, prompting bus driver Ed Ray to pull over and park his bus. The trio,
who were wearing pantyhose on their heads, forced the victims into two vans and hid the bus in a creek bed. They drove about 100 miles to a Livermore quarry owned by Woods' father and sealed the children and Ray in a trailer in a cave. They then left to make their $5 million ransom demand.
Before the kidnappers had a chance to call their ransom into the police, Ray and the two oldest children had managed to stack mattresses high enough to escape through the roof. Eventually, all the abductees staggered to safety. The incident made Ray a hero.
Tonight at 10p/1a ET, the critically acclaimed Fox Files returns, but first take a look at the historical slideshow on this story:
