Qualla: Buried Alive in Summer https://qualla.com/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:11 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Buried Alive in Summer https://qualla.com/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping Buried Alive in Summer: Introduction https://qualla.com/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping/ The names and ages were written on a hamburger wrapper. Twenty-six children, five to fourteen years old, each one cataloged in ballpoint ink on fast-food paper by men who planned to ransom them for five million dollars. On the afternoon of July 15, 1976, three masked men blocked a school bus on a rural road outside Chowchilla, California, and set in motion the largest mass kidnapping in American history. What they hadn't planned for was a 55-year-old bus driver named Ed Ray, or the fact that their phone call would never go through.

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/e/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping-wp/9qde-buried-alive-in-summer-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Buried Alive in Summer: A Thursday Afternoon at the Fairgrounds https://qualla.com/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping/ The children of Dairyland Elementary School had spent the day at the Chowchilla Fairgrounds swimming pool, a routine summer outing. Around four o'clock, bus driver Frank Edward Ray was bringing them home when a van pulled into the road and stopped. Three men wearing nylon stockin...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/e/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping-wp/9qde-buried-alive-in-summer-a-thursday-afternoon-at-the-fairgrounds.mp3 0:06 2 full Buried Alive in Summer: The Buried Trailer https://qualla.com/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping/ At the California Rock & Gravel quarry in Alameda County, the kidnappers had buried a truck trailer underground and outfitted it as a makeshift prison. Twenty-six children and their bus driver were forced down into this improvised cell. The plan was simple: hold them while a five...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/e/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping-wp/9qde-buried-alive-in-summer-the-buried-trailer.mp3 0:06 3 full Buried Alive in Summer: The Heirs Who Needed Millions https://qualla.com/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping/ The kidnappers were not desperate men from the margins. Frederick Newhall Woods IV, age 24, was heir to two of California's wealthiest families, the Newhalls and the Woods. His father owned the quarry where the children had been buried. Brothers James and Richard Schoenfeld, ages...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/e/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping-wp/9qde-buried-alive-in-summer-the-heirs-who-needed-millions.mp3 0:06 4 full Buried Alive in Summer: Justice, Delayed and Debated https://qualla.com/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping/ Richard Schoenfeld surrendered eight days after the kidnapping. All three pleaded guilty to kidnapping for ransom and robbery but contested the charge of inflicting bodily harm, since that count carried a mandatory sentence of life without parole. They were convicted and given th...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/e/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping-wp/9qde-buried-alive-in-summer-justice-delayed-and-debated.mp3 0:06 5 full Buried Alive in Summer: The Wounds That Didn't Heal https://qualla.com/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping/ Ed Ray became a local hero. The California School Employees Association honored him for outstanding service, and before his death on May 17, 2012, at age 91, many of the children he helped save came to visit him. In 2015, Chowchilla renamed its Sports and Leisure Park as Edward R...

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]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/q/d/e/1976-chowchilla-kidnapping-wp/9qde-buried-alive-in-summer-the-wounds-that-didnt-heal.mp3 0:06 6 full