The last man still imprisoned for carrying out the largest mass kidnapping in U.S. history, in which 26 children and a bus driver were held for ransom underground in 1976, was granted parole Tuesday.
Frederick Woods, 70, had been found suitable for parole in March by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, CNN reported. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom referred the decision for review by the entire parole board, which affirmed the hearing panel’s decision to grant parole earlier this week.
For safety and security reasons, authorities didn’t say when exactly Woods would be released.
Woods and his friends, brothers Richard and James Schoenfeld, kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver more than 45 years ago in Chowchilla, California. They drove the bus to a remote quarry 100 miles away and put victims — including children between the ages of 5 and 14 and their bus driver — into a moving van buried 6 feet underground.
The brothers demanded a ransom of $5 million while the victims were held in a van full of their own filth and vomit.
After 16 hours, bus driver Edward Ray and some of the other students attempted to escape as their captors slept.
Survivor Lynda Carrejo Labendeira told CNN that they stacked mattresses already in the moving truck to reach a metal plate in the roof, which was covered with a large truck battery and a pile of dirt. They dug through the dirt and cleared enough space for everyone to get out of the van.
The two brothers were arrested days later and each was given 27 concurrent life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole in 1976. But an appeals court later overturned the sentence in 1980, saying the men caused no serious bodily injury and therefore should have the chance for parole.
Richard Schoenfeld was paroled in 2012. James Schoenfeld was released in 2015.
“He’s spent 46 years in prison … and has not hurt a fly,” said Woods’ attorney, Dominique Banos, CNN reported. “It doesn’t make any sense for him to be in there any longer.”
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