at thehe present time, w wew ththere's 27 p people missssing abouout 4:4:15 yesteterday afte. >> still n no o break k in that chchowchilla, californrnia schc bus kidnappiping. >> 2 26 school c children anand bus driviver have vavanished. >> vanisished yesterdaday after nenear chowcwchilla, califororn. prpresident foford directeted t atattorney geneneral to ususe a availalable governrnment resour. > the californinia nationalad jojoins state,e, local pololice the fbfbi i in a giant s search the e children a and thehe drir. > it was like somebody come down f from m mars andnd just t them u up off the plplanet. > was i it anan o outright kidnappingng? a psycychopath o or a sesex man the e loose? > whoever d did it put t a g deal of plananning and effort a you u might evenen say mononey. >> may nevever have been as anguisishing a mysteryry. >> it't's the worsrst kind o of you can tell. being buried alive is our worst fear. > the c chowchilla kikids sh the world what c childhood trar really d does s to a p person. > my y childhood ended jujul 1976. > i will nenever get back t d that i w was.. thatat kid stayed ununderground. thatat happened for r each andny one of u us. ♪ chowchchilla i is inin c ce californiaia. it wasas very smalall l town us. > c chowchilla isis a plalac titime can seem to s stand stil. but t there's alalways someteth ththat neeeeds to bebe planted harvested,d, as s the cycle e o continues.s. >> by y the timeme i wasas ther 1970, it w was mainly cacattle farming. theyey had a fair anand a a rod. >> 124246. >> eacach year, they had a catt drive.e. right ththrough the e center o town. >> my dad d was a world chchamp steer r wrestler. i i was raised right, really to believeve in godod andnd cowboy. at an n early age,e, i knew w id to be e a rodeo cocowboy like md and his friendnds. >> chohowchilla a was a wonderf place toto grow w up. we'd catatch frogs. we'd go rollerer skatingng dowo hills, g go o play i in the mum the irirrigation ditches. the town h had no crime, n no c at allll. >> you didn't hahave murdeders. you didn't't have a lolot ofof cases.s. it wasn't t uncommmmon to go al ninight long o on a gravaveyard anand the e phone not ring onen. >> in chchowchilla, the chilild could d develop a sense of basi trust. anand that is s an importatant fofoundation i in early y life. that s sense that you can n jus sort o of, t trust the worldld. >> it's one of thehe few townsn america ththat hadad f fewer ban it hadad churches.s. as a childld, gogod was vevery o me. >> by the power of our living god -- >> we had angels, demons. i could imagine satan's army. my dad saiaid that we all have guardianan angngel thahat t kee demons at bay. you imprint that on a a 3-year-o-old's brainin and ther jujust n no doubt. >> at the e time, wewe were in summerer school.l. wewe did a arts anand crcrafts, ceceramics. we got to o go swimmmming. i reremember we had d actually started a petitition so that we could hahave an exextra two wewf summerer school l because wewe hahaving so mumuch fun. we did notot want it to end. i have a large famamily. i'm thirird youngestst in a fam of 11.1. and ththat day, i i had three sisiblings on n the bus anand t cocousins. wewe were e littlele, innocentn childrdren. >> allll right, load up. >> l load upup? > yep. >> where a are we going? > i don't k know. i'llll take you homeme. >> ed raray was ththe driviver day. he was a l local farmemer. > you couldld tell thisis m buckining his own hay,y, yetet so kind. >> he knew a all the kidids by t name, , knew m most t of theiri paparents. ththere's not t a one of them t didn't't want to hug hisis neckn ththey got on n the bus. > i rememember mamama come g me every day at noonon all summ. and the daday befofore the kidnappiping, i got t into my m bebeer and t tried to makeke so popcpcorn, a almost burnt the h. she walked i in and d saidid, o michchael, your r punishmentnt you're g going to have t to rire bus home tomorrow.w. that day, , i was s out in the ororchard withth the teacher's' daughter, messing around and stuff, and the bus is starting to leave a at 3:3:30. and she's s like, , you better get on the bus. the bus s is leavingng. soso, i tookok offff rununning flagged down thehe last bus leaving,g, which wasas edwdward. ♪ m miles of cotttton finallylyd byby daddydy's bacack ♪ ♪ as he ovevercompensatated ♪ >> when wewe wounded up on the bus, i i w went toto thehe very that i c could be rorowdy y and with my friendnds. i was s a very outgoining, outsn child. and i was s constantlyly gettin trouble e on the busus f for ta. ♪ as he pulleled meme throughgh hohot chowowchilla dust ♪ >> m my brotheher, jeff, w was n the e bus. he w was one yeaear ahead ofof schohool, an honororable studen basicacally an all-amemerican k. >> jeff wawas righght inin fron me, byby the way.. he w was a sweethearart. he wasas my 1010-year-old d boy. ♪ hot c chowchilla dust ♪ >> as a chilild, i wasas hyperaractive. i wawas suchch a p problem on t, you coululdn't keep p me i in n. me being me, i i forgot t to tay meds thahat day.y. i was moviving seatsts, buggggis person a and hittiting t this p and d pulling thisis person'n's. mymy sister, a andrea, wouould me on the bus. she would get e me to relax. basically she was my besest friendnd. >> i rememember a lot t of the s had a crusush on the 14-4-year- cocowboy, mikeke marshal. he was d definitely a a handsom 14-year-olold boy. > never heaeard of him.m. never rereally s seen n him bef. here's t this kid who comes outf complelete obscuririty for the purposose e that god knew w wha about toto happen. >> we e were driving home.e. as usualal, wewe were droppingn off f along the way. wewe're in thehe middldle of th orchards and fields.s. we tururn ththis corner,r, a an spot. >> i'd likike for yoyou toto te in y your own words first, w wh you'u're riding the bus, just tl meme what t you remembmber. >> t there was t this white e v parkeded on the road, and d the >> two g guys jumpmped out with guns. and onone opened thehe door. >> so, i i opened ththe door, a thenen the guy got i in. he had -- overer his head.d. he told ededward to go t to thek of the bus. > when ededward opened d the one of the kidids, j jeff f bro gogot up, we didn't dodo it. eveverybody kikind of f laughed. >> h he thought t it was a j jo. i was scarared, so i ducked und my s seat. > bud ray got u up, and he m to t the b back. > i went baback over toto my sister, , andrdrea. i held h her h hand. >> the g guy witith h a a shoto stararing at me with his gun.. >> t they y told everybodydy in firsrst three seseats to go o t back of f the bus. anand i was in thehe f fourth s. eveverybody wawas s scared. > they kept their gun pointe in t the directition of all l o childrenen.. so, , it was, the whole time, pointeted at thehe children.n. even more e scary was the pantyhose e that they had pulll over t their f face. > t they were t tight, smash their r nose dowown. their r eyes w were e hollow. it r reminded me of demomons. > and a all of a sudden, we' drivining. i'm trtrying to figure o out wh going on.. if i can figure e out the why, maybe e i can figure o out a wa interrrrupt what's's going t to next. we driveve a little e further, the e guy runs the bus intnto o slew. >> i it was a dedeep i incline. we were jojostled all overer th place. whwhen we finanally stopped,d, anotheher van. now w there was a a white van a green vavan. >> we drove riright back to the door of f the bus, and then n t had alall the e kids on the right-t-hand side e go into o t white e van. >> in that firirst group o of childrenen was my brbrother. he turned and lookeded at me do the aisle.e. he gave e me thahat lookok of, just neeeed to be ququiet. and so i did. i had seen enough h tv shows th i knew thahat this wasas s seri. >> i i was the first o one to o ininto the van. going throrough the dooror, tht anotheher guy standiding there a statueue pointing hihis gugun straraight throughgh. i i go by him. they hadad plywood all i inside vavan so t that you couldn't't t or a anything. >> and t then n they backed d t second vanan up toto t the bus.. the e other r kikids, wewe got van. i i was scscared becausese t th ababsolutely n no cocommunicatim themem on n where we're going o what thehey're goingng to dodo us. >> and thehen ththey shut the d. >> i had fixed michael b bacon d tomato sanandwiches for dinnere. and d about 4:30, i started looking for the bus. it d didn't comeme. >> abobout 4:3:30, i got a phon cacall from a parent thahat the childrdren hadn't arririved hom after schohool.. i ththought, thehey've had a fl tire, , the bus is brokeken dowr sosomething lilike t that. ththen we e received severeral cacalls. >> a at t 1976, shereriff's offd one patrol o officer in chowchchilla. there was s only o one little b ofoffice and one phohone when t cacall came in that the e bus w missining. i said, what d do you meanan mimissing? how doeses a school l s,s, alll painteted yellow in a a small cy show up missining? i puput out an all pointnts s bulletetin. it w was a summer sesession, so bubus driver d didn't takeke th normrmal route t that he w woul to drop childrenen off. soso, we had to chcheck evevery. >> i went all the way to t the scschool, backck trackeded, loo dodown every street, evevery wh way, didn'n't see ananything. i knew s something wasas wrong.. the parerents were congrgregatit the polilice stationon bececaus were gettiting r really anxiouo. >> trying to lococate e 26 lost childrdren a along witith the d. >> n never in n my wilildest dr did i ththink k something g maje this couldld happen inin chowch. ♪ [brown h hyde] it seseemed lie we werere driven a around for lilike hours u upon hou. >> it seems s like we were d dr aroundnd for, like, hours s upo hoururs. >> it t was hohot in that t van. it wasas jusust t stifling.. >> kids got t sick from m the mn of this s vehicle anand no food water. i i just felt like an animal b g tataken to slaughterer. if y you, as a child, , can be thrownwn into the e back of a v wiwithout any y cocomforts, tht didn't carare ababout us. >> i told a few w of my littttl friends, i i told them, be brav bebecause evererything's g goine all righght. >> we e thought they m might be killining the guys in the e bub. we didn'n't know whahat they we doing toto them. >> i was sepeparated f from my e sisters. were they alive?e? did they get left behihind? >> andndrea and i i were togoge. i took herer hand. there e was some security y the. >> we e prayed. we sang "i"if you'u're happy anu knowow i it, clalap your h hand" nobodydy clapped t their hands. >> all o of f us had a w wall a getting tototally ovoverwhelmedd that w wall l is o our defenens coping mechahanisms, humor. and when t the wall gegets brok thatat's traumuma. >> thehey wouldn't't let us usu restroomom. i heldld myself alall l day. i wawas in tears becausese i w physicical pain. jeff d didn't want m me to b be emembarrassed d because hehe kn wawas embabarrassed, s so jefffs own pants s and d took my hand plpla placeded my hand o on his lap p said, lookok, i went. yoyou can go a ahead andnd go. >> edward was very quiet. i ththink he comprprehended tha this wasas a seriousus situatit. >> t the kids were a asking mem know, whenen were theyey going see theieir mamas s and daddiei. anand i think k they belieievedi wowould tell t them the truth.h. i totold thehem, yeses, you wil. and i dididn't lie.. i didn't't telell them what lile it migight be. >> we'rere looooking f for them evererywhere. then i recall onone e of m my sergeants,s, he didn't't have a airprplane, but he had anoththe buddy thatat did.. so, , i asked him m to getet up plplane. >> my dad, robert,t, was w well knowown as a a lococal aviatato. and he approroached dad right he to augment the searcrch. > i remembeber flying o out the e slew looking foror the b . >> a and the slew down here to e south.h. and dad d is t the o one that s it. itit was diffificult t to o seee grouound becausese the slelews ququite a bit of t trees.. >> t they knewew somethihing wa terribibly wrong at that poioin when thehey found d the e empty. >> i cououldn't undederstand it. i i actually looked d up in tht. ufosos? whatat? where e are the kidsds? where'e's michaeael? >> thihis was a major r case. i cacalled govovernor r jerry b officece. i said, i wantnt every statate agenency that hahas cars and ra in m my y office. he saiaid, you gotot it.t. in thehe meantimime, nearby cocs saidid, what do you needed? wewe'll help y you any way w we. seset up roaoad blocks. first time i connected with kim, she told me that her husband had passed. and that he took care of all of the internet connected devices in the home. i told her, “i'm here to take care of you.” connecting with kim... made me reconnect with my mom. it's very important to keep loved ones close. we know that creating memories with loved ones brings so much joy to your life. a family trip to the team usa training facility. i don't know how to thank you. i'm here to thank you. [mike] we were e driving araround r seemeded like hoururs and d hours and d hours... > we were drivining around seseemed like e hours and d hou hours untitil l they fininally ststopped. > we starteted d hearing sawd hammerining. > and then n all of a a sudde door flieses open. > they tookok addddry outut . >> and thehey grgrab one of the kids. the floor flieies shutut again. > few minututes wouldld go b. ththey'd reachch i in, grarab a kid.d. and i i scooted d myself way to frfront of t the vanan againin. >> i w was tryin trying g to su that p point. >> i felelt hehelpless. that, to me, was onene of f the scarariest becauause now we'e'rg to finind out what's goingng on. >> w when you opened the doorsr what d did you s see? >> i s saw -- it was kinind of a tentnt, but it hadad thrhree and d it had a r roof onon it. >> thehey had built ththis strue anand covered itit w with somemf a a tarp, , and d they had b ba vavan underneaeath the strucuct. so, it w was enclolosed. >> i r remember ththat my kneeee a littttle bit just frfrom n no having stotood up for soso lono. ththey asked m me mymy name. i cocouldn't proronounce my rs,i was s -- poke. and d that's how thehey wrotote down. >> they asasked me my name a an age, a and they took my shshirt. so a at that poioint, it wasas e and my pink,k, fuzzy s swimsuit. >> they totook my white leatheh pursrse, which h had my address bookok. i thouought, are y you giving g guguys that arare poininting g you yourur a address and phone number w where they y can get t rest of your f family? >> f finally c came e down to m ththis little e monica. she was s four yearsrs old. hahardest partrt sticks s out i hehead was, i had d to eitither her over to themem or r leave e there. anand i couldndn't hand her ove. >> thehey escocorted m me to w there e was a whole in the g gr with a a l ladder cocoming out. i lolooked down the e ladderer, could see e ed ray. the kidnapappers gavave him one flashlhlight. i i did not t want to go d down. i i knew if i i went d down tha, i wawas never coming back out.t. titime froze. anand then ed d ray grabs my a . he s says, comome on, son, i it okay. and i climbebed d down i into t. >> i inside thisis hole e that e in, we werere in the dark again. you couldndn't reaeally cocompr at that t point wherere you wer. i fofound my brorother, , so i thatat he was alive. my sisteters were e there. > when they let mononica com down, , i was rerelieved. > some of the youngnger c ch were whimpmpering and crying. i rememember jody huffffington one ofof the older girls, who tried d to keep ththe yoyounger calm, sosomewhat, anand composo. someme people e just hadad t th personalality of an n older sis fifigure that t was there e to . >> i look araround. there are e some matattresses a some blankets.s. there'e's a table e in the bacad itit has waterer around itit. i remembmber thinkining i wante that waterer so bad. >> and thehere was some food. they had cereal,l, peanut bubut brbread. >> f for us to u use the resest they h had cutut outut hololes. >> w we were okakay at leastst now. wewe're okay.. we're all l alive. we're all back togogether. >> suddenlnly, t they drdrop, , manhole e cover ovover the h ho. >> that's when w we stararted hearining the dirt. you knknow -- and we werere bei covered d up, , buried alive, , knowow?? >> i was a y young news direrec atat the public televivision station.n. so, the newsws o of the kidndna came to meme on a a wire macach. i realizized that t this was a story. it wasas probably y the story ye decade, popossibly the s story the century.y. >> news media a just floodeded place. >> the p phone lineses were jam both witith rereporters anand w anxious s parentnts. itit was a grereat stotory for repoporters, a terriblble evene paparents. > g good evevening. ththere may nenever haveve been ananguishing a a mysystery. > it was cocovered evererywh. >> the busus has been found. therere are no s signs of viole anand there arare only horririf guesses asas to whwhat may have happened. >> stitill no break k in the chowowchilla, , californiaia, s bus s kidnapapping. > it was ininternationanally covered.d. >> but in thosose early hohours course nobobody knew a anything. >> there a are lots s of theoris to whyhy.. can n you tell m me what the theories are?? >> we hahave no theoriries at a. >> whahat would yoyou u say abo possiblele motive? >> i really y don't. >> z zoster wawas the e last ch be l let off thehe bus befefore disasappeared. >> have yoyou ever seeeen any c followining the bus before? >> n no. >> d do you haveve a any idea w mimight have d done it? >> no. > did y you see anything aft ththe bus let t you off? >> nope. >> t the sheriffff s says the e thining he's ruled out at thisi point isis the possibilility of flyiying saucer.r. and therere are e those in thiha who o don't rulele out that popossibility eithther. >> thehere were pepeople callin with cononspiracy theorieses. i i remember talalking to one pn going on and on about the e sonf sam. >> must hahave receieived at le 1,1,000 calls thinkingng i it w zodidiac k killer or moon up in oregon. >> in the e last few yeaears, , becomeme used toto terroristst actitivity in ththis country, , unfortunatately y so. > is s it a politicalal act? >> that't's s specululation, si. your g guess is as good as minet this pointnt. >> you could hear these, like,e exhaust fans. and if you went to thehe side,eu could d feel air coming in.. not t air condnditioned aiair, warm a air circulalating.. >> to me, just v very littttle . very harard d to breathe. > after so mamany houours, i becomes despsperate. >> wouldld you pleasase open th dooror? i beg g of you. pretty please, pretttty please.. let us o out. i've g got -- - if that will he any. and it s says, everyrybody here pretty plelease, s so we all std sasaying that.t. and the guguy woululdn't ansnsw. > ed ray y and mimike marshs the flashlhlight and really started lookoking arouound.. every y crack and d every crcre theyey're e looking g at the wa. they're lolooking at t the cracn the ceceiling. >> we knknow if f we get out, , have to gogo throughgh the top. the littlele k kids stararted d try and move it.t. edward d didn't want to bebecaue thought t we'd get hururt if t caughtht us tryingng to o get o. >> we beggeded e edward, plelea. you'u've got to o try. we're goining to die in here. you'veve got to get usus out.. >> e ed d ray puput t his hands he pushed d on i it a little bi. > ed ray is a stoutut man, b maman, it was s not momoving. >> the watater was r running ou. nonobody's comome to f find usu. and then t the batatteries on whwhatever fanans ththey had go they j just stopopped. >> i i remember anandrea wasas g by hererself prayiying. > ed raray got us all to cal down. he had all 26 of u us tatake a . >> i donon't know ifif it wawas heatat, but i kept going back t cacamping tripips that i had h w