♪ at t the presentnt time, we ew thatat there arere 27 peoplele g since ababout 4:15 yesterdaday afternoooon. still nono break in n that chowowchilla, cacalifornia,, school busus kidnappining. 26 s schoolchildldren and thtr bubus driver h have vanishsh. vanishshed yesterdrday afternn nearar chowchilllla, califoro. [newscasteter] presidedent fod directcted the attttorney gel to use a all availabable gogovernment r resources.. [newewscaster #2#2] ththe californrnia nationanad joined s state and l local pe anand the fbii in a g giant searcrch for the chilildren and t the dri. [carol] it was likike someboy comeme down fromom mars and just t took 'em upup off ththe planet.. [newscasaster #3] was itit an outrigight kidnap, a psychopath or sex maniac on the loose? whoever r did it putut a great l of p planning anand effort,, and we migight even sasay mon. [walter r cronkite]] therere may nevever have been as a anguishing g a myster. [carrerejo labendedeira] it's the w worst kind d of sy you cocould tell.. beining buried a alive is our wororst fear. [tererr] the chohowchilla ks showowed the wororld what childldhood traumuma realally does toto a perso. [brown hyde] my childhood ended july 15th, 1976. i i will neverer get backk the kikid that i w was. ththat kid statayed undergrgr. ththat happenened for each and d every one e of us. ♪ ♪ [b[brown hyde]e] chowchillls in centralal californinia. it was verery small-totown us. [trarain whistlele blows] [newscasaster #4] chchowchilla s a a place wherere time can n seem to ststand stil, but t there's alalways sometg that neeeeds to be p plantd or harvevested as t the cycle o of life conont. by the timime i was ththere in , it wasas mainly cacattle anand farming.g. they hadad a fair anand a rod. [womanan] 1246. [bateses] each yeaear ththey had a c cattle drivi. [siriren chirps]s] ...r.right throuough ththe center o of town. [mikike] my dad d was a world-chchampion steteer wres. i i was raiseded right, really t to believe e in god, anand cowboy.. at a a early agege, i knew i i d to be e a rodeo cocowboy like my y dad and hihis frie. [brown hydyde] chowcwchilla ws a wowonderful plplace to gro. we'd'd catch frorogs. we'd go roroller skatiting down t the hills,, gogo play in t the mud in the i irrigation n ditch. ththe town hadad no crime. no cririme at all.l. [crewsws] you u didn't havave murder. you didn't't have a lot ofof big caseses. itit wasn't ununcommon to o gl ninight long o on a graveyeyardt and ththe phone nonot ring one time.. [terr] in n chowchillala, the e children c could develp a sesense of basasic trust,, and thatat is an impmportat foundatition in earlrly lif, thatat sense thahat you can nt sortrt of trust t the world. [church h bells tolllling] [park] i it's one ofof the fefew towns inin ameria that h had fewer b bars ththan it had d churches.. [laughs]s] as a childld, god d was very r real to m. [p[preacher] b by the powewr ofof our livining god... [park] we had angels, demons. i i could imagine satan's army. my dad said that we all have a guardian angel that keeps those demons at bay. you imimprint thatat on a t three-year-r-old's bra, and therere's just n no dou. [indistincnct conversasation] [carrejojo labendeirira] at e timeme we were i in summer s . we did a arts and crcrafts, ceramicscs. wewe got to gogo swimming. [l[laughter] i rememberer we had acactuay started d a petitionon so t that we couould have anana two weeks s of summer r schol 'cause we e were havining so m much fun, wewe did not w want it to o . [c[camera shututter clicksk] i have a large f family. i'm third d youngest in a famamily of 11.1. ththat day i h had three s sibs on the b bus and twowo cousin. we were lilittle, innocent c children. ♪ ♪ ♪ [man] okay. load up. -[boy] load up? -[man] yeah. where are we going? we're going homeme. takeke you home.e. [w[woman] ed r ray was theher that d day. hehe was a lococal farmer. yoyou could tetell this mamn was bubucking his s own hay. yet hehe was so kikind. he k knew all ththe kids by first n name, knew mosost of theirir parent. there'e's not a onone of themt didn't wanant to hug h his nk whwhen they gogot on the b b. [mike]e] i remembeber mom wod cocome get me e every day y a, alall summer, , and the dady befofore the kididnapping, i i got into m my mom's bebr and tried d to make sosome popc, almost b burnt the h house. shshe walked i in and saidi, "o"okay, mike,e, well, yoyour punishmhment is, you knowow, yoyou're gonnana have to ride thehe bus home e tomorro" [enginine starts]] ththat day, i i was out in thehe orchard withth the teachcher's daughgr memessing arouound and stutu. and [chuckckles] the b buses e startingng to leave e at 3:3, anand she's lilike, "you betteter go get o on the. buses are leaving." and so i took off running and flagged down the e last bus l leaving, which wawas edward's's. ["chowowchilla dusust" plays] ♪ bending g over miles of c cotton ♪ ♪ fifinally ruinined mymy daddy's b back ♪ ♪ ♪ as he overercompensateted ♪ [brown hydyde] when w we loaded u up on the b , i wewent to the e very backk so t that i coululd be rowdy and tatalk with mymy friends. i i was a veryry outgoing, outspopoken child,d, anand i was coconstantly getting g in troublele on t the bus foror talking.. ♪ as he e pulled me e throh that h hot chowchihilla dus♪ [brorown hyde] m my brother f was also o on the bus.s. hehe was one y year ahead of m me in schooool, an honoror-roll stududent, basically y an all-amemerican. [carrejo labendeira] jeff was right in front of me, by the way. hehe was a sweweetheart. hehe was my 1010-year-old d boy. ♪ as i follolowed him ththrough that hotot chowchilllla dust ♪ [park] as s a child, i was s hyperactivive. i i was such a a problem o on t, you coululdn't keep p me in a s. and me b being me, i i forgot to take e my meds ththat day. i wawas moving s seats, bugging g this persoson and hittining this pererson and d pulling ththis person'n's. my sister r andrea wouould sit e on t the bus. she would d get me to o rel, basicalllly. she wawas my best t friend. i remembmber a lot o of the gis had d a crush on the 1 14-year-oldld cowboy mike mararshall. he was defefinitely a a hande 14-year-r-old boy. nevever heard ofof him. never realally seen hihim befo. here's's this kid d who comet ofof complete e obscurityy for the sosole purposese that god knew what was about to happen. ♪ we were drdriving homeme. ♪ asas usual, wewe were dropoppins off f along the e way. we'r're in thehe middle of thehe orchards s and field. we t turn this c corner... ...and ed d ray stoppeped. [b[bus brakes s hiss] [officer] i'd like you to tell me in youour own wordrds first- whwhen you're e riding thehe, jujust tell meme what you u rem. [b[brown hyde]e] there wasas s white vavan parked o on the . and thenen... ...t.two guys jujumped out with g guns. and one totold him to open n his door.. ♪ soso he openeded the door. and then t the guy gotot i. he h had a pantytyhose over his h head. he told d edward to o go toto the back k of the busu. [mikike] when ededward had openeded the door,r, one of t the kids, j jeff bro, he gotot up and sasaid, "we e didn't do o it," and everybybody kind o of lau. he thougught it was s a joke. i i was scareded, soso i ducked d under my s . ♪ [park] e ed ray got t up anand he moveded to the baba. i went bacack over to o my si, andreaea. i heheld her hanand. the e guy with a a shotgun -- he's s staring at t me with hih. they t told everybybody inin the firstst three seas to go o to the bacack of the b . and i i was in thehe fourth ses. everybody y was scareded. [carrejo l labendeira]a] theyey kept theieir gun poinid inin the direcection ofof all of usus children.. so it t was the whwhole time pointed atat the childldren. even more e scary wass the papantyhose that thehey had pulllled over t their face.e. [park]k] they werere tight. smasashed their r nose dow. ththeir eyes w were hollowo. it rememinded me o of demons. ♪ and then a all of a susudden, we're driviving. i'm trtrying to fifigure ot what's g going on. if i can f figure out t the w, then m maybe i canan figure ot a waway to... interrrrupt what's's gonna come next.t. and we d drive a litittle fur, anand the guyy runsns the bus i into a big g s. [m[metal bangiging] [carrerejo labendedeira] it was a d deep inclinine. wewe were joststled all over t the place.. whenen we finalllly stopped, we sawaw another v van. now w there was s a white van anand a green n van. [parark] the van drove rigight k to the d door of thehe bus, and ththen they hahad all the s onon the rightht-hand sidee go i into the whwhite van. [b[brown hyde]e] in that t first grououp of chiln was my brorother. he t turned and d looked at e down t the aisle.. he g gave me thahat look o, "youou just needed to be qui" and d so i did.. i had d seen enougugh tv shos that i k knew ththat this wawas serious.. [mikike] i was t the firstse to get intnto the van.n. goining through h the door,, there wawas another r guy standing t there like e a st, pointingng his gun straigight throughgh, so you hadad to go by y him. they h had plywoodod all l inside thehe van so that you couldn't see out or anything. ♪ and then they backed the second van up to the bus, anand the otheher kids --- we g got in thatat van. i i was scareded becaususe there wawas absoluty no communinication frorom thm on where w we're goingng or what t they're gogonna dodo with us.. and then t they shut t the doo. i i had fixed d michael bacon-anand-tomato s sandwichs for dinnnner. and about t 4:30, i started d looking fofor the . itit didn't cocome. [indistinct conversations] [crerews] about t 4:30, i gt a a phone callll from a papt thatat the childldren hadn't't d home aftfter school.l. i ththought, ththey've had d a flat tiri. the e bus is broroken down or somethihing like ththat. then we rereceived several momore calls.. [telelephone rininging] [batates] in 1976, t the sheriffff's oe hahad one patrtrol officer in c chowchilla.a. there e was only o one little-ey office andnd one phonene. when thehe call cameme in that the b bus was misissing, i said,, "what t do you meaean, missin? how does a a school bubus all l painted yeyellow in a smallll county show up p missing?"" i put outt an all-p-points bulllletin. [telephohone ringingng, indidistinct cononversations] it w was a summemer sessio, so the busus driver didn't't take the e normal re ththat he woululd take to drop chchildren offff. so we had d to check e everyw. [carol] ] i went allll the y to thehe school, b backtrack, looked d down every y street, every whicich way. dididn't see a anything. i knknew someththing was wron. the parents werere congregatg atat the policice stationn 'cause we e were gettiting reallyly anxious.. [i[indistinct t conversatiti] we're trtrying to lolocate 2626 lost chilildren, along wiwith their d driver. never r in my wildldest dreas did i i think somemething majoje ththis could h happen in c chow. [s[siren waililing] ♪ ♪ [brown h hyde] it seseemed lie we werere driven a around for lilike hours u upon hou. it was hotot in that v van. itit was just t stifling.. kikids got sicick from thehe mn of the v vehicle anand no food,d, no water. i i just felt t like an anal being takeken to slaugughte. if you a as a child d can be thn ininto the bacack of a vann without t any comfororts, ththey didn't t care aboutut. i told a f few of m my little f friends, i i told them,m, "be brave 'cause e everything'g's gogonna be allll right." ♪ [mike] we e thought ththat theyey might be e back thee killining the guysys in the bs 'cause w we didn't k know what they y were doingng to . [carrerejo labendedeira] i was sepaparated fromom my t three sisteters. were thehey alive? did theyey get left t behind? [park]k] andrdrea and i w were togetht. i i took her h hand. therere was someme security y . [brownwn hyde] we e prayed. we sang, " "if you're e happy d you knknow it, clalap your han" nobodydy clapped t their hand. [tererr] all l of us haveve a wall againsnst gettingg totatally overwhwhelmed. and thatat wall is o our defe, ouour coping m mechanisms,s, hu. and when t the wall gegets bro, that's's trauma. [carrejo l labendeira]a] theyey wouldn't t let us use the e restroom.. i heheld myself f all day. i was inin tears bececause i wawas in physisical pain.. jeffff didn't wawant me to be emembarrassedd 'cause he e knew i was embabarrassed. anand so jeff f wet his owown ps and totook my handnd anand placed m my hand on n h. he said, " "look, i wewent. yoyou can go a ahead and g g" [brown h hyde] edward wasas very quieiet. i think k he comprehehended tt this wasas a seriousus situatio. the e kids were e asking me, you knknow, questitions, wondndering if t they were ga see their r mommies anand dad. anand i think k that they y bed that i w would tetell them ththe truth. i told thehem, "yes, y you wil" and i i didn't lieie. i i didn't telell them what lifetetime it migight b. [s[siren waililing, popolice radioio chatter]] [batates] we werere lookingg for r 'em everywywhere. then i i recalledd one e of my sergrgeants -- he didn't t have an aiairplan, but he h had another bubuddy that d did. so i asksked him to get up p in a planene. ♪ my dad, , robert gududgel, was s well-knownwn as a lococal aviatoror, and he apppproached dadan right here to auaugment the e search. i rememember goingng, flying thehe airple out overer the ash s sl, lolooking for r the. [g[gudgel] d dad took beberena slough d down here t to the s, and d dad is thehe one ththat spotteded it. it was dififficult toto see from m the groundnd becaususe the slououghs had d quite a bibit of treeses. [helicopteter blades w whirri] they k knew someththing was terriblyly wrong at t that pot when they y found the e empty . i coululdn't undererstand it. i actualally looked d up in the. ufos? ? what? where are e the kids?? whwhere's michchael? [batates] this was a a major casase. i i called govovernor jerrrry bs officece. i said,, "i wanant every ststate ageny ththat has carars and radids in m my office."." he s said, "you u got it." in t the meantimime, neararby countieies said, "w"what do youou need? we'll hehelp you anyny way we. wewe'll set upup roadblockck" [p[police radidio chatter]] ♪ [mike] we were e driving araround r seemeded like hoururs and d hours and d hours... ...u.until they y finally sts. [brarakes squeakak] and stararted hearining sawiwing and hamammering. [saw w whirring, hammer pouounding] ♪ ♪ and d then all o of a sudden, the e door flieses open. [p[park] they took k ed ray outut firs. [mikike] and then they g grab one of thehe kids. dooror flies shuhut again. fefew minutes s would go b . they'd reach in and grab anotherer kid. and i scscooted myseself wy to thehe front of f the van a. i was s trying to o survive at that t point. [mikike] i felt t helpless.. that, toto me, was one of t the scariesest because now we're e gonna find out w what's goining on. [officicer] when y you opend ththe doors, w what did yoyo? [b[brown hyde]e] i saw --- it w was kind ofof like a tet, but t it had thrhree sides and it h had a roof f on i. [p[park] theyey had builtlt this struruce and covevered it with somome kind of f a tarp, and they h had backed d the vn underneaeath the strtructure. and d so it was s enclosed.. i rememember that t my knes gave a a little bibit jujust from nonot having s stop for so l long. they asksked me my n name. i i couldn't p pronounce m m, so i wasas "lawwy popok." anand that's h how theyey wrote it t down. [brownwn hyde] thehey askede my n name and mymy age, and theyey took my s shirt. soso at that p point, it w was e in my y pink, fuzzzzy swimsui. [carrerejo labendedeira] they took k my purse - -- white leleather pursrse, whicd a a little addddress book. and i i thought, are you u giving thehese guys whwho are poininting guns s au your addreress and phohone numr wherere they canan get ththe rest of f your famil? finanally came d down toto me and ththis little e mo, and d she was fofour years o . hardest t part that t stickst in m my head wasas i had d to eitherr hand h her over toto them or l leave her t there, and i coululdn't hand d her ov. they e escorted meme... ...to o where therere was a e inin the grounund with a a ladder cocoming out. i lookeded down the e ladder, and d i could sesee ed ray.. ththe kidnappepers gave hihm onone flashligight. i did nonot want to o go down t. i knknew if i wewent down ththa, i was nenever comingng back o. time f froze. [voice b breaking] and then e ed ray grababs my an. ed says,s, "come on n inside. it'll be o okay." [sniniffles] and d i climbed d down into o. [brorown hyde] i inside thisis e that we e were in, we werere in the d dark aga. you couldndn't really y comprd at t that point t where you u. [indistincnct conversasation] i found mymy brother,, so i k knew that h he was ali. my sisisters were e there. whenen they let t monica comome, i was relilieved. [brorown hyde] some o of the yoyounger chiln were whimpmpering and d cryi. i remembmber jodi heheffingn was onone of the o older gis who tried d to keep the younunger kids c calm somet anand composeded. [camamera shutteter clicks] someme people jujust had that persosonality of an oldeder-sister f figure ththat was thehere to helpl. [park]k] i look araround. therere are someme mattresses anand some blalankets. there's s a table inin the b, anand it has w water arounun. i remembmber thinkining i wand that w water so babad. [sniffles]s] [c[carrejo lababendeira] and therere was some food. theyey had cereaeal, peananut butter,r, bread. [p[park] for us to o use the e restroo, they hadad cut out h holes. but t we were okokay, atat least foror now. we'r're okay. we're all l alive. we're alall back togogethe. suddddenly, theyey dropped,, like, , a manhole e cover over t the hole. [mike] t that's whenen we startd hehearing thatat dirt. [shovel digging, dirt thudding] you know, "psssh!" and we were being cocovered up, buried a alive, you u know. [shovevel digging,g, dirt t thudding] ♪ ♪ [indistincnct conversasation] [oststerkamp] i i was a young newsws director r at kqed, the pupublic televevision sta. so the n news of thehe kidnappg cameme to me on n a wire macac. [wirire machine e tapping] i realalized thatt this w was a big s story. it was prorobably ththe story ofof the decada, possiblyly the storyry of the c century. [telephohone ringingng, indidistinct cononversations] the nenews media just floododed the plalace. [indisistinct convnversation] [oststerkamp] the phphone lines s were jam, both w with reportrters and with a anxious pararents. itit was a grereat story for repoporters, a terribible event f for paren. good e evening. ththere may nenever have b bn as a anguishing g a mystery. [ostererkamp] it was c covered eveverywhe. the bubus has beenen found. ththere are nono signs of f vio, and there e are only horrifieied guessess as t to what mayay have happpp. [osterkampmp] it l led the newewscasts. still no b break in ththat chowchchilla, calilifornia, scschool bus k kidnapping.. it was i internationonally cove. but inin those eararly hours, of coursrse, nobody y knew anyt. therere are lotsts of theoris as to o why. yoyou tell mee what t the theorieies are, i willll select onone. we h have no theheories at a . what w would you s say about the possibible motive e then? do you h have a a theory as s to... i i really donon't. i i don't realally have. [n[newscaster r #2] sandy y zyla was ththe last chihild toto be let ofoff the buss befofore it disasappeared. [repororter] hahad you everer seen any y s fofollowing ththe bus befofore? no. dodo you have e any idea who might t have done e that? no. did yoyou see anytything afteter the bus s let you ofoff? nonope. ththe sheriff f says the o onlyg he hasas ruled outut at this pt isis the possisibility of a flyining saucer.. and d there are e those in t tha who don'n't rule outut that posossibility e either. [crerews]