1976 Chowchilla kidnapping
Mass kidnapping committed in California, United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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On July 15, 1976, in Chowchilla, California, three armed men hijacked a school bus. They abducted the driver and 26 children, ages 5 to 14, and imprisoned them in a truck trailer buried in a quarry in Livermore, California. The bus driver and children managed to escape before the kidnappers could issue their ransom demands. All of the victims survived but many suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
1976 Chowchilla kidnapping | |
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Location | Chowchilla, California, U.S. |
Date | July 15, 1976 – July 16, 1976; 47 years ago (1976-07-16) |
Attack type | Mass kidnapping, mass child abduction, attempted robbery, psychological torture |
Weapon | Rifle[1] |
Injured | Several children suffering cuts, bruises, and burns |
Victims | 26 children and 1 adult |
Perpetrators |
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Defender |
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Motive | Ransom |
Verdict |
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Convictions | Kidnapping for ransom and robbery |
Charges | Kidnapping for ransom and robbery, infliction of bodily harm |
Sentence | Life imprisonment with the possibility of parole (previously without parole)
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Litigation | Lawsuits against kidnappers settled for undisclosed amounts |
The kidnappers intended to use ransom money from the kidnapping to restore the Victorian Rengstorff House in Mountain View, California.[2]
The kidnappers were caught, convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. An appellate court overturned the finding of bodily harm. Subsequently, the kidnappers were resentenced to life with the possibility of parole. The incident led to major changes in California laws regarding bodily injury and psychological trauma.
By 2022, all three kidnappers had been paroled.