(WTVO) - A 70-year-old man accused of kidnapping a bus full of children and burying them alive for ransom in 1976 has been approved for parole. According to CNN, Frederick Newhall Woods was one of three men who kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver in northern California, drove them more than 100 miles away, placed them in a moving truck, and buried them alive in a quarry owned by his father.
The kidnappers then demanded $5 million in ransom. After spending 16 hours underground, the driver and the children were able to dig their way out and escape.
The crime was considered the largest mass kidnapping in U.S. history. Woods and his accomplices, Richard and James Schoenfeld, were sentenced to life sentences without the possibility of parole. However, an appeals court overturned the sentence.
Richard Schoenfeld was paroled in 2012, and his brother James in 2015. Woods read an apology for his crime at Friday's parole hearing, his 18th since becoming eligible for parole in the early 1980s.
FILE - In this July 17, 1976, photo members of the Alameda County Crime Lab and FBI are pictured working around the opening to the van where 26 Chowchilla school children and their bus driver were held captive at a rock quarry near Livermore, Calif. California parole commissioners have recommended parole for the last of three men convicted of hijacking a school bus full of children for $5 million ransom in 1976. The two commissioners acted Friday, March 25, 2022, in the case of 70-year-old Frederick Woods. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - This July 24, 1976, photo shows the inside of the van that was used as a prison for the 26 kidnapped Chowchilla school children and their bus driver in Livermore, Calif. California parole commissioners have recommended parole for the last of three men convicted of hijacking a school bus full of children for $5 million ransom in 1976. The two commissioners acted Friday, March 25, 2022, in the case of 70-year-old Frederick Woods. All three were from wealthy San Francisco Bay Area families when they kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver near Chowchilla. (AP Photo/Jim Palmer, File)
FILE - In this July 17, 1976, photo parents and families of the Dairyland Union School District children and their bus driver who were kidnapped, wait anxiously inside the Chowchilla police station as the students unload from the chartered bus that returned them from Livermore, Calif., where they were found. California parole commissioners have recommended parole for the last of three men convicted of hijacking a school bus full of children for $5 million ransom in 1976. The two commissioners acted Friday, March 25, 2022, in the case of 70-year-old Frederick Woods. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Chowchilla church-goers give a prayer of thanks for the safe return of their 26 school children and bus driver, during a service at the Chowchilla Baptist Church, in Chowchilla, Calif., July 18, 1976. California parole commissioners have recommended parole for the last of three men convicted of hijacking a school bus full of children for $5 million ransom in 1976. The two commissioners acted Friday, March 25, 2022, in the case of 70-year-old Frederick Woods. All three were from wealthy San Francisco Bay Area families when they kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver near Chowchilla. (AP Photo/Jim Palmer, File)
FILE - Officials remove a truck buried at a rock quarry in Livermore, Calif., in which 26 Chowchilla school children and their bus driver, Ed Ray, were held captive on July 20, 1976. California parole commissioners have recommended parole for the last of three men convicted of hijacking the school bus full of children for $5 million ransom in 1976. The two commissioners acted Friday, March 25, 2022, in the case of 70-year-old Frederick Woods. (AP Photo/James Palmer, File)
FILE - Two Dairyland Union School District students, who were among the 26 school children, and their bus driver who were abducted and buried in a truck underground, walk to the family car clad in blankets after release and early morning arrival in Chowchilla, Calif., on July 17, 1976. California parole commissioners have recommended parole for the last of three men convicted of hijacking the school bus full of children for $5 million ransom in 1976. The two commissioners acted Friday, March 25, 2022, in the case of 70-year-old Frederick Woods. (AP Photo, File)
“I’ve had empathy for the victims which I didn’t have then,” Woods said. “I’ve had a character change since then.”
“I was 24 years old," he added. "Now I fully understand the terror and trauma I caused. I fully take responsibility for this heinous act.”
CNN reported that several of the victims say they still have nightmares and anxiety due to the incident.
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