Anyone remember this story from 1976?

Asyncritus · May 19, 2012

I don't remember it myself (I was in France at the time), but some of the older posters probably remember it.

Driver who was hero in '76 Calif. bus kidnap dies

The nation called Ed Ray a hero when he led a terrified group of children to safety after they were kidnapped aboard their school bus and held underground for ransom in the summer of 1976.

But the unassuming bus driver from a dusty farm town in Central California never saw himself that way, even after news of the infamous Chowchilla kidnapping grabbed headlines and inspired a TV movie.

As for the 26 children he saved, Ray became their lifelong friend until he died Thursday at 91 from complications of cirrhosis of the liver.

"I remember him making me feel safe," said Jodi Medrano, who was 10 when three men hijacked the school bus and stashed the group in a hot, stuffy storage van in a rock quarry.

Medrano held a flashlight as the bus driver worked with older students to stack mattresses, force an opening and remove the dirt covering the van so they could escape after 16 hours underground. She never left Ray's side during the ordeal.

"I remember he actually got onto me because I swore," said Medrano, now 46. "Mr. Ray said, 'you knock that off.' I thought, whenever we get home I will be in so much trouble. That's when I knew I was going home, because he made me have that hope."

Medrano, who now runs a hair salon in Chowchilla, where the hijacking occurred, said she kept in touch with Ray throughout her life. Many of the other children went on to live in Chowchilla as adults and regularly visited the aging bus driver.

"Mr. Ray was a very quiet, strong, humble man. He has a very special place in my heart and I loved him very much," Medrano said, crying.

The dramatic ordeal and Ray's role in it left an indelible mark on Chowchilla, where Ray and most of the children lived. The city then had a population of 5,000.

Residents were terrorized when the bus vanished, and their fears were fueled by other crimes in the state — the Charles Manson killings, the serial killing of 26 farmworkers, the Patty Hearst kidnapping and the Zodiac serial killer who remained at large.

As word of the disappearance spread, hundreds of reporters from around the country swarmed the town, clogging phone lines. Search parties and airplanes scoured the area.

"We sat at home for a long time knowing nothing," said Ray's son Glen Ray, who was in his 30s at the time and had rushed home from Arizona.

Five hours after the hijacking, police found the bus, hidden in a drainage slough. It was empty, with no trace of blood or any other clues.

A day later, Ray's family and frantic parents got word: The bus driver and children, ages 5 to 14, were safe.

Ray, the only adult on board, later recounted how he stopped the bus on that steamy July day to see if people in a broken-down van needed help. Three armed, masked men forced Ray and the children into two vans.

They meandered for hours before stopping at a quarry 100 miles to the north in Livermore. The kidnappers sealed the children and Ray inside the storage van and covered it with 3 feet of dirt as part of their plan to demand $5 million ransom.

At the time, the Chowchilla Police Department was swamped with calls, and the kidnappers decided to take a nap before calling in their demand.

While they slept, Ray and two older children dug themselves to safety.

"He told me that he felt it was his responsibility to get the kids back home to their parents safely, that's all he could think about," Ray's son, Glen Ray, said. His father loved kids and they were his life, the son said.

Ray, who grew corn and alfalfa and raised dairy cows, never boasted about his role in the rescue, his granddaughter Robyn Gomes said.

"The community will remember him as a hero, but it's not at all how he saw himself," she said. "He was a remarkable man. If you met him, you loved him. He was that kind of guy."

Frederick N. Woods and brothers James and Richard Schoenfeld, members of well-to-do San Francisco Peninsula families, were convicted in the kidnapping and sentenced to life in prison. None of the three has been paroled.

The trio, who were in their mid-20s at the time of the kidnapping, said they had fallen into debt because of a failed real estate deal and hatched the elaborate kidnapping as a way to rid themselves of financial worry.

Family members said Ray collected newspaper clippings about the kidnapping and bought the school bus he drove in 1976 for $500 as a memento and because he didn't want it to go to scrap iron.

"He parked it in the barn and he'd go out and start it once in a while," Glen Ray said.

He kept the bus for several years then gave it to an old equipment museum in Le Grande, where it's still available for public viewing.

Ray is survived by his wife, Odessa, his two sons, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. A funeral services will be held Tuesday at Chowchilla Cemetery.
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A hero has died.

TheLonelySquire · May 19, 2012

RIP Ed...

Starchaser · May 19, 2012

Yep. I do remember.

Demiurge · May 19, 2012

You fuckers are old.

No, didn't remember, but worth a read.

Forbin · May 19, 2012

Don't remember it, but

Cobalt · May 19, 2012

I remember this very well.

Asyncritus · May 19, 2012

Apparently (from what I read) there was a film made about it in the 90s, so some might remember that, even if they don't remember the event itself. Quite a story.

shootER · May 19, 2012

I vaguely recall something about this. It apparently happened during the summer between my third and fourth grade years and I seem to recall discussions about it among us kids, "What if that happened here?" kind of talk.

Caboose · May 19, 2012

Lanzman · May 19, 2012

I vaguely remember the story.

Marso · May 19, 2012

Never heard it before, but I was only 8 years old in 1976, and I moved to Australia in Jan of '77.

AlphaMan · May 19, 2012

Dude... I was 4... but his actions sound commendable.

Was that the movie with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock?

Demiurge · May 19, 2012

AlphaMan said: ↑

Dude... I was 4...
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Hey! Respect your elders! Async might not have much game left, but he is very wise. From all that eld.

Lt. Mewa · May 19, 2012

Didn't Dirty Harry catch the kidnapper?

K. · May 19, 2012

Wow. This board is a lot older than I thought it was...

St Jimmy · May 19, 2012

I wasn't even born yet. But a great read and a great man. RIP.

skinofevil · May 19, 2012

Well, damn. to Mr. Ray, and thanks, Async, for making Skin feel not-so-old. Skin was only a year old when this happened.

oldfella1962 · May 19, 2012

I was 14 or so, but do not remember this event.

Elwood · May 19, 2012

I want to say they dramatized this on an episode of Criminal Minds.

Tamar Garish · May 19, 2012

I was 3, so nope.

However..

Dinner · May 19, 2012

I was less than one year old at the time so I'm afraid I don't remember it. Cool story though.

Bickendan · May 19, 2012

Didn't exist yet.

Diacanu · May 19, 2012

I was 1.

Ramen · May 19, 2012

I was -3.

Azure · May 19, 2012

I wasn't even conceived yet.

Scott Hamilton Robert E Ron Paul Lee · May 19, 2012

Azure said: ↑

I wasn't even conceived yet.
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True, but your parents probably had the itch required to conceive you.

Dayton Kitchens · May 19, 2012

I remember it being featured in The Reader's Digest Drama In Real Life the next year.

IIRC, they made a tv movie about it with Karl Malden playing Ed Ray.

Asyncritus · May 19, 2012

Dayton3 said: ↑

I remember it being featured in The Reader's Digest Drama In Real Life the next year.

IIRC, they made a tv movie about it with Karl Malden playing Ed Ray.
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You are correct. I looked it up, and it was indeed Karl Malden who starred in the movie version.

Dayton Kitchens · May 20, 2012

People think things are bad now, but there was some truly weird shit going on in the 1970s.

T'Bonz · May 20, 2012

I remember it. I was 17 or 18 at the time, just finishing up school.

Pretty sure I saw the movie too.

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Anyone remember this story from 1976?

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Anyone remember this story from 1976?

Asyncritus Expert on everything

TheLonelySquire Fresh Meat

Starchaser Fallen Angel

Demiurge Goodbye and Hello, as always.

Forbin Do you feel fluffy, punk?

Cobalt USA International

Asyncritus Expert on everything

shootER Insubordinate...and churlish Administrator

Caboose ....

Lanzman Vast, Cool and Unsympathetic Formerly Important

Marso High speed, low drag.

AlphaMan The Last Dragon

Demiurge Goodbye and Hello, as always.

Lt. Mewa Rockefeller Center

K. Sober

St Jimmy Fresh Meat

skinofevil Fresh Meat

oldfella1962 the only real finish line

Elwood I know what I'm about, son.

Tamar Garish Wanna Snuggle? Deceased Member

Dinner 2012 & 2014 Master Prognosticator

Bickendan Custom Title Administrator Faceless Mook Writer

Diacanu Comicmike. Writer

Ramen Banned

Azure I could kick your ass

Scott Hamilton Robert E Ron Paul Lee Straight Awesome

Dayton Kitchens Banned

Asyncritus Expert on everything

Dayton Kitchens Banned

T'Bonz Romulan Troublemaker

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