Parole board denies release for Chowchilla kidnapper

An ABC7 News I-Team exclusive, on Wednesday evening state prison officials denied parole for one of the chowchilla kidnappers.

Fred Woods, 61, and two other men abducted a busload of schoolchildren from the Central Valley town of Chowchilla in 1976.

They drove them to a quarry in Livermore and locked them in a buried moving van. The 26 children and their bus driver were able to dig their way out after 16 hours, before the kidnappers could deliver a $5 million ransom demand.

Kidnapper Rick Schoenfeld was released from the men's colony at San Luis Obispo in February, but the parole board denied Woods' release, saying he has failed to take full responsibility for his role in the crime.

The I-Team was there at the prison all day and we will have exclusive new details of the kidnapping, on Thursday on ABC 7 News at 6 p.m.

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