Richard Schoenfeld, the convicted kidnapper who took 26 schoolchildren and their bus driver in Chowchilla and buried them alive in a rock quarry 36 years ago, has been released from prison.
A statement by the California Department of Corrections said Schoenfeld was released to an undisclosed location on Wednesday night.
Schoenfeld will be monitored 24 hours a day through the use of a GPS monitoring device.
The early release was a big change from the 2021 parole date that Schoenfeld was last given.
In a statement Friday, CDCR spokesman Luis Patino said that the prison body has "been informed that the California Supreme Court has declined to review an appellate court's earlier decision granting immediate parole to Richard Schoenfeld. As such CDCR does not have any legal option other than to release inmate Shoenfeld and will do so."
Schoenfeld, his brother, James Schoenfeld, and Frederick Woods kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver on July 15, 1976, buried them alive in a rock quarry in Livermore, Calif., and then planned to demand a $5 million ransom. The victims miraculously escaped.
Frank Edward Ray, the school bus driver hailed as a hero for helping lead the children to safety after 16 hours underground, died May 17 at the age of 91 in Chowchilla.
TXT 24
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