Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, I'm Nicole and I'm Ben and you're listening
Speaker 1: to Wicked and Grim, a.
Speaker 2: True crime podcast.
Speaker 1: Warning the following podcastle Maistre audience listener, this question, isn't
Speaker 1: that nice? Well? Hello there, how's everyone doing? Hey, welcome
Speaker 1: back to Wicked.
Speaker 2: And Grim, Wicked and Graham.
Speaker 1: Hope everyone's been staying wicked out there, but not too wicked,
Speaker 1: wicked enough that you stay at home, cozied up with sweatpants,
Speaker 1: your your cat or dog, and your couch, drinking some coffee,
Speaker 1: your tea and just listening to murder podcasts, watching murders jocumentaries. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're living wicked life inside. You're not. You're not going
Speaker 1: out and performing said wicked deeds.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're not like going full out wicked, just like
Speaker 2: slightly wicked, wicked at heart. There you go, yeah, there
Speaker 2: you go. Okay, I'm going to start this off with something,
Speaker 2: Bud to hear it?
Speaker 1: What is it?
Speaker 2: Well, neither of us have iPhones.
Speaker 1: Or Android people, because like andreid better, we just I
Speaker 1: don't know, we just are.
Speaker 2: I guess well it was all because like you were
Speaker 2: sewn on into not a mosquito.
Speaker 1: I think it is. Dang you slap my microphone.
Speaker 2: That's why you weren't into iTunes, So okay, but anyway,
Speaker 2: I don't know if we can, like if people can
Speaker 2: do reviews. Is it called Spotify? Yes, Spotify. I was
Speaker 2: good Jazam and all of those s is mixed up,
Speaker 2: so Spotify. I don't know if you can do reviews.
Speaker 2: But anyway, I was like on the Apple podcast review
Speaker 2: just I had to google it because podcast, right, yeah, which, yeah,
Speaker 2: it was weird that I'm googling. But anyway, so we
Speaker 2: have nine five stars whoop, which is freaking amazing. It
Speaker 2: is that's incredible, Thank you, Holy frick. And then there's
Speaker 2: a like a how would you say this, like an
Speaker 2: actual like submitted review like review? Yeah, and it's from
Speaker 2: Linda twenty three eighty nine.
Speaker 1: Linda twenty three eighty nine would you say about us?
Speaker 2: Thank you? Linda? She said, fascinating, awesome podcast, very good storytelling,
Speaker 2: and your voices are very well suited for podcasts. Thank Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know what, I'm gonna throw this down right now.
Speaker 1: Linda is our badass of the day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, there's gonna be another one, but yeah, let's
Speaker 2: start with Linda's gonna story has another one too, but
Speaker 2: Linda can be the first one of the day.
Speaker 1: Okay, we're gonna have two badasses of the day, one
Speaker 1: in the story and one out and Linda is the
Speaker 1: out of story badass.
Speaker 2: Of the day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh, thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you Linda for like taking the time to go
Speaker 2: and review us. And we'd love for other people too,
Speaker 2: and even the people that just went into the five stars,
Speaker 2: like that's dope too. So thank you, guys. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Well, you guys are helping us actually push out episode
Speaker 1: after episode, like your kind words, your comments, your messages,
Speaker 1: your reviews are what keeps us going. It fuels us.
Speaker 1: So thank you very much. Everything you guys have done
Speaker 1: to support us is incredible. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Okay that is actually so true because this so this
Speaker 2: is a me episode if anyone didn't matter already. But
Speaker 2: I was just like, okay, so Ben and I are
Speaker 2: like busy, like we're kind of just busy right now,
Speaker 2: and I was working tired, and I was like, holy shit,
Speaker 2: I have to do this. And then I came across
Speaker 2: Linda's review and I was like, fuck, yeah, I'm doing this.
Speaker 1: Yeah you are.
Speaker 2: Thanks Linda. You just made my day.
Speaker 1: It's incredible that little bit can do for us.
Speaker 2: So yeah, that motivated the shit out of me. Yeah, anyway,
Speaker 2: we might have to take little breaks because our backs
Speaker 2: are like eighty year old people right now.
Speaker 1: Well, it's the long weekend officially still the long weekend
Speaker 1: up here in Canada. It is Victoria Day, So happy
Speaker 1: Victoria to day, Victoria Day all the Canadians out there.
Speaker 1: And yeah, so it's May Long weekend and we spent
Speaker 1: the not majority of the day, all day literally working
Speaker 1: in our backyard greenhouse, building, raking, shoveling, all that, like
Speaker 1: a good ten hours of manual labor. We're fucked. We're
Speaker 1: fucked right now.
Speaker 2: Well I was actually a bit prior to that too,
Speaker 2: because I've had like a lot of photo shoots this
Speaker 2: weekend and I don't know why that would hurt my back,
Speaker 2: but anyway, it hurt my back.
Speaker 1: We're old.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so I've if you hear us like uncomfortably moaning,
Speaker 2: it's because our backs are. Sure.
Speaker 1: I'm literally drinking coffee here at like nine thirty pm
Speaker 1: just to kind of keep my energy levels up for.
Speaker 2: You guys, so well, and you have to stay up, blakes,
Speaker 2: you're going on.
Speaker 1: Nights that too, I would be like staying up to
Speaker 1: like what three am. So the caffeine is going to
Speaker 1: help me.
Speaker 2: That's going to help you. I need to start drinking coffee.
Speaker 1: Yeah you do.
Speaker 2: It's delicious. It's not delicious, that's the problem.
Speaker 1: But all this aside, we're running on like five minutes
Speaker 1: of an intro here. That's like a long intro for us.
Speaker 1: We have so much to say, So what have we
Speaker 1: got to say about it?
Speaker 2: My goodness, it's a why It's wild episode, babe.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's hear it.
Speaker 2: Buckle up, I think I say that every time.
Speaker 1: Let's click, I'm buckled up, safety belt.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's go. So this story takes place in Chachilla, California, Chowchilla.
Speaker 2: I like saying that, Chile.
Speaker 1: This is your first non Canadian episode.
Speaker 2: Okay, actually, yeah, we do need to just address that
Speaker 2: really quickly. I ventured off from the Canadian crime For
Speaker 2: you guys, I'm going.
Speaker 1: To fuck with you in my next episode. Episode is
Speaker 1: going to be.
Speaker 2: Okay, So Jilla, California, it's a relatively small town under
Speaker 2: twenty thousand and just to like give a little bit
Speaker 2: of a reference, it's about two hours from San Jose.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: At the time of the incident. I think it was
Speaker 2: much smaller though, like under five thousand people, so very small,
Speaker 2: very close knit town and a community where everyone kind
Speaker 2: of just like knew each other and looked out for
Speaker 2: one another. Okay, okay, sounds kind of like your typical
Speaker 2: small town.
Speaker 1: No need to lock your doors at night, but we're
Speaker 1: gonna learn that you probably should lock your door.
Speaker 2: It was actually, yeah, one thing that people said they
Speaker 2: never locked their doors and stuff, but this one is
Speaker 2: we're not going to well lock your doors people, but
Speaker 2: this one doesn't go there.
Speaker 1: Just just lock your doors.
Speaker 2: It was July fifteenth, nineteen seventy six, when school bus
Speaker 2: driver Ed Ray was driving himself and twenty six children
Speaker 2: from Dairyland Elementary School. Like children were from Dairyland Elementary School,
Speaker 2: and he was driving them back home from summer school
Speaker 2: where they spent the day at the swimming pool.
Speaker 1: Nice nice afternoon.
Speaker 2: Yeah. The children on the bus range from ages five
Speaker 2: to fourteen. It's pretty young.
Speaker 1: Little babies, little babies, little babies fourteen though you think
Speaker 1: you're a full blown.
Speaker 2: Adult, actually yeah, you definitely do. On their commute home,
Speaker 2: after already making a few stops dropping kids off up
Speaker 2: ahead was a white van that was blocking the road.
Speaker 1: Did it say free candy?
Speaker 2: It was a creeper van. I don't think it said
Speaker 2: free candy, though it didn't need to. I guess it
Speaker 2: still suck them up. So Ed, being the ridiculously nice
Speaker 2: man that he was, he stopped and opened the bus
Speaker 2: door to see if they needed any help. Which it's like,
Speaker 2: it sucks, but sometimes I feel like you should not
Speaker 2: offer help to people.
Speaker 1: I mean, you want to be a nice citizen, that's
Speaker 1: a good thing to do.
Speaker 2: Get sometimes you get like you get aft up offer.
Speaker 1: Help from a distance with a baseball bat in hand.
Speaker 2: Oh because at that moment, three masks masked men confronted
Speaker 2: ed two jumping onto the bus.
Speaker 1: Oh shit.
Speaker 2: They had nylon stockings covering their faces, making their faces
Speaker 2: look very distorted and their eyes almost hollow. Like. One
Speaker 2: man carried a sawd off double barrel shotgun and held
Speaker 2: at gunpoint while the other, well, another took over driving
Speaker 2: the bus.
Speaker 1: What the fuck?
Speaker 2: Key? But I actually needed to ask you this because
Speaker 2: what does that mean when it's like a sawd off
Speaker 2: double barrel shotgun, Like, what's the point of that?
Speaker 1: Well, it it can be concealed a lot easier and
Speaker 1: it can be used at a closer range. It's it's
Speaker 1: illegal to be doing that because now you can conceal
Speaker 1: a shotgun in like your jacket.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, because it makes it way shorter.
Speaker 1: It makes it shorter, easier to conceal, and more dangerous
Speaker 1: because now like when you're pointing it, you have this
Speaker 1: longer barrel. That's like, if you're in close proximity to someone,
Speaker 1: they have to be at the end of the barrel.
Speaker 1: If the barrel shorter, you can be like face to
Speaker 1: face with someone touching their nose and the barrel can
Speaker 1: fit in between you and them. So it's a very
Speaker 1: very dangerous weapon then, so it's very illegal to do that.
Speaker 2: And it would like same kind of damage, same like
Speaker 2: kind of noise and stuff. Oh yeah, okay. For at
Speaker 2: one point I was like, does it make it quieter? Like,
Speaker 2: I don't know, I had no idea.
Speaker 1: It's strictly so that way you have a shotgun that
Speaker 1: you can conceal, handle easier, and aim easier, and it's
Speaker 1: just all around more dangerous.
Speaker 2: Wow that shit. Yeah, okay, So adds that gunpoint. Another
Speaker 2: one is taking over driving the bus and the third
Speaker 2: man is following behind a in The White Man. Gotcha,
Speaker 2: So that's a shit show.
Speaker 1: I'm still hung up on the shotgun now you got
Speaker 1: me going through that, I'm like thinking evil Dead, like
Speaker 1: oh yeah, Bruce Campbell saw that off and everything, so
Speaker 1: he could like shoot the dead heights easier.
Speaker 2: Oh boy, Well we're into this story, so get get
Speaker 2: out of the evil Dead mindset back.
Speaker 1: Onto the bus with the three assholes.
Speaker 2: Got yeah, they're very much so assholes. All the children
Speaker 2: obviously like scared to death.
Speaker 1: Oh I'd be shitting myself right.
Speaker 2: They're young, wondering where these mass men were taking them
Speaker 2: and were they going to die? Yeah, Like, holy molly, could.
Speaker 1: You imagine being in that situation?
Speaker 2: Well, and remember like some kids had already got dropped off?
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh that's true, like.
Speaker 2: That, Like that's one of those moments where it's just like, uh,
Speaker 2: like you'd just be so unbelievably thankful that you had
Speaker 2: gotten already dropped off.
Speaker 1: Or imagine like your stop is next or the next
Speaker 1: couple of months, and then like you're driving past your driveway.
Speaker 2: Oh Ben, you just went there.
Speaker 1: Sorry, Well, could you imagine that story?
Speaker 2: Is actually? Like going through the story, I kept almost
Speaker 2: like tearing up it's.
Speaker 1: A brutal situation.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Oh it's dude, you don't even know.
Speaker 1: Well, I have a feeling of like the brutality that's
Speaker 1: about to happen, and I'm just saying, like the situation
Speaker 1: they're in and the fear that they're having to confront. No,
Speaker 1: thank you, Okay.
Speaker 2: The kidnappers eventually pulling off the road into a dry
Speaker 2: river bed, stop the bus in a bamboo patch where
Speaker 2: the bamboo was like taller than the bus. So basically feeling,
Speaker 2: I know, I actually thought that was really weird, but
Speaker 2: a few report said bamboo so and then I was
Speaker 2: just like, maybe I don't know anyway.
Speaker 1: All right, let's roll with it.
Speaker 2: I know, but if there is I want to go
Speaker 2: see it. There they met a second parked van. Both
Speaker 2: of these vans, I should note the back windows were
Speaker 2: painted black and their interiors and the interiors were reinforced
Speaker 2: with wood paneling. Like you could not see in or
Speaker 2: out of these vans.
Speaker 1: Damn was the door in the van red? No?
Speaker 2: Oh what does that mean?
Speaker 1: I see a red door and that want it painted black?
Speaker 1: Rolling stones?
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, sorry, oh gosh, at gunpoint, love you too,
Speaker 2: Ed and the twenty six children were forced from the
Speaker 2: bus into the two vans, and to avoid any footprint evidence,
Speaker 2: the vans were pulled right up to the bus door
Speaker 2: and everyone had to jump from the school bus into
Speaker 2: the van.
Speaker 1: Oh jeez, which I thought was like.
Speaker 2: Really weird because they left the van there or the
Speaker 2: bus there, But I mean, like I mean not seeing footprints.
Speaker 2: I don't know anyway, and they were off. The vans,
Speaker 2: like I said, were pitch black, had no water, no
Speaker 2: food or bathrooms. They were pretty much described as like
Speaker 2: a mobile prison. But I asked to actually feel like
Speaker 2: that's worse than like a prison cell. Yeah, no kidding,
Speaker 2: because a prison cell like you get fed, you get water,
Speaker 2: and you have a bathroom.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's stationary, not moving around.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like could you imagine just darkness yea, having no
Speaker 2: idea where the hell you were going, and you're and
Speaker 2: you're six years old.
Speaker 1: I turned the lights off in the hallway on the
Speaker 1: way to bed, and I like, pretend that I'm not
Speaker 1: they're picturing a demon chasing me on the hallway to
Speaker 1: the bedroom at night. I'm like, Nope, it's not there.
Speaker 1: Just don't look. If you don't look at it, it
Speaker 1: can't get you. So no, I can't imagine.
Speaker 2: I know, like just terrifying, good, just terrifying. So now
Speaker 2: at this point too, parents were starting to arrive home,
Speaker 2: arriving home to empty houses.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the kids not there.
Speaker 2: Extremely worried, they started helping police retreat retrace the school
Speaker 2: bus's route. Nothing was found until just before sunset, when
Speaker 2: the dirt deserted. Holy, I'm stumbling here. Sorry, I'm so
Speaker 2: into the story and I'm just like I want to
Speaker 2: get it out.
Speaker 1: You were like, what can you make that sound again?
Speaker 2: No? I got Okay. So the bus was found right
Speaker 2: before sunset by a police pilot. You could only see
Speaker 2: it by air, gotcha, and all that was left behind
Speaker 2: was tire tracks. No children don't like the parents must
Speaker 2: be like worried, sick.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, kidding myself, Like I'd just be like, where
Speaker 1: the fuck is my kid?
Speaker 2: I know, Like that is just like so sorry to
Speaker 2: like people have children that like ride buses. Like, I'm
Speaker 2: just gonna apologize right now because this is probably like
Speaker 2: a bit traumatizing for you. So I am sorry to.
Speaker 1: Those parents who kids are taking the bus and they're
Speaker 1: not home from school yet.
Speaker 2: Home, the traumatic they will arrive home. Meanwhile, this hell
Speaker 2: was still continuing for Ed and the children. They were
Speaker 2: in the two vans for hours upon hours, all trying
Speaker 2: to comfort each other. There's a voice recording of a
Speaker 2: little girl describing her experience. It says, a few of
Speaker 2: my little friends that were five and six came over
Speaker 2: and started laying laying on me and crying. I said,
Speaker 2: to be brave, because everything's going to be all right.
Speaker 2: Oh shit, Like oh okay, that just like sick, like
Speaker 2: you're just inside sync, no kidding.
Speaker 1: And I'm just like, I don't think everything was all right,
Speaker 1: but we'll get there. Let's see. Don't give us any
Speaker 1: any hints. Just keep going, keep going.
Speaker 2: The van finally started to slow down, pulling off onto
Speaker 2: a much rougher road and finally stopping. The final destination
Speaker 2: was a rock quarry in Livermore, California, which was close
Speaker 2: to twelve hours. Holy oh wait, so these mofos drove
Speaker 2: them twelve hours away? Like no bathroom, bricks, no food,
Speaker 2: this this black pit that they're in. Damn Like that's
Speaker 2: a long freaking.
Speaker 1: Ways, no kidding.
Speaker 2: Now, being the early morning of July sixteenth, what came
Speaker 2: next for these victims? Did not get much better. They
Speaker 2: started with ed they'd opened the door of the van,
Speaker 2: grabbed one person, and then close the door and repeatedly
Speaker 2: keep doing this. Meanwhile, the kids are all like scooting
Speaker 2: to the back of the van trying to escape because
Speaker 2: they had no idea what was coming next, Like no idea,
Speaker 2: like just terror. Once pulled out of the van, they
Speaker 2: would get asked their name and their their age by
Speaker 2: the kidnappers, and very much showing that this crime was premeditated,
Speaker 2: they had a wooden ladder to climb down into a
Speaker 2: truck trailer that was buried six feet underground.
Speaker 1: Holy shit, yeah.
Speaker 2: My shocking.
Speaker 1: Damn. I'm like, I'm expecting these guys to, like, I
Speaker 1: don't know, just like start popping these kids off with
Speaker 1: a shotgun for some reason. But clearly this.
Speaker 2: Is like a traffic they're expecting that too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a trafficking situation by the sounds of it.
Speaker 2: In the buried truck trailer was a very small amount
Speaker 2: of food, water and some mattresses, only about enough food
Speaker 2: for a day. And remember they had already gone like
Speaker 2: quite a bit of time without food or water. Right,
Speaker 2: there were cut holes in the wheel wells for toilets
Speaker 2: and you could hear fans for ventilation. I actually have.
Speaker 2: There was quite a few photos of this. Sorry, I
Speaker 2: at online, so I'll post some, okay, so that you
Speaker 2: can see, but like, I don't know if you want
Speaker 2: to see, because it's like pretty nasty. That just that
Speaker 2: this amount of people were in this truck trailer a.
Speaker 1: Whole new freaking situation, like a whole new perspective on
Speaker 1: tiny home living.
Speaker 2: Hey, yeah, our tiny home will look like a freaking mansion.
Speaker 1: No kidding. Wow.
Speaker 2: Michael was one of the last kids to enter down
Speaker 2: into the truck trailer and was beyond thrilled to hear
Speaker 2: and see the children. They had no idea as they
Speaker 2: were being taken one from one from the van what
Speaker 2: exactly was happening, And like you kind of said, they
Speaker 2: all thought they were just like getting taken out, like executed. Right.
Speaker 2: That sense of relief of seeing everyone still alive was, however,
Speaker 2: very short lived. Eventually the latter was removed, the opening
Speaker 2: was covered with a heavy sheet of metal, and the
Speaker 2: kids could hear dirt being thrown on top of the trailer.
Speaker 2: Essentially they were being buried alive.
Speaker 1: What the fuck?
Speaker 2: Like, holy shit?
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 2: Oh? Well, honestly, you'll find out, and it's fucked because.
Speaker 1: That's the thing for me, Like, I'm a big why person.
Speaker 1: I like to try and understand why. Even if I
Speaker 1: don't grasp their thought process or concept or reasoning why,
Speaker 1: I just I just need to know why. And this
Speaker 1: is not making any sense why so far, And.
Speaker 2: Even when I tell you you're probably it's just not going
Speaker 2: to be satisfying.
Speaker 1: For well, I'm sure it's not. But to understand, to
Speaker 1: at least have a motive is some sort of yeah,
Speaker 1: some sort of lifeline to own.
Speaker 2: There is a motive. I'm just going to leave it
Speaker 2: at that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no worries. Well wait we can wait.
Speaker 2: Can you wait? Do you have any patients? Whatsoever?
Speaker 1: I do as long as there is motive.
Speaker 2: After being underground for twelve hours, you can imagine that
Speaker 2: the conditions in this tractor trailer were starting to deteriorate. Right, yep,
Speaker 2: the food was gone? Oh did I just lose my spot?
Speaker 1: Oh jumped? What jumped? Like the page jumped?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Smooth, Okay, I found it again. And I could
Speaker 2: have just like kept going because I actually like almost
Speaker 2: memories this case. But I'm like, no, let's just let's
Speaker 2: just find the notes.
Speaker 1: Reset, reset good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, So the food was gone, the fans for
Speaker 2: ventilation had stopped.
Speaker 1: So it would be so hot and humid in there
Speaker 1: and like no oxygen.
Speaker 2: Well, and they're like going to the bathroom the wheelwrows
Speaker 2: and the roof was starting to cave in.
Speaker 1: Oh shit, so the.
Speaker 2: Freaking tear the I just can't even imagine. So it
Speaker 2: was at this point that I think a lot of
Speaker 2: them were finally grasping that they like may not go home.
Speaker 2: Like they're just like little teeny tiny babies, right, and
Speaker 2: they're just oh so Michael, that was the fourteen year
Speaker 2: old who I had mentioned earlier. Yeah, he was like
Speaker 2: one of the last ones that went into the truck. Trailer.
Speaker 2: Him and Ed decided, if we're going to die in here,
Speaker 2: let's at least diet, or let's at least what am
Speaker 2: I trying to say? Holy okay, I have it so
Speaker 2: written wrong, and I'm like in my brain and then
Speaker 2: I'm trying of all this.
Speaker 1: I've done that a film.
Speaker 2: Okay, So if they're gonna die, let's like at least
Speaker 2: attempt to get the fuck out.
Speaker 1: Of there, and let's not just sit back again.
Speaker 2: And die that way versus just like sitting back, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's try and do something about this.
Speaker 2: So they started stacking the mattresses on top of each
Speaker 2: other so that they could reach the opening at the
Speaker 2: top of the truck and take turns pushing on it.
Speaker 2: Right now, remember the opening was covered with heavy sheets
Speaker 2: of metal and it was also weighted down with two
Speaker 2: truck batteries.
Speaker 1: Oh dang, what about the dirt though.
Speaker 2: And buried jeez, So they were attempting. I mean, there
Speaker 2: was sheet metal, there's two truck betterers and they're buried.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: They were literally giving it all they had, and all
Speaker 2: the little kiddles were like cheering them on.
Speaker 1: Nice.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, Like I feel like that's just like
Speaker 2: such a like cute little visual.
Speaker 1: Well, it's like the only hope you have, and that
Speaker 1: cheering is just going to like help your adrenaline too. Man,
Speaker 1: it's just such a dire situation.
Speaker 2: It's unbelievable, like unbelievable, this whole case. I'm just like,
Speaker 2: it's still I know so much about it, but it
Speaker 2: still just shocks me. And then eventually, after hours of effort,
Speaker 2: they managed to wedge the lid open with a piece
Speaker 2: of wood and were able to move the batteries. This
Speaker 2: was just one piece of the puzzle, though. They then
Speaker 2: had to dig away the remainder of the debris blocking
Speaker 2: the entrance because okay, because I don't really describe it
Speaker 2: super well, but it was like they had this sheet
Speaker 2: metal and then there was like a box, like a
Speaker 2: wooden box over top so that you could kind of
Speaker 2: get up, and then you had to like move the
Speaker 2: box and like start digging.
Speaker 1: Gotcha, Okay, Yeah, And the nice thing is is I'm
Speaker 1: assuming there's enough room inside this trailer that you can
Speaker 1: pull dirt in, push it aside, and you can tunnel
Speaker 1: your way out.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: That's the thing with like being buried alive in like
Speaker 1: a coffin or something. If you do break through that
Speaker 1: coffin lid, dirt's just pouring in. There's no room for
Speaker 1: you to tunnel out, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Oh, there's like, yeah, there's tons of room in there
Speaker 2: for the dirt to go into. Yeah. Oh gosh, thanks
Speaker 2: for just like giving me that coughin visual.
Speaker 1: Well, I've always thought about that because I love I
Speaker 1: love the movie Kill Bill, the Quentin Tarantino film. Okay,
Speaker 1: and there's one scene where she gets buried alive and
Speaker 1: she breaks out. But I'm just like, I always thought
Speaker 1: that was just so bogus.
Speaker 2: I mean, I know it's just a movie, but like
Speaker 2: she said, wouldn't that wouldn't be how it would be.
Speaker 1: Yeah, as soon as you break through the lid of
Speaker 1: the coffin, the dirt's just gonna clapse in on you
Speaker 1: and you're fucked.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's very true.
Speaker 1: Actually, yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that there's that little bit of hope there.
Speaker 2: So there was no stop in Michael. He kept digging
Speaker 2: and digging until finally, sixteen hours after they had entered
Speaker 2: the truck, a ray of sunlight came pouring down into
Speaker 2: the opening.
Speaker 1: Michael.
Speaker 2: So, Michael badass, Michael Days, the badass of the day.
Speaker 1: Story there we go.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like fourteen years old man, and just like no stop,
Speaker 2: Like he just kept.
Speaker 1: Digging and digging and dating for him.
Speaker 2: Like, I just am so impressed with that. That is incredible, incredible.
Speaker 1: You're a hero.
Speaker 2: He totally is absolutely Okay. So they had no idea
Speaker 2: what was going to be out there when they emerge, though, Hm,
Speaker 2: were the kidnappers just outside with their guns or was
Speaker 2: this or like, how was this going to go down.
Speaker 1: I'm feeling they're alone, that's my guess.
Speaker 2: So little Michael, being the badass of the day, stuck
Speaker 2: his head out first and there was no one around,
Speaker 2: not a soul in sight.
Speaker 1: Good good, they can make their escape.
Speaker 2: When they finally all fully emerged, they got a full
Speaker 2: grass of exactly how camouflaged the trailer was hidden. There
Speaker 2: would have been absolutely no way that they would have
Speaker 2: been able to like anyone looking for them would have
Speaker 2: been able to know that there was a trailer buried there,
Speaker 2: damn Like it was unbelievable from the photo.
Speaker 1: So are you going to post said photo on Instagram?
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know how what have I already said?
Speaker 2: I'm posting what we can post, Like I have to
Speaker 2: post a few so like the inside and then like
Speaker 2: the out how it looked.
Speaker 1: But you can post like the multiple shots right, so
Speaker 1: you can like slide and see a bunch of shots.
Speaker 2: Because I know, I think people are gonna want to
Speaker 2: see these photos.
Speaker 1: I want to see them. Definitely.
Speaker 2: It's honestly basically a miracle that they got out. Really like,
Speaker 2: I think it's a freaking mirror.
Speaker 1: Especially like if you have a bunch of kids, like this,
Speaker 1: chances are you're not going to have the muscle power
Speaker 1: or you think you have the muscle power to even
Speaker 1: attempt to escape.
Speaker 2: I know, like, it's it's amazing that they got out,
Speaker 2: Like it's just holy moly.
Speaker 1: No kidding, good for them, good for Michael.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm and ed and ed. So it was eight
Speaker 2: pm on July sixteen when the group emerged and started
Speaker 2: walking to find help. They heard some equipment operating up ahead,
Speaker 2: and obviously we're worried that it could be the kidnappers,
Speaker 2: like frig but feeling like they had no other choice,
Speaker 2: they walked ahead. They eventually entered into this work site
Speaker 2: and were approached by like some very stun workers in
Speaker 2: hard hats. Remember they were in liver Livermore I think, yeah, Livermore, California,
Speaker 2: which was one hundred miles from Chichilla, at a Corey
Speaker 2: work site, and that's where they were finally saved. They
Speaker 2: were saved. Yes, these were not bad people, these were
Speaker 2: just workers.
Speaker 1: Not a single casualty, right, No, well, I mean I'm
Speaker 1: sure there's like minor injuries, is that casualty?
Speaker 2: But no, no one died. No one died.
Speaker 1: Oh that's incredible, Like amazing. Wow.
Speaker 2: Police arrived and the children were taking taken to Santa
Speaker 2: Rita Rehabilitation Center. So it's like a jail, but it
Speaker 2: was the closest place they could hold them safely while
Speaker 2: they collected evidence and while they were being examined by doctors.
Speaker 2: After four hours from from being from escaping, the children
Speaker 2: boarded yet another bus to head home. I was like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh. Boarding that bus probably was just like terrifying.
Speaker 2: Hey yeah, like, oh my goodness to have to climb
Speaker 2: in there, like after just that happened. H And the
Speaker 2: reunion with their parents was so sweet.
Speaker 1: Oh, I can only imagine.
Speaker 2: I don't have a bunch to say about it. One
Speaker 2: little boy came from the bus, got placed into his
Speaker 2: mom's arms, said hi mom, and instantly fell asleep on
Speaker 2: her shoulder, just like finally feeling like safe.
Speaker 1: And I'm just like, oh my, that's that is heart wrenching.
Speaker 2: Finally getting in your parents' arms and just like feeling
Speaker 2: like you're you lactually survived and you're safe.
Speaker 1: It's it's over.
Speaker 2: Oh, just like my heart. Okay. So, and you're probably
Speaker 2: wondering at this point what the ship was all about, Right.
Speaker 1: I've been wondering that this whole fucking time. What do
Speaker 1: you mean that at this point, Like, what the fuck?
Speaker 1: I even like granted about it for like a minute.
Speaker 2: No, you're just starting to wonder.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm just starting now, Yeah, you know what I
Speaker 1: am actually, now that you mentioned it, I'm starting to
Speaker 1: get a little curious, Yes, a bit, just a teasy
Speaker 1: weep it.
Speaker 2: So obviously, immediately the police went to where the trailer
Speaker 2: was buried and started digging for evidence. It was about
Speaker 2: a two week investigation, but finally twenty four year old
Speaker 2: Frederick Newell Woods, who was the son of the owner
Speaker 2: of the rock quarry and had keys to get in
Speaker 2: and enough access to have buried a trailer in there,
Speaker 2: and his two friends, twenty four year old James this
Speaker 2: is gonna be a tough one Scotenfield or something, I
Speaker 2: think is how you.
Speaker 1: Say his last name, James asshole.
Speaker 2: Pretty much, and his younger brother, twenty two year old Richard,
Speaker 2: were arrested.
Speaker 1: Richard Asshole Junior.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like these guys, Oh, and they're like I showed
Speaker 2: you a picture of them. They just look fre geting nasty.
Speaker 1: So did they ever return to the crime scene at all?
Speaker 1: Like the buried trailer.
Speaker 2: Getting there? Okay, okay, we're getting there because it's actually
Speaker 2: quite hilarious.
Speaker 1: Oh hilarious.
Speaker 2: Oh, so the kicker. All these men came from wealthy families.
Speaker 2: They were like wealthy af After a warrant was issued
Speaker 2: to search the woods estate, they came across a piece
Speaker 2: of paper laying out the plan of the kidnapping. Oh,
Speaker 2: a draft ransom note, and the list of children's names
Speaker 2: and ages they had collected when they were transferring them
Speaker 2: from the bus or from the van to the buried trailer.
Speaker 2: The plan was that they were going to ask for
Speaker 2: a five million dollar ransom ransom in exchange for the children.
Speaker 1: What the fuck?
Speaker 2: The ransom was never actually asked for, though they attempted
Speaker 2: to phone in, but the phone lines to the Chichilla
Speaker 2: Police Department were so inundated with calls from like parents
Speaker 2: media that they couldn't get through, so they decided to
Speaker 2: go to sleep instead, and when they woke up, they
Speaker 2: found through the news that the victims had freed themselves.
Speaker 1: Oh my fucking god, what the f fuck?
Speaker 2: Like, isn't that just fucked up? So they can get
Speaker 2: through and they're just like, fuck it, they've been up
Speaker 2: like pretty much all night. I guess let's just go
Speaker 2: to bed.
Speaker 1: Okay. Want to know how I picture this going down.
Speaker 1: The three of them are sitting in their fucking parents'
Speaker 1: basement or whatever the fuck it is and.
Speaker 2: Their parents mansion.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well yeah, and they're sitting here just like having
Speaker 1: a fucking beer and they're like, Okay, I'm gonna try
Speaker 1: call again. Dude, it it's busy. Oka's try again. It's busy.
Speaker 1: They try like maybe like five times, and like, dude,
Speaker 1: is it just I can't we can't get through. We
Speaker 1: just can't get through. You know what. Fuck it, Let's
Speaker 1: just go to bed. Let's I'm tired, dude, Like we
Speaker 1: spent all day driving. Fuck it. Let should go to bed.
Speaker 1: It'll be fine. And they wake up in the morning
Speaker 1: and they're like, oh shit, and they're just fucked.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But meanwhile, to even go to bed, like I mean, okay,
Speaker 2: they're not good people. We already know they're they're shit.
Speaker 2: But it's like those people those if they had left
Speaker 2: the men much longer, like they could have just died
Speaker 2: in there.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and.
Speaker 2: Like do they not give a shit about that? Like
Speaker 2: God is just like holy heck.
Speaker 1: So were they specifically targeting that bus or were they
Speaker 1: just waiting for a bus or what?
Speaker 2: Okay, well, what I'm about to say might help you here.
Speaker 2: So James later stated that despite coming from wealthy families,
Speaker 2: both he and Woods were deeply in debt. We needed
Speaker 2: multiple victims to get multiple millions, and we picked children
Speaker 2: because children are precious. The state would be willing to
Speaker 2: pay ransom for them, and they don't fight back.
Speaker 1: They're vulnerable, fucking trash like.
Speaker 2: Isn't that brutal?
Speaker 1: God?
Speaker 2: So, Fred, James, and Richard all pleaded guilty to kidnapping
Speaker 2: for ransom and robbery, but pleaded not guilty to bodily harm,
Speaker 2: as a conviction on that count in conjunction with the
Speaker 2: kidnapping charge, carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison
Speaker 2: without the possibility of parole.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm I'm sure you're gonna get to it here,
Speaker 1: but no bodily harm was done. Are you're fucking kidding me?
Speaker 1: You had him at shotgun point, You had him fucking
Speaker 1: in a mobile, locked up prison. Ye buried them under
Speaker 1: fucking ground where they are literally about to fucking suffocate
Speaker 1: to death or fucking get carved in on dirt. How
Speaker 1: the fuck is that not bodily harm? You starve them? Like,
Speaker 1: what the fuck?
Speaker 2: I know they have got like that traumatized the fuck
Speaker 2: out of these children.
Speaker 1: No shit, they better have gotten slapped with that.
Speaker 2: Hum. So they were tried on the bodily harm charge,
Speaker 2: found guilty good, and given the mandatory sentence of life
Speaker 2: in prison without the possibility of parole.
Speaker 1: Yes, you fucking trash, You're gonna fucking rot. But for
Speaker 1: fuck's sakes, of course, there's a butt. God damn it.
Speaker 1: What okay, what what is it? Oh my gosh, you
Speaker 1: had to do that to me?
Speaker 2: I know, I feel absolutely terrible. Just a few years later,
Speaker 2: their convictions were overturned by an appeal which found that
Speaker 2: physical injuries subtained sustained by the children, like mostly cuts
Speaker 2: and bruises, did not meet the standard for bodily harm
Speaker 2: under the law. They were resentenced to life with the
Speaker 2: possibility of parole.
Speaker 1: They better not fucking end up getting parole.
Speaker 2: So and it's okay, and this, okay, this is like
Speaker 2: their lawyers, they had freaking awesome lawyers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, their parents have money.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And like, could you imagine being that lawyer that
Speaker 2: has to put that up I mean we've talked about
Speaker 2: this before. That puts that appeal in like freak, Like,
Speaker 2: I don't even know how you could do that. I
Speaker 2: don't know because now these mofos get I don't even
Speaker 2: have it in here. But there was like sixty times
Speaker 2: where it would come up were they their parole came up,
Speaker 2: and so all these freaking victims have to relive their
Speaker 2: goddamn trauma and go and like testify.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine having to? Fuck you're one of those
Speaker 1: rich parents whose kid fucking buried children alive because they
Speaker 1: were in debt just because they were irresponsible with their money,
Speaker 1: And you are paying money to get your kid out
Speaker 1: of jail because you believe that, oh, he didn't actually
Speaker 1: do that much wrong. He deserves to freedom. Fuck that.
Speaker 1: I know. You're my kid, I love you. I'm going
Speaker 1: to fucking visit you in prison where you're rotting for
Speaker 1: the rest of your life.
Speaker 2: I know. Like it's too much Yeah, like they did.
Speaker 2: That's too much wrong. Yeah, it's too much wrong. Okay,
Speaker 2: So you ready for this?
Speaker 1: Oh God.
Speaker 2: Richard was released in twenty twelve and James in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2: Those are the brothers Fred the I just keep going here. Fred,
Speaker 2: the ring leader of the whole operation, is still in jail.
Speaker 2: He continues to minimize his crime as well as continues
Speaker 2: to get caught with contrabround, porn, and cell phones. He
Speaker 2: also is apparently running several businesses in prison and hasn't
Speaker 2: been I guess when you do that, you have to
Speaker 2: notify the prison authorities about it, which he hasn't. He
Speaker 2: has a gold mine and a car dealership. I'm going
Speaker 2: to keep going here because it gets a little worse.
Speaker 1: Okay, keep going.
Speaker 2: Also, coming from a wealthy family, this piece of shit,
Speaker 2: So that's why I'm like, do his parents not actually
Speaker 2: think he's a piece of shit? Inherited a trust fund,
Speaker 2: so he inherited trust him from his parents, described in
Speaker 2: one court filing as being worth one hundred million dollar.
Speaker 1: Fucking god.
Speaker 2: He's been married three times while in prison and has
Speaker 2: purchased a mansion about thirty minutes away from the prison. Like,
Speaker 2: I just can't believe that someone does something so shitty
Speaker 2: and still like this rich mofol.
Speaker 1: No shit, Holy fuck.
Speaker 2: You just look like you're just like been put through
Speaker 2: the ringer.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a fucking roller coaster, fucking episode. Holy shit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, by your f bombs like in Dell.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Fuck thanks, Okay, enough about them, enough about them, like
Speaker 2: just enough. Yeah, back to the victims. We're gonna be
Speaker 2: wrapping up here soon. But it's not great, as you
Speaker 2: can expect. The victims, a lot of them had suffered
Speaker 2: from panic attacks, nightmares involving kidnappings and death. Many developed
Speaker 2: fears of such things like cars and the dark.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Symptoms of trauma were reported at least twenty five years
Speaker 2: after the kidnapping, including many of them with substance abuse
Speaker 2: and depression, and a number of them have also been
Speaker 2: in prisoned themselves for doing something controlling to somebody else.
Speaker 1: These guys fuck these kids up.
Speaker 2: I know, Like it was just such a ridiculous like
Speaker 2: the how traumatized they would have been, like from this,
Speaker 2: and that's not something that you just like get over really, no,
Speaker 2: not at all. Like they got buried freaking alive. Yeah,
Speaker 2: So I mean I know, some like some even though
Speaker 2: they had all this trauma, like they still went and
Speaker 2: had kids and families and stuff. But then, like one
Speaker 2: lady even said after she had her kid, it almost
Speaker 2: got a little worse because she's just like fearful for them, right,
Speaker 2: it might happen to kid that would she ever be
Speaker 2: able to put that kid on af briagain school boss? Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know without thinking twice? Probably not damn.
Speaker 1: So yeah, to be fair though, like I'm sure a
Speaker 1: lot of that PTSD and anxiety stuff is in trauma
Speaker 1: is connected to the incident. But I mean, you have,
Speaker 1: what was it, twenty six kids. Yeah, I'm sure that
Speaker 1: there's going to be some some of those kids might
Speaker 1: have gone to jail anyways regardless, or had bad lives
Speaker 1: or done things like you know, I'm sure majority of
Speaker 1: that stuff is related to the incident, but there's going.
Speaker 2: To be some stuff that they could have ended doing
Speaker 2: something bad anyway. Yeah, like one or two of the
Speaker 2: twenty six.
Speaker 1: Yeah, some of them might have ended up going to
Speaker 1: prison anyways or being bad people or doing bad things.
Speaker 2: Some six But then like a lot of that, like
Speaker 2: the substance abuse too cause them to do like bad things.
Speaker 1: But I mean substance abuse as well, Like you, out
Speaker 1: of twenty six people, you're going to have substance abuse
Speaker 1: most likely. Yeah, So it might not be correlated to
Speaker 1: that specifically. I'm just playing Devil's advocate, you are.
Speaker 2: Because I'm like, no, these pieces of shit ruin their life.
Speaker 1: Well they did, don't get me wrong. And most likely
Speaker 1: this substance abuse, the jail time, whatever occurred to these
Speaker 1: kids is most likely tied to that. But who's to
Speaker 1: say that all of it was so just playing devil's
Speaker 1: advocate there, just to keep a neutral perspective.
Speaker 2: That's fair. That's fair. In twenty sixteen, so not too
Speaker 2: long ago, the kidnapped children settled a lawsuit they had
Speaker 2: filed against their kidnappers. The exact settlement amount was not disclosed,
Speaker 2: but one survivor said it was enough to pay for
Speaker 2: some serious therapy, but not enough to buy a house.
Speaker 2: So they got a little bit of money, like wave
Speaker 2: down the road. But I just don't even think any
Speaker 2: amount of money could.
Speaker 1: Considering that fucking ring leader now has over one hundred
Speaker 1: million dollars.
Speaker 2: Well, it apparently came from his trust or something.
Speaker 1: Well he should be liking what here's.
Speaker 2: Like, he's you'd leave all his money to that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, well I'm sure he wouldn't, but.
Speaker 2: But he he's a terrible person. Like the other ones,
Speaker 2: I think did some rehabilitation and like got it. Maybe
Speaker 2: I don't know if i'd say better, but like even
Speaker 2: some of one of the victims went and visited them
Speaker 2: and like met him because that's what he needed to
Speaker 2: help with him dealing with his trauma. But this Fred dude,
Speaker 2: I think is just an all around piece of shit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's fucking trash. Would you would think that, Oh,
Speaker 1: I did this because I was in debt and I need
Speaker 1: five million dollars to get out of debt. Now you
Speaker 1: have over one hundred million dollars. Maybe you should, I
Speaker 1: don't know, pay it forward to the damage you caused
Speaker 1: in these kids. Yeah, but clearly not. He's fucking trash,
Speaker 1: total trash.
Speaker 2: And the last thing I'm going to say is about
Speaker 2: Ed Ed is the bus driver. Yeah, okay, just making
Speaker 2: sure you remember. I remember Ed in twenty two so
Speaker 2: he died in twenty twelve. And before he died, though,
Speaker 2: he was visited by many of this school children he
Speaker 2: had help save, which I thought was adorable.
Speaker 1: I like that. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And every February twenty sixth or February twenty sixth, so
Speaker 2: I don't know why that's so hard to say, which
Speaker 2: was his birthday has been declared Edward ray Day in Chechilla.
Speaker 1: I like that, Yeah, Ray Day, love it.
Speaker 2: I know, it even just sounds like a glorious day.
Speaker 1: It does a little ray of sunshine in February.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so there we go.
Speaker 1: That was a fucking roller coaster.
Speaker 2: I know. That was like okay, and I tried to
Speaker 2: just do that case a bit different and like keep
Speaker 2: it a little bit more suspenseful and boom.
Speaker 1: I mean like clearly, like you were telling the story
Speaker 1: from the very beginning, so it's like, clearly there's they
Speaker 1: get caught. Clearly there's some survivors, but it was still like, okay,
Speaker 1: do they all fucking survive or it just like one
Speaker 1: manages to survive somehow.
Speaker 2: It's actually amazing. I even listening to that, you're reading
Speaker 2: like you would have thought one some of them might
Speaker 2: have died, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah that my assumption was that they were going to
Speaker 1: start getting executed, and I was.
Speaker 2: Like, why could you imagine? Oh that's not that's disgusting.
Speaker 2: I mean, all the whole thing is disgusting already.
Speaker 1: But yeah, well I'm glad they made it out, I know.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So it's like it's a good ending, not a
Speaker 2: great ending, but a lot better than it could have been.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot better than it could have been. Although
Speaker 1: that one hundred million dollars.
Speaker 2: Should not h fuck freakin' Fred.
Speaker 1: Dude's fucking trash? Fred or was it Frank?
Speaker 2: I don't even remember. That's how little I give a
Speaker 2: shit about him.
Speaker 1: How fuck that guy?
Speaker 2: Is it? Fred? Or Frank? Do we care? Should I look?
Speaker 1: No? Fuck it?
Speaker 2: Okay, we're done with him.
Speaker 1: Fuck Fred, Frank fucker.
Speaker 2: Anyway, Thanks for listening. We'll post some pictures up on
Speaker 2: Instagram so you can uh check out it if you want.
Speaker 2: It is intriguing, Like, definitely go go check it out
Speaker 2: and let us know what you think.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm scared to see these photos, but I want
Speaker 1: to see them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're They're not great, but they're interesting. It kind
Speaker 2: of like rounds out the story. Well, so do take
Speaker 2: a look. Go take a look. And with that being said,
Speaker 2: make sure you stay wicked.