The chowchilla kidnapping why me by larry park

Jennifer Brown Hyde : We could hear fans. So, we knew that there was some sort of ventilation. Michael Marshall Survivor : I just remember the kids got a hold of me and were holding onto me. And just scared out of their — you know, we were all — just scared out of our wits.

As they did before, the kidnappers removed the children one by one. Michael and the youngest, 5-year-old Monica Ardery, were the last ones left in the van.

Not knowing what had happened to the other children or if they were even alive, Michael says he couldn't bear to hand Monica over to the kidnappers. So, when they opened the doors again, he went first. Michael Marshall : I had to take her hands from mine and rip —and tear them apart, say it would be OK.

And go with them and leave her. Michael Marshall : As soon as I got on that ladder and took a step down … and I heard the rest of the kids say, "It's Mike. And to his relief, not long after, Monica came climbing down the ladder. They were all together again. Michael Marshall : We're OK. We're OK. So right now, so far, we're all right. Jennifer Brown Hyde : Before I knew it, the ladder was gone.

They threw a roll of toilet paper down and said, "We'll be back for you. Michael Marshall : I remember it just went dark. They got underneath the manhole cover and pushed up on it. And they couldn't move it. So, Ed Ray determined that it was time for everyone to get some rest. Michael Marshall : … It would be silent and then somebody would bust out crying and the hole would just erupt.

Everybody's crying. Michael Marshall : The thing that made me cry was not being able to say goodbye to my mom. Carol Marshall's year-old son Mike was another on the bus. Sheriff Ed Bates : Two heavily-laden [sic] vehicles had taken 26 children and their bus driver. That's not easy to do. And how did they control them? And what did they do with them?

As investigators intensified their search, Jennifer and Jeff's mom Joan waited by the phone hoping to hear news about her children. Joan Brown : I remember later that day, praying and saying to God that if you bring them back … I will promise you that I will — and then I stopped because there was nothing I can offer in exchange for my children.

Jennifer Brown Hyde : We had eaten the food. Jennifer Brown Hyde : My little brain started to grasp the concept of we may really not go home. Larry Park : There was this one boy. And so, the roof of the van was starting to cave in. The seams were breaking.

Dust was flowing through. And I remember children just screaming and crying. I knew it. Jennifer Brown Hyde : We thought, and they said — the older kids and Edward — if we're going to die, were going to die trying to get out of here. Jennifer Brown Hyde Survivor : As a young kid, you don't have a lot of sense of time. So, you couldn't tell if it was day or night. It just was a desperate situation. Larry Park Survivor : So, Ed Ray and Mike Marshall … took a bunch of these mattresses that we were laying on and they stacked them on top of each other right underneath the manhole cover.

Michael Marshall : … And I'm giving it everything I got, and all the kids are cheering me on. You know, "Come on Mike, you can do it. You can do it. But they were far from being free. The children would quickly learn that escaping was not going to be easy. The kidnappers had put truck batteries and dirt on top of the manhole cover and had constructed a wooden box around it. Once the manhole cover was moved, that box was just big enough for Michael to stand in.

Start hitting and pounding, hitting and pounding. Larry Park : He dug until he was exhausted and then he kept on digging. There was no quit in him. Larry Park : Then suddenly this ray of sunlight [cries]. This ray of sunlight came down into the opening. And it was catching the dust. And the dust particles looked like a bunch of shooting stars.

I need a minute. Michael Marshall [sighs, then pauses]: The air and the light it was beaming coming through …. Larry Park : Mike Marshall, actually, brave person that he is, crawled out of the hole first. Michael Marshall : And I stuck my head out and … I didn't see anybody. Jennifer Brown Hyde : It looked totally like a sand dune. There was no way to know that there was anything below.

There was no way to know that we were in there. It was approximately 8 p. They had been in the hole for nearly 16 hours. Jennifer Brown Hyde : We all just scurried like a bunch of little mice.

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On July 15, , 26 children and our bus driver were abducted from our school bus. After twelve hours of being driven around in the backs of two vans, the kidnappers buried us alive. This is the true story of the Chowchilla Kidnapping and the effects it had on the life of one of the children, Larry Park. Come along with me as I tell the story of the psychosis left behind On July 15, , 26 children and our bus driver were abducted from our school bus.

Come along with me as I tell the story of the psychosis left behind by this terrifying event. The Post Traumatic Stress Disorder started even before we children were returned home. This is a story of terror, of nightmares, and of a little boy who was lost to a system which believed I would forget about the events of the kidnapping. It becomes a story of hope as I learn to cope with the emotions left behind by this horrifying event. From infancy to present day, journey with me while I struggle to answer the question which has haunted me for the last 35 years.

I am La On July 15, , twenty-six school children and their bus driver were abducted from their school bus and taken on a terrifying ride which ended up in their being buried alive.

I am Larry Park. The kidnapping of my school bus changed my life from the moment the three men stopped us on our way home from summer school. What started as a fun day at the Chowchilla town pool ended with thirty-six our of terror that has forever changed who I was and how I would grow up. Come along with me as I discuss my life growing up, how I came to hate my life, my family, and the world around me.

Feel with me the emotions of guilt and frustration, the sadness and the hatred that encompassed my life as a result of these events. As you read, you will get a first-hand glimps into the horrors left behind by such a traumatic event. From laying awake at night listening to a voice which came to me just two nights after the kidnapping occured, to my pre-teen years where I learned to gain power through the killing of barn yard animals, I am going to take you through a journey of self examination that was hard to live, harder to admit, and harder still to write.

Live with me the days and nights of horror as a little boy grows up thinking that he had been abandoned by all the people he loved and counted on. You might think it amazing that the greatest minds of the day in thought that none of the children would need counseling after the kidnapping. I have looked into my own eyes and seen evil and death waiting.

I have lived in the fear that I would grow up to be a serial killer. I have wondered with fear what tomorrow would bring. I have been afraid of strangers passing me by on the street and untrusting of my own family as I grew up growing more and more distant from them as the long days and nights unfolded for me. I share all of this with you. Have you ever had a bad dream and woken up in a cold sweat? My dreams have terrified me, to this day I fear going to sleep at night because I sometimes have such images of torture and horror.

After the worst of my dreams I see the faces of those I have harmed in my sleep on the ceiling above my bed and coming at me from the shadows of my room. At forty-one years old, I still need a nightlight.