48 Hours Remembering the Chowchilla Kidnapping (CBS Saturday March 18, 2023)

Today Saturday March 18, 2023, there is a new episode of 48 Hours.

Remembering the Chowchilla Kidnapping The last of three men convicted of kidnapping 26 children and their bus driver was paroled from a California prison last summer, after serving 46 years behind bars. For the first time, 48 HOURS has access to an emotionally charged interview with a survivor of that terrible tragedy.

In 1976, the case captivated the nation when three masked gunmen kidnapped the children and their driver off a school bus on the way home from class and buried them alive in a decrepit moving truck in a rock quarry. Before making their daring escape, they were in the dark for close to 16 hours. One of those kids was Jodi Heffington, who has dedicated her life to seeing her captors remain in jail. After years of silence, Heffington finally opens up about her experience and the emotional toll it took on her life in an interview conducted shortly before her death in 2021.

“How that day affected me has affected me every day in some way or another,” Heffington told 48 HOURS. “I think it made me not a good daughter, not a good sister, not a good aunt, and especially not a good mother … I try to be those things. But it seems like, it just took something from me that I can’t ever get back. And I can’t tear it down … no matter how hard I try and no matter what I do.”

David Begnaud narrates 48 HOURS:  “Remembering the Chowchilla Kidnapping,”and  we learn how a group of kids and their bus driver overcame incredible odds to escape a kidnapper. The kidnapping may have been the largest in U.S. history. The authorities quickly narrowed their search to Fred Woods, then 24, the son of the quarry’s owner, and two of his pals, James and Richard Schoenfeld, after the youngsters and their driver escaped. After their arrest and trial,the three individuals were found guilty and given life sentences with the chance of parole. All were eventually paroled.

Heffington testified at nearly every parole hearing for the kidnappers.

“They just let us off the bus with all these people,” Heffington told 48 HOURS. “And you didn’t know where your parents were … Nothing was ever the same. Nothing was ever the same after that.”

48 HOURS: “Remembering the Chowchilla Kidnapping” is produced by Chris Young Ritzen and George Osterkamp. Gary Winter and Mead Stone are producer-editors. Jordan Kinsey and Hannah Vair are the associate producers. Joan Adelman is the editor. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

(Editor’s Note: This edition follows CBS Sports coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and may be subject to a schedule adjustment.)

Airdate: Saturday March 18, 2023 at 22:00 on CBS

Season 36 Episode 20

48 Hours is a CBS news magazine that investigates intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all aspects of the human experience. Over its long run, the show has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, driven the reopening — and resolution — of cold cases, and changed numerous lives. CBS News correspondents offer an in-depth look into each story, with the emphasis on solving the mystery at its heart. The program and its team have earned critical acclaim, including 20 Emmys and three Peabody Awards.

Featured image credit: CBS