The Transformational Impact of a 1976 Mass Kidnapping on Perceptions of Childhood Trauma
In 1976, a chilling incident shook the world as 26 children and their bus driver mysteriously disappeared in Chowchilla, California Explore the far-reaching impact of this mass kidnapping on childhood trauma and the heroic efforts that unfolded in this tight-knit farming town
CNN Films presents the bone-chilling crime documentary "Chowchilla," set to premiere on Sunday, December 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
On a bright July afternoon in 1976, 26 children and their bus driver disappeared during their ride home from school in Chowchilla, California. The town, with a population of 5,000, is a tight-knit farming community nestled in the San Joaquin Valley.
The school bus was discovered abandoned in a ditch several hours later, prompting the police to suspect that something was wrong.
At 3:54 p.m., three armed men with their faces covered with pantyhose, had ambushed the bus on a deserted road and abducted the children and their bus driver, Ed Ray. They were forcibly split up at gunpoint, loaded into two vans, and driven 11 hours to an abandoned rock quarry over a hundred miles away.
Ray and the children were forcefully taken to a trailer hidden deep underground by the kidnappers. After leaving them with minimal bedding in the dark, the kidnappers covered the top with dirt, creating a makeshift underground prison for the kids. Their intention was to demand $5 million in ransom for the Chowchilla kids, aged between 5 and 14.
But after 16 hours, Ray and two of the older boys pried the roof open and helped the other 24 crawl out. Police brought them to a prison, where medical experts gave them the all-clear: The kids were a little shaken up, doctors thought, but aside from a few bruises and some minor urinary tract problems because they had been holding in urine, they had managed to survive without injury.
The children and their bus driver were held in this trailer for hours.
James Palmer/AP
The Chowchilla kidnapping had become a global news sensation, with many reports focusing on the children's resilience. Yet, there was little attention given to the potential long-term impact on their mental health. With the field of child trauma psychiatry still in its early stages, the effects of such a traumatic event on the children's adulthood were overlooked.
Many experts once believed that children had infinite resilience and would simply "move on" from traumatic events. The diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, even for veterans, was not yet established.
"There was a hope that children would bounce back, forget about the event, and continue with their lives as if it had never occurred," explained Dr. Spencer Eth, the head of mental health at the Miami VA Healthcare System, who was not connected to the Chowchilla case.
But one doctor decided to take a closer look.
100% were having problems
After the Chowchilla kidnapping, a Los Angeles organization arranged a trip to Disneyland for the children in an effort to assist with their recovery, as the local school provided minimal therapy or counseling. According to a mental health professional, it was anticipated that only one of the 26 children would experience emotional effects from the kidnappings.
Upon Dr. Lenore Terr's arrival in Chowchilla in November, it became clear that the previous prediction was completely incorrect. Terr discovered that parents were still in a state of fear, as their children continued to experience nightmares and scream in their sleep, even five months following the traumatic incident.
Terr shared in the CNN Films documentary "Chowchilla," airing at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday, "No parent was willing to acknowledge that their child was one of the 26. But by the time I arrived, it was evident that 100% of the children were experiencing ongoing problems."
Officials remove the buried truck from a rock quarry in Livermore, California, on July 20, 1976.
As a child psychiatrist training in San Francisco, Terr had always been captivated by the growing field of research on child trauma. She wondered about the impact on children who were "terrified but had somehow survived."
After receiving an article from a colleague about the Chowchilla kidnapping, Terr finally found the natural case study she had been seeking for nearly a decade: a group of children who had all endured the same traumatic event. Despite escaping physical harm, every one of them, regardless of age, was permanently affected.
"That kidnapping and that threat of death left an imprint that many of them never fully recovered from," Eth said. "And we know that now, decades later, that is the usual course of events following catastrophic trauma."
Terrors and nightmares
And that is something we need to address and provide support for in our community.
Terr spent the next year meeting with a small group of parents and 23 child survivors who had stayed in Chowchilla, conducting interviews with each one for at least an hour. Sometimes, she noted, the interviews would last two or three hours.
Each child that Terr spoke with bore emotional wounds from the kidnappings, which presented in various ways. Some experienced a decline in self-esteem, while others developed paranoia and anxiety when encountering unfamiliar vans.
18 months after the abduction, one of the older boys fired a BB gun at the driver of an unfamiliar car parked near his house. The driver turned out to be a Japanese tourist whose car had broken down.
The children also frequently experienced night terrors. At that time, the parents in Chowchilla were advised not to enter their children's rooms, as experts believed that doing so would "reward" the behavior of having nightmares.
"When we got home, I thought everything would be OK," Jennifer Brown Hyde, who was 9 years old during the kidnapping, said in an interview for the film. "I can remember having nightmares immediately. My mom tells me I started sleepwalking, and I would just come into their room in shock, and I would tell them theyre killing me. "
Jennifer Brown, at home with brother Jeffrey just after their return, still has trouble going into her home's underground storm shelter.
AP
In multiple instances, Terr discovered that children had dreamt about their own deaths, such as being lined up and shot or killed by kidnappers on a bus. This indicated to Terr that the children's traumatized minds had developed an expectation of death.
Furthermore, all the children interviewed by Terr struggled with fears associated with kidnapping. Twenty out of the 23 children feared being kidnapped again. Most of them also feared everyday experiences, such as being alone, the dark, strangers, and loud sounds. Additionally, eight children experienced such intense anxiety that they screamed, ran, or called for help when confronted with these common occurrences.
"Those demons were going to hold us captive forever," said Larry Park, who was 9 years old at the time of the abduction, when speaking to the filmmakers.
For some, the emotional impact of the abductions became overwhelming. Mike Marshall was 14 years old when he assisted in leading the children to freedom from the underground trailer. When staying in Chowchilla became unbearable, his family left in an attempt to leave the past behind.
On the first anniversary of the kidnapping, Terr reported that Marshall would take the cushions off the couch and spend two hours punching them daily for a period of two weeks. "I put myself back in there," Marshall explained in an interview for the documentary, reflecting on his thoughts about impending death.
Some of it gets worse
Years later, the Chowchilla kidnapping still lingered in the minds of survivors.
After a four-year follow-up, Terr noticed that all the children still showed signs of post-traumatic effects, including intense embarrassment and ongoing nightmares. Each child also experienced a fear of everyday objects, although some had started to conquer these fears. "Childhood trauma doesn't disappear when we become adults," Terr informed the filmmakers. "In fact, it can sometimes worsen."
Terr continued to study the Chowchilla children for five years, conducting groundbreaking research that was one of the earliest to explore the impact of trauma on children. Her work with the Chowchilla victims made significant contributions to the field of childhood psychiatry, challenging the belief that children were unaffected by trauma. She highlighted the long-term effects of childhood trauma, demonstrating that its impact could extend well into adulthood, similar to the effects seen in adults.
Marshall, at the age of 19, was experiencing blackout drunkenness every night and using drugs as a way to cope with the traumatic memory of being kidnapped. He revealed that he has sought help in rehab at least seven times in an attempt to deal with his struggles. "I just didn't want to hold onto any more memories of the kidnapping," he expressed in the documentary. "I just wanted to make it all disappear."
Park was haunted by the kidnappings well into his adult years. Although the gunmen were apprehended and sent to prison, Park couldn't shake the memory and would often find himself obsessing over ways to make them pay for their actions.
Larry Park struggled with his anger after the kidnapping.
CNN
"During an interview for the documentary, Park acknowledged that anger had taken over every part of her life."
"To this day, Hyde finds it difficult to enter the underground storm shelter near her Midwest home. The sight of the ladder leading underground brings back painful memories of the trailer where she was held captive almost fifty years ago."
Heroes in the field
Today, mental health experts recognize that Terrs work in Chowchilla paved the way for the modern understanding that childhood trauma can have lasting consequences.
Dr. Elissa Benedek, former President of the American Psychiatric Association and child psychiatrist, commented, "We have gained valuable knowledge since Chowchilla, and Dr. Terr was a true trailblazer. It is widely acknowledged that children are deeply affected by such events, and the impact of trauma can endure."
Benedek also highlighted the discovery that trauma can accumulate, with multiple traumatic experiences posing a heightened risk for long-term consequences in children, as mental health experts have come to understand.
In contrast to 1976, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is now recognized as a clinical diagnosis for children who have gone through catastrophic events. Healthcare professionals now have access to evidence-based treatments that can assist children dealing with trauma, according to Eth. Don't miss out on CNN Health's weekly newsletter.
Subscribe now to receive Dr. Sanjay Gupta's The Results Are In every Tuesday from the CNN Health team. Eth described it as a significant event from a scientific perspective, citing the work of Lenore Terr and others that has validated child PTSD as a legitimate condition requiring assessment and care.
Terr says that an enhanced awareness of trauma has also impacted our approach to crisis situations. Following tragedies such as the school shootings in Columbine and Sandy Hook, mental health counselors were at the forefront providing support to the survivors. She credits the Chowchilla survivors in the film for paving the way in understanding more modern issues, such as the effects of separating children from their parents at the border and the impact of devastating school shootings on children.
"The Chowchilla children are heroes," she added. "And they continue to teach us what childhood trauma is ⦠50 years after the fact."
