The State - News from Dec. 30, 1988

James Schoenfeld, one of three men who kidnaped a busload of Chowchilla schoolchildren in 1976 and held them captive in a buried van while demanding a $5-million ransom, was denied parole for a fifth time. Schoenfeld, 37, did not attend his hearing before the three-member parole board, which rejected his bid for freedom despite agreeing that he has been a model prisoner during his 11 years at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo. The Board of Prison Terms recommended that Schoenfeld undergo tests to determine his potential for violence, and said it believed that the serious nature of his crime did not warrant his release from prison at this time. Schoenfeld, his brother, Richard, 34, and Fred Woods, 37, all received life sentences.