On July 15, 1976, a school bus carrying 26 children and their beloved driver, Ed Ray, left Chowchilla, California, after a hot day at summer school and never made it home. Blocked by a mysterious white van, the bus was hijacked by armed, masked men and driven into a hidden slough, where the victims were transferred into dark, soundproofed vans. Over the next 16 hours, they would endure an ordeal that left lasting scars: being buried alive. In this episode, we speak to Fox News Senior Correspondent Claudia Cowan, host of Nightmare in Chowchilla, to unpack the chilling ransom plot and its surprising perpetrators. You can listen to the podcast Nightmare in Chowchilla: The School Bus Kidnapping here . SURVEY Want to win a $1,000 gift card in just 3 minutes? Fill out this short survey to help True Crime Conversations gather more information on what content you want to hear from us! CREDITS Guest: Claudia Cowan Host: Claire Murphy Senior Producer: Tahli Blackman Group Executive Producer: Ilaria Brophy Audio Engineer: Tina Matalov GET IN TOUCH Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @truecrimeconversations Make sure to leave us a rating and review on Apple & Spotify to let us know how you're liking the episodes. Want us to cover a case on the podcast? Email us at
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