Parole granted to last 1976 California school bus hijacker

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The last of three men convicted of hijacking a school bus full of California children for an attempted $5 million ransom in 1976 is being released by the state’s parole board.

Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the board to reconsider paroling 70-year-old Frederick Woods on Tuesday after two commissioners recommended his release in March.

Woods and his two accomplices kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver near Chowchilla.

They buried the children and their bus driver in a moving van east of San Francisco with little ventilation, light, water, food or bathroom supplies.

The victims were able to dig their way out more than a day later.