Decades after school bus kidnapping, strong feelings in Chowchilla. 'Thirty-five years ago in Chowchilla, Calif., three young men from upscale families kidnapped a bus full of children and their driver and buried them in a quarry. Some of the officials who put the culprits in prison are calling for their parole — a sore point for many residents.' [more inside]
posted by VikingSword on Apr 3, 2011 - 149 comments

Joseph P. Smith had a criminal record dating back to 1993, now suspected of kidnapping and murdering eleven year old Carlie Brucia in Sarasota. According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Smith had a history of "second chances." How typical is this, or is this just a case of hindsight being everything?
posted by SentientAI on Feb 6, 2004 - 23 comments

Well, they've been found. The remains of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis, the highly-publicized first victims of the "summer of child kidnappings," have been found at the [former] home of the FBI's main "subject of interest."

Damn, damn, damn.
posted by wdpeck on Aug 25, 2002 - 102 comments

Kidnapper's cabin surrounded as a hostage drama seems to cap a remarkable criminal career. Anthony Zappa was the fugitive who caused the Mall of America to be closed for a search last month; he got away, then he was going to turn himself in, but instead he fled to Nebraska, where he kidnapped a teenage girl. Oddly, this parking-lot snatch resembled an unsolved case of a missing TV anchorwoman, Jodi Huisentruit.
posted by dhartung on Apr 12, 2001 - 5 comments