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How do you survive when faced

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with impossible odds? That's the

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question asked in each season of

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Wondery podcast against the odds.

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Hosts Mike Corey and Cassie de Peckel

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put you in the shoes of real people who

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looked death in the eyes and lived to tell

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the tale. These stories are filled with

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the unshakable human drive to survive

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and the inspiring bravery of the heroes

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who helped. The newest season of Against

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the Odds takes you to the largest kidnapping

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for ransom in American history, where

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a school bus carrying twenty six

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children and their driver was hijacked

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by three mask gunman on an isolated

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road on the outskirts of Chochila, California.

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The boss and its passengers disappeared seemingly

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without a trace. Local law enforcement, the

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feds and the media mounted an enormous

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manhunt, but the trail quickly ran

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dry. You're about to hear a clip from

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the school bus kidnapping. From

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against the odds. While you're

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listening, follow against the odds wherever

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you get your podcasts and hey, Prime

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members, you can listen to against the odds

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ad free on Amazon Music. Download

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the Amazon Music app today.

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A listener note. This episode contains

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adult language. Ed

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Rae, steers his school bus

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down a lonely road that runs between

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long rows of almond trees.

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He squints as he adjusts his

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visor to block the blazing afternoon

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sun. It's July fifteenth

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nineteen seventy six. Ed

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is driving kids home from Dairyland

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Elementary School in Chochila,

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California. Summer school

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is in session. To Ed,

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that doesn't qualify as real

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school as far as he's concerned.

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Summer school is more like baby

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city. He glances in

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the rearview mirror. There are couple

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dozen kids he still needs to drop off.

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And all of them are from a field

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trip they took to local pool. Ed

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shakes his head and smiles. He

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likes the kids in his route. And

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he thinks, hey, like him. Ed

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is fifty four with a strong

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build a stern face and

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sandy receding hair. He's

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been driving this bus for about twenty

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years now. Before that, he

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grew corn and raised cattle.

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He didn't make it far in school

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and can't really read or write, but

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he's good with numbers and he can bail

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hay like nobody's business. He

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could never imagine leaving

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Chowchilla. It's a farming town

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in California's San Joaquin Valley,

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about a hundred miles east of San Jose.

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Ed's lived around here his entire

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life The population is

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around five thousand, and that suits

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Ed just fine. He likes the slow

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pace of living. having plenty of

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land to work and the god fearing

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country folk that call home.

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He hangs a right onto Avenue twenty

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one past a no other endless

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almond orchard. As

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the road opens up in front of he

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spots a white Dodge van parked in

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the middle of the road with its door

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open. That's peculiar.

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Ed rarely sees other cars on

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the road when he hits his part of the route.

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The van must have stalled out.

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He'd love to help them, but it's against

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school rules to stop once his route is underway.

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And he knows the kids parents are

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expecting them home soon. Ed

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slows down and angles the bus to

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the side of the narrow road, preparing

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to inch the bus around the van. A

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man emerges from the passenger

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side of the van and strives

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towards the bus. He's

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wearing overalls and has a nylon

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stocking pulled over his head.

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In one hand, he's holding a tiny

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revolver. In the other,

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a shotgun. Both guns

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are pointed straight at Ed. Ed

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stops the bus. The mass

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gun and walks towards the driver's side

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window and motions for Ed to open it.

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Ed's hands are shaking as he flips

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the latch and opens the window, the

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man in the mask. Steps forward. Would

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you open the door, please? Ed

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hesitates, but he knows he

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doesn't have a choice. He pulls

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the lever and the door of the bus

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flips open, agonizing seconds

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pass, but the man doesn't

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board the bus. It just

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stands there Air. Ed looks at

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the van and sees two more men

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emerge from it. They have nylon

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stockings on their heads. There armed.

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And they're heading straight for his bus.

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Ed feels his pulse accelerate as

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he tries to imagine what these

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men have in store for him and

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for the children in his church.

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Wondery I'm Mike Corey, and

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this is against the odds.

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Chowchilla is a quiet farming town

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in California's San Joaquin

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Valley, but on July fifteenth,

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nineteen seventy six, the

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town became embroiled in a crisis that

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captured the world to tension.

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A school bus carrying twenty six

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children and their driver was hijacked

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by three masked gunmen on an isolated

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road on the outskirts of town. The

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bus and its passengers disappeared

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without a trace. Within hours,

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the Vanish school bus was headline

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news, the press mob the

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town and the story spread like

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wildfire. With twenty

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seven victims, it was the biggest

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kidnapping in American history, but

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no one knew who had taken the children

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or why. This

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is our two part Sears Reese's Chowchilla

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school bus kidnapping. And

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this is episode one,

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vanished. Hey,

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Prime members. You can listen to against

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the odds ad free on Amazon

6:17

Music. Download the Amazon Music

6:19

app today.