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https://n2v.paloaltoonline.com/square/print/2023/12/14/how-mountain-views-oldest-house-became-a-motive-for-the-1976-chowchilla-kidnapping

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How Mountain View's oldest house became a motive for the 1976 Chowchilla kidnapping

Original post made on Dec 15, 2023

Most people who have ventured into Shoreline Park have seen the Rengstorff House. Years before the mansion became Mountain View's history museum, it was part of the motive behind one of the country's largest mass kidnappings.

Read the full story here Web Link posted Thursday, December 14, 2023, 10:52 AM

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Posted by Liquidamber
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Dec 15, 2023 at 10:55 am
Liquidamber is a registered user.

Thanks for the Hawthorn family's Portola Valley home link. Midpeninsula Open Space District has been sitting on that property since 2006 with a cash stewardship endowment from the Woods Family. The house is not yet open to the public. Maybe one day it'll be open with an historical display about the horror kidnapping. [Attachment 1 for some more Woods family history: Web Link . ]

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Posted by Josie
a resident of Charleston Meadows
on Dec 15, 2023 at 11:15 am
Josie is a registered user.

Thanks for this article about the Rengstorff House/Chowchilla connection. I had heard about this a long time ago and told others about it, but couldn't find any supporting references on the internet about this wild and improbable story. I also knew the Schoenfeld parents, and seeing their mother at our church collecting signatures for their parole. A very sad and tragic story all around.

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