James Schoenfeld, one of three men who kidnapped 26 Chowchilla children and their school bus driver in 1976, was denied parole Wednesday, Madera County District Attorney Michael Keitz said.

The state Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for Schoenfeld for the next three years, Keitz said.

Schoenfeld, his brother, Richard Schoenfeld, and Fred Woods were convicted of kidnapping the victims on July 15, 1976 and burying them alive in a van inside a Livermore rock quarry in hopes of collecting a $5 million ransom. The victims spent 16 hours there before bus driver Ed Ray and two of the older boys helped them escape. Ray died in May 2012.

In June, Richard Schoenfeld was released on parole at an undisclosed location. He is being monitored 24 hours a day through a GPS monitoring device, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said at the time.

Richard Schoenfeld had been in state prison since since Feb. 17, 1978, the spokesman said. He was released from the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo.

Woods and James Schoenfeld are at the San Luis Obispo prison. In November, Woods was denied parole for the 13th time. He can reapply in three years. Schoenfeld was last denied parole in March 2010.