Young grew increasingly agitated as the afternoon wore on. Around 3:45 P.M. the man, who witnesses noted was growing more and moreagitated at the 100+ children crying and praying, handed the rope to the woman and quickly left the room. Janel Dayton: A couple of little interesting incidents: We had a couple of men teachers who said that they didnt believe in God. The room was filling up. They brought in the video machine so that they could watch TV and keep them occupied. [5] The leaking gasoline's fumes prompted teachers to open the classroom windows, unknowingly creating vents for the impending explosion. The bomb exploded prematurely, sending her flying across the room like a flaming torch. I hope people believe that if God intervened and helped these people, maybe He can intervene and help them with the problems in their lives, too.. And this teacher came in and I said, Look across there. She tried to run back in, but the firefighters wouldnt let her.. Barta Heiner as Verlene Bennion, an elderly teacher at Cokeville Elementary who suffers from smoke inhalation after the bomb goes off. Located in Wyomings southwest corner, along the Idaho border, Cokeville is a small community of less than 1,000 people. Christensen can be heavy-handed with both actors and dialogue. I dont know where to go. It sounds like surefire fodder for a faith-based film, which is exactly what "The Cokeville Miracle" is. Sue Castaneda: How long were you in there total? Mark Junge: Yep. The subsequent police report states that David opened the door from the connecting bathroom, shot his injured wife in the head and killed her,[9] shot and wounded John Miller, a music teacher who was trying to flee, then closed the bathroom door and killed himself with a shot from a .45 pistol to the head. Three ladies wrote it. Janel Dayton: We slid down and just happened to hit a hole, and the fella that I was with, we. David attached the bomb trigger to his wrist and threatened the group that he might, at any time, move his arm and ignite the bomb. In 1986, more than 150 schoolkids and adults were held hostage at an elementary school in tiny Cokeville, Wyo. I went in and got my mail and as I was approaching my mailbox, I had my back to them, the secretary introduced me to them. The day of the Cokeville Incident, as we refer to it, I was doing some teacher preparation work. I just expected to see dead bodies every place, he said. I cant leave! but he yelled Getout! And though the walls were pocked from shrapnel, no one was hit by any of it. So I thought maybe I needed to tell them they were in the wrong place if this was part of it. Other children started doing the same thing.. Williams, who was severely burned in the explosion, did not see angels that day either, but she experienced a different kind of miracle after being rushed to the hospital. So if you would just give me your name and tell me what you did at the school, and then on what day it was, and so forth. (Laughs). While he was gone, the unthinkable happenedDoris accidentally jerked the string and the bomb exploded. Shawn Stevens as John Teichert, the bishop of Cokeville's local congregation. It was the spring of the year. Parentheses ( ) are used for incidental non-verbal sounds, like laughter. Therell be a contest between good and evil, and itll look like evils going to triumph, but it doesnt. They are strong believers in a higher power and if you argue otherwise, they will throw down the gauntlet and tell the tale of the events that transpired on May 16, the day an army of mysterious ethereal entities were sent to protect their precious children. David attached the bomb trigger to hi Princess, Deppe, and Mendenhall were never charged in relation to this crime because of their refusal to participate.[6]. For the better part of the interim then, men played with Man making love, fire, food, mores, children, Gods, language, tools, wastes, etc: combinations of divers sorts, in almost as many directions (purposes). Instead of shooting her like he had earlier threatened, he gets his car keys and throws them at her, commanding her to leave, saying she is no daughter of his. Sue Castaneda: What do you thinkwhen we were little we did fire drills, but all it was, was line up, go outside. Janel Dayton: not in the realm of entertainment any more. That bomb should have leveled the wing of this school, but it looks like the bomb blast went straight up. The woman, Doris Young, did most of the talking and explained to the classroom full of people that they were starting a revolution and that each child in the room was required to pay $2 million dollars (investigators later discovered that the money was to be put into a fund that the Youngs would use after they were reincarnated). ", All told, 79 of the hostages suffered injuries, mostly second-degree burns, smoke inhalation, and other injuries from the exploding bomb. He also allowed teachers to keep their classes together to help them stay calm. The Billings Gazette explained how one childs story played out: Lori Nate was thrown back against the wall. We had two windows that they were bailing kids out of and two doors. So I went down to the office and by the time I got there they had talked to the secretary. WyoHistory.org welcomes the support of the following sponsors. Doris tried numerous times to calm the children by telling them to "think of it as an adventure movie," or that they "would have a great story to tell their grandchildren." Proof is a concept, it suggests something that is on account of itself it is proven. Investigators discovered that wires to three of the bombs five blasting caps had been mysteriously cut, preventing detonation. Then, she blacked out. Thats the lady, she said, She was the one that was there with me. Her grandmother explained that she couldnt have known her. Eight months later, Payne learned who the woman in white was when her mother pulled out an old locket. So we decided to have a fire drill in the lunchroom where all the children would be there. There are somany peopleabout 30 of themwho stand as witnesses to the spiritual blessings that happened that day.. Anyway, then he decided that he wanted the kids away from him. The Youngs believed that a community that loved its children, with strong roots in the Church, would listen to their demands and comply. Janel Dayton: I dont think it did. [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church.]. The story was also featured on Unsolved Mysteries, Unexplained Mysteries, and I Survived. "Hey, lady, is this your first time kidnapping helpless little children?" There was a lot of controversy over it. She dropped to the floor and started rolling to put out the flames. Etched into the wall, just behind the blast area, was the burnt outline of a large, human-shaped figure with what looked to be wings extending from the sides of its body. That was a crisis, because when the kids, when it was time to go home, then they realized that they werent going home. Twitter.com/randy_cordova. But when they got us all in, he passed out something that hed written to the teachers and some of the students. Mark Junge: Did this whole incident, Janel, strengthen you, or do you think it kind of shookyour trust in people? On May 16, 1986, an elementary school in the tiny town of Cokeville, Wyoming, was held hostage by a married couple with a bomb. One effect is that, for quite a long time after I went in any public building, anything, I made sure I sat by the exit. Nobody could help her. The way those witnesses all came out, each very independent of each other, is proof enough. Conger agrees. I believe what everybody else says and have faith that they saw what they saw. And I think he was what we would call crazy. The film is essentially divided into two parts. I think they didnt understand what its like to be with children. Nevertheless it has been the predominant concept these 2000+ years and any combination that has competed with other combinations using it has eventually either adopted it or ceased to exist. David wasit was just like he was dead. Janel Dayton: Well, when I got out there and cleared the barricade, I saw one little girl fall and she looked at me like, What is going on? And I never saw that child again. Sarah Kent as Claudia Hartley, Ron's wife, who is worried about his skepticism. David's youngest daughter from his first marriage, Princess, entered the elementary school with David and Doris, but refused to carry out the plan, leaving to report the incident at the town hall. The film was based on the Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis in 1986 and the book The Cokeville Miracle: When Angels Intervene by Hartt Wixom and Judene Wixom. Janel Dayton: Well, I think everybody is, dont you? As they entered the room, each teacher was handed a typewritten manifesto with quotes from Shakespeare and Socrates and a mysterious title across the top of the paper that read, Zero equals Infinity. Both men were handcuffed in a van outside the school.[1]. She is the head of this oral history project. It was a normal day for the 154 children . This section of the movie essentially plays like a thriller, as Young tests his explosives and then infiltrates the school. And like a lot of inspirational films, the movie could use a little more subtlety and restraint. Cook, the school's secretary and the first person taken hostage, could tell Young's threats were serious. The diabolical trick weve otherwise learned (internalizesd) is realitivity; when in Rome do as the Romans, when doing math do as the mathematicians, when fighting a thermonuclear war, discard spears and arrows for the thermonuclear devises, etc. Mark Junge: Thats a really interesting statement! one hostage asks Doris. And the gasoline fumes had made some of the children sick. (Laughing) Well, I dont mean to make light of it, but, I mean, I just wonder how you were affected? Then the classes started coming in. Deppe and Mendenhall refuse to cooperate, and David handcuffs them in the back of his van. Based on the true story of a school taken hostage by an armed couple, who threaten to blow the place away with bombs. My husband was the one that decided that they would do that. All the hostages escaped, though 79 were later hospitalized with burns and injuries, the majority of which were severe.[3][2]. He confides in them that he saw people dressed all in white angels. 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