CHOWCHILLA  (AP) — One of three men who kidnapped a busload of California school children has been released from prison after more than 35 years behind bars.

State prison officials said Thursday that Richard Allen Schoenfeld was released on parole to an undisclosed location late Wednesday. He will be monitored 24 hours a day with a GPS device.

An appeals court ordered his release earlier this year, ruling that the Board of Parole Hearings unfairly set his parole date for 2021 even though it concluded he wasn't a threat to society.

Schoenfeld and two others were convicted in the 1976 kidnapping. Their captives — students from Chowchilla and their bus driver — managed to escape when the kidnappers decided to take a nap before calling in their ransom demand.