20/10/2025
In December 1968, 20-year-old Barbara Jane Mackle, a college student battling the flu, checked into a quiet hotel in Decatur, Georgia, with her mother — hoping for rest and recovery. Instead, that night turned into one of the most terrifying kidnappings in American history.
Late at night, two people disguised as police officers knocked on their door. Thinking they were safe, Barbara’s mother opened it. Within moments, she was overpowered and chloroformed as her sick, frightened daughter was dragged away.
Barbara was taken to a remote location and forced into a fiberglass box buried underground — equipped with an air tube, water, food, and a small lamp. Then the kidnappers sealed her inside, leaving her trapped beneath the earth. For 83 excruciating hours, Barbara lay in near-darkness, feverish and terrified, clinging to the hope that someone would find her before her air ran out.
Meanwhile, her father struggled to meet the kidnappers’ $500,000 ransom demand, while the FBI launched a massive manhunt. After days of relentless searching, agents finally discovered the burial site. When they pried open the box on December 20, 1968, Barbara was still alive — weak, trembling, but breathing.
Her kidnapper, Gary Krist, was sentenced to life in prison but was shockingly released after only ten years. Barbara later wrote a memoir, 83 Hours Till Dawn, detailing her ordeal and the unimaginable strength it took to survive.
Her story remains one of the most haunting examples of endurance — proof that even in complete darkness, the human spirit can fight its way back to the light.
