In December 1968, as America prepared for Christmas, one of the most terrifying kidnappings in U.S. history quietly began in a Georgia hotel room.
Barbara Jane Mackle was 20 years old, a college student at Emory University. She was recovering from the flu and staying at a motel in Decatur, Georgia, with her mother, hoping a few days of rest would help her feel better. Nothing about that night felt dangerous. It was calm. Ordinary.
Then there was a knock at the door.
Two men identified themselves as police officers. They said there had been an accident involving the family car and needed to ask a few questions. Barbara’s mother opened the door.
Within seconds, the room filled with chloroform.
Barbara lost consciousness.
Waking Up Underground
When Barbara woke up, she wasn’t in another room or another building.
She was in complete darkness.
She quickly realized she was trapped inside a small fiberglass box, buried several feet underground. The space was barely large enough to move. The walls were hard and cold. Above her was nothing but packed earth.
She had been buried alive.
The kidnappers had prepared the box carefully. Inside were:
- A small battery-powered light
- A fan and an air ventilation pipe
- A jug of water
- A few cans of food
- Sedatives
- A blanket and a book
There was also a typed note explaining how to ration supplies. The message was chillingly calm. If her family paid the ransom, she might survive. If not, she would die underground, alone.
The Ransom Demand
Barbara’s family soon received a ransom letter demanding $500,000 — an enormous amount of money at the time. The kidnapper gave detailed instructions for delivering the cash and warned that any police involvement would result in Barbara’s death.
Despite the threat, the FBI immediately became involved.
Agents recognized something unusual in the letters. The kidnapper was highly educated, meticulous, and arrogant. He took pride in his plan — especially the “perfect” burial chamber. That arrogance would become his weakness.
83 Hours Below the Earth
While investigators worked above ground, Barbara endured a nightmare few people could imagine.
For 83 hours, she lay buried in darkness.
She had no sense of time — no daylight, no sound from the outside world. The air grew stale. The fan weakened as the batteries drained. Every breath mattered.
She fought panic by staying awake, praying, and speaking out loud to herself. She rationed water carefully. She feared falling asleep too deeply, afraid she might never wake up again.
Time was no longer measured in hours.
It was measured in breaths.
The Break in the Case
The FBI eventually identified the kidnapper as Gary Steven Krist, a young attorney with a criminal history and a belief that he was smarter than law enforcement.
When Krist was arrested, he believed authorities would not be able to locate the burial site in time.
He was wrong.
Under questioning, Krist revealed the location where Barbara had been buried. FBI agents and rescue teams rushed to a remote area and began digging.
When they finally opened the box, Barbara Jane Mackle was still alive — dehydrated, weak, but breathing.
After nearly four days underground, she saw daylight again.
Aftermath
Gary Krist was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. (He was later controversially released decades later, a decision that sparked outrage.)
Barbara survived.
She returned to college, later married, had children, and chose a life largely away from the public eye. She did not define herself by what was done to her.
But her story became part of American history — a case studied by law enforcement, psychologists, and true crime writers for decades.
Why This Case Still Haunts People
Because it forces a terrifying question:
What happens to the human mind when the world shrinks to a box underground?
Barbara Jane Mackle survived 83 hours buried alive — not because the box was well designed, but because her will to live was stronger than the darkness around her.
