Episode 180 The Kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle

In December 1968, Barbara Jane Mackle was kidnapped from a motel room outside Atlanta, Georgia. The circumstances surrounding her abduction were so strange, investigators could barely make sense of them. The search for twenty year old Barbara Jane Mackle became a race against time that gripped her family and drew national attention.

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Episode Sources

• Miller, Gene. 83 Hours Till Dawn. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971.
• “FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives: Ruth Eisemann-Schier, 1969.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ten Most Wanted Program Archives.
• “Kidnapped Heiress Rescued from Buried Box.” The Miami Herald, December 21, 1968.
• “Barbara Mackle Found Alive.” The Atlanta Constitution, December 21, 1968.
• “Agents Seize Suspect in Mackle Kidnapping.” The Miami Herald, December 21–23, 1968.
• “Man Held in Heiress Kidnap Case.” The New York Times, December 22, 1968.
• “Girl in Box Case.” Los Angeles Times, December 22, 1968.
• “Suspect Caught in Marsh After Days on the Run.” Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), December 1968.
• “Woman on FBI List Seized in Oklahoma.” The Oklahoman, February 8, 1969.
• United States v. Gary Steven Krist, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 1969.
• United States v. Ruth Eisemann-Schier, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 1969.
• FBI, Supplemental Case Report: Kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle, December 1968 (declassified portions).
• Jordan, C.D. “Account of the Mackle Kidnapping Rescue.” Interview, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 1970.
• Associated Press. “Heiress Found Alive in Buried Box; Ransom Paid.” December 21, 1968.
• United Press International. “Search Intensifies for Kidnappers After Ransom Drop Fails.” December 1968.
• “Krist Granted Medical License Despite Record.” The Indianapolis News, July 23, 1985.
• U.S. Department of Justice. “South Florida Man Sentenced in Cocaine Trafficking Case.” DOJ Press Release, 2006.
• “Eisemann-Schier Paroled and Deported.” The Miami Herald, 1973.
• Emory Wheel (Emory University). “Student Kidnapped from Decatur Motel.” December 18–22, 1968 coverage.
• “The Mackle Kidnapping Revisited.” People Magazine (retrospective feature), 1998.
• “Buried Alive: The 1968 Abduction of Barbara Mackle.” CNN.com, Crime Retrospective Series, 2003.
• “83 Hours in the Earth.” CBS News Sunday Morning, archival retrospective segment.

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.