The 1968 kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle was the subject of an autobiographical book which was the basis of two television movies. Background Barbara Jane Mackle, aged 20 at the time of her kidnapping, was the daughter of Robert Mackle, a wealthy Florida land developer. Barbara was attending Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, when the Hong Kong flu pandemic impacted the campus, resulting in Barbara contracting the illness. Barbara's mother travelled to Atlanta to take care of her daughter and drive her back to the family home in Coral Gables, Florida, for the Christmas break. Along the way they stayed at a Rodeway Inn in Decatur. Events On December 17, 1968, prison escapee Gary Steven Krist and his accomplice, Ruth Eisemann-Schierboth disguised as police officersknocked on the door of the room Barbara and her mother were sharing at the Rodeway Inn. Krist told Barbara that an acquaintance, Stewart Hunt Woodward, had been in a traffic accident. Once inside, Krist and Eisemann-Schier chloroformed, bound and gagged Mackle's mother and forced Barbara at gunpoint into the back of their waiting car, informing her that she was being kidnapped. They drove Barbara to a remote pine stand off South Berkeley Lake Road in Gwinnett County near Duluth and buried her in a shallow trench inside a fiberglass-reinforced box. The box was outfitted with an air pump, a battery-powered lamp, water laced with sedatives and food. Two plastic pipes provided Mackle with outside air. Krist and Eisemann-Schier demanded a $500,000 ransom ($4.28 million in 2023 dollars) from Mackle's father. The first attempt at a ransom drop was disrupted when two policemen drove by. The kidnappers fled on foot, and the FBI found their car abandoned. Inside the car, the FBI found photographs of a man with a policeman's hat and the car registration in the name of George Deacon. The second ransom drop was successful, but there was no word from the kidnappers. The FBI was able to trace George Deacon to the University of Miami, where they realized he built ventilated boxes for a living. Deacon's boss provided the name of Ruth Eisemann-Schier, who also worked at the university, as someone Deacon spent time with. The FBI was contacted by a local man in Georgia claiming he had just bought a small trailer from a man and found some odd paperwork inside. The FBI discovered letters addressed to George Deacon and Gary Krist,