It is a story that feels like it belongs in a cheap thriller novel, but for 20-year-old Barbara Jane Mackle, the nightmare was very real. In December 1968, she spent 83 hours—more than three full days—buried alive inside a ventilated fiberglass box. Today, people still ask the same question: where is she now?
Honestly, the answer is a bit bittersweet.
While the world obsessed over her survival, Barbara chose a path of quiet dignity. She didn't want to be the "girl in the box" forever. You've likely seen the grainy black-and-white photos of her being pulled from the Georgia clay, looking dazed but miraculously alive. It's one of those images that sticks in your brain.
The Reality of Today: Barbara Jane Mackle Where Is She Now?
If you are looking for Barbara today, you won't find her on social media or the talk-show circuit. The truth is, Barbara Jane Mackle passed away on July 10, 2019, at the age of 81.
She lived most of her post-kidnapping life in Boca Raton, Florida, surrounded by the family she fought so hard to see again while she was trapped underground. For decades, she remained a private figure. She didn't grant many interviews. She didn't chase the spotlight. Instead, she focused on being a mother to her two sons, Robert and Andrew, and eventually a grandmother.
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She outlived her husband, Stewart Woodward, who was actually her boyfriend at the time of the kidnapping. They married shortly after her rescue and stayed together until his death in 2013. It is a rare "happily ever after" in the world of true crime, especially considering the psychological trauma she must have carried.
What happened to the people who took her?
You can't talk about Barbara without mentioning the monsters who put her in that box: Gary Steven Krist and Ruth Eisemann-Schier. Their story is just as bizarre as the crime itself.
Krist was a brilliant but deeply disturbed man. After serving only 10 years of a life sentence, he was paroled. Get this: he actually went to medical school in Mexico and became a doctor. However, his "new life" didn't last. In 2006, he was caught on a boat with 31 pounds of cocaine and several undocumented immigrants. He went back to prison and was released again in 2010.
Eisemann-Schier was the first woman ever to make the FBI's Most Wanted list. She served four years, was deported to Honduras, and basically vanished from the public record.
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83 Hours in the Dark: The Details That Still Haunt
The kidnapping was terrifyingly methodical. On December 17, 1968, Barbara was sick with the flu at a motel in Decatur, Georgia. Her mother was with her. Krist and Eisemann-Schier knocked on the door, claiming to be police officers. They kidnapped Barbara, took her to a remote area in Gwinnett County, and forced her into a box.
The box had:
- Two plastic pipes for air.
- A small battery-powered fan (which failed).
- Some water laced with sedatives.
- A small amount of food.
They buried her 18 inches deep. Her father, Robert Mackle, was a wealthy Florida developer. He paid the $500,000 ransom—a massive amount back then—but the pickup was a mess. Despite the chaos, Krist eventually called in the location of the box.
When the FBI found her, they didn't think she'd be alive. When they heard the faint knocking from under the dirt, it was described as a miracle.
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Why her story still matters in 2026
We live in an era of true crime documentaries and "survivor" influencers. Barbara Jane Mackle was the original survivor. But unlike today’s trends, she didn't monetize her pain. She wrote one book, 83 Hours Till Dawn, and then she closed the door on that chapter.
Her life is a case study in resilience. She famously told reporters she never doubted she would be saved because she spent her time in the box imagining Christmas with her family.
Actionable Takeaways from the Mackle Case
While the case is decades old, it offers some stark lessons about safety and the human psyche that remain relevant today:
- Trust Your Gut, Not the Uniform: The kidnappers used a fake police ruse. In any situation involving "officers" at a private residence or hotel, you have the right to call 911 to verify their identity before opening the door.
- The Power of Visualization: Psychologists often point to Barbara's mental discipline as the reason she didn't succumb to shock. Focusing on a specific, positive future event (like Christmas) can literally keep the body's stress response from shutting down.
- Privacy as Healing: In a world that demands we "share" everything, Barbara proved that the most effective way to move past trauma is often to build a quiet, meaningful life away from the public gaze.
Barbara's story ended peacefully in Boca Raton, far from the cold Georgia woods. She wasn't defined by those 83 hours; she was defined by the 50 years of life she lived afterward.
If you're researching this case for historical or personal safety reasons, the best thing you can do is respect the privacy her family continues to maintain. Her legacy isn't the box—it’s the fact that she got out of it and chose to live.
Next Steps: If you want to dive deeper into the legal side of this case, you can look up the FBI's archival files on the "Mackle Kidnapping," which were declassified years ago and provide a minute-by-minute account of the rescue operation.