83 Hours Till Dawn

This is a book about what is now a little known kidnapping case (despite the fact that two movies were made dealing with the circumstances) of Barbara Jane Mackle in December of 1968. Due to a serious case of the flu, she had opted to leave her dorm room to check into a hotel where her mother met her to care for her during her illness. In the early hours of the morning her mother opened the door to a man claiming to be a police officer, and with the help of an accomplice, Mrs. Mackle was chloroform edition, tied up, and her daughter taken away and buried alive in a box measuring eight feet long and two feet square until ransom would be made. Her ordeal was to last over eighty-three hours.

The book is meticulously written. It describes show more all details of the crime and insights into all characters involved, especially Barbara's bravery and her ability to control her emotions in able to survive such a harrowing experience. Her fortitude was amazing; upon her return examination by her family physician, he exclaimed she was "one hell of a woman!" for having survived it with so little emotional trauma.
Nor did she express any animosity toward the perpetrators.
Few of us could say we would have done the same.

I was disappointed (and surprised) that there was not more information available on the internet as to her later life, but as related in the last chapter, in helping to write the book it was the only time she got truly upset about the kidnapping and that when she was done with the book she wanted to put the incident behind her " once and for all, I want it to be over. For ever and ever".
It seems she got her wish, and there could not have been a more deserving person to have their wish granted, especially after all she had gone through. show less

In 1968, twenty year old Barbara Jane Mackle was kidnapped from a hotel room she was staying in with her mom. Two individuals, took her into the Georgia woods and buried her in a coffin-like box. Although she was told they would check on her every two hours, she was left utterly alone for eighty-three hours. At her parents house in Florida, her father received a ransom call, demanding $500,000.00 in unmarked twenty dollar bills.

I found the first half of this book riveting. I was unable to put it down until Barbara was rescued and restored to her parents. I found the search for her kidnappers and their trials to be a bit anti-climatic after the action-packed beginning. Overall, I enjoyed the book and reading about a historical kidnapping.

In 1968, Barbara Jane Mackle, a college student was kidnapped. She was buried alive in a box with an air intake, food and water near Duluth, Georgia. She was freed after ransom was paid 83 hours later.