WEBVTT
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Every story has a beginning, but not everyone has an ending.
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In the shadows of headlines and buried police reports lay
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the voices of the missing, the murdered, and the forgotten,
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waiting to be heard and have their stories told. This
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is The Book of the Dead, a true crime podcast
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where we remember forgotten victims of heinous crimes, reopen cold cases,
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re visit haunting disappearances, and uncover the truths buried beneath
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the years of silence. I'm your host, Courtney Liso, and
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every week we turn to another chapter, one victim, one mystery,
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one step closer to justice. Brought to you by Darkast
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Network in Deep Podcasts with the Twist.
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I'm Ted, I'm JJ, and we're here to tell you
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about our show conspiring to argue I like it, that
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is not relevant. What do we do on the show? Well,
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on our podcast, what we do is take conspiracy theories
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and either Ted or myself will argue about if the
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conspiracy is real or not. Yeah, And sometimes sometimes the
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conspiracies are silly. Sometimes they're you know, in the pantheon
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of the greatest conspiracies of all time. It's a mixed bag.
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Sometimes they're about aliens, so check us out. Wherever you
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listen to podcasts, sometimes they're about murder.
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Hello, Hello, Welcome to the next chapter in the Book
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of the Dead. When I was younger, I had what
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I would probably consider now to be a fascination with
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the concept of being buried alive. Part of that likely
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stems from my crippling fear of death, where a variety
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of my other little quirks come from, like in aversion
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to walking over storm drains, Thank you, Stephen King. But
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looking back, a lot of the media I consumes as
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a child and young teenager had to do with this
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terrible way to die. I read books like What Happened
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to Cast McBride by Gail Giles, where the titular character
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is buried alive by her classmate after he blames her
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for his brother taking his own life. Cass is underground
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for forty eight hours before she's found, and the book
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goes into detail about the physical and psychological effects of
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a live burial. I watched more than once the episode
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of Bones where Brennan and Hodgens are kidnapped and buried
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alive in a car by the grave Digger, although admittedly
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that was likely due to my fixation on David borian As.
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Then there was the episode that really ignited the obsession
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and the reason this particular chapter is happening at all
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when I was far too young to be watching it.
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My favorite show of all time was CSI. I wanted
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to be just like the investigators on the show, and
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I was wildly in love with Nick Stokes and Warwick Brown,
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played by George Eats and Gary Dordan, respectively. Then on
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May nineteenth, two thousand and five, the two part season
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five finale, directed by Quentin Tarantino called Grave Danger aired.
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Nick Stokes is abducted while investigating what looks to be
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a pretty simple case, and he wakes up in a
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box underground with nothing but a tape recorder, a gun
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with one bullet, and a sporadic source of light. The
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csizer sent a ransom note and the race is on
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to save Nick and find his obdector before he runs
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out of air. I already know some of you are
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wondering where I'm going with this, so bear with me
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for sixty seconds more. My boyfriend and I were watching CSI,
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and I was telling him how I loved this particular episode,
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which got me thinking about real cases similar to this,
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so I started digging and I came across the case
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in my research that could have been ripped straight out
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of my childhood nightmares and was in fact Tarantino's inspiration
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for these episodes. A twenty year old college student is
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recovering from the flu in a Georgia motel room with
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the help of her mother, and just before dawn, there
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is a knock at the door, a police officer with
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news of a terrible accident involving the young woman's boyfriend.
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Within minutes, the girl is taken by gunpoint, her mother
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bound and gagged on the floor. However, this wasn't a
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buy the book kidnapping. Her captors had spent months constructing
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a coffin like box, complete with an air pump, food, water,
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and ventilation tubes. They drive her to a remote wooded area,
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lower her into the box, bury her underground, and leave
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her there for eighty three hours. She fought to stay alive,
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praying that someone would find her. This is the kidnapping
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of Barbara Mackel. Barbara Chaine Mackel was born in nineteen
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forty eight to Robert and Jane Mackle in Florida. The
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mackell family was hugely successful in part thanks to the
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development company. Robert and his two brothers, Frank Junior and Elliott,
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had started under the Mackel Company, which was also hugely
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successful and still around today. Called the Deltona Corporation. It
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ran from nineteen sixty two to nineteen eighty six and
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they developed countless communities in Florida, including Deltona Lakes, Pine Ridge,
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Sunny Hills, and Saint Augustine Shores. In nineteen sixty five,
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with the development of Marco Island and Marco Shores, Deltona Corp.
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Exploded with success, and by nineteen sixty eight, law prices
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were going for over ten thousand dollars, with land shares
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totaling over eleven million. According to Coastal Breeze News. That
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same year, stock value jumped from twelve dollars to twenty dollars,
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and the company by this point was worth sixty five
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million dollars. As plans were made for more projects to
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roll out in the coming years, which should have been
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an incredibly lucrative time for the Maccles, was tainted by
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a parent's worst nightmare. During Finals week just before Christmas,
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Barbara came down with the flu. Her mother, Jane flew
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to Georgia from the family home in Coral Gables and
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booked a room at the Roadway Motel in Decatur so
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that she could take care of her On the evening
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of December sixteenth, according to Time magazine, Barbara's boyfriend Stuart Woodward,
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who also attended Emmer University, came by the motel to
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visit Barbara and Jane. He stayed for a while and
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then left in his white Ford. Barbara and her mother
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stayed up talking late into the night. As Barbara and
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her mother talked nearby in the Claremont Motel, two people
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were finalizing a plan that would become one of the
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most infamous kidnappings in FBI history. Twenty three year old
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Gary Stephen Crisp thought of himself as a very intelligent man,
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and perhaps in another life he was considered to be one.
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He was born in Aberdeen, Washington, on April twenty ninth,
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nineteen forty five, though he spent a bulk of his
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childhood in Pelican, Alaska, a port village axis to be
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a boat or plane due to his father's job operating
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a commercial boat catching salmon and shrimp. Because James Crisp's
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position required him to spend long periods of time out
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on the water during peak seasons. Gary was often sent
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to stay with family friends. As with many children who
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aren't closely supervised and given his sense of structure, Gary
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developed a habit for mischief and rule breaking, stealing small
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items beginning at age nine that would eventually escalate to
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bolder and more serious crimes. By age fourteen, he had
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carried out multiple robberies during his years spent living in Utah,
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and he had been arrested and convicted for auto theft
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after stealing a boat in Stewart, Alaska, leading to time
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in a juvenile detention facility. While Gary was very academically
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inclined and had even expressed a strong desire to eventually
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study medicine, he never managed to shake his urge to steal,
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and his criminal antics continued. In teen sixty, at the
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age of fifteen, he stole a car in Ogden, Utah,
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and was sent to Utah State Industrial School on June second,
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nineteen sixty one. Of course, ever, the rule breaker and
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resistant confinement christ escaped soon after arriving, and he was
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eventually apprehended on July twenty ninth of nineteen sixty two.
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While he had received juvenile punishments for his crimes during
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his teen years, he quickly learned that adult punishments were
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his new reality. After turning eighteen in nineteen sixty three,
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after two auto thefts in Oakland, California, he was sentenced
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to the California Vocational Institute in Tracy. Though he was
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released in December of nineteen sixty four, his time at
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the Vocational Institute was not a deterrent for reoffending. In fact,
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according to the Coastal Breeze News, Christ during this particular sentence,
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had begun contemplating what the perfect crime was. Eventually he
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realized that kidnapping and heiress would produce a huge pay
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off for her safe return. He worked at an idea
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for how he would go about abducting this hypothetical heiress
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and how he would communicate with the family, realizing that
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burying her would be a perfect solution. Upon his release,
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Christ would get married, having a son, but he just
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couldn't leave his life of crime behind. On January sixth,
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nineteen sixty six, he was arrested for stealing two more
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vehicles in San Mateo County. Being convicted for his crimes
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on May twentieth, Christ was sentenced to five months to
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six years in the state prison. However, just a few
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short months later, on November eleventh, Gary Christ escaped once again,
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and this time he remained at large. From nineteen sixty
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six to nineteen sixty eight, according to a narrative from
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former FBI agent William Bean, Christ worked as a technical
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researcher for the University of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In
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the later half of nineteen sixty eight, he became an
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employee of the Marine Science Institute at the University of
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Miami under the name George Deacon. Through this job, he
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was included on a sponsored trip aboard the research vessel
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to Pillsbury, which took thirty two researchers from Fort Lauderdale
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to Bermuda. This trip took place from September twenty third
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through October seventh, and while aboard the ship, twenty three
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year old Christ met twenty five year old Ruth Heismanshire.
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Ruth was a native of Honduras and she had graduated
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from the National University of Mexico with her bachelor's in
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chemistry and pharmacology. Ruth was a graduate student at the
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Marine Science Institute and participated in this research trip. The
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two hit it off and began an affair, with Chris
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ultimately confiding in Ruth about his plan to abduct an airis,
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explaining how he would build a capsule that would allow
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them to keep their victim alive underground for seven days.
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Ruth agreed that the payout from the ransom was well
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worth the risk. On Ruth's twenty sixth birthday, on November eighth,
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Christ informed Ruth that after a lot of research, he
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identified their target as the heiress to the Deltona Corporation,
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twenty year old Barbara Jane Mackle. Barbara's family was incredibly
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wealthy and very well known throughout Florida, so he theorized
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that the Macles would be capable of and willing to
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pay the ransom quickly. At this point, Chris had also
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begun constructing his capsule, the casket as container he would
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use to conceal Barber from authorities. This capsule, which was
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constructed in a US Marine Course surplus construction container on
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the grounds of the Marine Science Institute, was, according to
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William Bean, very cleverly designed. The capsule measured six feet
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long twenty three inches high and twenty three inches wide,
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weighing around two hundred and forty pounds. It was made
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of fiberglass and plywood, complete with an air pump and
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ventilation system. Christ included everything someone confined to a container
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for seven days might need, including a battery operated fan,
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a blanket and film mattress, a light water they had
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laced with sedatives in order to keep Robert's socile, enough
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food totaling thirty thousand calories to sustain someone for seventys,
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as well as a chemical toilet and sanitary napkins. Every
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inch of this capsule was meticulously designed to support a
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person's survival, and Chris tested multiple elements to ensure they
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functioned as designed, including the ventilation system and the strength
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of the sedatives. Chris went to great lengths to give
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the Mackels ample time to respond to his ransom demand
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without them being caught by authorities, but Ruth was having
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second thoughts. The first week of December, according to William Bean,
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Ruth climbed into the caps to test the features with
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the lid closed for one hour, and when she was
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able to leave, she found that the experience was incredibly frightening.
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While the concept of being buried alive is exceedingly rare.
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Fear alone, called taphophobia, is enough to cause significant psychological impact.
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The builds above carbon dioxide when buried alive or confined
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to an extremely small space with limited or dwindling oxygen
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can trigger hypercapnia. This in turn can cause severe distress, confusion,
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and hallucinations before the mind shifts into a depressive state.
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The long term effects commonly include PTSD, severe phobias like claustrophobia,
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and even sleep disorders. Being in this box just for
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an hour, knowingly above ground was so scary to her
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that Ruth attempted to back out of the plan, but
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Christ wouldn't allow her to. The abduction would go forward.
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Christ and Ruth travel to Coral Gables, where he pointed
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out the Macyl residence as well as Barbara's car, a Lincoln.
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Also during this time, a polaroid camera and two walkie
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talkies were purchased by Christ. On December tenth, seven days
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before the abduction, Brris purchased two plane tickets under an
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alleys from Miami to Vegas, with the layover in Chicago
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from Delta Airlines. The flight was scheduled for the twentieth,
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with a departure time being seven a m. The next day,
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Ruth packed up her belongings at the room she'd been
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staying in, and she and Chris headed to the Marine
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Corps trailer to store the luggage with the capsule. On
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the way, they stopped by the Maco residence and snuck
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onto the property, burying the ransom note which we'll go
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over in the yard. On the twelfth, Chris told his
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wife and children that he no longer loved them, and
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he took his family to the airport, where he put
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them on a ten am flight to California. Then Ruth
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and Chris met at the trailer, where they loaded the capsule,
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as well as Ruth's luggage into chris Belbo station wagon.
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The following day, after Ruth attended her morning class and
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christ called out sick to work, the two drove to Atlanta, Georgia.
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On December fourteenth, nineteen sixty eight. Gary and Ruth checked
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into room one fifty three at the Roadway Inn at
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twelve thirteen, using the names doctor and Missus Johnson Rerick,
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00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:08.159
and they checked out before noon. Later that morning, the two,
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00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:11.440
after checkout, drove around Atlanta looking for a secluded place
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to bury the capsule. As they visited various service stations,
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00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:20.399
multiple witnesses saw the capsule in the back of the volvo. Chris, though,
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00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:22.960
had an excuse for this. He claimed to be a
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00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:25.080
geologist and was looking for a place to bury his
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00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:29.519
research equipment in order to conduct various tests. They would
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00:16:29.559 --> 00:16:32.720
ultimately leave the capsule in a remote pine forest near Duluth,
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00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:35.480
covering it with loos and sticks, deciding to come back
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00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:37.320
the next day to bury it. While they had more
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00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:41.039
daily to work with, Ruth and Chris also made several
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00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:44.960
calls to the administration offices at Emory University attempting to
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00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:48.600
locate Barbara. They were able to learn that Barbara had
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00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:51.240
left campus ahead of break and was currently staying at
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00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.600
the very motel they had just checked out of with
257
00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:58.759
her mother. After finding out Barbara's location, they needed to
258
00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:02.279
find out what room she was staying in. According to
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00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:05.119
William Bean, Christ and Ruth checked into the Claremont Motor
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00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:08.880
Inn around eight pm, again under a scened names and
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00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:10.960
Chris made a call to the roadway in where he
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00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:14.519
asked to speak to missus Jane Mackle, pretending that he
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00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:17.200
had a certified letter to deliver. Jane gave Chris the
264
00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:22.359
room number. The next day, December fifteenth, Chris and Ruth
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00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.720
returned to the capsule, where he began digging the hole
266
00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:28.880
to bury it hours later. Once it was in the ground,
267
00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:31.920
Chris opted to only camouflage the top as he was
268
00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:36.160
tired from having to dig by himself. On the sixteenth,
269
00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:39.359
the day before the kidnapping, Christ and Ruth visited Emery
270
00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:43.119
University and entered Barber's dorm, presumably checking to see if
271
00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:47.119
she had returned to her room. That evening, they also
272
00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:50.319
visited a pancake house, where Chris stole a police officer's
273
00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:53.559
cap The two returned to their room at the Claremont,
274
00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:56.000
where Chris shaved his beard and they took a series
275
00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:58.400
of pictures with the polaroid to ensure that it worked.
276
00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:02.400
Just before four am on December seventeenth, they headed to
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00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:05.880
room one thirty seven of the Roadway In Barbara and
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00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:08.039
her mother were awake when they heard a knock the door.
279
00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:10.480
Jane got up to see who was there, and she
280
00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:13.720
heard a male voice identifying himself as a police officer.
281
00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:17.240
He claimed that he came with news of an accident
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00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:21.279
involving a young man driving a white Ford. Fearing that
283
00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:24.279
Barbara's boyfriend had been hurt, Jane mackell opened the door.
284
00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:28.799
Standing before them was a very large man six feet tall,
285
00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:31.920
two hundred and forty pounds, wearing a policeman's cap and
286
00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:35.839
holding a rifle. Next to him was someone much smaller,
287
00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:38.960
five foot two, one hundred and ten pounds and wearing
288
00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:43.079
a ski mask, obscuring most of their face. They attempted
289
00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:46.119
to render Jane mckall unconscious using chloroform, but they were
290
00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:49.880
unsuccessful that they didn't realize this. They bound her hands
291
00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:52.519
and ankles and placed tape over her mouth before escorting
292
00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:57.160
the petrified barber from the room. Barbara was taken to
293
00:18:57.160 --> 00:18:59.720
the burial site, where she was given a tranquilizer shot
294
00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:02.119
and her ankles were bound before she was lowered into
295
00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:05.839
the box. Chris explained how to operate the ventilation pump,
296
00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:07.640
and they told Barbara that they would check on her
297
00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:11.480
every two hours. Also placed inside the box with her
298
00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:15.480
were typed instructions. According to the Coastal Breeze News, the
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00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:19.440
instructions said, quote, do not be alarmed. You are safe.
300
00:19:19.640 --> 00:19:23.559
You are presently inside a fiberglass reinforced plywood capsule buried
301
00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:25.880
beneath the ground near the house in which your kidnappers
302
00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:29.880
are staying. Your status will be checked approximately every two hours.
303
00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:33.440
The capsule is quite strong, you will not be able
304
00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:36.359
to break it open. Be advised, however, that you are
305
00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:39.319
beneath the water table. If you break open a seam,
306
00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:41.880
you would drown before we could dig you out. The
307
00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.480
capsule instrumentation contains a water sensitive switch which will warn
308
00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:48.440
us if the water enters the capsule to a dangerous degree.
309
00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:51.559
Your life depends on the air delivered to your chamber
310
00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:54.680
via the ventilation fan. This fan is powered by a
311
00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.920
lead acid storage battery capable of supplying the fan motor
312
00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:02.039
with power for two hundred and seventy hours. However, the
313
00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.160
use of the light and other systems for only a
314
00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:07.319
few hours, coupled with the higher amperage drain, will reduce
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00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:11.240
this figure to only one week of safety. Should the
316
00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:13.839
air supplied prove to be too much, you can partly
317
00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:16.680
block the air outlet with a piece of paper. A
318
00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:19.039
muffler has been placed in the air passage to prevent
319
00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:22.759
any noisy make from reaching the surface. If we detect
320
00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:26.119
any commotion which we feel is dangerous, we will introduce
321
00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:28.200
ether to the air intake and put you to sleep.
322
00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:32.559
The fan operates on six bolts. It is a switch
323
00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:35.640
with two positions to switch between the two available circuits.
324
00:20:35.880 --> 00:20:39.319
Should one circuit fail, turn to the other. The box
325
00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:41.920
is a pump which will evacuate any accidental leakage from
326
00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:43.920
the box when you turn the pump switch on to
327
00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:47.759
the on position. This pump uses fifteen times as much
328
00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:51.640
power as your ventilation fan seven point five amps. Your
329
00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:54.160
life support battery will not allow use to the pump
330
00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:58.880
except for emergency water evacuation. The light uses two point
331
00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:02.160
five times the amperage the air circulation system. Use of
332
00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:04.880
the light when not necessary will cut your battery safety
333
00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:08.519
march and substantially. If you use the light continuously, your
334
00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:10.759
life expectancy will be cut to one third of the
335
00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:14.559
week we have allotted jew before you are released. Your
336
00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:17.440
capsule contains a water jug with three gallons of water
337
00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:20.599
and a tube from which to drink. It be careful
338
00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:22.160
to blow the water from the tube when you are
339
00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:25.119
finished drinking to avoid siphoning the water onto the floor
340
00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:28.839
when the tube end drops below the water level. Your
341
00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:31.359
capsule contains a bucket for refuse and the products of
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00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:34.759
your bowel movements. The bucket has an antibacterial solution in it,
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00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:37.799
don't tip it over. The lid seals tightly to prevent
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00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:40.960
the escape of odors. A roll of wax paper is provided.
345
00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:43.680
Use it to prevent solid ways from contaminating your bed.
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00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:48.440
Codex is provided you need it. Blankets in a matter provided.
347
00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.359
Your warmth depends on body heat, so regulate the air
348
00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:54.359
to prevent loss of feed from the capsule. A case
349
00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:56.759
of candy is provided to furnish energy to your body.
350
00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:00.559
Tranquilizers are provided to aid you in sleeping the best
351
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:04.200
way you have to pass the time. The ventilation system
352
00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:06.960
is doubly screened to prevent insects or animals from entering
353
00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:09.799
the capsule area you rest being eaten by anne should
354
00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:13.799
you break these protection screens. The electrical components behind these
355
00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:16.839
screens are delicate and they support your life. Don't attempt
356
00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:19.960
to touch these circuits. We're sure your father will pay
357
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:21.960
the ransom we have asked in less than one week.
358
00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:24.440
When your father pays the ransom, we will tell him
359
00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:27.240
where you are and he'll come for you. Should he
360
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:29.880
fail to pay, we will release you. So be calm
361
00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:32.079
and rest you'll be home for Christmas one way or
362
00:22:32.119 --> 00:22:35.640
the other. Then Chris removed a gold ring from Barbara's
363
00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:38.039
finger and placed the crude sign with the word kidnapped
364
00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:40.960
written on it on her chest. He took a photo
365
00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:43.400
of her, but on satisfide with how it came out,
366
00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:46.960
and wanted to take another one. According to William Bean,
367
00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:49.480
Ruth said that Chris told Barbara to quote smile for
368
00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:53.160
Daddy before taking the second picture. The lid was then
369
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:57.119
placed in the capsule and secured with twenty heavy duty screws. However,
370
00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:59.960
realizing that she failed to provide a blanket for their captive,
371
00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:04.839
Ruth demanded Christ opened the box again. Barbara was handed
372
00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:08.119
a blanket and the boxes once again shut tight. They
373
00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:10.240
shoveled dirt over the top of the box and carpeted
374
00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:14.279
with leaves and sticks before leaving. They had no intention
375
00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:18.240
of sticking around to monitor Barbara's condition. Barbara laid in
376
00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:21.079
that box with no idea if her kidnappers would return,
377
00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:23.799
or if anyone looking for her would actually find her.
378
00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:27.680
In in effort to keep herself calm, Barbara focused on
379
00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:31.440
her family and seeing them again for Christmas. She refused
380
00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:34.200
to lose hope that they would find her. The fear, though,
381
00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:36.720
quickly overtook her, and she braced against the lid with
382
00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:39.799
her limited strength, pounding on the surface and screaming, hoping
383
00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:43.319
someone nearby would hear soon, though she was left in
384
00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:45.440
the dark as the light provided to her. Died three
385
00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:49.319
hours into her captivity. While Christ and Ruth were preparing
386
00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:52.440
to initiate the ransom demand, Jane mackele had managed to
387
00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:55.240
call for help, alerting the police that her daughter had
388
00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:59.960
been taken. While Christ had meticulously chosen Barbara as his target,
389
00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:04.960
he severely underestimated the mackell family and their connections. Not
390
00:24:05.079 --> 00:24:08.119
only was the mackell family personal friends a President elect
391
00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:11.799
Richard Nixon, they were also well known to j. Edgar Hoover,
392
00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:14.680
who took personal charge of the FBI in order to
393
00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:20.079
launch a massive investigation to find Barbara. Five hours after
394
00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:23.160
she was taken, Chris called the mackel residence and instructed
395
00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:25.400
the federal agents who answered the phone on where they
396
00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:29.240
could find the ransom note. Buried in the backyard beneath
397
00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:31.519
a rock in a test tube. Was the demand that
398
00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:36.279
began with quote, Robert Mackell, Sir, your daughter has been
399
00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:38.799
kidnapped by us. And we now hold her for ransom.
400
00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:43.039
She is quite safe, if somewhat uncomfortable. We offer no
401
00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:45.640
proof of our possession of her at this time. It
402
00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:49.079
will arrive by mail in a few days. Barbara is
403
00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:52.160
presently alive inside a small capsule buried in a remote
404
00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:55.200
piece of soil. She has enough food and water and
405
00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:57.799
air to last seven days. At the end of the
406
00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:00.799
seven days, the life supporting batteries will be discharge and
407
00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:03.680
her air supply will be cut off. The box is
408
00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:08.279
waterproof and very strong fiberglass reinforced plywood. She has little
409
00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:11.400
chance of escaping. The box is in an unusual and
410
00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:15.680
lonely place. She has no chance of accidentally being stumbled upon.
411
00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:19.279
Contemplate if you will, the position into which this puts you.
412
00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:22.359
If you pay the ransom prior to the seven days,
413
00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:25.440
we will tell you of her whereabouts. Should you catch
414
00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:27.599
the messenger we send to pick up the ransom, we
415
00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:30.960
will simply not say anything to anyone and arago. Barbara
416
00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:34.160
will suffocate. The messenger knows only one of us, and
417
00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:36.920
he will report to us via radio from the pickup site.
418
00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:40.839
We will immediately know his fade. The note which is
419
00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:44.319
infamous today immediately puts Chris and Ruth in a position
420
00:25:44.359 --> 00:25:47.599
of control. They explain that Barbara is alive and she
421
00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:50.039
has the supply is necessary to keep her alive for
422
00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:52.680
a week, but it's up to Robert to make sure
423
00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:56.640
his daughter stays safe. He has no idea where Barbara is,
424
00:25:56.920 --> 00:25:59.519
only that she's in a remote area, and if something
425
00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:03.359
goes wrong or if he doesn't cooperate, rescuers likely won't
426
00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:06.960
be able to find her in time. The ransom demand
427
00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:09.119
makes it very clear to Robert that he needs to
428
00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:11.400
pay the ransom before he will be told where his
429
00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:16.200
daughter is. The demand itself was one of the largest
430
00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:19.920
demands at the time, five hundred thousand dollars or over
431
00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:25.119
four million today, and recently issued twenty dollars bills. The
432
00:26:25.160 --> 00:26:29.599
note also makes specifications for the bills. Quote the notes
433
00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:32.759
must not be older than nineteen fifty issue. No more
434
00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:36.359
than ten notes may have consecutive serial numbers. The notes
435
00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:40.720
must be Federal Reserve notes of standard configuration. No more
436
00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:43.519
than one half of the notes may be uncirculated, and
437
00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:47.119
no form of marking in the bills is acceptable. Please
438
00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:49.759
note that the bills will undergo a minimum of eight
439
00:26:49.799 --> 00:26:52.599
hours of intense examination before we allow you to have
440
00:26:52.680 --> 00:26:56.400
knowledge of the subject's whereabouts. We have planned a series
441
00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:59.079
of forty four tests and a large representative sample of
442
00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:02.599
the bills. These tests include every chemical and physical tests
443
00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:08.920
of any remote applicability. No omission, shaving, spotting, cutting, counterfeiting, irradiating,
444
00:27:09.240 --> 00:27:13.119
ad NOSS will go undetected. Robert was instructed that the
445
00:27:13.160 --> 00:27:16.000
bill should fit into a standard suitcase, with the dimensions
446
00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:19.240
being thirty one point five inches by eighteen point seventy
447
00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:23.200
five inches by six point twenty five inches. The Macals
448
00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:26.119
were warned several times about not going to the authorities,
449
00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:30.279
don't contact the police or FBI. No surveillance of the
450
00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:33.160
pickup location was to occur, and they were to stick
451
00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:38.680
to the instructions completely unbeknownst to Chris, though as I mentioned,
452
00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:41.680
the Macals were heavily connected to the FBI and they
453
00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:44.720
were heavily involved from the moment Jane raised the alarm.
454
00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:48.880
Mackel was given specific instructions on how to contact his
455
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.759
daughter's kidnappers and how he would be contacted regarding pickup locations.
456
00:27:53.799 --> 00:27:56.559
Robert was also instructed that he would have very limited
457
00:27:56.599 --> 00:27:59.480
time to answer phone calls and instructions would not be
458
00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:02.079
repeated in order to minimize the chances of Christ and
459
00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:06.400
Ruth being caught only after the money was successfully delivered,
460
00:28:06.440 --> 00:28:09.039
with the Macaeles receive a phone call with the instructions
461
00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:11.279
on how to find their daughter, as well as a
462
00:28:11.400 --> 00:28:16.000
letter with written instructions. While Barbara had been abducted in Georgia,
463
00:28:16.119 --> 00:28:20.200
the ransom demand payoff and learned later the planning occurred
464
00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:23.640
in Miami, so this is where the FBI designated the
465
00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:28.599
office of Origin for the investigation. Supervising the Miami Division
466
00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:31.359
of the Criminal Squad was William Bean, who was appointed
467
00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:33.720
by Hoover to coordinate the efforts of both the Day
468
00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:37.799
Team and the nine Team during the investigation, keeping Headquarters
469
00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:41.079
up to date with daily reports and ultimately being the
470
00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:43.599
one to write the six hundred page summary of the case.
471
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:48.359
Appointed to oversee the investigation and assisting the Macaels in
472
00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:51.920
making critical decisions was Inspector Rex Schroeder, chief of the
473
00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:57.000
Criminal Section at FBI Headquarters. William Bean made a comprehensive
474
00:28:57.039 --> 00:28:59.640
report of this case as well as a detailed timeline
475
00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:02.799
of vamove made by Chris and Ruth after the ransom
476
00:29:02.839 --> 00:29:05.319
demand was made, and we'll go over all of it
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in part two next week we will go over everything.
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There was more than one ransom drop. The first one
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did not go very well. The police and the FBI
480
00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:24.839
worked very very quickly trying to identify who the kidnapper was,
481
00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:31.440
and both christ and Ruth ended up on the FBI's
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temost wanted list and it was a massive manhunt trying
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to find them. And what happened after with court and
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the sentencing and Chris being an escape artist is a
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lot to go over. So as always, I thank you
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so much for listening, and I hope you had a
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wonderful week, and I will talk to you in the
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00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:59.880
next chapter of the Book of the Dead. Bye, guys,
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00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:06.519
Another page closed. But the story isn't over for the
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families left behind, the pain doesn't end when the headline stade.
491
00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:13.960
And for the victims, we owe them more than silence
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for our on solved cases. If you have any information,
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00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:21.559
please reach out to local authorities or visit our show
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00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:26.359
notes for links and resources. Someone out there knows something,
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00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:31.680
maybe it's you. Thank you for listening to the Book
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00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:34.759
of the Dead. If this story moved or spoke to
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00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:38.599
you in some way, talk about it, share it, keep
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00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:46.519
their names alive until next time, I'm Courtney Liso. Stay safe,
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00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:51.720
stay curious, and stay vigilant. And remember the dead may
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00:30:51.720 --> 00:31:03.599
be gone, but their stories will not be forgotten. Many
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00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:05.920
area in the
