First Woman On the FBI Mosted Wanted

First Woman On the FBI Most Wanted List

The kidnapping of Barbara Mackle then buried alive!

In 1968 two women shall come to meet under the most horrific of circumstances.

Twenty year old Barbara Mackle, an Emory University student and twenty-six year old Ruth Eisemann-Schier, a graduate of University of Miami’s Institute of Marine Science and daughter of Austrian-Jewish holocaust survivors would come to meet at the Rodeway Inn motel in Decatur, Georgia on December 17, 1968.

Barbara Mackle, who had come down with a bad flu, had checked into the Rodeway Inn with her mother who had come from the family’s home in Coral Gables, Florida to take care of her while ill.

There was a knock at the door. Two persons appearing to be police officers, one wearing a policman’s hat, and both dressed in all black, stated they were there to inform Mrs. Mackle that a close friend of the family had been seriously injured in a car accident. Mrs. Mackle opened the door.

The two people at the motel door impersonating police officers were Gary Stephen Krist, a career criminal from Pelican, Alaska who had escaped from a California prison, and Ruth Eisemann-Schier, his girlfriend.

Ruth Eisemann-Schier bound and gagged Mrs. Mackle, subduing her with the use of chloroform, and leaving her on the floor of the motel room. Gary Krist grabbed a sick, 20 year old Barbara Mackle from her bed, and forced her into the car they had waiting outside.

They drove Barbara to a grave they had dug days earlier. Barbara was forced into a fiberglass coffin equipped with an air pump, a small lamp, a small bit of food and some water that had been laced with sedatives. Two plastic gray pipes, inconspicuously rose from the ground that allowed for air in the young woman’s coffin. Barbara told the police later how she screamed and screamed for what seemed like hours until she had exhausted herself inside the box. Alone.

Barbara Mackles father received a demand of $500,000 ransom for the safe return of their daughter. Mr. Mackle was a well-known, wealthy land developer.

A drop-off location was agreed upon but the kidnappers were spooked and ran, leaving their car behind. The vehicle was registered to George Deacon. A little investigative work led them to a George Deacon who built ventilation boxes for the University of Miami. Deacon’s boss at the University gave them the name of Ruth Eisemann-Schier who also worked at the University and was George Deacon’s girlfriend.

While the police were trying to find out the connection between George Deacon, Ruth Eisemann-Schier and the kidnapping they received a phone call from a gentleman who stated he bought a trailer and that inside he found letters addressed to a George Deacon and a Gary Krist.

Gary Krist, they realized was a wanted fugitive from the state of California. As they were looking into the connection between these two men, Gary and George, they realized after comparing their fingerprints that the two men were one in the same. George Deacon was an alias being used by fugitive Gary Krist.

Having received the ransom requested, Gary and Ruth called the FBI and gave them vague directions to find Barbara Mackles grave before absconding with the money.

More than 100 FBI agents spread out among the fields and woods of the area in Gwinnett County, Georgia when finally one of the agents spotted the gray air pipes coming up from the ground. The men dug with their bare hands to free Barbara.

After being buried alive in a coffin for more than 3 days Barbara had been rescued on December 20, 1968. Short of being severely dehydrated, Barbara made a full recovery and was not otherwise harmed.

Gary Krist and Ruth Eisemann-Schier were placed on the FBI Most Wanted List. This made Ruth the first woman ever to hold that distinction.

Two days later on December 22 Gary Krist was found hiding in a Florida swamp. 79 days later on March 5, 1969 Ruth was arrested in Norman, Oklahoma.

Ruth was sentenced to seven years for her role in the kidnapping. She only served four years of her sentence and upon her release was deported to Honduras where she was born.

Gary Krist was sentenced to life in prison but he too was released after just ten years in 1969. Unbelievably Krist received a pardon from the Governor. This allowed him to attend medical school. He graduated and practiced medicine in the state of Indiana until 2003 when his medical license was finally revoked for lying about a disciplinary action that he had received during his residency.

Krist was arrest yet again in March of 2006 off the coast of Alabama while on a sailboat. He reportedly was caught with 31 pounds of cocaine worth nearly one million dollars. He was sentenced to five years prison and released in 2010.

He was ordered back to prison in 2012 for violating the terms of his parole when he left the country while sailing to Cuba. He was sentenced to another 40 months.

Barbara Mackle went on to finish college, married and settled in Florida. She and her husband had two children. Her husband passed away in 2013. They had been married 43 years.

This story was featured on "A Crime To Remember" Season 5, Episode: 4 entitled: A Coffin For Christmas