“The Longest Night” is a made-for-TV movie that is based on the real-life story of the kidnapping of Barbara Jane Mackle in 1968. 

Karen Chambers is the daughter of a wealthy Florida real estate developer and a student at an out-of-state college. When she becomes ill during an influenza epidemic, she takes a room in a nearby motel because the campus infirmary is full, and her mother comes from Florida to be with her. Very early one morning the Chambers women are awoken by a knock on their door and a male voice that identifies himself as a police officer. When Norma Chambers opens the door, two armed kidnappers force their way in, tie up Norma, and force Karen into their car. They drive her to a remote wooded area where she is then forced into an underground coffin, with only a battery-powered air pump and some water as a means of survival. The kidnappers demand a ransom of $500,000 for her return, which Alan Chambers is willing to pay, but problems arise in his attempts to actually deliver the ransom and learn the location of his daughter’s subterranean prison.

This program was originally broadcast on ABC on September 12, 1972.

Run time 74 minutes
Condition: VG-