Mark McCabe recounts days of darkness in South Sudan prison - NOLA.com

While sitting in darkness for days on end in a South Sudan prison, Mark McCabe imagined other times and other places: the birth of his first child, his wife and home in Slidell, a walk on the beach and a day of hunting deer.

Elton McCabe, 52 (Submitted by Anne McCabe)

 "I had to put my mind in another mode," McCabe said in an interview with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. "I had to turn off all of my thoughts of where I was at. It was horrible. There were people around that I didn't know. I didn't know if they wanted to kill me, if they wanted to beat me. The stench was horrible. There were roaches. There were rats. You can't sit there and just think about that -- you've got to eliminate all of that or you won't make it."

McCabe, 52, was in South Sudan in October exploring potential investments in the developing nation when he was suddenly arrested by security forces on an accusation of attempted kidnapping. It took him more than a month to finally be freed after a judge ruled there was no evidence in the case.

Back at his home in Slidell, McCabe recounted his twisted journey through the South Sudanese justice system. 

Read the entire interview, plus see photos and video from Chris Granger, Thursday on NOLA.com.