Sea orphan: The miraculous survival of Terry Jo Duperrault
An adult surviving for four days at sea without food or water is amazing but for an 11 year old it’s nothing short of miraculous.
The journey
In November 1961 the Duperrault family, consisting of ,40year old optometrist Brian Duperrault,his wife Jean 38, and their three children Brian,Terry Jo and Rene aged 14,11 and 7 respectively, arrived in Fort Lauderdale Florida. They were there to charter a boat for a week long vacation from the Florida keys to the Bahamas. Brian Duperrault had dreamed of taking his family on the vacation,and now, after years of saving, was finally able to turn the dream into a reality. At Fort Lauderdale they chartered a 60ft ketch called the Bluebelle. Local yatchsman Julian Harvey 44, an acquaintance, was hired to skipper the yatch and his wife Mary Dene 34, was hired to serve as cook.
On the afternoon of November 8th 1961 the family set out in the Bluebelle. They spent the next several days exploring Caribbean islands, snorkeling and souvenir shopping.
On the night of November 12 the family decides to sets sail for Florida. While the rest of her family remained on deck ,Terry Jo chose to go below to her cabin.
The first rescue
On 13th November, sometime after noon, a crew members on board an oil tanker Gulf Lion, sees a man waving from a dingy shouting
“Help! I have a dead baby on board” Pulling the man aboard they notice a red haired girl wearing a lifejacket lying on the floor of the dingy obviously deseased. The man identified himself as Julian Harvey captain of the Bluebelle. He claimed that the previous evening his ship had been hit by a squall, causing it to keel over and the mast to snap and pierce the ships hull. Separated from the others, and unable to save anyone, he was forced to abandon the sinking ship and board a dingy. The body of the child had floated by and he had pulled her on board and attempted to revive her before concluding she was dead. His depiction of the events seemed credible and on November 15 he was allowed to return to Miami to face further questioning from the U.S coast guard. Rescue missions were dispatched to the area Harvey claimed the ship had sunk, in the hope of finding more survivors but they were unsuccessful.
The second rescue
On November 15 a crew member of the Greek freighter, Captain Theo, observed a white raft carrying a young child who was waving feebly. The freighter was stopped and the child was lifted aboard the Captain Theo. The child was severely sunburned, dehydrated and incoherent but was able to identify herself as Terry Jo Duperrault before lapsing into a coma. A rescue helicopter was brought in and she was airlifted to a Miami hospital. Five days later she regained consciousness and the story she tells is very different from that of Julian Harvey.
The true story
On November 12 Terry Jo claims to have been awakened by her brother screaming “Help Daddy! Help!”
Frightening she made her way upstairs to the main deck where she finds the bodies of her mother and brother in a pool of blood. Shocked she continues to the upper level hoping to find her father, only to be met by Harvey who angrily orders her back to her cabin.
Frightened she obeys. Minutes later she sees water rushing into the floor of her cabin and realizes the boat is sinking. Harvey enters her room with a rifle but doesn’t say anything and leaves her unharmed. Her cabin continues filling with water and,overcoming her fear, she goes above deck where she sees Harvey with a dingy. He sets it into the water and dives after it leaving the little girl in the sinking ship.
Remembering the cork raft at the top of the deck she goes to untie it and, after throwing it into the water, gets in where she drifts for nearly four days in the scorching sun before being rescued.
Meanwhile on November 17 Julian Harvey was repeating his story of the ketch sinking to the U S coast guard. Midway he was informed of Terry Jo rescue his first words were
“Oh my God!” Before composing himself and adding “ Isn’t that wonderful". He asked to postpone the interview so he could meet with his late wife family. His request was granted. Then he drove straight to the Sandman motel where he checked in under an assumed name, then committed suicide by slashing his jugular vein, thigh and ankle.
Investigation
An investigation was lunched into Harvey’s background and cases of insurance fraud were found including, an automobile accident that had claimed the life of his second wife and her mother. It was also discovered he had taken out a double indemnity insurance policy on Mary Dene months after their marriage and was set to collect $20,000 if she died accidentally.
The investigation concluded that Mary Dene had been the intended victim and he’d planned to kill her during the voyage and make it look accidentally then have the Duperraults unwittingly corroborate his story. Unfortunately he may have been caught in the act of murder by a member of the Duperrault family and had been forced to kill them all, and sink the ship to cover his tracks. Fortunately, and unfortunately for him, Terry Jo survived and seeing the ruin of his plan he took the cowards way out by committing suicide.
Conclusion
Despite her ordeal Terry Jo made a full recovery and was adopted by her parternal aunt and uncle. She changed her name to Tere, got married and had three children. In 1988 she appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show where she was reunited with the Captain of the Greek freighter that had rescued her. In 2010 She co-authored a memoir, Alone: Orphaned On the Ocean, detailing her ordeal. Her story is truly a testimony to the endurance of the human spirit.
