Her parents and siblings were murdered and though she survived, she was the sole living entity in a raft in the middle of the ocean and there were no chances that she could take care of herself. She was exposed to the worst forces of nature, from sea storms to excessive sun and she obviously had no means of scoring food. So what happened to little Terry?
Terry was so traumatised by the gruesome murders of her family members, that she could not tell people what had happened on that fateful night on the ship. A psychologist named Richard Logan who also co-wrote Terry's memoir helped her spell out the truth. It was reported that years after the accident, he used a form of truth serum to help her recall the entire incident.
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In 1961, Dr. Arthur Duperrault and his family were enroute to the tropical island of the Bahamas. They had started the trip from Florida on their 60-ft ship named Bluebelle, and accompanying them was Captain Julian Harvey. In fact, Bluebelle’s last voyage was so memorable, that several books have been written about it.
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41-year-old Dr. Duperrault was travelling with his wife Jean, his 14-year-old son Brian, two daughters Terry and Renee who were 11 and 7 respectively. Also accompanying then was Captain Julian's wife Mary Dene who acted as a member of the staff.
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Before midnight on November 12th, Terry Jo heard loud screams coming from the ship's deck. She was devastated to find her mother and brother's corpse in a puddle of blood with Captain Harvey standing over them, prepared to move towards his next target, Terry.
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Turns out Harvey had murdered his wife Mary, who was his sixth wife, for collecting an indemnity insurance worth $20,000. Terry's whole family was murdered by Harvey as they might have witnessed the murder or could obviously question him later.
When Terry questioned his actions, he reportedly slapped her and asked her to return to her bunk. Terry went to the deck and saw the ship's dinghy had broken and fled the ship, in an attempt to catch it. When Harvey went to Terry's bunk, with a mind of killing her, he saw the room was filled with water as the ship was gradually sinking.
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Terry Jo loosened a cork raft which are usually stored in ships in case of emergencies and fled the ship which was sinking fast. She remained on sea in that tiny cork raft for four whole days, without any food or water and was starving terribly until a freight ship noticed her.
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The crew of the Greek freighter ship which rescued Terry reported that the raft in which she was found was just 2 feet by 5 feet wide. Terry was wearing her pyjamas and had no shoes or cap to protect her from the intense sunlight. She drifted on the raft for 4 days and was eventually found by Captain Theo's crew.
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Harvey was found three days prior to Terry's discovery and he was found with little Renee's corpse but had a rather different story to tell than Terry. Harvey claimed that Bluebelle was hit by a violent gust of sea wind which wrecked the ship's gas tank and completely reduced it to a wreckage. He said he found an unconscious Renee floating in the water and tried to bring her to life but she was already dead.
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It was eventually discovered that Harvey had once survived a major accident which had killed one of his ex-wives and her mother. But ex-wives opened on land - it was a car accident. After investigations it was found out that it was planned by Harvey and there was no way he could have survived the accident which ended in the car landing in a river. Moreover, his yacht Torbatross and powerboat Valiant had also befallen mysterious but extreme catastrophes which ended with Harvey getting large sums of settlement money.
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Did you know Harvey killed himself upon finding out Terry was alive? He obviously assumed no member of Terry's family was living to recount what had actually happened. So, after the Coast Guard informed him that Terry is alive, he checked into a nearby motel under a different name, left a note to a friend and killed himself by slashing his throat and thighs with a razor blade.
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Owing to Terry Jo’s terrible experience and inability to be rescued sooner, the Coast Guard suggested that the colour of life rafts should be changed from white to fluorescent orange so that it can be spotted easily. And since 1962, the color of life rafts has been bright orange.
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As she grew up, Terry surprisingly did not shun the ocean but rather embraced it. She applied for a job at the Department of Natural Resources for in the fisheries department and ended up worked in the Water Resources and Water Regulation and Zoning. In fact, Terry Jo has also appeared in several talk shows and interviews to talk about her life.
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