Stonewall Jackson (@1776Stonewall)

History Nugget, 1961 - The Sea Orphan: For years, Arthur Duperrault dreamed of taking his family on boating tour of the tropics. He spoke often of traveling from island to island. By 1961 Arthur saved enough to charter a boat. That year he, his wife Jean, and their 3 kids, Brian (14), Terry Jo (11), and Rene (7) would head to the Bahamas. They arrived in Fort Lauderdale, chartering a yacht called the BlueBelle, hiring former Air Force pilot, and experienced sailor, Julian Harvey, to captain for a one week sabbatical. Harvey's wife, Dene, would accompany them. On Wednesday, November 8, 1961, the group set sail. Over the next 4 days, Harvey piloted the ship East, towards the Bimini islands, then further east to Sandy Point, a village on the South-western tip of the great Abaco Islands. The group spent the week snorkeling and collecting shells on the pink sandy beaches. It was the perfect vacation they long dreamed of. Early Sunday, Duperrault and the Harvey’s stopped by the Sandy Point Island commissioners office to fill out forms to begin their return home. That night, Dene prepared dinner. Around 9 PM Terry Jo headed below deck to her sleeping cabin in the back of the boat. What happened next, no one saw coming. Terry Jo was awakened by screams of her younger brother, screaming “Daddy, help”. There was a loud commotion and banging, and then, complete silence. What no one knew, was the entire time Harvey, who had been facing financial struggles, was using this trip as a murder plot to collect on his wife’s $20,000 life insurance. He planned to stage a boating accident, make it look like the ship went down, with himself as the sole survivor. He chose this trip specifically to execute his scheme. Harvey intended to kill his wife discreetly and dispose of her body at sea, later claiming she had been "lost at sea". But his wife put up a significant fight, which alerted the Duperraults. When Arthur discovered the murder, Harvey killed him, his wife Jean, and little Brian and Rene. Harvey then scuttled the ship to sink it, to destroy evidence, making it look like a tragic sea accident. He left in a dinghy with his wife's body, which he later ditched. Sleeping below deck, Terry Jo woke to screams but stayed hidden. She found a small 2' x 5' cork float and managed to escape, drifting alone in the open sea. Julian Harvey was picked up by a freighter a couple days later, believing he pulled off the plan. . But then, after 4 days at sea without food or water, Terry Jo was spotted by a Greek freighter and pulled to safety. Upon learning Terry Jo survived and could expose his lies, Julian Harvey committed suicide in a Florida motel. Terry Jo changed her name to Tere Duperrault Fassbender to protect her privacy. In 2010, she co-authored a memoir titled Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean: to share her story of resilience. Her ordeal led the U.S. Coast Guard to change regulations, requiring life rafts to be bright orange rather than white, easier to spot from the air.