The Sea Orphan: Tere Jo Duperrault

The Duperrault Family and the Blue Bell

The Duperrault family resided in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  Arthur Duperrault was the husband of Jean, and they had three children, Brian (14) Tere Jo (11), and René ( 7).  Arthur was a successful eye doctor, and during World War 2, he had been on boats that sailed in and around the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.  Those experiences stuck with Arthur over the years, and he longed to return to the warm waters of the Florida Keys during the winter months in Green Bay.  He dreamed of spending a year on a boat, sailing around from place to place, and showing his family all the sights and sounds the world had to offer.  

The family began to save money, and after a few years, had saved enough money to go on a “mini” version of the trip that Arthur wanted.  They were able to rent a ship for a week and planned to spend that week living aboard a chartered yacht in the warm weather to escape the brutal Green Bay winter for a short time.  They had planned out different cities and ports to visit while out at sea, and even had a plan in place to extend their trip if everyone was enjoying themselves.  The cost to rent the yacht was around $500 at the time, plus the cost of paying a captain and making sure the boat was stocked with enough supplies.  

While there is not really much available regarding the family’s lives before their vacation, they were by all accounts just an average American family.  They were probably a little more upper class than middle class.  Arthur was said to have been liked by his patients, and the children got along with friends at school, etc.  

They had rented a ship named the Bluebelle.  It was a 60 foot, twin masted sailboat that was based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  While Arthur had some experience in sailing, the boat was waaaaay too much for him to handle on his own in the open waters around the Caribbean.  

In Fort Lauderdale, Arthur hired 44 year old Julian Harvey to captain the Bluebelle for the family’s vacation.  Harvey was a well known yachtsman to the locals.  In fact, he and Arthur actually knew each other already, so it wasn’t a huge jump for Arthur to hire him.  He was a veteran of the armed forces, having been a pilot in WW2 and the Korean War.  He flew 29 combat missions in WW2 and over a hundred during the Korean War and was discharged in 1958 with the permanent rank of Major.  Arthur agreed to pay Harvey $100 a day to be the captain and also have Harvey’s wife, Mary, come along and serve as a cook for the family.  

Sailing The Open Sea

The family boarded the Bluebelle around midday on November 8th, 1961.  Later that afternoon, they left port and set off on their vacation.  Over the course of the next four days, they traveled to various locations throughout the Caribbean.  They made stops in Bimini, the westernmost district of the Bahamas, and Sandy Point, which is in the Northern Bahamas and about 190 or so miles from Miami.  

The family explored the islands they visited and where they were available purchased souvenirs for themselves or friends and family back home.  They spent their days on the beaches they came to.  The kids loved being in the water and tried to snorkel whenever they could.  All and all, those first four days were pretty much uneventful, just the family along with Harvey and his wife exploring and just enjoying one another’s company.  

On November 12th, Arthur and Harvey had visited the office of a British official in the last port they visited.  Their plans were to then start the journey back to Fort. Lauderdale.  While there, Arthur told the commissioner they met with, Roderick Pinder, “This has been a once-in-a-lifetime vacation.  We’ll be back before Christmas.”  Pretty much implying that they were all enjoying it so much that they would be making another trip within the next few weeks.  They set sail again, making their way back to Florida.  Later that evening, Mary made  Chicken Cacciatore and a salad that everyone enjoyed.  

Found At Sea

Around 12:30 PM on November 13th, the oil tanker Gulf Lion was trucking along through the water when a crewman spotted something.  As the tanker got closer, it became clearer and clearer until they realized what it was.  It was a man waving frantically, desperately trying to get their attention.  As they got closer they could hear him yelling for help.  He said that he had a dead girl on the dinghy with him.  The crew quickly jumped into action and got him on board and found the body of a young girl in a life jacket. 

The man said his name was Julian Harvey.  He told the crew that he had been hired to skipper the Bluebelle for the Duperrault family, and the little girl was their youngest daughter, Rene.  They had tons of questions, and Harvey spelled out what happened.  

He said that around 8:30 the previous night, the Bluebelle ran into a sudden, extremely strong squall.   Harvey said that the sudden wind caused the boat to list from side to side, and that eventually caused the main mast to snap.  When it snapped, Harvey said that the mast slightly injured his wife and members of the Duperrault family before it pierced the hull of the boat. 

Harvey then went on to say that when the mast fell, it cut him off from the rest of the people on board because all of the rigging and ropes made it impossible for him to pass.  He went into the cabin to retrieve something to cut them with, but suddenly a fire broke out.   Due to the fire, Harvey said that he was unable to rescue his wife or any of the other passengers.  He reluctantly abandoned ship and climbed into the dinghy they found him in.  Not long after he got in the dinghy, he saw the body of Rene floating nearby and he pulled her in to try to resuscitate her.  He was unsuccessful, and kept her body with him out of respect in the hope that she would be laid to rest if he was rescued.  

Some people doubted Harvey’s story after hearing it when he was taken to Nassau to talk to authorities.  Particularly, they said that his overly calm demeanor didn’t seem like what they would expect from someone who had gone through that kind of ordeal.  While we know that everyone reacts differently to situations, his demeanor was noted to be odd.  Additionally, he said that it was a sudden event and he basically barely had time to get into the dinghy when the fire broke out, but the dinghy was found to be pretty well stocked with various survival supplies.  Harvey’s story couldn’t be disproven though, and he was allowed to return to Miami on November 15th, with the expectation that he would go through further questioning by the Coast Guard.  

On November 16th, three Days after Harvey was rescued, a Greek freighter named Captain Theo was traveling through the Northwest Providence Channel.  This is the sea that separates the main island of the Bahamas from some of the smaller islands.  The second officer of the ship, Nicolaos Spachidakis spotted something floating in the distance.  It was about a mile or so from the freighter, and he radioed for the captain to come take a look as well.  Initially, they thought that it was a small fishing vessel.  If there was a vessel of that size out in the waters they were in, the assumption would be that it was in distress so they ventured closer. 

As they got closer, they slowly realized that it wasn’t a small fishing vessel.  It was in fact a small raft, about two feet wide by 5 feet in length.  Sitting on the small raft was a young, blonde haired girl in a white cotton blouse and pink corduroy slacks.   Once they realized what they were actually looking at, the captain ordered the engines to be stopped and a rescue was set into action.  The girl had been waving as frantically as she could, but she appeared to barely be able to wave her arms.  To say she was feeble would be a massive understatement.  The crew noted that there were sharks circling nearby and shouted to the girl to stay on the raft and not jump in the water.  

The child was brought aboard and immediately placed in a spare cabin.  The crew began to give her medical attention and just try to figure out just how in the hell she ended up out there.  Unfortunately, they quickly realized that she was barely able to speak, and when she did talk, it was incoherent.  Her body was covered in dried salt from the water, and the crew used wet towels to try to clean her skin.  They put vaseline on her lips because they were swollen and cracked from being in the sun for such an extended period.  They gave her water and orange juice.  

As they kept trying to help her, she slowly started to talk.  Her voice was extremely hoarse, but they were able to make out that she was telling them her name was Tere Jo Duperrault.  She then told them that she had been floating on that small raft for several days after their boat had sunk.  Her ability to speak rapidly declined though, and she had to respond to simple questions just by using her hands or nodding.  Then, her health declined further and she fell into what was described as a semi-comatose state.  

Lost At Sea

Let’s learn a little about Thalassophobia.  This is described as an intense and persistent fear of deep or open bodies of water.  Not to be confused with aquaphobia, the feat of water itself.  Thalassophobia can include fear of being in deep bodies of water, fear of the vast emptiness of the sea, of sea waves, aquatic creatures, and fear of being far from land.  It is a common phobia that many people share. 

There are a few tales of being lost at sea that people may or may not be aware of.  One of the most well known is that of Louis Zamperini, which was made into a major motion picture “Unbroken,” adapted from a book of the same title.  Louis competed in the 1936 Olympics in the 5 thousand meter distance run.  He finished 8th, but ran an extremely fast last lap, which caught the eye of the chancellor of the host country, Adolf Hitler.  Reportedly Hitler shook his hand and said “Ah, you’re the boy with the fast finish.”  When WW2 broke out, Louis enlisted in the Air Force and was a bombardier.  

In April of 1943, Louis and his crew were sent out on a search mission for a downed plane and the crew aboard.  While searching about 850 miles south of Oahu, their plane malfunctioned and went down in the ocean.  8 of the 11 crew died during the crash, leaving just Louis and 2 others.  They had very little food and water, and survived on rainwater, small fish they were able to catch and eat raw, and birds that they trapped after they landed on the small raft they were on.  Francis McNamara, one of the other survivors used an ore to fend off an attacking shark at one point.  They unsuccessfully attempted to get the attention of passing search planes.  At different points, Japanese planes flew over and strafed them.  While no one was hit, it did put holes in their raft.  After 33 days at sea, McNamara passed away, and Louis and Russell Phillips (the other survivor) wrapped his body up in a tarp and laid him to rest at sea.  

After 46 days at sea, their raft washed up on the Marshall Islands in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, which was occupied by the Japanese.  They were immediately taken as prisoners of war, where they were severely beaten and tortured until the end of the war in August of 1945.  Before his release, Louis had been reported by the government as missing at sea, then declared dead.  When the war ended, he was released and returned home to a hero’s welcome.  Later in life, he became a born again christian, working with Billy Graham.  He talked a lot about redemption and forgiveness and even visited some of the guards who held him captive to tell them he forgave them.  He died in July of 2014 at the age of 97.   

Another man, Jose Salvador Alvarenga set out on a deep sea fishing trip from the coast of Chiapas, Mexico.  Jose was an experienced sailor and fisherman and this trip was going to be a 30+ hour trip in which he was hoping to catch marlin and sharks.  His usual crew mate was unable to join him, so he hired an inexperienced 23 year old that he had never met.  

Shortly after they set out, a storm came upon them quickly and blew them off course.  The storm lasted five days, and during it, their motor and most of their electronics were damaged, rendering them useless.  They did have close to nearly 1100 pounds of fresh fish, but they had to dump most of it overboard so they could control the boats movements in the bad weather.  Jose managed to use a 2 way radio to get a hold of his boss to tell him they needed help, but the battery died shortly after that.  They had no sails, oars, anchor, running lights, and no way to contact the shore.  They had some basic supplies and little food. 

Jose’s boss organized a search party, but they found no trace of them.  Days turned to weeks, and the two men scavenged what food  they could.  Jose caught fish, turtles, jellyfish, or birds with his bare hands.  At almost four months into their voyage, Jose said that his crewmate refused to eat any more raw food and slowly died from starvation.  For the next few days, Jose said that he contemplated suicide, but his faith kept him from going through with it.  For six days, he kept the other man’s corpse on board, in hopes that he would be able to bury it, but at some point he started talking to it.  He feared he was losing his mind so the threw the body overboard.  

Jose said that he had spotted numerous large ships while at sea, but he was never able to get their attention.  He tracked the lunar cycle to try to keep an idea of days and months.  Then, after he counted his 15th lunar cycle, he spotted land.  It was a small island, part of the Marshall Islands (the same island chain that Louis landed on).  Once he was close enough, he jumped from his boat and swam to the shore.  He found a remote beach house.  It had been 438 days, and it was estimated that he had traveled 5500 to 6700 miles.  He spent 11 days in the hospital before being released.  His tale was eventually published as a book, 438 days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea.

Back to Julian Harvey

As we mentioned, Tere had been rescued on November 16th.  That same day, Julian Harvey was talking with US Coast Guard investigators and he told them the same story he told originally: sudden weather destroyed the masts, put a hold in the ship’s hull, ruptured the gas tank which then started a fire. He was unable to save anyone, but found Rene and tried unsuccessfully to save her.  

Harvey had a scheduled interrogation on the 17th as well, and during that, he was told that Tere had been rescued the previous day and her health was improving.  His response was to say “Oh my god,” then quickly say “Isn’t that wonderful?”  They informed him that an official investigation into the loss of the Bluebelle was being launched.  Shortly after being told this, Harvey asked if he could be excused for the day, saying he was tired and wanted to speak with his wife’s family.  His request was granted and he left. 

He went to a nearby motel and paid cash for a room under a fake name.  Once inside, he wrote a two page suicide note to a close friend from his military days. He then used a razor blade to slash his thigh, ankles and jugular vein. The letter didn’t give any reason for his actions but that “I got too tired and nervous.  I couldn’t stand it any longer.” The note requested that the friend take care of his 14 year old son and his body be laid to rest at sea. 

By November 20th, Tere Jo’s health had improved greatly.  She was able to tell them what happened that night on the Bluebelle.  Tere said that late on the 12th, she went to a lower cabin to lay down and left her parents, siblings, Harvey and his wife on deck.  She was woken up from her sleep by the sound of her brother screaming for their father to help him, then some loud banging, not like gunshots, but like something hitting above her.  She heard someone running on the deck too.  She made her way up and found the bodies of her brother and mother in the main cabin.  

She continued to the main deck and saw Harvey carrying a bucket.  He hit her and told her to go back below deck.  She went back down until she saw oil and water gushing into the cabin about 15 minutes later.  Harvey then came into the cabin with a rifle in his right hand.  He didn’t shoot though, they made eye contact, and Harvey went back above deck.  Tere went back up and saw Harvey standing, holding a rope connected to the ship’s dinghy.  He asked her if the dinghy was loose and she told him she didn’t know.  He gave her the rope and told her to hold onto it while he went to get something.  While he was gone, the rope slipped from her hand and when Harvey came back up and saw that, he dove overboard and swam toward the dinghy. 

She was left on the sinking boat all alone.  She remembered a small cork float that was tied to the side of the boat and she raced to get it loose.  She threw it over the side and jumped towards it as the boat sank.  She climbed on and then drifted on it for three and a half days with no food, water, or cover from the sun.   It was so small that she couldn’t even lay down, she had to sit up the entire time.  

She was adamant that the mast of the boat was intact and that there was no weather or fire the night these events took place. 

An investigation was launched into Harvey, given Tere’s account of what happened and his suicide.  They learned that after the war, he had a difficult time keeping a job for any length of time and had serious financial problems.  He had recently arranged a double indemnity insurance policy for his wife.  Harvey had also been hired by the owner of the boat a month before Arthur chartered it.  The owner paid him $300 a month to take people out, and gave him and his wife accommodation on the boat as well.  Investigators suspected that this might have sparked the idea of killing his wife at sea.  They thought that his plan was to kill her and dispose of her body with no one noticing, then say she must have fallen overboard and drown, with the Duperraults as witnesses.  A member of the family probably saw, and then he attacked them.  

Mary was Harvey’s 6th wife.  His second wife had died in a car crash along with her mother.  In 1949, Harvey was driving with them in the car when the car plunged off a bridge at a high speed.  Some sources say he was in the car when it did this, then he got out and swam to shore, while others say that he jumped out right before the car plunged into the water.  

A different incident occurred when he was captaining a boat that ran into the wreckage of the warship San Marcos, which had sunk in 1911 in shallow water.  Harvey’s crew had warned him several times about the wreckage, but he still got too close, claiming that he was trying to read an inscription on a buoy that marked the site. 

In 1958, a powerboat that he owned also sank under suspicious circumstances off the coast of Cuba.  

Each of these “accidents” and tragedies resulted in large sums of money being paid out to him by insurance companies.  

Tere Jo returned to Green Bay and lived with family.  Given the time this took place, it’s probably not a shock that she didn’t receive any type of trauma counseling or anything.  In fact, many authority figures rarely if ever spoke about the tragedy with her.  She didn’t speak publicly about it for over 20 years.  

She married and had three children and has now retired in Wisconsin.  In 2010, she released a memoir, Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean, co-written with psychologist and survival expert, Richard Logan.  Almost fifty years after everything happened, she granted her permission for a TV interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show.  During the interview she encouraged people to not feel sorry for her, saying: “I always believed I was saved for a reason … if one person heals from a life tragedy [after reading my story], my journey will have been worth it.”