In 1961, a photo of a lonely girl on a boat flew around the world. But what was hidden behind this photograph was revealed only twenty years later.
In 1961, a Greek cargo ship sailed near the Bahamas. Suddenly, the crew saw something strange overboard - a little girl sitting on a boat. But how could she find herself alone in the middle of the ocean?
When the girl was taken aboard, it turned out that she was severely dehydrated, sunburns formed on her skin, and her body temperature reached 40 degrees!
Only seven days later, the police were able to talk to her.
The girl said that her name is Terry Joe Duperreau, she is 11 years old and she lived in Wisconsin with her parents and brother. Her father, Arthur Duperro, worked as an ophthalmologist. She did not say anything about what happened to her family and those around her tried not to touch on this topic.
The girl was adopted and taken back to Wisconsin by her aunt. And only 20 years later, Terry decided to tell the whole truth about what happened to her then.
Dream cruise
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For a year, Arthur Duperrault saved money to rent a boat and take his family on a cruise in the Caribbean. On November 8, 1961, he, along with his wife and three children, stepped on board the 18-meter yacht under the command of retired military man Julian Harvey.
The same yacht.
The Duperreau family, Julian and his wife Mary set sail. The first 4 days everything went perfectly. They stayed on small islands, swam and collected seashells. But on November 12th, everything changed.
As it turned out, the captain of the yacht was planning to kill his wife. It was not the first time that Mrs. Harvey, insured for a large sum, died under strange circumstances. And this time shouldn't have been an exception.
However, things went wrong. Mary fought desperately for her life and called for help. Arthur ran out to the screams and tried to drag Julian away, but he was clearly inferior to him in physical strength. After killing Mary and Arthur, Julian had no choice but to kill all the witnesses to his crime.
Hearing shouts and pounding upstairs, Terri looked out of the cabin. Seeing the bodies on the deck, she asked Julian what had happened. Instead of answering, he pushed her into the hold. The girl realized that the ship was sinking.
Meanwhile, Julian was opening the plugs to drown the ship. He tied a dinghy to the yacht and put Terry in it. Then, nevertheless deciding to deal with the girl, he left for the knife. Meanwhile, the girl untied the rope.
Deciding that the girl tried to swim away, he rushed after her. However, he underestimated Terry.
She returned to the sinking yacht and hid on the deck. Seeing that the man had sailed away, she unhooked the small boat and swam away. High waves hid her reliably from Julian's eyes.
Four terrible days
When the girl got into the boat, she was wearing a light T-shirt and trousers. At night the girl suffered from the cold, and during the day - from the unbearable heat.
The chances of being noticed were almost nil. Once a plane flew over it, but the pilot could not see it from a height.
Soon the girl began hallucinations - she saw the islands, then it seemed to her that sharks were swimming around.
Remembering these days many years later, Terry assured that she was not scared, because she loved boat trips so much …
In addition, all this time she prayed desperately, and it seemed that her prayers were answered.
Terry is at the hospital.
Meanwhile, the killer captain swam to the shore long ago and told that a terrible fire had occurred on his yacht, during which no one could escape.
When he read in the newspaper about the miraculously escaped little girl, he decided that this was the end. Locked in the bathroom of a hotel room, Harvey committed suicide.
Many years later, Terry Jo wrote the book "Alone: Lost in the Ocean", where she described in detail all the events of that terrible trip. By describing her story, she showed thousands of people that they should never lose sight of their lessons and hope.