Bluebelle was a 60-foot (18 m) twin- masted sailing ketch based out of Fort Lauderdale , Florida . The ship was scuttled following an act of mass murder by the ship's captain, Julian Harvey, on November 12, 1961. Harvey died by suicide on November 17 within hours of receiving news that 11-year-old Terry Jo Duperrault had survived the scuttling. She had been rescued at sea three and a half days after the incident, having drifted upon a small cork dinghy without food, water or shelter for approximately 82 hours.
54-852: [REDACTED] Look up bluebell in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Bluebell , Bluebells , or Bluebelle may refer to: Plants [ edit ] genus Hyacinthoides Common bluebell ( H. non-scripta ) Spanish bluebell ( H. hispanica ) Italian bluebell ( H. italica ) genus Muscari (perhaps more commonly known as grape hyacinth) genus Mertensia Virginia bluebell ( Mertensia virginica ) Scottish bluebell (harebell) ( Campanula rotundifolia ) Australian royal bluebell ( Wahlenbergia gloriosa ) Texas bluebell ( Eustoma russellianum ) Desert or California bluebell ( Phacelia campanularia ) Places [ edit ] Ireland [ edit ] Bluebell, Dublin ,
108-681: A double indemnity insurance policy on the life of his wife just two months after their July 1961 marriage. Furthermore, just one month prior to the Duperrault family chartering Bluebelle , Harvey had been hired by the vessel's owner, businessman Harold Pegg, to take any tourists to sea upon their desired cruises in exchange for $ 300 a month and free accommodation aboard the ketch. This agreement may have formulated Harvey's plan to murder his wife at sea and then claim that she had vanished, with tourists viewed in his mind as valuable witnesses to corroborate his claims. The Harveys' first chartered clients were
162-619: A 1946 Plymouth De Luxe he had been driving plunged off a bridge at high speed into a bayou on a rainy night and in which he had swum to safety, leaving his wife, Joan, and her mother, Myrtle May Burgess Boylan, to drown. One of Harvey's yawls , the Torbatross , had also previously sunk after running into the submerged wreckage of the warship San Marcos , which had sunk in 1911 in shallow water within Chesapeake Bay . Crew members onboard had repeatedly warned Harvey to steer his yawl clear of
216-767: A Scottish football club based in Cardenden, Fife The Bluebell Stadium , a football stadium in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland Bluebell Stakes , a Listed flat horse race in Ireland Other uses [ edit ] Bluebell Railway , a heritage line running along the border between East and West Sussex, England SECR P Class 323 Bluebell , a locomotive Bluebell Arboretum , near Smisby, South Derbyshire, England Bluebell Mine , Riondel, British Columbia, Canada Bluebell (colour) See also [ edit ] Blue Bell (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
270-609: A Scottish football club based in Cardenden, Fife The Bluebell Stadium , a football stadium in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland Bluebell Stakes , a Listed flat horse race in Ireland Other uses [ edit ] Bluebell Railway , a heritage line running along the border between East and West Sussex, England SECR P Class 323 Bluebell , a locomotive Bluebell Arboretum , near Smisby, South Derbyshire, England Bluebell Mine , Riondel, British Columbia, Canada Bluebell (colour) See also [ edit ] Blue Bell (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
324-500: A bucket. He had simply struck her, then shoved her below deck, shouting, "Get back down there!" The terrified child returned to her cabin only to observe oil and water beginning to gush onto the floor of her cabin approximately fifteen minutes later. Harvey then entered her cabin with what appeared to be a rifle in his right hand. The two made eye contact, but Harvey did not shoot her—simply returning above deck. Terry Jo then heard hammering sounds. Shortly thereafter, Terry Jo returned to
378-492: A close friend from his days of military service—was found on a dresser within the room adjacent to his body. This note left no explanations or apologies for his actions, but simply ended with the words: "I got too tired and nervous. I couldn't stand it any longer." The note also requested the recipient take care of his fourteen-year-old son, Lance, and that he was to be buried at sea . "Arthur Duperrault, Jean Duperrault, Brian Duperrault and Mary (Dene) Harvey lost their lives at
432-596: A critical condition. There, the child began to slowly recuperate, although for over two days she was unable to divulge to police or the Coast Guard the circumstances surrounding her rescue and the truth of what had actually happened to her family and Mary Dene Harvey. By November 20, Terry Jo had regained sufficient strength to reveal to investigators the truth about the loss of Bluebelle and its passengers. Late on November 12, Bluebelle began its return journey to Fort Lauderdale. At around 9 p.m., Terry Jo had entered
486-402: A fire, the circumstances of which made it impossible for him to rescue his wife or any member of the Duperrault family. Harvey also claimed he had found René's body floating in the water and that he had tried unsuccessfully to revive the child. On November 17, midway through Harvey's scheduled interrogation, he was informed that Terry Jo had been rescued the previous day, and that her condition
540-401: A half days without food, water or shelter. Her life raft had been so small Terry Jo had to sit upright for the entire ordeal, during which she had repeatedly prayed for rescue. Terry Jo was adamant that the mast of Bluebelle was intact, that there had been no fire aboard the vessel and that the sea was calm throughout the entirety of the events prior to the sinking. Shortly thereafter, she
594-478: A location between the Abaco Islands and Great Stirrup Cay , slightly injuring his wife and Arthur and piercing the ship's hull . According to Harvey, he was completely separated from all others on board the ketch by this falling mast and the resultant loose rigging , which pulled down the mizzen . He attempted to retrieve a wire cutter from the cabin to clear the deck space, but a sudden fire broke out on board
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#1732843936724648-477: A meal of chicken cacciatore and salad. Shortly thereafter, 11-year-old Terry Jo walked below deck to her sleeping cabin as the rest of her family and the Harveys remained on deck. At approximately 12:35 p.m. on Monday, November 13, a crew member aboard the oil tanker Gulf Lion observed a man waving frantically from a dinghy drifting in their direction and shouting, "Help! I have a dead baby on board!" Pulling
702-505: A minor tributary of the Upper Mississippi River Bluebell Knoll, another name for Boulder Mountain (Utah) Entertainment [ edit ] Bluebell Records , an Italian independent record label active from 1959 to 1969 The Bluebells , a 1980s Scottish indie new wave band The Bluebells (EP) , released in 1983 The Bluebells, an earlier name of Labelle , an American all-female singing group of
756-424: A minor tributary of the Upper Mississippi River Bluebell Knoll, another name for Boulder Mountain (Utah) Entertainment [ edit ] Bluebell Records , an Italian independent record label active from 1959 to 1969 The Bluebells , a 1980s Scottish indie new wave band The Bluebells (EP) , released in 1983 The Bluebells, an earlier name of Labelle , an American all-female singing group of
810-406: A small, oblong white raft carrying a young blonde-haired child dressed in a white cotton blouse and pink corduroy slacks, leaning backward and waving feebly. The captain ordered the freighter's engines stopped and a life raft lowered. Noting sharks circling close to the cork float, crew members shouted at the child not to jump into the water while one crew member, Evangelos Kantzilas, lifted her aboard
864-545: A suburb of Dublin, Ireland United Kingdom [ edit ] Bluebell Lakes , five fishing lakes near Peterborough, England Blue Bell Hill , a hill between Rochester and Maidstone, Kent, England United States [ edit ] Bluebell, Utah , United States, a census-designated place Bluebell Creek, United States, a tributary of the Yukon River in Alaska Bluebell Creek (Iowa) , United States,
918-428: A suburb of Dublin, Ireland United Kingdom [ edit ] Bluebell Lakes , five fishing lakes near Peterborough, England Blue Bell Hill , a hill between Rochester and Maidstone, Kent, England United States [ edit ] Bluebell, Utah , United States, a census-designated place Bluebell Creek, United States, a tributary of the Yukon River in Alaska Bluebell Creek (Iowa) , United States,
972-918: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages bluebell [REDACTED] Look up bluebell in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Bluebell , Bluebells , or Bluebelle may refer to: Plants [ edit ] genus Hyacinthoides Common bluebell ( H. non-scripta ) Spanish bluebell ( H. hispanica ) Italian bluebell ( H. italica ) genus Muscari (perhaps more commonly known as grape hyacinth) genus Mertensia Virginia bluebell ( Mertensia virginica ) Scottish bluebell (harebell) ( Campanula rotundifolia ) Australian royal bluebell ( Wahlenbergia gloriosa ) Texas bluebell ( Eustoma russellianum ) Desert or California bluebell ( Phacelia campanularia ) Places [ edit ] Ireland [ edit ] Bluebell, Dublin ,
1026-480: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Bluebelle (ship) Terry Jo's survival led to her becoming known within international media as the "Sea Waif" and the "Sea Orphan." The final complement of the Bluebelle consisted of 40-year-old Arthur Duperrault, his wife Jean (38) and their three children: Brian (14), Terry Jo (11) and René (7). Arthur Duperrault
1080-410: The Bluebelle . April 25, 1962. Given such clear evidence of foul play from the sole survivor of Bluebelle and Harvey's subsequent suicide, an investigation was launched into Harvey's recent history. This inquiry revealed that Harvey, a decorated World War II veteran and Korean War pilot, had difficulty holding a job for any length of time, had serious financial problems and had recently arranged
1134-503: The 1960s and '70s "Bluebells" (song) , a song by Patrick Wolf "The Bluebell", a song by Patrick Wolf from The Magic Position Bluebell (TV series) , a British television drama series in 1986 Bluebell, a fictional rabbit in the novel Watership Down Bluebell, a fictional troll from the miniseries The 10th Kingdom Bluebell, a fictional town that is the setting for the TV show Hart of Dixie "Bluebells", an episode of
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#17328439367241188-458: The 1960s and '70s "Bluebells" (song) , a song by Patrick Wolf "The Bluebell", a song by Patrick Wolf from The Magic Position Bluebell (TV series) , a British television drama series in 1986 Bluebell, a fictional rabbit in the novel Watership Down Bluebell, a fictional troll from the miniseries The 10th Kingdom Bluebell, a fictional town that is the setting for the TV show Hart of Dixie "Bluebells", an episode of
1242-535: The Duperrault family. The conclusion of the inquiry was that Harvey had planned to kill his wife to collect on her $ 20,000 double indemnity insurance policy, which would yield double the insured sum if she died accidentally. However, Harvey may have been observed by Arthur either in the act of the murder of his wife or the disposal of her body. He had then proceeded to kill Arthur, his wife and two of his children, who may also have witnessed their parents' murders. Furthermore, Harvey had likely retrieved René's body from
1296-636: The Northwest Providence Channel by the Greek freighter Captain Theo . Second officer Nicolaos Spachidakis observed her floating aboard a 2 by 5 foot (0.6 m × 1.5 m) cork float approximately one mile from the freighter. Spachidakis immediately summoned Captain Stylianos Coutsodontis to the bridge , and the two gradually realized Spachidakis' sighting was not a fishing vessel, but
1350-711: The Ocean . Co-authored with psychologist and survival expert Richard Logan, this book details her family's final cruise, Harvey's murder of her family and his wife, the three-and-a-half days she spent drifting upon the cork float prior to her rescue and her life in the years since. Some individuals, including writer Erle Stanley Gardner , have speculated as to why Harvey did not murder Terry Jo upon Bluebelle . Gardner has speculated Harvey may have actually subconsciously wanted to be caught and punished for his actions. However, Logan and others have theorized that Harvey had actually intended to kill her, but when Terry Jo accidentally dropped
1404-403: The cork float for several days after the sinking of her vessel. Her ability to speak rapidly waned, and the child soon responded to questions by weakly gesticulating, before lapsing into a semi- comatose state. The crew of Captain Theo did not retrieve the cork float upon which Terry Jo had drifted for almost four days. However, a member of the Coast Guard did locate and retrieve the raft from
1458-422: The deck, only to observe Harvey standing on the deck and the vessel's dinghy floating on the port side. He then asked the child, "Is the dinghy loose?", to which she replied she did not know. Harvey then ordered her to hold a rope attached to the dinghy while he retrieved something. By the time Harvey returned to the child, the rope had slipped through her fingers. In response, Harvey dove overboard and swam toward
1512-419: The dinghy, abandoning Terry Jo on the sinking vessel. Recollecting the small oblong cork float lashed to the deck, Terry Jo untied this float as the boat deck began to sink beneath the ocean. She then threw the float "over the side" of the deck before swimming toward the life raft, pushing the float further into the open water before climbing onto the float. She had then drifted upon the sea for almost three and
1566-519: The early 1960s, authority figures very seldom spoke with Terry Jo about her ordeal, and she received no trauma counseling . Consequently, she did not speak publicly about the loss of her family and her survival ordeal for over twenty years. Tere Jo later married and bore three children. As an adult, she chose to live and work close to the ocean. She is now retired and resides in Kewaunee, Wisconsin . In 2010, Tere Jo released her memoir Alone: Orphaned on
1620-523: The family traveled to locations such as Bimini and Sandy Point , where they purchased souvenirs and engaged in activities such as snorkeling. On November 12, at their final port of call prior to returning to Florida, Arthur and Captain Harvey visited the office of British district commissioner Roderick Pinder, to whom Arthur stated: "This has been a once-in-a-lifetime vacation", adding, "We'll be back before Christmas." That evening, all aboard Bluebelle ate
1674-472: The hands of Julian A. Harvey prior to the sinking of the vessel. The exact nature of the circumstances whereby these lives were taken or the order in which they perished cannot be ascertained. The most probable cause of the casualty was the state of mind of Julian A. Harvey at about 11:30 p.m. November 12 (1961)." Section of the United States Coast Guard 's official report into the loss of
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1728-405: The loss of her family, Terry Jo returned to Green Bay to live with her father's sister, her grandmother and three cousins in the city of De Pere . She refused to part with the blouse and slacks she was wearing at the time of her rescue. The following year, she changed her first name to Tere—in part due to her refusal to be viewed as a victim. Due to contemporary psychological coping strategies in
1782-425: The lower cabin to sleep, leaving her parents, siblings, Harvey and his wife on deck. Later that evening, she was awakened by the sounds of her brother screaming and calling for his father, and heavy footfalls, which she decided to investigate. Above deck, she observed the bodies of her brother and mother in the main cabin, not far from the galley. Walking further onto the deck, Terry Jo then observed Harvey carrying
1836-409: The man aboard, crew members observed the deceased body of a red-haired prepubescent girl wearing a life jacket inside the dinghy. The man identified himself as Julian Harvey, skipper of the ketch Bluebelle . Harvey explained that at approximately 8:30 the previous evening, his small vessel was hit by a sudden, strong squall that caused Bluebelle to rapidly keel over and the main mast to snap at
1890-399: The ocean several days later. The raft had almost fallen apart and almost immediately began to disintegrate in the hands of this individual. Coutsodontis immediately informed the Coast Guard of their discovery and Terry Jo's medical predicament, and a rescue helicopter was soon summoned. Terry Jo—suffering from severe sunburn, dehydration and exposure —was airlifted to a Miami hospital in
1944-448: The ocean to add credibility to his story. In closure, the inquiry concluded that, had Harvey not committed suicide, he would have been prosecuted for the murder of all those who had died aboard Bluebelle , and for the attempted murder of Terry Jo. Searching further into Harvey's background, investigators discovered he had previously survived a 1949 car accident that had killed the second of his previous five wives and her mother, when
1998-424: The raft. She was then hoisted aboard Captain Theo and placed in a spare cabin. Aboard the freighter, the crew discovered the child was incoherent and barely able to speak. She was given water and orange juice as salt was sponged from her body with wet towels and Vaseline applied to her lips. She hoarsely identified herself as 11-year-old Terry Jo Duperrault; informing the crew that she had been floating aboard
2052-521: The rope connected to his dinghy, he was forced to dive overboard in order to prevent its floating away without him, and thus left her alive on the sinking ship, believing she would not survive. Forty-nine years after her ordeal, Tere Jo granted a televised interview with NBC personality Matt Lauer , in which she stated: "I think he probably thought I would go down with the ship." She also stated her belief Harvey had originally intended to discreetly murder his wife and dispose of her body, later to claim she
2106-527: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Bluebell . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bluebell&oldid=1220803420 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Plant common name disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Ship disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2160-527: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Bluebell . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bluebell&oldid=1220803420 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Plant common name disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Ship disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2214-443: The small vessel, and he was not able to rescue his wife or any of his passengers. Forced to abandon the ketch alone on a dinghy, the body of seven-year-old René had soon floated by, and he had retrieved her body and attempted to revive the child. Unsuccessful in this medical effort, he had kept her body alongside him in the raft out of respect. (An autopsy later revealed the child had died of drowning.) Taken to Nassau , Harvey
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2268-582: The summer of 1961. The family planned to spend a week living at sea aboard a chartered yacht in a warm climate, docking at several chosen locations and possibly extending the sabbatical if all enjoyed themselves. They arrived in Fort Lauderdale in early November, where they chartered the 60-foot (18 m) ketch Bluebelle , stationed at the Bahia Mar Marina, for $ 515. Arthur hired a well-known local yachtsman, 44-year-old Julian Harvey (with whom he
2322-468: The television series Teletubbies Margaret Kelly (dancer) (1910–2004), nicknamed "Miss Bluebell", Irish dancer and founder of the Bluebell Girls Bluebell, a Chihuahua that plays Betty on Will Trent Ships [ edit ] HMS Bluebell , two Royal Navy ships USCGC Bluebell , a United States Coast Guard inland buoy tender Bluebelle (ship) , a yacht that
2376-402: The television series Teletubbies Margaret Kelly (dancer) (1910–2004), nicknamed "Miss Bluebell", Irish dancer and founder of the Bluebell Girls Bluebell, a Chihuahua that plays Betty on Will Trent Ships [ edit ] HMS Bluebell , two Royal Navy ships USCGC Bluebell , a United States Coast Guard inland buoy tender Bluebelle (ship) , a yacht that
2430-483: The wreckage, but he had repeatedly navigated his vessel around the prohibited site, claiming to his cruise passengers to be attempting to read an inscription upon a buoy marking the site. Harvey's powerboat, the Valiant , had also sunk under suspicious circumstances off the coast of Cuba in 1958. All these losses and tragedies had yielded large insurance settlements from which Harvey had financially benefitted. Following
2484-614: Was a successful contact lens optometrist . The Duperrault family resided in Green Bay , Wisconsin , and Arthur had long dreamed of taking his wife and children on a week-long family cruise from the Florida Keys to the Bahamas , which he had sailed during his World War II service, as opposed to the family facing another cold Wisconsin winter. The Duperraults spent several years saving money for this opulent experience, and had saved enough by
2538-402: Was acquainted), to skipper the vessel for $ 100 per day. Harvey's sixth wife, 34-year-old former stewardess and aspiring writer Mary Dene Harvey ( née Jordan), was also appointed to serve as a cook on the ketch. The Duperrault family boarded Bluebelle at around midday on Wednesday, November 8, 1961. The vessel was last seen leaving port early that afternoon. Over the following four days,
2592-490: Was granted. Harvey then drove a short distance toward Biscayne Boulevard, where he checked into the Sandman Motel under the assumed name of John Monroe, paying cash for a room. He then penned a two-page suicide note before committing suicide by slashing his thigh, ankles and jugular vein with a razor blade in the motel bathroom. His body was found by a maid approximately two hours later. The suicide note—addressed to
2646-433: Was improving. His response was to exclaim, "Oh my God!", before quickly and calmly adding, "Isn't that wonderful?" A lieutenant Ernest Murdoch then informed Harvey that an official investigation into the loss of Bluebelle and her passengers was to be launched that day. Shortly thereafter, Harvey asked to be excused from further interrogation, claiming he was tired and that he wished to speak with his wife's family. His request
2700-431: Was informed that Harvey had been picked up alive three days prior to herself in a life raft, alongside her sister's dead body, and that the bodies of her parents, her brother and Harvey's wife had all been lost at sea. On November 16, Harvey reiterated his story to Coast Guard investigators that a sudden squall had brought down Bluebelle ' s masts, holing the ship's hull, rupturing the auxiliary gas tank and starting
2754-400: Was lost at sea, but that she likely fought her husband, attracting the attention of the Duperrault family. Tere Jo has also stated she does not wish for people to reflect upon her ordeal and opine, "Gee, that poor little girl", but rather to think to themselves, "She has gone on with her life." Tere Jo has also stated she has "always believed I was saved for a reason ... if one person heals from
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#17328439367242808-408: Was questioned by authorities. Although his calm demeanor and the fact his dinghy had been filled with various survival supplies caused some to initially express serious doubts as to his claims, his story could not be disproven, and he was allowed to return to Miami on November 15 to face further questioning by the United States Coast Guard . Three days later, on November 16, a child was rescued in
2862-788: Was the site of a multiple murder in 1961 Bluebell (1906 ship) , a ferry operated in Toronto from 1906 to 1955 Bluebell , a harbour ferry involved in the Bluebell Collision in Newcastle, Australia Sports [ edit ] Bluebell United F.C. , an Irish association football club originally based in Bluebell, Dublin Bluebelles, nickname of West Wallsend FC , a senior soccer club in New South Wales, Australia Dundonald Bluebell F.C. ,
2916-466: Was the site of a multiple murder in 1961 Bluebell (1906 ship) , a ferry operated in Toronto from 1906 to 1955 Bluebell , a harbour ferry involved in the Bluebell Collision in Newcastle, Australia Sports [ edit ] Bluebell United F.C. , an Irish association football club originally based in Bluebell, Dublin Bluebelles, nickname of West Wallsend FC , a senior soccer club in New South Wales, Australia Dundonald Bluebell F.C. ,
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