In 1961, in the waters of the Bahamas, an 11-year-old girl named Terry Jo Duperrault was found barely alive, floating in the middle of the ocean. She had spent four days alone on a small boat with no food or water, completely exhausted.
Terry Jo was the only survivor of a terrible crime. Her family had been on a sailing trip, and her father had hired a man named Julian Harvey, a war veteran, to be their captain. But on the fifth day of the trip, Harvey killed his own wife to collect insurance money. Terry Jo’s father caught him in the act, so Harvey murdered him, along with Terry Jo’s mother and two brothers.
At first, Harvey didn’t harm Terry Jo, but he left her on the sinking ship with the doors open, hoping she would drown. He then took a small boat, carrying his wife’s body, and headed toward the shore to prove his insurance claim.
But Terry Jo somehow survived, drifting alone at sea for days until she was rescued. When Harvey found out she was alive, he checked into a hotel room and took his own life.