The Unsinkable Terry Jo episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 31, 2026 · 23 MIN

The Unsinkable Terry Jo

from Small Town Mysteries · host Kate, Christine, and Rachael

Send us Fan MailIt was November 1961. The waters in the Bahamas were as blue and beautiful as ever. But for Nicolaos Spachidakis, a second officer on a Greek freighter called Captain Theo, something seemed off. As he looked into the distance, he could make out a tiny white speck, bobbing alongside the waves. It was too large to be trash, but much too small to be a boat. As they pulled alongside the speck, everyone gasped. Because that speck was a float - barely what you could consider a raft. And sitting on top of it was a blonde-haired, eleven-year-old girl. She looked skeletal and her skin was severely burned from the sun. Her name was Terry Jo Duperrault, and she had been drifting in the Atlantic for 84 hours before this crew had found her...Sources: 1) https://allthatsinteresting.com/terry-jo-duperrault2) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/book-em-alone-orphaned-on-the-ocean/3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebelle_(ship)4) https://time.com/archive/6871882/the-sea-the-bluebelles-last-voyage/5) https://www.rd.com/article/orphaned-on-the-ocean-the-unbelievable-story-of-terry-jo-duperrault/Support the show

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 31, 2026

Embed this episode

Send us Fan Mail It was November 1961. The waters in the Bahamas were as blue and beautiful as ever. But for Nicolaos Spachidakis, a second officer on a Greek freighter called Captain Theo, something seemed off. As he looked into the distance, he could make out a tiny white speck, bobbing alongside the waves. It was too large to be trash, but much too small to be a boat. As they pulled alongside the speck, everyone gasped. Because that speck was a float - barely what you could consider ...

Distinct summary based on available episode metadata or transcript content.

Ready to play

The Unsinkable Terry Jo

0:00 23:25

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Small Town Mysteries?

This episode is 23 minutes long.

When was this Small Town Mysteries episode published?

This episode was published on March 31, 2026.

Can I download this Small Town Mysteries episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!