1960s Timeline

Nov. 29, 1961 - Governor Rockefeller ended his long journey home today, tired and drawn. Arriving at New York International Airport from Amsterdam, Mr. Rockefeller expressed hope that a “miracle” would still happen and that his son Michael would be found alive in the jungles of Dutch New Guinea. But most of what the Governor said at the airport was a father’s eulogy for a lost son and praise for those who searched for him. In tribute to his son, Governor Rockefeller said even

Nov. 27, 1961 - Governor Rockefeller of New York started home today from Dutch New Guinea after authorities there all but abandoned hope of finding his son Michael (pictured), feared lost at sea 10 days ago. Helicopters have been skimming low over villages in the jungles of New Guinea’s south coast in the hope that Michael reached shore on his improvised raft of two gas cans and is safely in the hands of the natives. His native boat overturned offshore a week ago Sunday. The

Nov. 23, 1961 - Terry Jo Duperrault found out for certain today that her family did not survive the mysterious sinking of the yacht Bluebelle. The 11-year-old child (pictured after her rescue) was told that her parents, brother, and sister died when the 60-foot vessel went down in the Bahamas Nov. 12. She must have feared as much. She told the Coast Guard after her rescue a week ago that she had seen her mother and brother lying in blood aboard the Bluebelle. She said she had

Nov. 22, 1961 - Governor Rockefeller (third from right) of New York reached the capital of the southern region of Dutch New Guinea today and surveyed by air the desolate swampy coast where his son Michael is missing. Earlier in Hollandia, about 420 miles to the north, Dutch Gov. P. J. Platteel had warned the Governor and his daughter, Mrs. Mary Rockefeller Strawbridge, against optimism. “You should not have too much hope,” said Gov. Platteel gravely. At this, Mrs. Strawbridge

Nov. 21, 1961 - The Coast Guard, pursuing its investigation of the apparent mass killings aboard the sailboat Bluebelle, dug deeper today into the strange career of its skipper, Julian Harvey (pictured in Korea in 1953). Harvey committed suicide in a Miami hotel last Friday, less than 24 hours after little Terry Jo Duperrault, now the lone survivor of the tragedy, was picked up from a raft. A Coast Guard investigator said the crew of the Gulf Lion, which picked up Harvey and

Nov. 21, 1961 - Missionaries joined rescue parties combing the jungle marshes of the southwestern New Guinea coast today in hope that Michael Rockefeller (pictured), son of the New York Governor, would be found alive. The young man was last seen by a Dutch companion, Dr. R.W. Wassink, Sunday as he set out to swim 15 miles to shore from their capsized native boat. Dr. Wassink’s rescuers quoted him as saying that young Rockefeller had left the native boat “against my strong adv

Nov. 20, 1961 - The Supreme Court today denied a hearing to Salvatore Agron (left), a Puerto Rican boy facing execution in New York for the slaying of two 16-year-old boys in a darkened playground on Manhattan’s West Side. Agron stabbed the two boys to death on Aug. 30, 1959. His counsel said he was then one day past his 16th birthday. Agron was known as the Cape Man after the murder because he wore a red-lined nurse’s cape during the stabbings. Counsel for the boy said the s

Nov. 20, 1961 - The search for Michael Rockefeller was concentrated on the swampy southwest coast of New Guinea today after a rescued companion had reported last seeing him swimming from their capsized raft toward shore. The 23-year-old son of the New York Governor was reported swimming against “powerful currents” through shark-infested waters, buoyed only by two empty gasoline cans. Young Rockefeller’s companion, Dr. R.W. Wassink, 34, a Dutch ethnologist, was picked up safe

Nov. 20, 1961 - An 11-year-old girl (pictured), the only survivor of the sailboat Bluebelle, has indicated that the other passengers were murdered by the captain. Terry Jo Duperrault, who was rescued from a raft after three and a half days under a blazing sun, told investigators that Capt. Julian Harvey had abandoned her on the deck of the sinking ship. The girl said that she had seen the bodies of her mother and brother on the floor of the main cabin and “blood all over” the

Nov. 19, 1961 - Michael Rockefeller (pictured), the 23-year-old youngest son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, was reported missing and possibly adrift at sea today off primitive Dutch New Guinea. The Governor left New York by air early today on the first leg of a 10,000-mile trip to the remote island area north of Australia. “I want to go out there simply to be there if they do find him,” said Mr. Rockefeller, who appeared pale and haggard. Young Rockefeller first wen

Nov. 17, 1961 - A sailing-yacht captain (pictured) who survived a sinking that apparently claimed 5 lives commited suicide today, 24 hours after the only other known survivor was found. The body of Julian Harvey, 45-year-old skipper of the 60-foot sailboat Bluebelle, was found in a room of a Miami motel where he had registered under a false name. He had slit his arms, wrists, and throat with a razor. A suicide note said: “I am tired, nervous and can’t take it any longer.” Mr.

Nov. 16, 1961 - Thirteen captured Italian airmen attached to the U.N. force have been murdered by Congolese soldiers. The Italians had flown into Kindu, Kivu Province, with two transport planes carrying scout cars for a Malayan contingent of the U.N. force. They were seized and beaten there by drunken Congolese soldiers Saturday before being shot to death. Their bodies were dismembered with machetes by a crowd of onlookers and thrown into the Lualaba River. The Italians were

Nov. 16, 1961 - A girl who survived the sinking of a yacht in a Bahaman squall Sunday was found on a raft in the Atlantic today. She was in a deep sleep and near death. The child was 11-year-old Terry Jo Duperrault (pictured) of Green Bay, Wis. She was picked up by a passing merchant vessel which chanced upon the small white raft in choppy waters. Terry Jo was cast into the sea with 6 other persons, including her parents and a brother and sister, when the 60-foot sailboat, th