Author to discuss shipwreck off Santa Cruz Island
Teresa Newton-Terres, author of “The Mystery of the Marie,” looks at her grandmother’s scrapbook. Ms. Newton-Terres was only 2-years old when her father disappeared and years later decided to investigate the story and try to resolve the mysteries surrounding the Marie’s disappearance.
“The Mystery of the Marie” by Teresa Newton-Terres is the May offering in the monthly lecture series at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, 113 Harbor Way.
Taking place at 7 p.m. May 18, Ms. Newton-Terres’s presentation will delve into her years-long search to solve the mystery of the Marie’s disappearance after it was shipwrecked off Santa Cruz Island in 1960.
On June 7, 1960, the Marie, a converted World War II landing craft, set out at sunrise from Santa Barbara Harbor and was never seen again.
The seven-person crew was working on a covert underwater communications experiment for a Raytheon-related project when the shipwreck occurred. Four bodies were recovered, but the Marie’s lifeboat remained missing, along with the captain, a scientist and an engineer, Diego “Jim” Terres Jr. Ms. Newton-Terres was only 2-years old when her father disappeared and years later decided to investigate the story and try to resolve the mysteries surrounding the Marie’s disappearance.
Diego Santos Terres Sr. searches for his first-born son, Diego S. Terres Jr., while his second-born son, Albert Terres, stands watch at the wheel of the Sea Song, a triple mast schooner.
She began her search for the truth while living near Pearl Harbor when she received her grandmother’s scrapbook with news articles about the
shipwreck. She approached Raytheon, scoured original sources and heard first-hand accounts, uncovering an aerospace cold case, an untold cold war mystery and a World War II story, all of which she will discuss in her presentation.
The map shows the Air-Sea Search System used to search for the victims of the Marie Disaster. The Coast Guard created the system.
Ms. Newton-Terre is recognized as a leader and mentor through her work as an author, speaker and project life treasure hunter. She has held Project Management Professional certification since 2000, and her service to projects gained global recognition by the Project Management Institute in 2008 and again in 2016.
Her essay, “The Shipwreck,” won inclusion in the anthology “Triumph from Tragedy: Personal Stories of Struggle, Courage, Hope and Victory,” which was published in December 2021.
Ms. Newton-Terres was raised in Santa Barbara, educated at Principia College and now lives near Little Rock, Ark., with her husband, Col. Kenneth H. Newton (U.S. Army, retired).
email: mmcmahon@newspress.com
FYI
“The Mystery of the Marie” by Teresa Newton-Terres will take place at 7 p.m. May 18 at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, 113 Harbor Way, Santa Barbara. Registration is required, and the cost is free for SBMM’s Navigator Circle members, $10 for all other members and $20 for the general public. Register at sbmm.org/santa-barbara-events/.
