Missing guys on the boat

[Guardian]

Does anyone remember the segment, and forgive me I have not seen it in years so this is all from memory, but the segment was about 4 or 5 guys who went out on a small boat (the Jenny Lee I think it was called?) and a storm came in and they were never seen again.

After an extensive search of all the near by islands in which nothing was found, a couple years later the boat was found along with the grave of one of the men. I think, and god help me if this name is right I have no idea how the hell I remember it, but I think his name was Scott Moorman. It was only skeletal remains that were found but he was the only body found in a grave with a marker on it no less.

Also there were several small pieces of paper with pieces of foil in the center of them that were found with the body. The authorities had no idea what these papers were or were for.

Has there been any new info on this case? This one has bugged the crap out of me since I was a kid.

[sdb4884]

Does anyone remember the segment, and forgive me I have not seen it in years so this is all from memory, but the segment was about 4 or 5 guys who went out on a small boat (the Jenny Lee I think it was called?) and a storm came in and they were never seen again.

After an extensive search of all the near by islands in which nothing was found, a couple years later the boat was found along with the grave of one of the men. I think, and god help me if this name is right I have no idea how the hell I remember it, but I think his name was Scott Moorman. It was only skeletal remains that were found but he was the only body found in a grave with a marker on it no less.

Also there were several small pieces of paper with pieces of foil in the center of them that were found with the body. The authorities had no idea what these papers were or were for.

Has there been any new info on this case? This one has bugged the crap out of me since I was a kid.


Hey, there have been other posts on this case and according to them there is no update about anything sadly. If you search the Marshall Islands and the island in particular on Google Earth you can see a small shipwrecked boat which could possibly be the Jenny Lee.

[bell83]

Does anyone remember the segment, and forgive me I have not seen it in years so this is all from memory, but the segment was about 4 or 5 guys who went out on a small boat (the Jenny Lee I think it was called?) and a storm came in and they were never seen again.

After an extensive search of all the near by islands in which nothing was found, a couple years later the boat was found along with the grave of one of the men. I think, and god help me if this name is right I have no idea how the hell I remember it, but I think his name was Scott Moorman. It was only skeletal remains that were found but he was the only body found in a grave with a marker on it no less.

Also there were several small pieces of paper with pieces of foil in the center of them that were found with the body. The authorities had no idea what these papers were or were for.

Has there been any new info on this case? This one has bugged the crap out of me since I was a kid.

I have heard of no new info on this. This has bothered me for a while, too. By the way, the boat was the "Sara Jo.":wave:

[Apostapler]

FYI I think the spelling if you're going to search for articles is "Sarah Joe"

[mozartpc27]

This, for years, was my all-time favorite case. However, a few years back, I heard some additional information that robbed the case of its mystique, to some degree. Below I've copied a post I made about the case in another thread:

[quote=mozartpc27]For what it's worth, some aspiring writer put together a story around this tragic true story of the missing "Sara Jo," which he spells "Sarah Joe" [I figure at least one of those is wrong, but I supposed the boat might have been named for a girl named Sarah and a guy named Joe]. In it, he reports that John Hanchett, the father of one of the victims (the same man who appears in the UM segment) hired a private investigator named Steve Goodenow to do some more digging. After conducting interviews and doing his own sweep of the island, Goodenow concluded that a crew member of a Taiwanese fishing boat which had been fishing illegally off the island was the one who came ashore and buried the remains, noting that burning small papers is a part of some Taiwanese funerary ceremonies.

Site: http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=2&gl=us

Makes sense, and robs the story of all its mystery. Of course, it is onlt a theory; I don't think Goodenow ever identified the specific crew member he thought to have done this. Alas. But I suppose it is nice for the family that they have some answers to the rather baffling appearance of one body ten years after the disappearance of the boat and the five men.[/quote

[mozartpc27]

This, for years, was my all-time favorite case. However, a few years back, I heard some additional information that robbed the case of its mystique, to some degree. Below I've copied a post I made about the case in another thread:

For what it's worth, some aspiring writer put together a story around this tragic true story of the missing "Sara Jo," which he spells "Sarah Joe" [I figure at least one of those is wrong, but I supposed the boat might have been named for a girl named Sarah and a guy named Joe]. In it, he reports that John Hanchett, the father of one of the victims (the same man who appears in the UM segment) hired a private investigator named Steve Goodenow to do some more digging. After conducting interviews and doing his own sweep of the island, Goodenow concluded that a crew member of a Taiwanese fishing boat which had been fishing illegally off the island was the one who came ashore and buried the remains, noting that burning small papers is a part of some Taiwanese funerary ceremonies.

Site: http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=2&gl=us

Makes sense, and robs the story of all its mystery. Of course, it is onlt a theory; I don't think Goodenow ever identified the specific crew member he thought to have done this. Alas. But I suppose it is nice for the family that they have some answers to the rather baffling appearance of one body ten years after the disappearance of the boat and the five men.

[mozartpc27]

Looks like the link I found no longer works. Sorry!

[Guardian]

I appreaciate the info but I am confused. Where did the Taiwanese fisherman find the body? In the boat still in the water? On the island? What happened to the other men's bodies?

[justins5256]

I appreaciate the info but I am confused. Where did the Taiwanese fisherman find the body? In the boat still in the water? On the island? What happened to the other men's bodies?

I thought the Taiwanese fisherman story was just a theory - not that anyone had actually come forward and confirmed it.

BTW, wasn't "Jenny Lee" the name of Larry Race's boat?

[XiaoGouPi]

I am actually Chinese, and I can confirm that the square shaped pieces of paper with tin foil material in the middle are those used in Chinese funeral customs.


These are actually called Incense Paper, Incense Money, or Joss paper. What it represents are taels/ingots of silver or gold offerings for the dead in the underworld. The foil is normally a dab of gold/silver in the middle.


On why its just a small piece of foil, but not an entire sheet of gold/silver is because in the ancient times most common folk are poor and obviously cant afford to burn sheets of real silver/gold.


So, a simple dab of gold/silver on the paper was used to mimic the full gold/silver. Often the paper is folded into the ingot shape too.



However, the incense paper is always burnt so as to 'deliver' the money to the underworld. It seems very peculiar to me that these paper were simply buried in the grave.


Also, on the notion that a taiwanese ship crew made the grave and left the paper there... well, possible .. but its strange, I dun understand why would anybody carry 'underworld money' around on their ship, and somehow coincidentally have it to be used at that remote island to bury the dead guy ... thats all very weird to me =\