1 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. Josh here, Chuck here, 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: let's get going with short stuff because I love this one. 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 2: That's right, yet another maritime disaster our most popular sub field, 4 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 2: it seems like. 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to give a huge shout out to 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: Strange Company, a great website. They have a Friday link 7 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:26,279 Speaker 1: dump every week. It's really great. But they also just 8 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: write on strange mysteries and weird stuff and that's where 9 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: I first heard of this. But also hat tip to 10 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: the Maui Times and the La Times for some help 11 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:37,239 Speaker 1: with getting our facts straight on this. 12 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we could maybe even do maritime disasters. 13 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 2: You should know as its own separate little short podcast. 14 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 3: Yeah. 15 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,319 Speaker 1: People love maritime disasters, can't get enough of it. They're 16 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: all sickos, all right. 17 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 3: So this is the story of the Sarah Joe. 18 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 2: It takes place in nineteen seventy nine when a guy 19 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 2: from California, a twenty seven year old named Scott Mormon 20 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 2: who is living in Hawaii, went with four construction worker buddies. 21 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 2: Went to them and said, hey, guys, let's not do 22 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 2: our work today. Let's go let's go fishing. It's a 23 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 2: great day. 24 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 3: Let's do it. 25 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 2: One of the guys, Ralph mala Yacchini. He had a 26 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 2: access to a boat from his brother Robert, who did 27 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 2: not go on this trip, but a seventeen foot Boston 28 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:24,759 Speaker 2: whaler named. 29 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 3: The Sarah Joe. And the five of these guys. 30 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 2: Who were you know, they weren't super experienced fishermen, but 31 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,479 Speaker 2: they knew their way around a boat and ocean set 32 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 2: out for you know, probably not a three hour tour, 33 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 2: but maybe a six hour tour. 34 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, from Hannah, Hawaii, I believe, on the island of Maui. 35 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: And because this was not supposed to be more than 36 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: a few hour tour, they didn't pack a ton of supplies. 37 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: They were just going fishing. It was a beautiful day 38 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: and like you said, they skipped work to take advantage 39 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: of it. Robert, Ralph mala Yacchini's brother, later said that 40 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: the sea looked like a lake that day. But within 41 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: two hours of them setting out on the Sarah Joe, 42 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: it just completely turned. And within a couple hours of that, 43 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: there was a gale that had whipped up and it 44 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: was just not a good scene for somebody to be 45 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: out in an open boat on. 46 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 2: No and it disappeared that boat was gone, the Coastguard 47 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 2: went looking. Obviously, they spent about a week searching. They 48 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 2: eventually called off their search, and then friends and family 49 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 2: kept looking for about another month and never found anything 50 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 2: at all, no trace anywhere of any of these guys, 51 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 2: anything on that boat, any part of that boat. And 52 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 2: I guess it seemed like that was probably the end 53 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 2: of the story at the time, until a decade later, 54 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 2: in September eighty eight, when marine biologist named John Naughton 55 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:56,519 Speaker 2: was doing some research on an uninhabited island, actually a 56 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 2: string of islands, the Tamgi Atoll, the Marshall Islands, and 57 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 2: he saw a boat and he was like, wait a minute, 58 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 2: it's got a Hawaiian registry. I think that's the Sarah Joe. 59 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 2: And the reason I know that is because I was 60 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 2: one of the guys ten years earlier. 61 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 3: That was looking for it. Yeah, in that nuts, it's amazing. 62 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:18,519 Speaker 1: I mean, what was just a crazy twist of fate, 63 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 1: because if he hadn't been in the search, he said, 64 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: he immediately thought of the Sarah Joe. If he hadn't 65 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: have been, you know, primed already ten years before to 66 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: be thinking about that boat, who knows if anybody would 67 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: have ever done anything about it. But John Naughton. He 68 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: started looking around and found near the boat there was 69 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: a pile of rocks and it turned out to be 70 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: a burial mound. On top of it, kind of a 71 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: dead giveaway is was a driftwood cross and a part 72 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: of a jawbone. And when the rocks were removed, he 73 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: found more parts of his skeleton. And then there was 74 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: one other thing, a little pad or a little stack 75 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: of paper that had been partially burned. And that was it. 76 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: John Naughton looked around the rest of the beach. He 77 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: didn't find anything else. He didn't find any other remains. 78 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: He didn't find anything but this weird assemblage of clues 79 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: and human remains. 80 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 3: That's right. 81 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 2: Which raises some very big questions which will answer after 82 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 2: the break, namely, how did this boat get twenty three 83 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 2: hundred miles away, how did this guy die, when did 84 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 2: he die? Who buried this guy? And where are the 85 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 2: other four guys. 86 00:04:33,760 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: It's a lot of questions. We'll be right back, So, Chuck, 87 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: you just rattled off a lot of questions. And first 88 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: thing we should say is that after Naughton got the 89 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: remains back into the hands of the US Army Central 90 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: Identification Lab in Hawaii. They couldn't determine how this person 91 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: died or when they died, but they did determine that 92 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: it was Scott Mormon, the Native Californian who was one 93 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: of the guys who shipped out on that boat with 94 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,720 Speaker 1: the other four dudes. It definitely was somebody from that 95 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: Sarah Joe Expedition fishing trip, and it definitely was the 96 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: Sarah Joe boat. But that was about all of the 97 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: questions that you just said that they could answer. 98 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, they you know, of course, his family was like 99 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:50,279 Speaker 2: coming up with ideas how he could have made it 100 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 2: that far, whether or not he was alive when he 101 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 2: got there. His family thinks that he may have gotten 102 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 2: there alive, but then you know, died of from the 103 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 2: elements and not having water. Other people say, well, maybe 104 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 2: he strapped himself to the boat and actually died out there, 105 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 2: but that's how he finally reached land because he was 106 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 2: strapped to that boat. 107 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 3: And we just don't know, and we also. 108 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:18,119 Speaker 2: Don't know who would have buried him, but that stack 109 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 2: of papers is a pretty good clue. 110 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: I think, Yeah, there's a theory that he was buried 111 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: by Chinese fishermen, and the reason why is because that 112 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: stack of papers, they were like little three by three 113 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: sheets of paper. Altogether the stack was less than an 114 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: inch thick, but one of the major characteristics of the 115 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:40,719 Speaker 1: stack of paper was that there was a sheet of 116 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: foil in between each sheet of paper. And the reason 117 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: that some people think that this is a Chinese fishing 118 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: expedition that found and buried him is because there in 119 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: Chinese funeral customs something called joss paper, which is burned 120 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:57,599 Speaker 1: and it's considered spirit money, so it's a gift to 121 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: the deceased to use in the afterlife. And the defining 122 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: characteristic of joss paper is that it has a foil 123 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: lining on at least one side. The big suggestion for 124 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: why they would have put across is that they may 125 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: have recognized this guy as Caucasian, which would suggest that 126 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: they found him while he was still relatively intact. But 127 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: that also still leaves the question, Chuck of when this 128 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: burial took place, and they think they got it within 129 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: like a six year window of when when he would 130 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: have washed up onto the shore. 131 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, they found out that there was a survey of 132 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 2: that atoll conducted in nineteen eighty two. The incident took 133 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 2: place in seventy nine. The report didn't say anything about 134 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 2: a boat. You would think it would be included. I 135 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 2: also saw that it's possible, you know, when you're at 136 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 2: these tiny remote islands, that they could have missed something 137 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 2: like that. It's those surveys aren't the most like detailed surveys. 138 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 2: But if they didn't miss it, then that would mean 139 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 2: that something happened over the course of three years. 140 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, in that eerie So imagine that if he had 141 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: strapped himself to the boat and died in the storm 142 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: or shortly after, that would suggest that he was adrift 143 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: in the Pacific for three years, dead and strapped to 144 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: the Mary Sarah Joe. That freaky. 145 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know enough about how big the ocean 146 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 2: is to know if three years is if you could 147 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 2: drift around for three years without anybody seeing you ever, 148 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 2: that seems lovely to me in the eighties. 149 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, but I don't know, man, this is a 150 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: pretty remote part of the world. I think this is 151 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: where that Point Nemo area is, you know, the most 152 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: remote part of the world that's furthest away from any land. Masks. 153 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure it's in that area, that region. 154 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,439 Speaker 2: I guess it's possible, but it also had to get 155 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 2: from Hawaii to there over three years. 156 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know. I don't speculating. 157 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: I don't know. And if it wasn't just a drift 158 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: for three years, who knows what happened then, Like, I 159 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: have no clue and it will probably never be answered. 160 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: But the reason that they think the Chinese fishing expedition 161 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,960 Speaker 1: didn't tell anybody is because it was probably an illegal 162 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: fishing expedition, which is, you know, they didn't tell anybody 163 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: that they found these remains, but at least they took 164 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: the time to bury them and give them like some 165 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: sort of funeral service, which is pretty top notch for 166 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: illegal fishermen if you think about it. 167 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's the kind of coolest part of 168 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:33,439 Speaker 2: the story, is that they've had enough respect for this 169 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:35,959 Speaker 2: human that they didn't even know to take care of 170 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 2: it in that way. 171 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: For sure. I think that's it for short Stuff, right, 172 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 1: I got nothing else. Short Stuff is. 173 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:50,320 Speaker 3: Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 174 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,560 Speaker 3: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 175 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.