Lake Travis, just under 19 miles northwest of Austin, is 63.75 miles long, and its maximum width is 4.5 miles. The lake covers 18,929 acres, and its capacity is 1,953,936 acre-feet. The lake is considered full at an elevation of 681.1 msl. At this elevation the lake contains 382,092,882,600 gallons of water. There are 270 miles of shoreline around the lake. It has a maximum depth of 210 and an average depth of 62 feet. The lake's historic high level is 710.4 feet msl on December 25, 1991. Its historic low level is 614.2 feet msl on August 14 1951.
Lake Travis was created by the impounding of the Colorado River by the construction of Mansfield Dam in 1937- 41.
C H "Sonny" McDonald, at the time of our story, was a self-employed real estate agent and financial consultant in Austin. He was 36 years old. Married to Cindy, 27, with three children, ages 1, 3, and 5.
James R Largent, 36, was his accountant and friend, recently divorced.
Barbara Fogle, 27, was a secretary to Mr Largent, and single.
Paulette Fogle Burchill, twenty something, was also a Largent secretary and sister to Barbara. Recently married. She was the distressed survivor we left on the deck of the yacht above.
The scene opens at the office of Mr Largent. It is 11 June 1976, and Largent, Sonny, and the sisters are present. The project they are working on is McDonald's filing of a late tax return. Around five PM, the four repair to a bar across the street for happy hour.
Cindy McDonald is away visiting her mom in Clifton with the kids this evening, and won't be home until Saturday afternoon. Mrs Burchill's husband is also out of town.
Around 7:30, they transferred to another club. They were seen and remembered at both bars.
Hey, somebody, probably Sonny, must've said. Let's go out on the boat! The custodian of fuel filled up the yacht at the dock where Sonny's ship was berthed about 9:30 that evening, he reported, and, in nautical terms, explained the route they took from there. ("The boat turned left.")
Now, I know what you're thinking. A cozy foursome out on a lake in the night after four and a half hours in the clubs. Where better not to be interrupted, right? Not so fast. Wait till all the facts are in. After all, there were plenty of places in Austin to play bridge without being disturbed.
The yacht was two-tiered, which meant, if I have it right, there was space to lounge up above the cabin as well as below it and the areas were separate so that you could not observe anyone in either position while settled in the other. I'm trying to translate that from my experience down on the river in Chico's canoe but it don't quite fit. I could always see him and he could see me. But you who are familiar with yachts will know what the setup was.
Now, music was playing and wine was imbibed, and somehow two of the party were separated from the others, or the other way around, and in each of the sets, the genders were mixed. I'm trying to think; let's say you had two gimme caps on the floor of a Vegas hotel room on a really bad night and two queens and two kings cut out of the deck and if you tossed all night, how many times would you match a king and queen in both caps? Somebody go try and report back.
Sonny and Paulette, the two marrieds, were topside. Down below, the first indication something was wrong came from Largent. Even if you've never been on any watercraft larger than a canoe, you can tell something's amiss when you hear: "She fell in! She fell in!" That usually means trouble.
Largent jumped into the lake, fully dressed, with his boots on. It was a full moon night, so Paulette apparently could see the rail, or she may have jumped up when Sonny did. She knew her sister couldn't swim.
Sonny went over the side right after Jim.
Paulette heard Jim yell, "She's got me by the hair!" Then from Sonny, "Turn the boat around!" Several times he yelled that. But the big boat, unanchored, just drifted, because Paulette knew nothing at all about piloting.
The voices grew fainter as the boat drifted away.
Paulette jumped down to the lower deck, found the cabin. She did that. But there was nothing she could do there but panic. Which she proceeded to do, from about 1:30 AM, the time of the accident, until first light. She slept some, worn out by hysteria.
Cindy MacDonald went into shock, of course, when given the news that afternoon, then took to drink as a matter of course. Meanwhile the search was called off after days, and a memorial service was held the next Wednesday. (Cindy was advised by some of their myriads of professional friends that the service might be a way to quiet the rumors and also spark the coroner's jury to issue a death certificate, which was a requirement before probate could be settled and insurance proceeds issued. Until the death was official, the MacDonald finances were locked up tight.)
When Sonny turned up missing, the family bank accounts were frozen. I suppose they had no joint accounts. Cindy was 12 years younger than her husband, and he took care of all the financial arrangements.
About 18 months before, in fact, Sonny had thoughtfully taken out an insurance policy on his life, proceeds of one million to be paid into an inter vivos trust. One clause stipulated the proceeds were to double in the case of accidental death. Double indemnity. Where have I heard that expression before?
Largent also had an insurance policy; the beneficiary remained his ex-wife. He was also reportedly deep in debt.
And so friends of the MacDonalds, a lawyer here, an insurance agent there, attempted to secure assets for Cindy and the children. Meanwhile, the bank allowed her a bridge loan for her support in the interim.
And then came the inquest.
Lots of details bubbled to the surface before a suspicious public in those days. Unbeknownst to Cindy, Sonny held some thirty properties in and around Austin. They were all mortgaged, most in that state described by the wonderful oxymoron `negative income.' Also, Sonny's basic business was on the brink of involuntary bankruptcy.
The MacDonald marriage, according to our Irregular closest to the scene, was some degrees short of Ward and June, probably in the range you would expect with a husband out floating the night away with a woman not his wife. Also, his accountant, Mr Largent, had apparently been taken to the cleaners by his ex-wife in their divorce about six months before.
Other items ... They could not locate Sonny MacDonald's auto. The witness reported they had all driven to the lake in Largent's vehicle, which was found in the lot of the berth from which they sailed away. In maybe a week, in another bay about four miles along the shoreline, Sonny's car was located. Inside were his wallet and IDs, some cash.
Sonny MacDonald had grown up on Lake Buchanan, so to speak, and was known as an expert swimmer. It was said Largent was also a good swimmer.
Why did Sonny not drop anchor? Why leave the boat to just drift?
The judge ruled the deaths were proved by a preponderance of evidence, yet doubts continued to linger. But the insurance proceeds were released finally, to the trust, and with two executors previously appointed by Sonny. This meant that Cindy would see her support checks and know no more about the family holdings than she had before.
Now this all seems to be a parable of women as children. The three principal women provide the major plot devices by not being able to do something. One cannot swim, another cannot pilot a yacht, the third cannot balance a checkbook. It is not that they are dumb; it's all in how they were considered non-agents, as objects, as simply being and having done for them, and allowing it.
The Irregulars who spoke online about the strange disappearances marveled that corpses could never be found in a freshwater lake. Has this ever happened in Lake Travis? There was an electronic message board of the Lake Patrol for Lake Travis, and an Irregular visited it, asking if anyone knew of drownings with unrecovered remains.
There was one, answered a writer. No, no, said another, that guy was later presumed to have left the area. And so, I write, since 1941, not a single drowning victim had remained lost, and yet in one incident, three of them disappear forever?
I next saw a message from the sysop of the forum.