After surviving over a year at sea, Jose Salvador Alvarenga was eventually hit with a million-dollar lawsuit after returning to land.
He and his friend, Ezequiel Cordoba, went fishing in Mexico in November 2012, unaware of what was to come.
Their trip was supposed to last only two days. Unfortunately, they got hit by a violent storm and lost their communication equipment.
The incident, which lasted over a year, claimed the life of Cordoba.
Before they were cut off, Alvarenga made a final call to his boat’s owner. He said that Cordoba threw himself overboard due to the sharks in the area.
For over a year, the two men were able to survive by catching various fish and birds.
Cordoba died after accidentally eating a poisonous bird that had a snake in its stomach.
Before disposing of his corpse, Alvarenga reportedly kept it with him for several days.
He claimed he would talk to it, but he eventually lost his mind and threw it away.
Alvarenga was discovered in the Marshall Islands in 2014. He had been missing for over a year.
His life then took a turn for the worse after his former lawyer sued him for a million dollars following his signing a book deal.
Cordoba’s family then filed a lawsuit against Alvarenga, accusing him of cannibalism.
He denied the allegations, saying that he and his friend made a pact not to eat one another if one of them dies.
They also demanded a portion of the book’s sales.
According to his lawyer, Ricardo Cucalon, the family’s demand was part of their pressure to get a portion of the book’s profits.
He noted that the actual earnings of his client would be much less than what people think.
