Five things about the castaway's tale

Mystery surrounds a castaway's claim that he survived for 13 months at sea after what was supposed to be a one-day fishing trip back in 2012. The journey, as he tells it, took him from Mexico to the Marshall Islands. Parts of his story have already checked out, while other questions remain. Here are five things to know about the incredible story of Jose Salvador Alvarenga.


Who is the castaway?

Jose Salvador Alvarenga is a Salvadoran national who had been living in southern Mexico and worked as a fisherman on the Pacific coast.

Officials say that the 37-year-old was an undocumented worker in Mexico.

His family in El Salvador has said they had not seen their son in about eight years, and presumed that he was in jail or dead.

According to Alvarenga, he went on a one-day shark fishing trip with a teenage companion, and was caught up in a storm that killed his engine and left him adrift for 13 months.

How long was he supposedly at sea?

By Alvarenga's own account, he was out at sea for 13 months, having left in December 2012.

Local fishermen in the area of Mexico from which he set off say he may have been gone for a month longer than that, which more or less matches a document from a local civil protection agency that reports he disappeared in November 2012.

Officials in the Marshall Islands -- where the bearded, shaggy-haired Alvarenga turned up last Thursday in a heavily damaged boat -- say they've abandoned efforts to pin down the length of time he spent lost in the ocean.
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com