What we know:
— Nathan Carman and his mother, Linda, left from Point Judith, R.I., aboard the aluminum “Chicken Pox” at 11 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, for a fishing trip.
— The boat ventured about 80 miles farther out to sea than Linda was expecting, authorities said. His mother told a friend she wanted to stay near Block Island to fish stripers, but Nathan told people on the pier that they were going to the “Canyons,” where his mother had allegedly refused to go and where Nathan later told the Coast Guard the boat sank.
— Nathan was on a lifeboat when he was spotted by a Chinese freighter about 100 nautical miles from Martha’s Vineyard on Sunday, Sept. 25, days after the Coast Guard suspended its lengthy search for him and his mother. His mother was not aboard the lifeboat and is presumed to have died at sea.
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— Bystanders on the pier saw Carman removing the “trim tabs,” which keep boats from listing, from his craft and patching the boat up with sealant.
— Police considered Carman a suspect in the 2013 shooting death of his grandfather, 87-year-old John Chakalos, who left behind an estate of $42 million to his four daughters, including Carman’s mother.
— Police executed a search warrant early this week at Carman’s home, saying they were investigating a possible case of “operating so as to endanger, resulting in death.” A Rhode Island police chief said Thursday that law enforcement officials from three states and the federal government are involved in the investigation.
What we don’t know:
— Carman has not spoken publicly about exactly what happened on the boat, other than to say it took on water quickly and he wasn’t able to call for help before swimming to the life raft, which inflated automatically. He told the Coast Guard in a phone call from the Chinese freighter that there was a “funny noise in the engine compartment. I looked and saw a lot of water.” He said he “got to the life raft after I got my bearings, and I was whistling and calling and looking around and I didn’t see her.”
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— He has not explained why they ventured to the Canyons despite his mother’s wishes to stay near Block Island, but said he explained the reasoning to the Coast Guard.
Dylan McGuinness can be reached at dylan.mcguinness@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DylMcGuinness.