Reports: Castaway sued for $1M for eating shipmate

Mary Bowerman | USA TODAY Network

Show Caption Hide Caption Man sued for allegedly eating shipmate while lost at sea After more than a year lost at sea, a man returns to find himself in a $1M lawsuit for eating his shipmate's body. The man says he didn't do it but the deceased's family doesn't believe him. Keleigh Nealon (@keleighnealon) has the story!

A Salvadoran man, who survived more than a year at sea, is being sued for $1 million after being accused of eating his traveling companion during the ordeal.

In the fall of 2012, Salvador Alvarenga paid 22-year-old Ezequiel Cordoba to accompany him on a short fishing trip off the coast of Mexico, UPI Espanol reported.

The small boat the pair were traveling in was swept into the open sea during a storm, and the pair lost all communication equipment and supplies, according to Alvarenga.

A few months after being lost at sea, Cordoba became weak and eventually died after eating a bird, according to Alvarenga, UPI reported. He said he tossed Cordoba’s body off the side of the boat, according to UPI.

Alvarenga said he survived a little over 14 months by drinking turtle blood, urine and eating any fish or birds he could catch.

Cordoba’s family disputes Alvarenga’s account and is demanding compensation for cannibalizing Cordoba.

Ricardo Cucalon, Alvarenga’s lawyer, said his client did not eat Cordoba, ElSalvador.com reported.

Cucalon said Cordoba’s family is likely suing because they believe Alvarenga made profits from a book that was recently published on his ordeal.

Alvarenga was rescued in 2014, when he arrived in the Marshall Islands, almost 6,500 miles across the Pacific Ocean from the Mexican coast where he started his journey, AP reported.

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